Kurated No. 234
Readers’ Choice 2024
Part Nine
PLAYLISTS
• Jan Vochten: Playlist 3 of 3 : 26 songs (1.5 hrs)
• Full Playlist: 96 songs (6 hrs) on Spotify
TRACK LIST
• 26 titles and artists
HEAR AND READ
• Playlist 1 of 3 on Spotify
• Kurated No. 234 Part 4
• Playlist 2 of 3 on Spotify
• Kurated No. 234 Part 6
American artists like Soccer Mommy (above) and David Rawlings and Gillian Welch are on today’s playlist.
Today marks the third and final part of contributor Jan Vochten’s 96-song playlist which was divided in three to provide accessible listening to the wide range of artists featured.
What stands out in these 26 songs is the talented array of Belgian musicians listed (and peppered throughout the entire list) which is not to dismiss musicians such as Bonny Light Horseman, Father John Misty, MJ Lenderman or Meshell Ndegeocello who are also named.
The 7th Annual Readers’ Choice: wrapping up
Thanks to the various contributors who’ve shared your musical insights and favourites with Kurated readers over the past month. Your tastes are wide, varied and eclectic. You’ve introduced artists and music many of us wouldn’t have known about.
Thank you and bravo!
26 January 2025
Jan Vochten
Mortsel, Belgium
Playlist 3 of 3
BESIDE A NUMBER OF FAMILIAR NAMES BELGIAN STARS AND NEWCOMERS MAKE THIS TRACK LIST UNIQUE
Our globalized world has changed music
My cousin Jan Vochten’s playlists range wide and far, roll calling artists from around the globe.
What’s different about this latest 96-song collection is the preponderance of contemporary sounds from his native Belgium. There are some superior artists making great music in the country of my ancestors. (I’ve highlighted several below.) Perhaps this isn’t surprising for a country of 12 million people residing in an area the size of Vancouver Island and surrounded by France, Germany, Holland and the UK not that far away. But it does represent change.
The Belgian popular music scene is burgeoning. Our globalized world has everything to do with this. Time was when most musicians would sing in their native language and we never heard about them. Now, in the online musical collaboration and streaming space, a few languages dominate. As a result, many Belgian artists have adopted English to reach larger audiences. The cultural implications are significant and ripe for discussion. In the meantime, however, enjoy the music!
Here are a few acts that caught my ear:
Loverman is the solo project of flamboyant Anglo-Belgian performer James de Graef.
• Loverman‘s debut album, Lovesongs, has been a long time coming. Since his teens, the son of a musically engaged Belgian father and English mother, James de Graef has been making music – from drumming in a heavy metal group to playing in Belgian brass bands. Now in his late 20s, he’s recorded his first solo album and it’s a good one.
The deep-voiced minimalist singer may remind some of you of Canada’s masked performer, Orville Peck. Read an interview with Loverman in The Line of Best Fit.
Ise Smeets is a rising star and singer-songwriter born in the Belgian city of Bree
• Ise sings well beyond her 19 years with a raw and emotive voice. Her career got traction in 2023 in winning several key awards in her country and gracing the stages of noted festivals. Her debut single, Goodbye Letter, did well on the music charts and she’ll be touring in 2025.
Belgian trio BLUAI hit the road in 2024 supporting their first album, Save It For Later
• BLUAI (pronounced blue-eye) toured Belgium last year and along the way won three leading national music awards and gained a lot of fans. The group earns comparisons to Big Thief, Haim and Alabama Shakes with a style that ranges from indie folk and rock to Americana and country pop.
Belgian band Calicos take their name from “calico” which has several meanings including “a plain woven cotton fabric” or a” tricoloured cat.”
• Calicos may have had a hunch that the Belgian musicscape was ready for their indie-folk- Americana sound when they released The Soft Landing, their debut disc in 2021. And they were right with single Nova becoming an alternative hit.
Their sophomore album, Sugar Coat It, was released in November. It draws on their roots while also forging new ground. Frontman Quinten Vermaelen says, “It’s a call to live without regret, to be authentic, and to embrace and welcome the duality of life with open arms.”
TRACK LIST
