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Serge's Big Best Of 2016 Blog

28/12/2016

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In just a few days, 2016 will be a thing of the past but I don't think that this year will be easily forgotten. With that, I'm not even talking about the general news, the terror attacks, Donald Trump or other political unnecessaries. No, I'm merely talking about the wonderful world of music and the legends it lost. Bowie, Lemmy, Prince, Rick Parfitt, George Michael and so many others have been booked for the big festival in heaven. 

Yet, 2016 was also a year of musical highlights, both live and on heaps of releases. Perhaps it's the fact that I work for this website but to me, the music inudsitry has never been so varied and so overloaded with albums before. That's why compiling this list is not a rewarding task. I've been writing lists for weeks now. I've been re-listening to albums and I've been re-reading my reviews to the brink of insanity. But here it is, my massive 2016 list

Once again, I'll make it easier for myself by dividing the music industry into three major categories. In 'Breeze', I'll list the calm ones like ambient, dark ambient, jazz and classical music. On 'Wind' we go a bit heavier with post rock, alternative rock and such. Finally, 'Storm' handles the world of metal and other heavy genres. I've based my list mainly on the albums that make the day-to-day playlist, because those are the one that stick. Right, ready?

The albums

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CHVE - 10910
Dirk Serries - Microphonics XXVI-XXX- Resolution Heart
​Angelina Yershova - Piano's Abyss
​Virta - Hurmos
Syndrome - Forever And A Day
​Eluvium - False Readings On
​Daghraven - #1
René Aquarius - Blight
​Druhà Smrt - Mythologem
​(ghost) - The First Time You Opened Your Eyes
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Although it was a fierce battle for "breeze album of the year", one thing is certain, 2016 was the year of the Belgian drone lords. With CHVE, Dirk Serries, Daghraven and Syndrome, our little country clearly wins. 
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Lord Kesseli & the Drums - Lord Kesseli &the Drums​
​Barst - The Western Lands
​Pray for Sound - Everything Is Beautiful
Russian Circles - Guidance
​The KVB - Of Desire
Wang Wen - Sweet Home, Go
​Nadja - Sv
Meniscus - Refractions
pg.lost  - Versus
Svin - Missionær
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2016 was a great year for post-rock, but somehow Lord Kesseli & The Drums delivered us the most played and most satisfying album of the year. Why? I don't know, this is just an awesome album, and so are the other nine...
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Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard - Y Proffwyd Dwyll
​Soon - Vol. 1
Slomatics - Future Echo Returns
​Coldborn - Lingering Voidwards​
​Phantom Winter - Sundown Pleasures​
Bismuth - Unavailing ​
​Hyponic - 前行者
Riti Occulti – Tetragrammaton
​Dö - Tuho
​Rorcal - Creon
A lot of doom in the 'Storm' section, but that has one simple reason: it's the genre I listen to the most. Even more so, I haven't been paying a lot of attention to many other metal releases this year. I'll leave those up to my colleagues.

The Gigs

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Even though I don't think I've seen that many concerts in 2016, I've apparently seen more than enough bands to make a top 10. 
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Telepathy (Antwerp Music City)
Spoiwo (Dunk! Festival)
Sunnata (Antwerp Music City)
Bliksem (Rocktoberfest)
Alkerdeel (Desertfest)
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The Cure (Sportpaleis)
Russian Circles (Dunk! Festival)
Black Swarm (Desertfest)
Izegrim (Rocktoberfest)
Wolvennest (Desertfest)

The Merchants Of Air Awards

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And finally, let's throw some nice mentions. Not that we really hand out awards to people but sometimes it's nice to get a big compliment, and as you know, we are nice people here at Merchants Of Air. Hell, we are so nice that I already feel guilty about having to exclude so many great releases in the lists above. 
Oh well, nevermind that. Let's just go over some of the 'Of The Year' Awards.
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Festival Of The Year : DesertFest Belgium
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This was another tough decision to make because Dunk! Festival was awesome again and I really enjoyed both Rocktoberfest and Rodeo Fest. However, since the good people from Desertfest somehow managed to turn all my last year's little wrongs into rights, they succeeded in creating a blast of a festival, never to be forgotten. You can read all about that here. 
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Venue Of The Year: Antwerp Music City

A very small venue in Antwerp, which has given me some incredible moments in 2016. With Telepathy and Sunnata they managed to deliver two of the best gigs of 2016, but those were merely the headliners. Their support acts, including Lambs and Hungry Like Rakovitz blasted with tremendous energy through the speakers. It's pretty much always nice in the Music City so this award is truly deserved.
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Merchant Of The Year: Wagner

Of course I'm extremely happy with all Merchants Of Air writers and I'm glad that a talented writer like Michiel joined our ranks, but it's Wagner that has had the most influence on the evolution of Merchants Of Air into the webzine we are today. He revived the 'A Small Neat Journal' section with movie reviews, social studies, biographies and much more and his albums reviews are always a pleasure to publish. So yes, Wagner deserves this title...
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Bandshirt Of The Year: Duel

Puchased at Desertfest, right before a nice chat with guitarist Jeff Henson, this shirt definitely is the Shirt Of The Year. The interview is still to be published by the way, along with some other nice conversations at that very festival. They're still in the pipeline, due to severe illness immediately after the event. Nonetheless, I adore this old school horror shirt.
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Non-musical entertainment highlight of the year: FWF Wrestling Matinee

Wrestling is a life-long fascination of mine and 2016 was the year I finally got to see it live (although, according to my mother, that's not really true. Apparently, I obsessively observed a wrestling event while on vacation when I was a little kid). In 2016, I got to see two events. First, the WWE Wrestlemania Revenge Tour, which was somewhat disappointing. Second, this FWF Wrestling Matinee which was fun from start to finish. Read all about that here.

Personal achievement of the year: The Metal Deck

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And why not end with some own-horn-tooting. After all, I've been pretty busy myself. Throughout 2016 I've been working on a number of projects. There were some new Misantronics albums and a video with writer Tamara Williams which I'm quite proud of. I'm also proud of some of my writings for this website, plus the shirt designs. Yet, one topped it off for me, and that was The Metal Deck, a card & quartets game. They're still available if you like one. You can purchase it in our shop.
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Fifteen alternatives for Christmas songs

19/12/2016

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In less than a week, most people on earth will get way too drunk, eat way too much, give each other some stuff to sell on next summer's flea markets and listen to the angelic torture of Wiener Sängerknaben or André Rieu. In Flanders, people will stare at the non-comical act of Geert Hoste. In Austria people will gather in tents to stare at boobs, drink beer and sing along with horrifying shlagers. In the US, the lit houses will be visible from space, once again chasing the aliens away. In other regions, people go to church by night to witness the miracles of Christmas and in other regions, people once again complain because they got a white 8GB iPhone instead of a 16GB black one. Aah, the time for peace and joy is near. Anyway, here are fifteen songs to completely ruin your Christmas, or make it better. That's up to you...

The Ramones - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)

Let's start with some good advice from The Ramones and their 'Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)' song. The song comes off their 1989 'Braindrain' album and is pretty much a Ramones classic. One Two Three Four, we're kicking off this list in style...

Lemmy Kilmister, Dave Grohl & Billy F. Gibbons - Run Run Rudolph

Sadly passed away at the end of 2015, but in no way forgotten and always welcome on these lists of ours, Lemmy recorded this heavy rocking version of Chuck Berry's 1958 Classic 'Run Rudolph Run' along with Dave Grohl and Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ Top). The entire 'Metal Xmas' album is loaded with stars from the metal scene but I think we picked the best...

AC/DC - Mistress for Christmas

Well, since we're throwing legends around, here is a Christmas-present suggestion from the nice Australians ofAC/DC. All they want for Christmas is a mistress, nothing wrong with that I guess, especially in their trade of choice.

Korn - Kidnap the Sandy Claws

I secretly wanted to throw the original in this list, until I found this awesome Korn cover. It comes from the 'Nightmare Revisited' compilation, a cover album of songs and score from the 1993 Disney animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas. It was released on September 30, 2008 

U-Recken - Carol Of The Bells (Talamasca Remix)

If you really want to dance at Christmas, but realize most dance-Christmas songs are complete garbage, try out this one by psytrance act U-Recken, remixed by other psytrance legend Talamasca. Yes, you know we like psytrance at Merchants Of Air...

Leæther Strip - It Happened On Christmas Day

Danish EBM & industrial legend Leæther Strip came up with this folky electronic tune. I admit, the lyrics might not completely correlate with the Christmas spirit, but hey, that wasn't the intention for this article anyway, and it's always nice to throw in some EBM, especially with a legend like Claus Larsen.

Blueneck - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

In the post rock scene, English band Blueneck sort of serves as the masters of ceremony around this time of year. You can download their 'Christmas' ep for free, and quite frankly, you should. It's a nice addition to your collection and a welcome variation on the well known carols.

Jesu - Christmas

According to Justin Broadrick, Jesu's 'Christmas' EP was inspired by "the onset of the Christmas period and the onset of emotions and feelings of nostalgia, joy and sadness that the period often evokes". All those emotion are beautifully represented in this drone metal masterpiece.

Lovesliescrushing - Jingle Bells

Released in 1995, this anthem by shoegazers Loveliescrushing is probably one of the creepiest Christmas songs you can listen to. With little to no melody or percussion and with distant voices, this duo goes for a completely different atmosphere, but one we definitely like...

Reel Big Fish - Grandma got Run Over by a Reindeer

From the depressive sounds of shoegaze to the joyful ska and punk ofReel Big Fish, that's only possible on Merchants Of Air, no? Anyway, enjoy this and the other cheerful holiday songs on their 'Happy Skalidays EP", highly recommended by Wouter.

Woods of Trees - All I Want for Kriegmas Is You

Right, off to Satan's Christmas party and what better way to do that than with the devil's favorite cover band Woods Of Trees. For this song, they sodomized and sacrificed a song by Mariah Carey, plus, they made a joyful video to go with it.

Katastroof - Karsmis van m'n kloten

If you don't understand Aantwaarps (a weird variation on Dutch), this song might be completely new to you. In Belgium, Katastroof are known for their funny folk songs full of booze, boobs and more booze, but in intimate and emotional songs like this one, this trio perfectly manages to describe loneliness and depression. A lot of people are lonely around this time of year, maybe you can invite one...

Killwhitneydead - Merry Axemas

In 2008, a band named Killwhitneydead released a Christmas themed ep which turned out to be an outrageous blend of death metal and gory comedy. Well, I guess that's good enough for the deranged individuals we are. Slash that tree and pierce its balls!!!

Throwing Muses - Santa Claus

Alternative rock band Throwing Muses released this weird little song on their 'Hunkpapa' album in 1988. The band  toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects, most notable of course Kristin Hersh who is still going strong today. I wonder if she'll ever play this tune again.

Wesley Willis - Merry Christmas​

And finally, suggested by Björn, we present you Wesley Willis, ​an American singer-songwriter and visual artist from Chicago. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1989, Willis began a career as an underground singer-songwriter in the outsider music tradition, with songs featuring his bizarre, humorous and often obscene lyrics sung over the auto accompaniment feature on his Technics KN keyboard



Serge
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Fifteen metal adaptations to classical music and vice versa

17/11/2016

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THE METAL DECK, now available in our shop
Although metalheads and classical music aficionados don't often see eye to eye, they do have a lot in common. One may think the other one is boring and too goody-goody while the other sees the first ones as a bunch of immature and deranged noise makers who know very little about music. Well, apparently, classical music has been directly influencing metal bands since the early days of the latter. To prove that, here are fifteen tracks that turn classical music into metal or the other way around. Oh, and out of respect for all artists and composers, we also publish the original.

The Great Kat - Flight of the Bumblebee (​Rimsky Korsakov)

Why don't we just kick off with Madam Shred herself? The Great Kat has been doing this stuff for decades, and not only on guitar. She is a graduate at Juilliard School so she knows a thing or two about playing the violin. Yet, her love for bands like Motorhead and Judas Priest dragged her right into the world of fierce guitars and blasting drums. Combining the two, she created insane versions of music by Beethoven, Wagner and many others. For this article, we chose the finger-crusher 'Flight Of The Bumblebee' by Rimsky-Korsakov. By the way, you can read Kat's Songs With Stories here

Mekong Delta - Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky)

German progressive thrash metal band Mekong Delta have long been wandering in the vague and mysterious underground of the metal scene. Formed in 1985, in the midst of the thrash metal heydays, this band around sound engineer Ralf Hubert, was no stranger to classical music. They covered Mussorgsky before, on their 'Dances of Death (and Other Walking Shadows)' album. Released in 1996, "Pictures at an Exhibition" was originally composed in 1874 by the Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky.

Dark Moor - Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky)

The symphonic - or gothic - corner of the metal scene has been flirting with classical music since the very beginning. For example, Spanish horde Dark Moor made an awesome version of Tchaikovsky's 'Swan Lake' in 2012, and several others as well.  The Chinese rhythmic gymnastics team chose this song for their Olympic performance, which I guess is quite an honor for this band.

Therion - O Fortuna (Orff)

Of course, when we're talking about symphonic metal versions of classical music, we have to mention Therion. After a few death metal stints, this band brought in a load of influences from classical music and opera, including this piece of musical bombast, originally written by Carl Orff.

Son of a Bach - Bourrée (Bach)

Three guys, dressed in vintage eighteenth century fashion and armed with the standard instruments to play some skull crushing metal, that's what German trio Son Of A Bach are all about. This Bourrée (named after a type of dance that originated in France) is a piece for guitar by Bach.

2 Cellos - Thunderstruck (AC/DC)

It isn't just metal bands that cover classical music. No, it goes the other way around too. 2 Cellos is a duo, armed with, well, two cellos and a decent knowledge about music history. Their oeuvre contains music by Bach as well as pop and rock anthems from Michael Jackson to Avicii and Led Zeppelin. For this article, we picked our their brilliant adaptation for AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck'.

Apocalyptica - Hall of The Mountain King (Grieg)

If there is anything better than two cellos, it's four cellos. Of course, Apocalyptica are a chamber orchestra who decided to become a metal band by covering songs by Metallica and several other bands before writing their own songs. However, for me, this adaptation of Grieg's Hall Of The Mountain kings was such a blast when I saw it live for the first time that I became a fan forever.

Gyze - Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven)

This was actually the song that made me decide to write this whole article, and it comes directly from Japan To celebrate the super moon day, Japanese death metallers GYZE have presented an outstanding and fascinating Death Metal cover version of Moonlight Sonata (Pt. III) by Beethoven! Of course, every self-respecting metalhead already knows that Beethoven was the godfather of metal, and Gybe once again proves exactly that.

Haggard - Herr Mannelig

Perhaps this medieval ballad doesn't really fit the 'classical music' tag but if 'O Fortuna' is allowed, this one is too. After all, the whole 'Carmina Burana' is a collection of songs based on medieval poems. On to this 'Herr Mannelig' which has been covered by a number of bands and artists but this one by folk metal act Haggard is by far the greatest. Because we can't find a video for the original (they didn't have cameras back then), we'll also present the beautiful Garmarna version.

In Extremo - Omnia Sol Temperat (Orff)​

I know I know, the 'Carmina Burana' is mentioned quite a lot in this article, but hey, I guess it's just the metalhead's favorite piece of classical music. Anyway, I can't leave out this heavy rocking version of Omnia Sol Temperat by bagpipe-bangers In Extremo, can I? This was always a hit on my parties back in the days, and with good reason to. This rocks!!! Prepare to dance now...

Orion's Reign - Für Elise (Beethoven)

Greek symphonic metallers and fans of everything between Nightwish and Beethoven. Orion's Reign have been around for quite some time and they have some neat cover versions. Of course, we have to go with Beethoven again (because I don't like Christmas songs and the Game Of Thrones theme isn't really suited for this article). This awesome version of 'Für Elise' will definitely rock you out of your trousers...

Cult of Fire - Vltava (Smetana)

Right, all of that rocked pretty hard but now prepare to be dragged into the bloody rivers of hell with Czech black metal horde Cult Of Fire. What they did with Smetana's 'Moldau' is nothing short of mesmerizing. They released this unholy tune on an ep in 2014, which was released by Iron Bonehead. You can download it for free on their website now, and frankly, you should.

Vitamin String Quartet - One (Metallica)

At this moment, we're knee deep in guitars and drums that we almost forgot about those two little words at the end of this article's title. 'Vice versa', Serge, 'Vice versa'. Well, here is a goosebumbs inducing piece by chamber orchestra Vitamin String Quartet from the USA. They cover all kind of songs but this one is definitely their highlight. Of course, 'One' has been covered a lot, and it always results in a brilliant version. I think that says a lot about the original, no?

Scott Lavender - Wasted Years (Iron Maiden)

All that classical music and not one piano in sight, that's a bit of a shame. We must do something about that. Enter mr Scott Lavender who recorded an album full of Iron Maiden covers with nothing but the piano. We selected 'Wasted Years' but there are plenty of awesome pieces to be found on this album.

Harp Twins - Sweet Child 'O Mine (Guns 'n Roses)

And we finish this article with some blissful harp sounds. The Harp Twins make adaptations for pop and rock songs, including Metallica, Iron Maiden and many more. Yet, since those two have already been featured here, we'll go with this breathtaking version of 'Sweet Child O' Mine' by Guns 'n Roses. 
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Fifteen songs to add to your Halloween playlist

27/10/2016

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Aah, Halloween, the time of year when everybody suddenly decides that this planet isn't scary enough yet. People are pumped over their costumes, their make-up, the trick-or-treat candy and the music they will play at their Halloween-parties. Of course, such a playlist is easy, according to many websites I visited for my research. Throw in Danny Elfman's 'This Is Halloween', Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' and 'Zombie' by The Cranberries and your party will be a spooky halloween blast. But will your guests be scared? Maybe, but this year, let's go for "terrified" instead of "scared". Here are fifteen nice tunes to scare the shit out of your guests and get that party started.

Jim Johnston -  The Undertaker Theme Song

Based on Chopin's 'Funeral March', WWE home musician Jim Johnston has created an absolute classic for all wrestling fans. The tune has been going through several changes over the years but the opening bell has always been a constant. Whenever that sound appeared, you knew you were in for something epic, something dark. Shortly after, there he was, an imposing figure, ready to put his opponent through hell. Even if you don't like wrestling, I think this would make a good intro for your party.

Theatres Des Vampires - Morgana Effect

What good is a horror-themed party without vampires? Enter Italian gothic metal band Theatres Des Vampires, who have recently released their new album 'Candyland' and this video for the song 'Morgana Effect'. This will definitely attract a bunch of headbangers to your party, and, as everybody know, metalheads are good for your alcohol-consumption.

Cadaveria & Necrodeath - Monduscuro

A blood pact between two diabolical entities, a dark and wicked cooperation between Cadaveria and Necrodeath, two bands who have been adding horror themes to heavy guitars for years. Be sure to place this somewhere in your playlist and add a bunch of gloomy projections to top off the atmosphere. Success guaranteed.

Death SS​ - Eaters

There are many horror themed metal bands in the world and I'm not going to add them all on this list, but we simply can't ignore Death SS. They're simply a must-have classic in the metal scene. Hailing from Italy, Death SS was formed in 1977 by Paul Chain and Steve Sylvester. The band combined elements of horror and the occult and heavy metal to become a pioneer in black metal and thrash metal.

Abysmal Grief - Cultus Lugubris

Italy is a great country for occult, dark metal, so it seems. Abysmal Grief has been a constant for twenty years now and an absolute favorite in the world of doom metal. That eerie organ will haunt you for a long time, that's for damn sure. Like many bands, Abysmal Grief is rooted deeply in the seventies horror sound and has been influencing a lot of bands, including Moonspell, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats and The Vision Bleak (three other recommended names for your playlist by the way).

Elend - Eden (The Angel in the Garden)

A long time ago, I volunteered as a monitor at a camp where parents could dump their kids during summer. Each year, the oldest children (14-16) engaged in an overnight theme game. Guess who got to choose the theme? That night, we corpse-painted ourselves, rattled with chains in the forest, blinded the kids with flashlights and blasted Elend through the speakers whenever the kids were near them. Oh man, such fun. We ended that night with a cup of hot chocolate and a few kids' underwear on the clothesline. 

Diamánda Gálás ‎– The Litanies Of Satan

With lyrical topics such as AIDS, depression, mental illness and social injustice, American-born avant-garde artist Diamánda Gálás is a favorite of people who like it scary and haunting. With her extremely unnerving vocal performances and her appetite for the dark side of life, she has left audiences in terror and goths in awe for decades. 'The Litanies Of Satan' is a creepy piece of music, certainly recommended for summoning demons at your party.

​Mz 412 - Act I: Begravning

"Wenn weiß die Farbe des Todes ist, dann ist schwarz die Farbe des Lebens", a sentence that every single Cold Meat Industry fan will immediately recognize. I often played this song on my so called goth-parties and people actually managed to dance to it. For others, it was the ideal soundtrack to start crawling home, back into their caves. Of course, dark ambient is an ideal genre for your horror parties, but I have to admit, Swedish act Mz412 really tops it off with this creeper. 

Skinny Puppy - Who's Laughing Now?

The industrial scene has been widely known for its dark, pounding sound, filling dancefloors everywhere. Canadian groundbreaking act Skinny Puppy have been a huge success in this scene for a long, long time now. In this song, they use samples from 'Evil Dead II', which, along with Nivek Ogre’s demonic vocals, makes this song a perfect one to unleash the dancing zombies on your party.

Bollock Brothers - Horror Movies

Speaking about dancing, here is a song that opens with a list of horror movies, which are actually quite good suggestions to beam at your party. Although this song by British punk act The Bollock Brothers isn't that scary, it should be a decent dancefloor filler in the early hours of that Halloween extravaganza, don't you think?

​Drokz & Sadisk - Satans Visit To Stellwerk

With this one, we dive deeply into a world most Merchants Of Air readers will not be familiar with. Hardcore techno music sure has its creepy songs, although their listeners usually are a lot scarier. I discovered this gem when I was looking for something dark and heavy yet electronic. Before I realized, I was being dragged into a genre named "darkcore". Most of it is onnesssausage(*), but this track certainly is a spooky sensation.

​ (from the Dutch word 'Eenheidsworst' which translates as 'it all sounds the same')

Whitehouse - Cut Hands Has The Solution

If you think that previous one was over-the-top noise, well, welcome to a world where you are no longer a listener, you are a victim. In the deepest regions of the musical industry, there is a scene named 'power electronics', fronted by acts like Nicole 12, Genocide Organ and these guys from Whitehouse. Here, music translates as pure aggression, hatred, dark emotions and torture. Blast this one through your speakers and I'm sure a lot of your guests will run like hell.

Necro - Creepy Crawl 

In the hip hop scene, there also seems to be a sub-genre, named 'horrorcore', which is something slightly different from the hip hop people usually encounter. Necro is a rapper from Brooklyn, New York who has been heavily influenced by death metal, as well as all things gory and haunting. On this song, he uses a sample from Charles Manson while on another one, he raps over blastbeats by Suffocation drummer Mike Smith. 

Coil - Hellraiser Theme

English experimental masterminds Coil created this masterpiece in 1985. It was the proposed soundtrack to the film Hellraiser, however was turned down because it was not considered commercial enough. Other sources claim that the music wasn't used because it was too scary. Anyway, Coil released '​The Unreleased Themes for Hellraiser' in 1987 before once again embarking on a huge amount of other projects and experiments.

Camille Saint-Saëns - Danse Macabre

And for a cool-down after all this dark and horrifying bombast, we reach back to classical music with this beautiful piece of work by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. Written in 1874, the piece was initially a song for a text by the poet Henri Cazalisis, based on an old French superstition. Back then, this might have been one of the scariest pieces of music ever written.
Well, we could go on and on with this list, but we got other stuff to do today. If you have more suggestions for Halloween parties, comment below...
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Fifteen songs that prove Flemish music isn't always horrible

20/10/2016

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Please note: we are not making any political statement with this picture. It's just the Flemish lion with a microphone.
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I live in a region in Belgium, named Flanders. Here, we speak Dutch and a lot of artists also sing in that language. Unfortunately, the majority of Flemish sung music is quite infantile, suited only for carnival and nurseries, yes, even when the artist is trying to be serious. Many alternative music lovers frown upon the mind-numbingly dull qualities of the Flemish music scene, often collected in a program like 'Tien Om Te Zien'. However, there are some artists who manage to make delightful, beautiful and stunning songs in their native language. Here is a little overview...

Gorki - Mia

Everyone in Flanders knows this song, since it is the most iconic piece of music to be found in this region. Luc De Vos, who sadly passed away in 2014, was an absolute genius with a mysterious charisma and a nag for writing strange, emotional lyrics. His oeuvre is impressive, and so were his stage performances. Sometimes it was a heavy rocking gig where even this 'Mia' sounded heavy and intense, sometimes he was alone on stage, armed with his acoustic guitar, singing as much songs as he received Duvels. Today, in the 52nd minute of each home match of football team AA Gent, the entire stadium sings this song in honor of Luc. He is severely missed.

Ann Christy - De Roos

This cover version of a Bette Midler song ('The Rose' - written by Amanda McBroom) is widely regarded as one of the biggest Flemish hits ever. Rivers of tears have been cried since 1980, when the song was released, and still at this very moment, somewhere in Flanders, someone is weeping to this tearjerker. Personally, I'm not always a big fan over cover versions, but this one gets me all the time.

Bazart - Goud

My good friend and Merchants Of Air colleague Wouter told me about this band and showed me this video. I was intrigued pretty quickly because of what I heard. While, musically, these youngsters from Ghent and Antwerp would fit in perfectly with today's electronic pop scene, their use of Dutch is a bold and daring choice. Yet, as we've seen before, it's exactly because of their language that these guys are doing so well. Perhaps, in English this band would drown in the massive amount of acts in their genre, but in Dutch, they definitely excel. To be honest, I'm not a fan of all their songs, but this one certainly is a stand out.

Belgian Asociality - Bompa Punk

Long before Dutch band De Heideroosjes would climb on stages allover the world, these guys from Keerbergen had already become legends. They've had massive hits with songs like 'Morregen', 'Het Is Gedaan' and this epic piece of work about an aging punk fan and his adventures in the retirement home. Blending hardcore punk with (mostly) Dutch lyrics, Belgian Asociality has been a headliner in this country for almost thirty years.

Zjef Vanuytsel - De Zotte Morgen

Another icon we Flemish people miss, is "kleinkunst" singer Zjef Vanuytsel. This song is just as iconic as 'Mia' by Gorki and 'De Roos' by Ann Christy. It still is extremely relevant today, as the world is getting crazier and more hectic each an every day. The title translates as 'the crazy morning' and it's simply a beautiful testament of Belgian music, tout-court.

Amörtisseur - Schuppenaas

The title of this song translates as 'Ace Of Spades', and yes, it does remind me a bit of a fairly recently passed away deity in the world of hard rock and heavy metal. Amörtisseur basically translates Motorhead songs into "Antwaarps", one of the most well-known dialects in our country. This surely is a hilarious tribute to Lemmy. 

Katastroof - Triestige plant

Also hailing from Antwerp, and usually also funny as hell, this band has been a constant in the Flemish music industry since 1977. With songs about beer, women, the catholic church and politicians, Katastroof has gained a loyal following in and around Antwerp. However, my personal favorites have always been the emotional songs, beautifully collected on 'Efkes Serieus'. They show a different, bittersweet, side of these drunken bards.

Noordkaap - Een heel klein beetje oorlog

This band hailed from Limburg, just like me. Basically, Noordkaap was initially called 'Limburg's answer to Gorki, De Mens and De Kreuners' and eventually many of their songs have become instant classics. After the split, vocalist Stijn Meuris would go on to form Monza, which was quite similar and now he performs solo as Meuris, singing these massive Noordkaap hits (like 'Wat Is Kunst', 'Satelliet Suzy' and the Will Tura cover 'Arme Joe') again, much to the delight of the audience.

Urbanus - Kodazuur

Now, don't try to translate this song, because you'll end up confused and slightly insane. Urbanus is an absolute cult figure in Belgium, starting out in a cabaret-ensemble called 'Anus' in the seventies and eventually evolving into a highly respected comedian. This particular song, initially from a performance in 1982, saw a massive outcome years later. While announcing this song, Urbanus joked "I wrote this song for the punk rockers De Heideroosjes'. Seven years later, internationally acclaimed Dutch punk rockers De Heideroosjes were born, crediting Urbanus for their band name. In 2004, Urbanus and De Heideroosjes performed this rocker together at the stage of Rock Werchter.

Louis Neefs - Laat Ons Een Bloem

An environmental activist song from 1970, still immensely relative today. Perhaps that's what timelessness is all about. Kleinkunst singer Louis Neefs had a deep, kind voice and a nag for quality music that has delivered several classic songs, including 'Margrietje', 'Ik Heb Zorgen' and this epic tune. Neefs passed away in 1980, leaving a beautiful legacy of Flemish chansons.

Clement Peerens Explosition - Boecht van Dunaldi

Clement Peeters, the heavy rocking alter ego of musician/comedian.radio personality Hugo Matthijsen was initially a character in a radio show he did with Bart Peeters (Het Leugenpaleis). Soon after, the trio of Clement Peerens (Matthijsen), Vettige Swa (Peeters - later replaced by Dave 'Beast From Hell' de Peuter (Aram Van Ballaert)) and Sylvain Aertbeliën (Ronny Mosuse) scored massive hits with 'Dikke Lu', 'Vindegij Mijn Gat' and 'Foorwijf'. My favorite is 'Boecht Van Dunaldi', a song about disgusting wine in a carton box.

Stef Bos - Is Dit Nu Later?

Maybe this is cheating a bit, since Stef Bos is actually born and raised in The Netherlands. Still, he moved to Belgium in 1988, started writing songs for Clouseau and Ingeborg and appearing in 'De Samson & Gert Show'. In 1990, he released an album with the title 'Is Dit Nu Later', featuring the hit 'Papa' and this tearjerker that gets me every single time. The song describes a highly emotional comparison between his life as a kid and as an adult, wondering 'Is This The Future'?

Black Swarm & Loco ft Batteraaf & Halve Neuro - Parasiet

Earlier this year, the Flemish metal scene teamed up with a number of hip-hop artists to record a tribute to both 'Walk This Way' from Run DMC and the 'Judgement Night' tribute. Personally, I've never really been a fan of Dutch rap, but this thing is yummie. A few gigs followed before they put the project to rest, but rest assured, some tremendously blasting tunes came out of this cooperation.

Arbeid Adelt - De Dag Dat Het Zonlicht Niet Meer Scheen

Marcel Van Tilt is no stranger to absurdities and conflicts. According to a story I read somewhere, someone claimed he stole the band name from a brainstorming session to find a band name for the group that would eventually be known as De Kreuners. Furthermore, this song pissed off schlager singer John Terra who just released a song with the exact same title, which translates as 'The Day The Sun Didn't Shine Anymore'. In the end, Arbeid Adelt probably became most popular with the P.I.L. cover 'Death Disco'. Yet, for Belgian new wavers, this song still is a classic.

Aroma Di Amore - Voor De Dood

Another favorite of the Flemish black denim and leather wearing music lovers, is Aroma Di Amore, a band around Elvis Peeters and guitarist Fred Angst. Formed in 1982, Aroma Di Amore has been known for their socio-critical lyrics and gloomy new wave sound. This song was released as a single in 1983, and appeared on the album 'Radikal' ten years later. 
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Songs With Stories - Five acts that should have been more popular

21/8/2016

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Picturesupport Merchants Of Air, check out our shop
During my decades of digging through numerous musical styles, I've encountered a lot of bands that didn't really get the attention and popularity they deserved. Somehow they fell victim to the success of bands that weren't even that good. So for today's "Songs With Stories", I decided to plunge into the vast history of the musical universe to dig up gems that should have been massive hits. 
The dig for these five songs also provided me with a trip through memory lane. A trip to the festivals I visited, to the countless of hours I spent in record stores, going through every alternative thing they had. This was fun article to write...

Sunna

When I first heard this song, back when MTV was still a music themed television company, I immediately thought these guys would become the next big thing. It was 2001, nu-metal was making its way to the top. Bands like Linkin Park & Limp Bizkit appeared on the biggest stages with hits like 'Rollin', 'My Way', 'Papercut' and 'In The End'. For me, 'I'm Not Trading' by Sunna was way better than any of the previously mentioned songs. The anger, the despair, the industrial elements, everything was stronger than any other nu-metal band could produce. The balance between guitars, drums and electronics was perfect and the vocalist was one of the best in the genre. 
Sunna, hailing from Bristol, UK, also appeared on the 'Hollow Man' soundtrack with another brilliant song, named 'Power Struggle'. They released three albums, toured with A Perfect Circle and Smashing Pumpkins but somehow Sunna got forgotten in time, hopelessly falling behind the Korns, Slipknots, System Of A Downs and so on. Now, even the world's greatest nu-metal tribute band, Bizkit Park, doesn't even play this song. Today, after listening to the song again, I would no longer place this in the nu-metal scene but directly into the industrial one, in good company of bands like Nine Inch Nails.

Stonebride

When I first heard Croatian rockers Stonebride, they blew me away. At that time, I was co-owner of a metal bar and these guys rocked our little stage. Although they never used the term "stoner rock", they became a reference in that particular scene. Their groove, there fuz-out sound and their immersive atmosphere was everything I was searching for at that moment and, along with Monkey 3, Stonebride became a genre-favorite.

They spent a few days at our house before and after their show, drinking loads and loads of coffee and watching South Park and Family Guy on our television-set. It was great fun having them around but after they left, things got quiet around Stonebride until they returned with the album 'Heavy Envelope' in 2014 (read our review). I hope that these guys can finally find the way to the Desertfests and Roadburns. They truly deserve it. 

Sweater

This one might have something to do with the fact that Sweater was a local band who never got to break through because Belgium had some other acts to push first. Acts like dEUS, who released their smasher 'Worst Case Scenario' in the same year, or Noordkaap and Channel Zero. Internationally, 1994 was a big year for rock music with the release of songs like 'Zombie' by Cranberries, 'Basket Case' by Green Day and 'Come Out And Play' by The Offspring.
Sweater finished third on that year's Humo's Rock Rally, overtaken by Evil Superstars who would grow on to become one of the biggest acts from Limburg ever. For Sweater, the third place was followed by a few singles, including this uplifting rocker and the minor hit 'Love Birds'. However, due to musical difference within the band, front man Jo Smeets decided to pull the plug in 1999. The band made a t-shirt for this song as well, which was one of the first band shirts I ever bought.

Thought Industry

If someone asked me, "what is your all-time top-10 of rock ballads"? This one would undoubtedly be in there. In fact, for me, the whole 'Songs For Insects' album is one of the best pieces of progressive metal ever recorded. This song has been with me since I heard it first in 1992 or 1993 and it has been a reference for rock ballads ever since. The heavy songs are brilliantly written pieces of metal, often dissonant but always adventurous. 

Thought Industry recorded five albums but eventually fell victim to musical differences and other issues within the band. They're on my 'too bad I never got too see them live' list, along with The Doors, The Ramones and few other acts.
​
Odd fact, the drummer for Thought Industry went on to form another underrated project, namely I Am Spoonbender. I didn't know that before I started my research for this article but now I like I Am Spoonbender even more :-)

Kong

This is one of the bands that I will always keep pushing, simply because it's my all-time favorite and a personal reference to adventurous music. Although this Dutch instrumental industrial rock act has enjoyed some success in the nineties, they completely vanished from the stages in the new century. In 2009, they hesitantly returned with the album 'What You See Is What You Get', followed by 'Merchants Of Air' (no, that's not a coincidence...)  in 2012 and the amazing 'Stern' in 2014. Yet, gigs are scarce, which is too bad.

Kong has a lot to teach to young instrumental rock bands today. For decades they have been able to tell elaborate stories without uttering a single word. They know perfectly how to make a ten minute anthem interesting and continuously changing. In my opinion, Kong is what the post-rock scene needs today, more variation, more tempo, more strange electronics and more immersive sounds.

In fact, I want these guys on Dunk! Festival more than any other band, and I want them in their four-stages, quadraphonic set-up. I can almost guarantee that they would play a gig that the youngsters will remember for a long time, if not forever (like pretty much every Kong gig I've seen so far). From rock over electronic dance music to jazz and ambient, Kong can do it all.

Their debut 'Mute Poet Vocalizer' was released in 1990 and a remastered edition just last year. Both albums will give you a decent impression what Kong are capable of but I suggest you just go to bandcamp and get everything they've ever released.
Serge
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2016 - albums to look forward to - Björn's list

15/2/2016

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After I started writing the review for the Necro Deathmort EP, which I was looking forward to very much, I was wondering which releases from other artists I was looking forward to in 2016. Turns out there's quite a bit of exciting stuff coming up this year, not to mention all the exciting stuff I'm not even aware of. So without further delay: this is what gets me pumped this year (in no particular order): 

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John Carpenter - Lost Themes Part 2 (facebook)

Last year's Lost Themes was a return to form for the legendary director/composer and to think that there's a Part 2 coming out is very, very exciting indeed
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Night School - Blush (facebook)

This band that mixes Doo-Wop, '60s girl groups, garage rock and shoegaze already released a brilliant earworm of an EP (check that out) that was so irresistible that I'm ready for another dose.
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Nothing - Tired of Tomorrow (facebook)

Nothing, the shoegaze band that had metalheads going ape-faeces over is up for their second full-length on the very same Relapse that is home to countless deathmetal and grindcore bands. 
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Dälek - Asphalt For Eden (facebook)

I can't stand hiphop  (and it's inbred relative, R&B). I know that's pretty limiting for someone who considers himself open-minded when it comes to music, but I just can't help it. However, I love Dälek. Truth be told, Dälek is hardly stereotypical hiphop. If their previous albums are anything to go by, their mix of Hiphop, Industrial, Noise, Shoegaze and Krautrock is sure to be one of the highlights of this year. 
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Devin Townsend (facebook)

I love the DTP. I follow Devin with an almost religious fervour. On his tours, I go to several shows in the same week if I have the chance. So if he announces a new album, I go all giddy like a schoolboy...
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Wrath of the Weak - ? (facebook)

J. of Wrath of the Weak posted a mysterious message on the WotW facebook page: 'big news eventually'.... I consider WotW my favorite black metal(ish) band ever, of all time. I love it even more than I love Ildjarn. And I frigging looooove Ildjarn. So if that 'big news' means there's new material coming out, that's close to saying 'Bjorn of Merchants Of Air's best album of 2016 already known'.. 
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Book Of Sand - several releases (facebook)

Book Of Sand are a highly polarising US act that stretch the boundaries of what can be considered black metal. Taking influences from US folk, Indian and Far East music, implementing exotic instruments like gamelans, blurring their black metal to almost ambient-like qualities: all of it makes for an exciting listen and all new material is much, much welcome
This is just a handful of stuff, no doubt there will be countless of amazing releases. And Merchants Of Air will be your faithful friend to keep you updated. Feel free to comment what you're looking forward to!!

​Björn
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