Best Kept Secret 2024 blokkenschema dag 2 - zaterdag 8 juni 2024

Hubert Tushiyime – aka Porcelain id – has become one of Belgium's most talented emerging artists with their sparse but urgent alternative pop anthems, sung in both Flemish and English. Initially inspired by the likes of Bon Iver and Blood Orange, Porcelain id has crafted a highly distinctive sound, guided by their expressive vocal talents and piercing lyrics.

It's impossible to keep your eyes off of Fatoumata Diawara once she steps on stage: a phenomenal singer, a mesmerizing stage performer and an unstoppable creative force. Fatoumata's towering talent is a union of the many musical lineages of her homeland Mali and beyond, uplifted into a joy and emotional depth that only the best pop music can bring.

Parcels are a modern band that embody everything good about 'back in the day', albeit with a fresh twist. Great songwriting, big blustering orchestral arrangements, dapper fashion sense and loads of charisma; indeed, these stylish Aussies tick off all the boxes with a gentleman's sweep. If you need to lighten up, Parcels have plenty of groovy hits in stock.

We know how Paolo Nutini feels once he puts on some brand new shoes. This Scottish troubadour with Italian roots knows all the tricks of the trade, blending pop, rock, folk, and soul into an irresistible mix. Blessed with a voice that teems with raw emotion, Nutini tells stories of love, life, and everything in between, making you sway one moment and reflect the next. A twist of retro, a dash of modern flair, and a whole lot of heart.

Beloved indie rockers Cherry Glazerr have shapeshifted as drastically as any band of the past decade, from their rowdy, garage-rock inception all the way to the crafty grunge-pop leanings of recent records. What stayed the same, however, is Clementine Creevy's biting lyrics and uncanny nose for memorable hooks: the perfect mix of swagger and snide.

Behold YHWH Nailgun, yet another entry in a recent trend of ‘WTF is that!?’-genre defying experimental bands (file under Black Midi and HEALTH). Their blueprint is turning industrial noise-scapes into digitized electronic dance floor romps, plus a vocalist who sounds like he’s suffering a survival trial worse than Theon Greyjoy. It all adds up to a thrilling, cutting-edge display of audio-pyrokinetics.

Instead of taking aim at the oppressive powers hovering above us, Rotterdam-based quartet Library Card’s off-kilter mix of noise-punk, emo and post-rock encloses the reflective walls around ourselves. Their songs compel us to rummage the rubble of our anxieties for small victories, compassion and shared humanity. Inside Library Card’s discordant and loud shell there’s warmth and beauty just waiting to beam skyward.

Faux Real, aka siblings Virgile and Elliott Arndt, concoct a entertaining mix of electro-pop and anti-rock, like 90s boy bands crashing into new wave. With offbeat French-English poetry and a "karaoke-plus" vibe, they're part aerobics, part ballet, and all absurdity. Think darkroom fetish meets campsite playback, performing anywhere from shadowy raves to European street corners.

Deijuvhs shakes up genres like a graffiti spray can: UK Garage, trap, metal, drum & bass, jungle, punk and basically everything in between. This rising underground star from London can turn even the biggest festival stage into a raunchy house party. His songs literally burst at the seams with dark drill bangers, basement club hits, expressive emo R&B and the better moshpit-inducing violence.

Hailing from Belarus and shaped by the vibrant music scene of Hamburg, ChewChew cultivated a deep-seated passion for eclectic music from a very young age. Now based in Berlin, ChewChew made herself a name in the city‘s scene with her distinctive style and genre-blending talents. She continues to defy musical boundaries and captivate audiences through her semi-regularly event series “All You Can Feel,“ solidifying her reputation as both a dynamic DJ and promoter. Internationally recognized, ChewChew‘s artistry reflects a relentless pursuit of creative innovation, exploring new sonic landscapes to enthrall her listeners. For fans of former The Floor guests like AliA, Daphni or AJUMA.

Indeed, Ratboys make noise for the ones they love with alt-country tunes that sound both tender and crunchy. Julia Steiner's voice makes you want to jump out of bed and start your day with carpe diem-fervor: bright and artless, yet beneath it an emotional depth that reveals the larger stakes in life. A potent band that cover a whole range of feelings within each note sung and played. Happy tears guaranteed!

Once upon a time Grace Cummings recorded an album called 'Storm Queen', which is quite an apt description of her overall artistry. The Australian songsmith owns a remarkable, expressive voice that makes you go 'good grief!': deep, bellowing, resonant, seemingly worn by time far beyond Cummings' own existence on earth. Truly something to behold.

Etran de L'Aïr ('stars of the Aïr region') bring joy in constant motion. Their brand of desert blues never stagnates, holding down a swaying pulse that accelerates and abates with the flick of the wrist, as guitar melodies flutter about like a dense flock of birds. Etran de L'Aïr are a balm for the brain and a beacon for the body, and before your know it, you find yourself aligning to their hypnotic heartbeat.

Want to feel as if you are cruising on Rainbow Road without the fear of toppling over the edge? The easy option is to catch Mildlife doing that thing they do best. The Melbourne quartet have made retrofuturistic neosoul and psych funk jams their calling card since their very beginnings. If you need a break from boring old space-and-time, Mildlife is your chosen remedy... and that's putting it mildly!

The brothers Charles and Andrew Hendy, along with Seán McKenna, together form The Mary Wallopers, the most fun, rousing Irish folk band of the moment. This trio has its roots in punk, only to arrive at the subversive, political power of folk. The Mary Wallopers are, above all, doggedly DIY, not afraid of a bold political statement, sung with an unmistakable Irish lilt.

The immensely popular Mula B rolls off raps with a blend of raw emotion and flash. Mula jumps between hook-heavy club anthems and deeply personal stories that explore themes of family, broken friendships, and street life. Notable for his aggressive Agga kick and melodic flow, Mula B offers a candid glimpse into his troubled past and current struggles, revealing a damaged yet resilient spirit.

Who cares if they change the spelling of their name every few years or so: OSEES – led by indefatigable John Dwyer – remain one of the greatest live spectacles on this blue space rock. Louder and more intense than their peers, not to mention more pioneering, the band shapeshifts faster on a record-by-record basis than we can keep up. OSEES will pound Best Kept Secret into submission like it's just another day at the office.

Following in the footsteps of other techno greats, Tjade transformed from wide-eyed student to authority behind the decks in light-speed velocity. Having voyaged each and every corner of Dutch nightlife with his ear-catching blend of trance, electro, and (neo)italo, Tjade’s sets are an expert exercise in tension-and-release. Just as impressive is his innate curiosity for other forms such as Bollywood hits, indie and hip-hop.

The latest niche in quote unquote rock music is great and all that, but sometimes, your brain just screams for pop anthems that charge the pearliest of gates with utmost conviction. Enter The Amazons, a group that mastered this exact thing within the guitar-based idiom: their slam dunk tunes generate enough power to run a large city, with hooks that beg you to scream out from the very top of your lungs.

Aussie duo Royel Otis write delightfully catchy synth pop anthems that radiate with offbeat charm; the kind of tunes that ricochet in your brain while you muster up the courage to talk to your crush du jour at a party. Word is that Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic bonded over Alessi Brothers's iconic summer ballad "Seabird", which frankly, makes a ton of sense.

Arisen from Rotterdam's fringe guitar scene is Tramhaus, currently one of the most hard-hitting and dangerous bands roaming the planet. The quintet's setlist is jam-packed with anthems of discontent, showing us that the old punk ethos refuses to be nailed into the coffin. Those who lived to tell their incursion at the Casbah in 2022 got the scars to prove it.

His legendary show at Best Kept Secret in 2018 cemented Vince Staples as one of rap’s most visionary voices. If there’s one constant in the career of this Long Beach great, is that he always keeps his ear to the ground. Never concerned with fanfare or the status quo, Staples focusses solely on his chosen craft to convey his experiences, his unlimited creativity and his street savvy outlook on the world.

Since reforming, shoegaze greats Slowdive have already crossed off two legendary shows at Best Kept Secret. Three's a charm for a beloved band who have bridged generations with such grace, humility and innovation. Witnessing Slowdive open all their vast registers is akin to the most beautiful and impressive of natural forces, the true potency of live music unravelling before us.

Grammy-nominated Amsterdam-based collective Altın Gün are one of today’s most revered live acts. Picture a Turkish folkloric tale on a funkadelic space odyssey, where Anatolian rhythms meet disco balls, and electrifying saz riffs tango with retro synthesizers. A musical kaleidoscope where East meets West in a groovy, mind-bending journey.