What we hear changes what we see. It changes our mind, seeping through our senses, often flooding us with the feels we needed to be carried along.

Here’s three mixes that will, in their own distinct way, change your mind for the better - or at the very least add a more interesting background colour to your day. (They all have a Belgian connection, too - which I didn’t even notice until I started this post.)

Frist up: Clara 3000 at We Are Various. Clara 3000 is one of those DJ’s whose name I always click when a new set pops up. This one surfaced just before New Year in the Belgian treasure trove of DJ sets that is “We Are Various”. It’s great from start to finish, full of electronic gems that glisten in the dark.

Number two on the list: Lefto’s “Best of 2018”. Lefto is a very generous man. I get the sense his entire life is shaped by music and, more specifically, sharing the good stuff with good people. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a serious digger, a casual consumer of good vibes or a total rookie when it comes to new sounds: a Lefto mix will always have several moments that feel like someone just handed you a piece of brainfood with essential nutrients you didn’t even know you were missing.

Number three: Eppo Janssen for Dubbel Dee & Friends. Eppo has been a driving force in the Belgian music scene for a long time, never getting pinned down to specific genres, and his love for great tunes really comes out in this recent mix. The tracklist includes lots of names you might know, but also lots of songs that don’t make it into the ‘most popular’ lists on most streaming services. It’s the kind of mix you can only make if you listen to entire albums and if you’ve carried around music in some part of your brain for most -if not all- of your life.

Image up top: (c) Mary Frey “My mother and my son”