Biography
There are multiple artists using the name Harde Smart.
1. A Belgian DJ-collective
2. A Dutch pop rock band
The name 'Harde Smart' is derived from the Dutch words hard (hard, rough, tough) and smart (sadness, grief, feeling of emotional pain or emotional suffering). The Dutch-languaged music genre smartlap is a subgenre of the levenslied (literally translated from Dutch as life song or song of life). Levenslied is a sentimental Dutch-language subgenre of popular music. Levenslied lyrics can be sweet or bitter, light and sentimental, but also reflective and dark, about subjects such as love, misery and far-away, sunny, exotic holiday places. The darker, more sentimental songs are also known as smartlap (literally translated from Dutch as grief cloth, as in listeners can cry when they get carried away with emotions while listening to the emotional lyrics). The levenslied is related to the chanson, though for a lower-class audience, like the schlager.
A typical levenslied has catchy, simple rhythms and melodies and is built up in couplets and refrains. Traditional musical instruments in levenslied music are the accordion and the barrel organ. Modern levenslied artists also use synthesizers and guitars. The songs are usually in Dutch but also English or Italian.
1. Harde Smart is a Belgian DJ-collective, based in Ghent.
They mix Dutch-languaged music from the 60s, 70s and 80s, but represent everything this musical heritage isn't quite known for: breaks, funky grooves and heavy, Wu-Tang Clan-worthy basslines, filled up with some spot on lyrics in the form of a carefully selected oneliner. "De nacht is lang en jij hebt dorst." (The night is long and you're thirsty.)
The search of vinyl junkies No Sleep Richy, Micha Marva and Sjefke de Kok started in 2013, after they slowly realised artist like Boudewijn De Groot, Zjef Vanuytsel or even Conny Vandenbos had some unusually hard track hidden in their discographies. The lesser known tracks on the lesser known albums, the B-sides of the singles, the songs that flopped at the time that you're not going to find on the countless, composed-for-the-average-lover-of-the-genre compilated collectors. And what about the repertoire of musicians who's fame never reached far enough, to be heard or remembered by anyone today?
Not when it comes to the gentlemen of Harde Smart. Meanwhile they listened to over a thousand records and slingshotted the rare gems of which you didn't even knew they existed, to absolute classics in their universe. The result: a contemporary mash-up of both edited and complete tracks, dynamically sewed together and listenable (and downloadable) through over 16 (and counting) mixtapes on their Soundcloud page.
Most of their mixtapes are composed with a certain theme in mind. Their SKANKIN' SMART mixtape features various Dutch or Flemish reggae tracks, ZIET STERRETJES (Sees Stars) features tracks related to a state of delirium from drugs or drinking, RELIGNIE features religious-themed tracks, Zonder Zwaartekracht (Whithout Gravity) features space-themed tracks, along with samples from seventies children's TV-show De Astronautjes, GEEN TOEKOMST (No future) features various Dutch and Flemish punk tracks, GOFIT - 16 features disco tracks and so on…
In 2019, they released their first Harde Smart compilation/mixtape on a double vinyl album, Harde Smart : Flemish & Dutch Grooves From The 70's. Featuring 21 tracks from the seventies, going from Raymond Van het Groenewoud over Jimmy Frey to Della Bosiers. Mostly unknown songs, but they all have a very catchy groove. A mixtape, in which all the tracks from the compilation are featured, is also included.
2. Harde Smart is (or was) a Dutch-languaged pop rock band from The Netherlands. Between 1985 and 1995 they released several singles and albums. Band members were Eric Pieterman (keyboard), Herbert Hoekstra (drums), Marcel Vaarties (guitar), Michel van Son (bass) and Niek Nieuwenhuijsen (singer).
Artist descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Feel free to contribute!
All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
