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| Le Guess Who? | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Various |
| Dates | November |
| Location(s) | Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Website | www |
Le Guess Who? is a Dutch music festival featuring different music genres: from avant-garde, jazz, hip hop, electronic, experimental, noise rock, indie rock, world music and others. This festival was founded by Bob van Heur and Johan Gijsen. It has been hosted in the city of Utrecht since 2007.
During four days in mid November, Le Guess Who? takes over the city center of Utrecht with over 200 performances in pop venues, theaters, churches, galleries and warehouses. Satellite events with music, film, visual art, photography and markets appear at cafés, hotels, restaurants, wharf cellars, the central square and the hidden corners of the city. Stages are the music venues of Utrecht (TivoliVredenburg, De Helling, EKKO, dB's, etc.), but also theaters, clubs and the main churches of the city (like for example the Dom Church and Jacobikerk). The line-up consists of more than hundred acts that rarely perform in the Netherlands or acts that have their first show there. The first edition in 2007 only featured Canadian acts but nowadays the festival has many international acts that make an appearance. [1] Le Guess Who? celebrates diversity and inclusivity, [2] focusing on artists that feel the urge to explore and expand the boundaries of certain genres and it features non-western sounds, jazz, folk, ambient, drone, avant-garde, modern composed, as well as contemporary pop and rock culture, and many blended forms of these genres.
Since 2015, one or more guest curators present a part of the festival program. Previous curators include Devendra Banhart, Shabaka Hutchings and Moor Mother (2018); [3] Perfume Genius, James Holden, Grouper, Shabazz Palaces, Jerusalem in My Heart and Han Bennink (2017); Wilco, Savages, Julia Holter and Suuns (2016); [4] Sunn O))) (2015). The last edition of the festival took place November 7–10, 2019 [5] and the curators were Fatoumata Diawara, Iris van Herpen & Salvador Breed, Jenny Hval, The Bug, Patrick Higgins and Moon Duo. [6]
The 14th edition of the festival took place on November 11–14, 2021, in the city of Utrecht (Netherlands). It featured Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie), Matana Roberts, John Dwyer (Thee Oh Sees), Midori Takada and Lucrecia Dalt as curators; the initial line-up included SPAZA, Bohren & der Club of Gore, Black Country, New Road, Low, The Necks and Alabaster DePlume.
Initially, the festival focused exclusively on bands from Canada. With the line-up of the third edition (2009) this tradition became less strict and bands from other countries also performed. In 2010, at the fourth edition, the premise of only Canadian avant-garde music was completely abandoned and the programmers began to focus on music from all over the world. In 2007 the festival lasted two days, three in 2008, four in 2009, five in 2010, again three days in 2011 and four days in the following years. The line-ups included: [7]
| Curated by [8] | |
|---|---|
| Sunn O))) | Annette Peacock, Julia Holter, Keiji Haino, Hildur Guðnadóttir, OM |
| Between Two Crescents | Dirar Kalash, Sahar Taha, Elie Maalouf |
| Jacco Gardner | Os Mutantes, Dungen, Nick Garrie, Michael Rault, Eerie Wanda |
| Levitation | Total Control, Lightning Bolt, Suuns & Jerusalem in My Heart, Bo Ningen, Deradoorian, Ringo Deathstarr. |
| Constellation Records (Canada) | Ought, Saltland, Last Ex, Avec le Soleil Sortant de sa Bouche |
| Fluister Nights | Lubomyr Melnyk, Loscil, Christina Vantzou, Otto A. Totland |
| Le Guess Who? | Deerhunter, Kamasi Washington, Destroyer, The Notwist, Faust, Ariel Pink, Swervedriver, Atlas Sound, A Place To Bury Strangers, Wavves, Kaki King, Protomartyr, Car Seat Headrest, Hop Along, Torii |
| Curated by [9] | |
|---|---|
| Wilco | 75 Dollar Bill, Deerhoof, Kyoka, Lee Ranaldo & El Rayo, Let's Eat Grandma, PITA Peter Rehberg, Steve Gunn, William Tyler |
| Savages | Beak, Bo Ningen, Duke Garwood, Tim Hecker |
| Julia Holter | Jessica Moss, Laurel Halo, Lucrecia Dalt, Tashi Wada & Yoshi Wada |
| Suuns | Alessandro Cortini, Brian Case, Jerusalem in My Heart, Jlin, Patrick Higgins |
| The Ex Festival | Andy Moor, Han Bennink, John Butcher, Ken Vandermark, Melaku Belay, |
| Le Guess Who? | Black Mountain, Cate Le Bon, Dinosaur Jr., Gilla Band, Jonny Greenwood & The Rajasthan Express, Nadja, Patty Waters, Peter Broderick, Ryley Walker, The Comet is Coming, The Ex, Ufomammut, Weyes Blood, Whitney |
| Curated by [11] | |
|---|---|
| Shabaka Hutchings | Kadri Gopalnath, The Comet Is Coming, Kojey Radical, King Ayisoba, Bo Ningen |
| Moor Mother | Nicole Mitchell, Emel Mathlouthi, Islam Chipsy & EEK, Maria Chavez |
| Devendra Banhart | Vashti Bunyan, Rodrigo Amarante, Roger Eno, Gigi Masin, Jessica Pratt, Katey Red |
| Le Guess Who? | The Breeders, Swamp Dogg, Neneh Cherry, Colin Stetson, Cass McCombs, Anoushka Shankar & Manu Delago with MO Strings, The Heliocentrics, Mudhoney, Yves Tumor, Kelsey Lu, JPEGMAFIA, Tirzah, Lydia Lunch’s Big Sexy Noise, Vera Sola, Cindy Lee, Black Midi |
| Curated by [12] | |
|---|---|
| Fatoumata Diawara | Roberto Fonseca, Master Soumy, Ahmed Ag Kaedy, Fatoumata Diawara |
| Iris van Herpen and Salvador Breed | Mykki Blanco, Efterklang, Amnesia Scanner, Holly Herndon |
| Jenny Hval | DNA? AND?, Félicia Atkinson, Lolina, Moon Relay, Oorutaichi, Sofia Jernberg, Vivian Wang |
| Moon Duo | Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids, Mary Lattimore, Moon Duo, Nivhek, Sonic Boom (Peter Kember) |
| Patrick Higgins | Conrad Tao, Leila Bordreuil, LEYA, Mariel Roberts, Miranda Cuckson, Stine Janvin, Tyondai Braxton, Vicky Chow |
| The Bug | Drew McDowall’s Time Machines, Earth, Godflesh, King Midas Sound, Mala, Mark Ernestus's Ndagga Rhythm, ZONAL feat. Moor Mother |
| Le Guess Who? | Acid Mothers Temple, Aldous Harding, Asha Puthli, Cate Le Bon, Deerhunter, The Raincoats, Visible Cloaks, |
Le Guess Who? includes several satellite events which take place around the festival in Utrecht, during the main program.
Lombok Festival: a freely accessible festival that celebrates the cultural diversity of the Lombok district, initiated in collaboration with various locations, musicians, key figures and residents of this part of Utrecht. During Lombok Festival, various performances and cultural activities are organized; besides music performances, there are exhibitions, poetry readings, lectures, dance performances and special collaborations. [13]
Le Mini Who?: a spin-off festival of Le Guess Who?. It turns studios, cafes and art spaces of Utrecht into improvised venues for (mainly) Dutch underground acts to play. [14]
Untitled: this satellite event explores the many artistic expressions and perspectives of the artists performing at Le Guess Who?, as well as the exhibitions curated by art and design organizations in Utrecht. [15]
In addition to the regular program, Le Guess Who? organizes various free accessible satellite events and education projects. The project Le Feast creates a connection between the city of Utrecht and national and international festival visitors, who are guests for a brunch in several local living rooms. [16] The festival recently started an education program with schools, in and around Utrecht, where students immerse themselves in the background of a festival artist and create a visual work, then exhibited during the festival in TivoliVredenburg. In recent years the festival also became a productions unit that releases music records, live videos and more. [17] Examples are Mount Eerie's live album "After" (recorded during the artist's live show at Le Guess Who? [18] ) the audiovisual project of Jerusalem in My Heart with a fifteen-piece ensemble from Beirut, or the collaboration between Circuit des Yeux and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. [19]
Utrecht is the fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the province of Utrecht. The municipality of Utrecht is located in the eastern part of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Netherlands, and includes Haarzuilens, Vleuten and De Meern. It has a population of 361,699 as of December 2021.
In the arts and in literature, the term avant-garde identifies an experimental genre, or work of art, and the artist who created it; which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable to the artistic establishment of the time. The military metaphor of an advance guard identifies the artists and writers whose innovations in style, form, and subject-matter challenge the artistic and aesthetic validity of the established forms of art and the literary traditions of their time; thus, the artists who created the anti-novel and Surrealism were ahead of their times.
Sunn O))) is an American drone metal band formed in 1998 in Seattle, Washington. The band is known for their distinctive visual style and slow, heavy sound, which blends diverse genres including doom metal, drone, black metal, dark ambient, and noise rock, as well as for their extremely loud live performances.
All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) was a UK organisation based in London that promoted music festivals, concerts and records throughout the world for over 10 years. It was founded by Barry Hogan in 2001 in preparation for the first All Tomorrow's Parties Festival, the line-up of which was picked by Mogwai and took place at Pontins, Camber Sands, England.
Paradiso is a music venue located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Spinvis is a Dutch one-man music project centred on Erik de Jong. Using experimental, lo-fi music, Spinvis has earned two gold records in the Netherlands, and performed sold-out tours in both the Netherlands and Belgium.
The Sled Island Music & Arts Festival is an annual independent music and arts festival formed in 2007 and held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Each June, the five-day festival showcases over 200 bands, visual artists, filmmakers and comedians as well as over 40,000 attendees in multiple venues across the city. Each year, Sled Island selects a guest curator to help set the direction and tone of the festival through specialized programming choices and with their presence at the event. Past guest curators have included Sudan Archives (2022), Julien Baker (2019), Deerhoof (2018), Flying Lotus (2017), Peaches (2016), Godspeed You! Black Emperor (2015), Kathleen Hanna (2014), John Dwyer (2013), Tim Hecker (2013), Andrew W.K. (2012), Danny Vacon (2012), Grant Lawrence (2011), Bogus Tokus (2011), Fucked Up (2010), King Khan (2010), Quintron & Miss Pussycat (2010), Colin Newman (2009), Scott Kannberg (2008) and Mark Andrew Hamilton of Woodpigeon (band) (2007).
Laster is an avant-garde, atmospheric black metal band hailing from Utrecht, The Netherlands. However, the band describes their music as obscure dance music.
The Roadburn Festival is an annual music festival held each April in Tilburg, Netherlands. It was founded by Walter Hoeijmakers and Jurgen van den Brand in 1999, who ran a stoner rock blog of the same name.
Paard van Troje, since 2016 known as PAARD, is a venue in The Hague, Netherlands founded in 1972 18 June with the support of the alderman of culture from The Hague. Currently located at the Prinsegracht.
Dutch rock is a form of rock music produced in the Netherlands, primarily in the English language as well as in Dutch.
De Staat is a Dutch alternative rock band, formed in Nijmegen in 2006. Their name translates to "The State".
Kensington is a Dutch rock band from Utrecht that was formed in 2005. The band's lineup of lead vocalist Eloi Youssef, guitarist Casper Starreveld, bassist Jan Haker and drummer Niles Vandenberg remained consistent for 14 years beginning in 2008. The band has since released two EPs and five studio albums: Borders (2010), Vultures (2012), Rivals (2014), Control (2016) and Time (2019).
TopNotch is a Dutch record label specializing in hip-hop. The label was founded in 1995, and is run by Vincent Patty. After some commercial success it became allied with Virgin EMI Records, and since 2004 has a marketing and distribution deal with PIAS Entertainment Group. It has expanded into Dutch-language music by singer-songwriters such as Lucky Fonz III, and in 2009 signed a distribution and marketing agreement with Universal Music Group. Still praised in 2009 as "the brand for high-quality Dutch hip-hop", it sought to expand into other musical genres.
Julia Shammas Holter is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, composer, artist, and academic, based in Los Angeles. Her work has received critical acclaim and incorporates elements of Art pop, Chamber pop, baroque pop and Ambient music. Following three independent album productions, Holter released Tragedy as her first official studio album in 2011. Ekstasis followed in 2012. After signing with Domino Records in 2013, she released the albums Loud City Song (2013), Have You in My Wilderness (2015), the live-in-the-studio album In the Same Room (2017) and the double album Aviary (2018).
Simon Francis Murphy is a Dutch-based, Australian conductor and viola player with a focus on the music of the 18th and early 19th centuries. He is originally from Balmain, Sydney, Australia.
Suuns is a Canadian rock band from Montreal. It was formed in mid-2007 when vocalist and guitarist Ben Shemie and guitarist and bassist Joe Yarmush got together to make some beats which quickly evolved into a few songs. The duo was soon joined by drummer Liam O'Neill and bassist and keyboardist Max Henry to complete the original line-up. The band signed to Secretly Canadian in 2010. Since 2018, Suuns saw the departure of Henry as an official member to pursue a scholastic path, and in 2020 they officially signed with Joyful Noise Recordings with their 2020 output of Fiction, followed by their 2021 LP The Witness.
The Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht is an annual music festival that showcases and celebrates early European art music. The ten-day festival takes place in the Dutch city of Utrecht, and begins in August. The programme includes concerts, activities, lectures, exhibitions, and a symposium.
Jerusalem in My Heart (JIMH) is a live audio-visual performance project, with Montréal-based producer and musician Radwan Ghazi Moumneh and Montréal-based filmmaker Erin Weisgerber. Jerusalem in My Heart release their music on Montreal label Constellation Records.
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