Search: DJ Haram
DJ Haram & Aquiles Navarro
A genre-defying force in the world of rap and electronic music, producer DJ Haram is equally celebrated for her bass and club music heavy DJ sets, detail oriented analogue sound design, electronic-fol...
Armand Hammer
In 2021, explosive New York City rap duo Armand Hammer (half ELUCID, half billy woods) released ‘Haram’, their collaboration with legendary producer The Alchemist. Two years later, the rec...
DJ Stingray 313
Detroit native DJ Stingray 313, real name Sherard Ingram, is a menacing node in the vast tangle of electronic music's history, present, and future. His eyes, which shine behind the mask which otherwis...
DJ C4MPURS4R1
A mixture of essences is what u can expect when you hear DJ C4MPURS4R1 on the decks. Inspired by traditional and modern sounds, they'll deliver something where your body can't help but to move.
dj. flugvél og geimskip
In the vocabulary of Icelandic artist dj. flugvél og geimskip – translation: ‘dj airplane or spaceship’ – the notion of choice is pretty overrated. Why not rapturously e...
DJ Fitz & DJ Quesadilla
DJ Quesadilla and DJ Fitz, two swashbuckling archeologists of music who habitually turn dancefloors all over the world into journeys of sweet sonic oblivion. The former is one of the most prominent fi...
Ping Pong & DJ’s (2021)
Somewhere close to the sounds of trains leaving and entering Utrecht Central Station, you can find the Ping Pong Club. Ping Pong & DJ’s will take place in this industrial former warehouse. P...
Amsterdam-based DJ/producer/vocalist LYZZA releases new EP 'IMPOSTER'
Born and raised in Brazil, DJ/producer/vocalist LYZZA is becoming a familiar face during radical, underground club nights all over the world, from Amsterdam all the way to Shanghai. Now, she releases...
DJ Fitz (2022)
Few have a bond as vital with Le Guess Who? as Irish psych master DJ Fitz. Only having missed the festival's very first edition in 2007, he has been a recurring presence at the event ever since. Thus,...
DJ Lynnée Denise
What Lynnée Denise hears carries meaning. Through her performance, she passes it on to us, instructing us on her new and bold listening practice, which she calls Turntable Epistemology. The sta...
DJ Ninja Hagen
18:00 - 18:20 / dB'sAfter spending some time testing the musical capabilities of everyday equipment DJ Ninja Hagen is now doing a hybrid DJ performance. From 20 to 2000 bpm.
DJ Marcelle
You might have seen her walking around festival terrains around the globe, with a bag full of vinyls and a big smile on her face. Inventive collector and selector DJ Marcelle brings her iconic three-t...
Habibi Funk DJ Set
Jannis Stürtz first had the idea of co-founding his own music label amid traveling to North Africa. It was there that the Berlin-based crate digger was introduced to a brand new world of music fr...
The Garbage Man (DJ set by Liz Harris/Grouper)
As The Garbage Man, Liz Harris of Grouper DJ’s odd tunes and scavenged mash-ups of obscure pop, classical, noise, and field recording on vinyl and cassette. This year, she is cordially invited b...
DJ Travella
The future is heard whenever DJ Travella steps into the booth. The nineteen-year-old producer, born Hamadi Hassani, has reinvented the high-speed Tanzanian dance music sound, singeli, by injecting int...
Fininho (DJ)
Portuguese producer and DJ Francisco "Fininho" Sousa began as a techno DJ in Lisbon. Co-founding Celeste/Mariposa in 2009 shifted his path, supporting Lisbon's African diaspora talent, notably from An...
Le Guess Who? participates in TIMES: The Independent Movement for Electronic Scenes
TIMES (The Independent Movement for Electronic Scenes) is a cooperative project that brings together different European festivals to create original performances that combine music and visual arts. As well as shared programming of artists and the project's original creations, TIMES aims to support, promote, and improve diversity and susta...
DJ Anderson do Paraíso
At the age of 27, Anderson do Paraíso - or ‘queridão’, meaning ‘the dearest’ - has made himself a legend in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The seminal artist is known fo...
Quesadilla
In the trusty words of DJ Fitz; ‘DJ Quesadilla is a living legend. I should stop there, but I won't. Born in the Industrial Heartland of North Portugal, in the city of unnecessary bridges and tu...
Anadol (DJ set)
Gözen Atila (or Anadol) has authenticity as a guiding principle; ‘this is what I want to achieve'. Their ambition does not betray them, since every inch of their latest release, 2022’...
Lee Gamble DJ
Across his discography - now spanning over a decade -, UK-based musician, composer, producer, and label-head Lee Gamble begs the question; can you philosophize on the dancefloor? His own answers have...
dj Jellinek
Jellinek of 'gezwelle soundsystem', music like on freeparties!This program is part of Looney Lunatic presents: “Bursting the aerial cortex with sounds that normally stays hidden underground, we...
DJ Firmeza
Príncipe Discos presents, hosted by FACT DJ Firmeza is a member of the Príncipe Discos crew, one of the most interesting and landmark-shifting movements within the modern European club...
Vladimir Ivkovic DJ
Hosted by FACT Belgrade-based DJ Vladimir Ivkovic sees his chosen profession as a deeper philosophy than just filling up dancefloors. For him, DJing is a way to enter or create new places, to trigger...
Marcelle/Another Nice Mess
As hard as it may be to pigeonhole certain acts to a determinate category or adjective, perhaps this mission is never as hard as when trying to pin down what kind of music you can expect from a Marcel...
Freaky Dancing: puurvuur (DJ)
puurvuur is a DJ and producer from Utrecht, who plays and makes beats that sit in the cracks between bass music, hiphop, and club. Selections span from breaks to uncategorizable productions around 140...
Soft Break
Yessica Deira is Soft Break, a DJ and multidisciplinary designer hailing from Rotterdam. Early encounters with the city’s bustling music scene feed into her DJ work, which is highly eclectic; wi...
Noise Diva
Noise Diva is an Amsterdam-based producer and DJ, Garage Noord resident, and co-founder at KLAB and SALWA foundation. Her musical stylings bridge together a variety of genres, from Moroccan trap to Eg...
Betsayda Machado & DJ Babatr
At the invitation of Chromesthesia, another special collaboration takes the stage at this year’s Le Guess Who?. Betsayda Machado is an iconic Venezuelan folk artist who has been initiating liste...
Adrian Sherwood DJ set
For more than four decades, Adrian Sherwood has been consistently breaking new ground, and has developed a cult-like following via his experiments in dub, reggae, punk, post-punk and bass music. As th...
LGW Hangout
Utrecht's independent print workshop Kapitaal, once again hosts the official Le Guess Who? Hangout through all things print and sound. The program is a culmination of print, live music, DJ's, pizza's...
Fatima Al Qadiri (DJ set)
Composer and conceptual artist Fatima Al Qadiri is multi-disciplinary talent whose one-of-a-kind work bridges electronic productions, movie soundtracks and visual arts. Mainstream Western pop and the...
Jerusalem In My Heart & Friends DJ set
Jerusalem In My Heart invites friends from Beirut and Montreal to take over the decks to fill the night to the wee hours of the morning with some badass music. Dress sharp...
Fhloston Paradigm (DJ)
As one of the many groundbreaking brainchilds of renowned Philly producer and musician King Britt, Fhloston Paradigm will return to Utrecht to host a DJ set featuring impulsive experimentation, cosmic...
Afterparty
While the festival’s numerous performances spread all over the city of Utrecht, there will be one moment we all come together, and that is at the afterparty. The line-up will feature dub-king Ke...
Footwork legend RP Boo announces new album ‘I’ll Tell You What!’
The originator of footwork music and one of Chicago’s finest producers RP Boo will release his new album ‘I’ll Tell You What!’ on 6 July via Planet Mu. Leading up to his new LP...
De Schuurman
De Schuurman’s 2021 release – ‘Bubbling Inside’, a collaboration between Kampala-based label Nyege Nyege Tapes and Rotterdam’s platform Pantropical – centers around...
Dennis Bovell (DJ set)
Britain's 'reggae maestro' Dennis Bovell earned his reputation over four decades ago as one of the genre's boldest pioneers. The Barbados-born musician and producer moved to the UK at twelve, where he...
Manuka Honey
Leading the Latinx-infused club music coming out of the UK is Marissa Malik, best known by her stage name Manuka Honey. The boisterous London DJ has been showcasing her brand of beautiful chaos all ov...
Freaky Dancing: Joshka (DJ)
Even without her other half Minka — who she met during EKKO’s DJ course over their shared love for fast and quirky electronic music — Joshka takes you on a rave journey past dynamic...
aural conduct: Luke Cohlen b2b Mary
Luke Cohlen is a DJ and programmer whose sounds tread a variegated landscape, from quiet introspection to trippy and rhythmic club-terrains. Through an inherent drive to spotlight music and artists wo...
Ambient Listening Sessions X U? presents: Omit Iwik
Omit Iwik (Iris van der Sluis) is an ambient and experimental DJ and musician from Utrecht. Through soundscapes of manipulated field recordings, collected sounds, samples and guitar loops, Omit Iwik t...
The House that Detroit Built
Musical selections and conversation with DJ Lynnée DeniseThis session looks at the overlooked genealogies of Black music that shaped the electronic sound of Detroit. Picking up from DJ Lynn&eac...
Official Le Guess Who? Hangout
Utrecht's beloved independent print workshop, Kapitaal, collaborates with Stranded FM and Julian Brimmers to host the official Le Guess Who? 2022 Hangout through all things print and sound. The progra...
Scene Report: Caracas, Venezuela. Part III
Over the past few years, the alternative music scene in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, has been plummeting amid the country’s economic collapse – and the COVID-19 pandemic has just added...
Sterk Spoor x Corner Shop
Bouldering is a fiery and spectacular form of climbing. A boulder is a clump of rock, and bouldering literally means climbing a rock. Since there are no rocks in the Netherlands, we climb walls with a...
Pedro Ricardo releases new EP 'Dança de Rua'
For every record he spins, Pedro Ricardo takes on new challenges. The artist, who will be doing a DJ set at Le Guess Who?, relies on the strength of the grooves he plays, bringing forth a feeling of intense freedom to the dance floor through a selection of warm, inviting rhythms. Jazz-fusion, disco, and funk are to be expected, but house...
Curated by Wes: Mistureba
As a DJ, Wes has an affinity for sounds from across the globe, both from the past and present. With a passionate interest in history, he’s always keen to track down the stories behind the music...
Thomas Hell
Thomas Hell is a DJ, producer & music programmer interested in music as a means for communication and cultural expression. Alternating between softer sounds or harder styles, depending on the mood...
Listen: Mazis shares new single 'Life After October'
Musician Mazis, raised in Iran of Azerbaijani descent, now living in Utrecht, shares new single Life After October. He secretly recorded the song during the years he lived in hiding and solitude. "Using only a guitar, a violin and his voice, he created a poignant song about life." - 3voor12 Utrecht Mazis tells his story with musi...
Pixel Paradise x Something Happening Somewhere
Prepare yourselves for a special event: Pixel Paradise x Something Happening Somewhere, unfolding within the cozy confines of dB’s. This one-of-a-kind event is brought to you by Something Happen...
Photo series: Liliane Chlela presents I, the hybrid and the antidote at LGW24 by Juri Hiensch
I, the hybrid and the antidote, a project presented by Liliane Chlela, celebrated its world premiere at Le Guess Who? 2024. On stage, Chlela was joined by Utrecht’s string ensemble Flare Quartet, Cairo’s producer/violinist Nancy Mounir, and Montreal-based producer/musician Radwan Ghazi Moumneh. Our residential photographer Ju...
Noise Diva (2022)
Noise Diva is an Amsterdam-based producer and DJ, Garage Noord resident, and co-founder at KLAB. Her musical stylings bridge together a variety of genres, from Moroccan trap to Egyptian R&B, Frenc...
Announcing the first COSMOS 2024 Embassy: Santuri East Africa
COSMOS x Santuri announce first 2024 Embassy Ahead of their first-ever electronic music summit, Kilele, COSMOS sits down with Santuri co-founder and director David Tinning as well as Nairobi staples Nyokabi Kariũki and KMRU. For a full decade, the Santuri organisation has been supporting, highlighting, and releasing a mix of con...
Salutingrome
Originally initiated as a solo effort by Zamity Mitelembe, Salutingrome has since evolved into a respected rock band, accompanied by Victor Keyser on guitar and Tijmen Aalberts on drums. Commencing wi...
Aba Shanti-I
Last year, Aba Shanti-I celebrated his thirtieth year as a resident sound system at the Notting Hill Carnival. The same year he started, the legendary producer was voted the No. 1 DJ in the World by D...
Rizqita b2b LARASATI
Rizqita (they/them/dia) is a queer Javanese-Minangkabau transdisciplinary relational artist, community organizer, and DJ. They consider themselves as a spatial jockey in their arts, where their practi...
Gert Wessels (2023)
Gert Wessels crafts dynamic pieces that fuse form and function. His creations, marked by vibrant and distinct shapes, challenge nature with materials. Embracing chance, he sculpts polyurethane foam in...
Talk: Music, Tech & Access
In 2021, Pitchfork ran a piece titled “Decolonizing Electronic Music Starts with its Software”. The understanding of a Western bias in production software and platforms used by musicians f...
BizarreWebWide
BizaarWebWide is a collection of happenings curated and hosted by Raouf Alaïa, member of the BizaarWebWide collective. This event transforms the venue Kapitaal to a universe of outlandish express...
COSMOS x Refuge Worldwide
Since 2021, Berlin’s Refuge Worldwide has grown into an important community radio and cultural hub, spreading cutting-edge music with a clear mission of solidarity and social activism. As such,...
COSMOS x Refuge Worldwide
Since 2021, Berlin’s Refuge Worldwide has grown into an important community radio and cultural hub, spreading cutting-edge music with a clear mission of solidarity and social activism. As such,...
Fhloston Paradigm
Fhloston Paradigm is one of the many groundbreaking excursions of renowned Philly producer, musician and DJ King Britt. Hyperdub debut ‘The Phoenix’ and this year’s follow-up ‘...
Ras_G & The Afrikan Space Program
Gregory Shorter Jr., also known as Ras_G, is an instrumental hip-hop producer, DJ and afrofuturist. Active in L.A.’s avant-garde beats scene since the early 2000’s and associated with the...
Saul Williams & King Britt present 'Unanimous Goldmine'
In one corner, the shamanistic Saul Williams, actor, screenwriter and renowned harbinger of noise poetry and hip hop futurism. In the other corner, cleric of eclecticism King Britt, accomplished Phill...
Richard Fearless
‘What’s in a name?’, they say. In Richard Fearless’ case, a lot. He’s the mastermind behind Death In Vegas, not to mention an accomplished producer and DJ whose scope ext...
Future Feminism
Johanna Constantine presents "Rise"&Kembra Pfahler and the Girls of Karen Black present "Fuck Island" Founded by New York-based artists Kembra Pfahler, Johanna Constantine and Anohni, Future Femi...
Red Light Radio
Hidden among the rabble-rousing tourists and historic canals, Red Light Radio (RLR) is an online seminal DIY radio booth squat and international music platform based in the middle of Amsterdam’s...
Vincent-Paolo
While growing up, Amsterdam based electronic music producer Vincent-Paolo developed an early fascination for the chords in soul music and the drums in his dads jazz records. Initially getting into ele...
The Heliocentrics
For eclectic London-based group The Heliocentrics, musical boundaries are invisible. This collective has the ability to fluently string together a broad spectrum of genres, including jazz, hip-hop, ps...
Rabih Beaini
Lebanese-born producer and DJ Rabih Beaini (formerly known as Morphosis) specializes in grainy, imaginative analogue techno. A range of influences—improvisational jazz, krautrock, new wave, elec...
Vladimir Ivkovic presents: 20 years after Suba / Rex Ilusivii's death
In 1995, Serbian-born, Brazil-based producer Mitar Subotić – also known as Suba and Rex Illusivii – created ‘Wayang’, an album that would be considered visionary even by today&...
Bremer/McCoy
Jonathan Bremer and Morten McCoy are two Danish musicians knee-deep in many different endeavors. Bremer is a renowned jazz player, producer and owner of the Unity Rec. label. McCoy, meanwhile, is a pi...
Space Afrika
Joshua Inyang and Joshua Reid are not just from Manchester themselves; so is their music. Space Afrika's latest record on Dais Records, ‘Honest Labour’, is their defining statement to date...
Scotch Rolex feat. MC Yallah & Lord Spikeheart
Veteran Japanese producer Shigeru Ishihara (aka DJ Scotch Egg) is no stranger to collaboration. Nearly two decades after he began experimenting with genre-busting ear bleeders, he arrives in Hakuna Ku...
Kelman Duran B2B Lil C
When Kelman Duran was first invited to play at a party, he opened the set with Biggie’s brooding ‘Suicidal Thoughts’. Over the years, his music has become decidedly more festive. Sta...
Stiltecoupé
Right nextdoor to the chaos of Utrecht Central station is Perron West, an old train car revamped to serve as a get-together. Party by day in the Stiltecoupé; a channel serving silent disco by l...
Turntable Epistemologies
Music as Spectral Infrastructure In Turntable Epistemologies, artist, scholar, writer and DJ Lynnée Denise discusses her research into sound system culture during the rollout of neoliberalism...
Turntable Methodologies & Sound of Music
Music as Spectral Infrastructure As a culmination of the two-day program, Lynnée Denise and Edward George play tracks and music that manifest the strangeness and wonder of sound system culture...
Eavesdrop with Christine Kakaire
In Eavesdrop with Christine Kakaire, the Berlin-based writer, editor, teacher and speaker invites artists performing at this year’s Le Guess Who? for live interviews, discussing the inspirations...
Context: Turkana - Artist portrait by Pan African Music
After attending a workshop in deejaying and music producing by East African platform Femme Electronic, model Anita Kevin decided to try it herself. Watching her do her thing as DJ Turkana, we would be...
Liliane Chlela
Lebanese producer and hybrid DJ Liliane Chlela makes purposeful music; be it as a soundtrack to film and dance or to make listeners reflect through a cutting-edge sonic experience. Her sound - self-de...
Stiltecoupé
Right nextdoor to the chaos of Utrecht Central station is Perron West, an old train car revamped to serve as a get-together. Party by day in the Stiltecoupé; a channel serving silent disco by l...
Coco María
Born Ana Lucia in Mexico, Coco María grew up surrounded by music. She soon set out on a mission to share it with others - which she continues to do on 'Club Coco', her show at WorldwideFM, and...
San Farafina
In San Farafina's mixes, future bass, garage, afro-house, reggaeton, and many more genres cohabit, giving way to an ethereal fusion inspired by her eclectic upbringing. Based in Montreal, the DJ combi...
Luke Cohlen (2018)
Deeply embedded in the Utrecht music scene, Luke Cohlen tries to celebrate all things that spring from his city via his involvement in Stranded FM and with his own Cultfarm events. A DJ himself as wel...
Levan Luka Nakashidze (Mutant Radio)
Levan Luka Nakashidze is a Georgian Music producer and DJ. During his career Luka moved through various music genres with the alias Exit!. His mixes are often eclectic, versatile and contain multiple...
Freaky Dancing: Curling (DJ)
While Utrecht-based artist Curling often takes to the stage as a singer in various metal, punk, and noise rock bands, in his DJ-sets he takes a completely different approach. His experimental mix of b...
COSMOS Embassy: Seoul, South Korea
In partnership with Seoul Community Radio Seoul Community Radio (SCR) is South Korea’s premier community radio station. Established in 2016, Seoul Community Radio (SCR) is a multi-platform online broadcaster at the center of Asia’s fast-growing electronic music community, created by the scene for the people that make it great...
Dance with Ping Pong
Finish off your U? journey with Ping Pong Club's all-day Sunday event. Visit one of Utrecht's last bars in the iconic train maintenance buildings around the city. They will have some of their local se...
Scene Report: Istanbul, Turkey
Turkish Glimpse: A Look at Global Modern History through Turkish Songs offers a glance at Turkey’s wide ranging musical heritage with a distinctive point of view. Murat Meriç, a renowned...
COSMOS Embassy: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Ajabu Ajabu is a screen, a studio, and a collective devoted to the preservation, production, and presentation of audio-visual art forms in Tanzania. For COSMOS, they presented "A Stream of Cons...
COSMOS Embassy: Lisbon, Portugal
East Side Radio is an online radio platform streaming from Lisbon’s East Side, Portugal. It’s designed to be a hub connecting widely recognized domestic and international talent. This COSM...
Watch: COLORS Shows with LGW22 artists Liv.e, Zebra Katz, and Lex Amor
Over the last couple of years, COLORSxSTUDIOS has become an important music platform aimed at showcasing exceptional new talent from around the globe. In their own words: "All COLORS shows seek to provide clear, minimalistic stage that shines a spotlight on the artists, giving them the opportunity to present their music without distractio...
James Holden
James Holden's 'Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space Of All Possibilities' may sound fresh, but his 2023 release is also a fond look back at the musician's twenty-year spanning career. The UK elec...
Maral, curated by Animal Collective for LGW22, announces new album + shares first track 'Feedback Jam'
*Update: Maral has now released her album 'Ground Groove' in full; listen below: Ground Groove by Maral LA-based, Iranian-American DJ and producer, Maral, announces the release of her upcoming album ‘Ground Groove’ and shares one of the tracks entitled ‘Feedback Jam.’ Featuring captivating electric guitar and bas...
Pedro Ricardo
For every record he spins, Pedro Ricardo takes on new challenges. The artist, who will be doing a DJ set at Le Guess Who?, relies on the strength of the grooves he plays, bringing forth a feeling of i...
Coffintexts
Since debuting in 2017, Miami-based producer Coffintexts (whose real name is Alexandra Muggli) has been growing her unruly catalog. Despite largely centering club music, much of Coffintexts’ mus...
Listen to Deena Abdelwahed’s new album ‘Jbal Rrsas’
Today, renowned Tunisian DJ and producer Deena Abdelwahed has unveiled her highly anticipated sophomore album, Jbal Rrsas, now available through InFiné Music. For this album, Abdelwahed has enlisted the help of producer and instrumentalist Khalil Hentati (aka Khalil Epi), composer and musicologist Khyam Allami and master...
Revealing the full program for Le Guess Who? 2023
Le Guess Who?, considered to be one of the most forward-thinking festivals around the world, returns to Utrecht, the Netherlands, from 9-12 November for its 16th edition. We now reveal the full 2023 line-up, after previously announcing festival curators Heba Kadry, Nala Sinephro, Slauson Malone 1 and Stereolab, as well as performances by...
COSMOS Embassy Film: Lima, Peru
In partnership with Buh Records. Buh Records is a record label based in Lima-Peru, founded in 2004 by Luis Alvarado. Focused on a wide universe of experimental and unconventional music, w...
Pop-Up Radio: Southeast and East Asia Special w/ Anh Phi (Nhạc Gãy)
Anh Phi is a Vietnamese-French music producer, DJ, and filmmaker, co-founder of Saigon-born collective Nhạc Gãy.Raised by Vietnamese parents in the suburbs of Paris, he later moved to Ho Chi Mi...
Kapitaal & Stranded FM host official LGW23 Hangout
We're thrilled to let you know that the great Kapitaal, Utrecht's independent print workshop, together with online radio station Stranded FM, will once again host official Le Guess Who? 2023 Hangout on Friday, Saturday & Sunday during the festival. Find Kapitaal at Paardenveld 5B (behind the palmtree!), where they host live per...
Southeast and East Asia Special w/ Anh Phi (Nhạc Gãy)
Anh Phi is a Vietnamese-French music producer, DJ, and filmmaker, co-founder of Saigon-born collective Nhạc Gãy. Raised by Vietnamese parents in the suburbs of Paris, he later moved to Ho Chi...
COSMOS Embassy: Lima, Peru
Buh Records is a record label based in Lima, Peru. Founded in 2004 by Luis Alvarado, the label focuses on a wide universe of experimental and unconventional music. Especially their outstanding work in...
Shabjdeed & Al Nather
Coming from Ramallah, Palestine, Al Nather has been making waves in the Arab hip-hop scene both as a producer, DJ and rapper. Raised in Jerusalem, songwriter and rapper Shabjdeed rose to fame in the M...
Crystallmess
French multidisciplinary artist, journalist, and producer Christelle Oyiri is Crystallmess, the fearless embodiment of a disco ball on fire. For Le Guess Who?, Crystallmess will treat audiences to a l...
Listen: COSMOS on Refuge Worldwide with Kafr El-Dauwar Records
For the April episode of COSMOS' monthly, globe-traversing radio show on Refuge Worldwide, we're bridging the gap between new currents in Egyptian club music and their traditional roots. For this mix, our Embassy partners from Cairo, Khaled and Yunis, connected us with DJ/producer Shah, who represents Kafr El-Dauwar Records, an ind...
Errol & Sammseed
Out of this year’s Touching Bass curatorship comes a thrilling end-of-week back-to-back featuring two of the South London-based movement’s leading lights - Errol and Sammseed. Touching Bas...
The Body & Dis Fig
A crossover between American duo The Body, who have been tinkering with noise and metal since 1999, and Berlin-based DJ, producer, and vocalist Felicia Chen (AKA Dis Fig) was bound to make the earth s...
Liliane Chlela presents I, the hybrid and the antidote
When electronic producer, DJ, and performer Liliane Chlela relocated from Lebanon to Canada in 2021, she was faced with a tough choice; as an artist from the diaspora navigating a mostly white music m...
Lamin Fofana
This Sierra Leone-born artist’s approach is threefold; Lamin Fofana is as much a DJ and music producer as he is a philosopher of sorts. His work’s socio-cultural depth cannot be understate...
LYZZA (2018)
Born and raised in Brazil, DJ/producer/vocalist LYZZA is becoming a familiar face during radical, underground club nights all over the world, from Amsterdam all the way to Shanghai. LYZZA recently rel...
Theo Parrish
In the nineties, electronic music was flowering out of every crevice in Detroit. Theo Parrish has taken it upon himself to continue sowing the city’s seeds. The producer, DJ, and sound engineer...
James Massiah
James Massiah may now master multiple channels of artistic expression - producer, rapper, DJ and radio host are some of the hats he wears - but his first love, he says, is poetry. This passion is crys...
030.radio presents smother
smother is an Amsterdam-based doll of many trades: DJ, freelance writer, communications girlboss at a cultural fund, and co-founder of trans-femme Los Angles Collective through which she organizes T4T...
Mau's Acid Machine
Maurice, AKA Mau’s Acid Machine, is a Rotterdam based performer and DJ. Combining a passion for tinkering and electronic music, Maurice was put on a path of patching and modulating to build his...
Nusaqueer Diaspora
Nusaqueer Diaspora, or Indo*queer Diaspora is an open-structured platform for the queer diasporic community of the Southeast Asian Archipelago with a focus on Indonesia. It brings together the diaspor...
mesin slat
DJ, producer, wide web digger mesin slat plays with music and sounds like shadow play - giving sonic outline but neva borders. One second you think it's gamelan (traditional Indonesian percussion orch...
Beginners Graffiti Workshop by Julien King Juju and Azzurra
Graffiti is increasingly being recognized as a valuable art form in our society. Not only is it an exciting activity, but it also offers a powerful way to express yourself. In this Beginners Graffiti...
Insan Larasati
Based between Amsterdam and Berlin, Insan Larasati is a community organizer, DJ, designer and inclusivity officer. With artist Shasti Andara they founded Nusaqueer Diaspora, an open-structured collect...
Freestyle Football with Freestyler Guido
Have you always wanted to learn the coolest movements & tricks with a football? Then this is your moment. During the freestyle football workshop you will learn the basics of this sport & art f...
Ranie Ribeiro & Julian Tjon Sack Kie
The artist formerly known as D-Ribeiro has, over the years, learned to embrace new disciplines. Namely, the otherwise well-known DJ has been deepening his identity as a harpist, composer, and stage pe...
Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou (U?)
A new wave is washing over Gnawa, the traditional North African music genre started by the Gnawa people of Morocco. Despite being an essential part of the tradition, only now female bands are appearin...
YoungWoman
YoungWoman is an Amsterdam-based Egyptian DJ, producer and cofounder of Amsterdam’s first T4T Collective: Los Angles. With sets that feel like drinking an energy drink and hopping on a rollercoa...
Raziyah Heath
Raziyah Heath is an independent curator (a.o at Metro54), programmer, curious cat, hater, organizer, killjoy, lover, DJ and artist. At the moment she mainly delves into sonic realms/dimensions, and us...
U? Centraal presents: MOḌA Sawa
To celebrate both MOḌA, an exhibition at Centraal Museum that showcases the artistic work and personal stories of cutting-edge designers and artists from Morocco and the Moroccan diaspora in the Nethe...
Mark Ernestus' Ndagga Rhythm Force (2019)
German DJ & producer Mark Ernestus is a sucker for African and Jamaican music. Ernestus’s seven-year collaboration with Ndagga Rhythm Force started during a trip through Senegal, where he wa...
Wilfred Guerrero
Wilfred Guerrero is the heart and soul of El Dragón Turbo Láser, one of Colombia’s most iconic picós. Inherited from his father, who founded the system in the 1960s, it serv...
Edna Martinez
Rooted in the Colombian Caribbean’s sound system culture, Edna Martinez crafts expansive, powerful sonic journeys where African, Caribbean and Arab rhythms converge. Based in Berlin, the DJ, pro...
HULUBALANG
HULUBALANG is the latest project from inventive electronic producer, sound artist, label founder and DJ Kasimyn, known as one-half of Gabber Modus Operandi. Driven by the urge to experiment, the proje...
DIEMAJIN present 陰陽 (Yin and Yang)
Imagine a spectral, sinister version of Tokusatsu - the Japanese live-action films or television programs. Inspired by their use of hand-made special effects, DIEMAJIN assemble cursed beats, warped sa...
Mark Ernestus' Ndagga Rhythm Force
It takes a few instants to pick up on the explosive and contagious rhythms of Ndagga Rhythm Force. Led by the stunning stage presence of veteran percussionist Bada Seck and singer Mbene Diatta Seck, t...
DJ Haram shares new single 'Distress Tolerance'
A genre-defying force in the world of rap and electronic music, producer DJ Haram is equally celebrated for her bass and club music heavy DJ sets, detail oriented analogue sound design, electronic-folk Middle Eastern production and abrasive rap collaborations. The DJ and producer recently announced her debut album Beside Myself, and now s...
Read: The Quietus interviews DJ Haram about Philadelphia and her link with Moor Mother
One-half of Philly duo 700 Bliss and member of the Discwoman collective DJ Haram speaks to The Quietus about the scene in her base of Philadelphia, linking up with Moor Mother and the Discwo...
Listen: DJ Haram joins Teklife to deliver a dazzling set of trap and B’more bounce.
Last week, Discwoman-affiliated producer DJ Haram joined renowned footwork crew Teklife to deliver a dazzling mix of ramped-up trap edits, B’more bounce and distorted non-Western...
Stream 700 Bliss’ debut EP ‘Spa 700’
Combine Moor Mother's everlasting, raging voice with DJ Haram’s dissonant Middle Eastern melodies and hard hitting club beats, and the result is the noise-infested yet cleansing sound of Philly...
Chicago footwork originator RP Boo releases new album 'I'll Tell You What!'
RP Boo is the originator of footwork music and one of Chicago's finest producers. Now he has released his new album 'I'll Tell You What! via Planet Mu, which is his first album since 2015's 'Fingers, Bank Pads, and Shoe Prints'. It shows off RP Boo's raw experimentalism, floating free between abstraction and precision, for which RP Boo ha...
Kickstarter x Kapitaal host LGW Hang Out with live interviews, listening sessions & art exhibitions
Like last year, Utrecht’s beloved independent print workshop Kapitaal will transform into the official Festival Hang Out during Le Guess Who? 2019. Through live interviews, listening sessions, art exhibitions with select LGW? performers and all things print and sound, Kapitaal will transform into a three-day meeting...
Armand Hammer release new album ‘We Buy Diabetic Test Strips’
New York rap virtuosos billy woods and ELUCID, collectively known as Armand Hammer, are back with their much-anticipated album, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips. This release serves as a follow-up to their 2021 cult hit Haram, produced by the Alchemist. Listeners can also expect some familiar sounds of Le Guess Who?, as the duo has invited th...
Introducing: Poema - a fixture in the life of every student in Utrecht joins LGW18
This year, Le Guess Who? will feature three new venues for the official music program: WAS., BASIS, and Poema. All of them are part of Utrecht’s buzzing nightlife and are among the most prominent clubs in town. This time, we introduce you to Poema: a fixture in the life of every student in Utrecht. Did you know Utrecht is one of th...
Watch: FACT Magazine pays Richard Fearless' shipping container studio a visit
Located inside a shipping container and overlooking the river Thames, FACT Magazine paid the studio of producer, DJ and Death in Vegas-founder Richard Fearless a visit. In this video, Fearle...
Track of the Week #14: RP Boo - 'Back From The Future'
Every week, we bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. This week, it's one of Chicago’s finest producers and "the unsung godfather" of footwork RP Boo, who &nd...
Listen: King Britt shares new Fhloston Paradigm track 'Run'
King Britt / Fhloston Paradigm's music features impulsive experimentation, cosmic ambience as well as more structured techno leanings. Britt now releases a new Fhloston Paradigm track, entitled 'Run'. Set on embodying afro-futurist ideals, this pulsating track has a threatening, ongoing drive which haunts you down to the ve...
Short doc: meet Katy Red, the Queen of Bounce
In a short documentary, The Avant/Garde Diaries introduces you to the renowned Queen of Bounce Katey Red. As a transgender, Red was one of the first openly gay artist within the masculine bounce...
Revealing the curators & initial line-up for Le Guess Who? 2018
We're very pleased to present you the curators and initial line-up for Le Guess Who? 2018. A gentle reminder: current 4-Day Festival Passes are available until Thursday, 7 June, and will increa...
Serpentwithfeet releases debut album 'soil'
Today, New York-based artist Josiah Wise, a.k.a. Serpentwithfeet, releases his long-awaited debut album 'soil' via Secretly Canadian/Tri Angle Records. His first full-length is an accomplished ex...
GAIKA reveals video for new track 'Crown & Key'
Next month, on July 27th, genre-bending vocalist and producer GAIKA will release his debut album 'BASIC VOLUME' via Warp Records. Today, he offers a new taste of the LP with the masterful video for&nb...
Stream Ras_G & The Afrikan Space Program's new LP 'Stargate Music'
Ras_G & The Afrikan Space Program recently released a new album via Leaving Records titled 'Stargate Music': an astral ode to women and a spiritual reflection on earthly life, which features...
GAIKA releases debut album 'Basic Volume'
Exploring a multitude of musical influences and concepts about contemporary black British music, GAIKA releases his debut album 'Basic Volume' today. Reflecting on dark, uncertain times with a co...
Listen: Kelman Duran drops new mixtape 'MOON CYCLES III'
LA-based Dominican producer Kelman Duran has just released his new mixtape 'MOON CYCLES III', once again featuring a highly distinctive combination of minimalistic reggaeton beats, chopped up voc...
Video portrait: Moor Mother on free jazz as a liberation technology and curating at LGW18
"I call free jazz a liberation technology, and it’s very essential to anything that I make. It has to have that conductor running through my music for it to be successful, or for me to get acros...
A stunning set of artist portraits captured at LGW18 by Melanie Marsman
We recently shared a series of artist portraits by Juri Hiensch, but he wasn't the only photographer present at Le Guess Who? to capture portraits: local artist Melanie Marsman also visited artists performing at the festival backstage to create a stunning set of portraits, including Moor Mother, serpentwithfeet, Vera Sola, Vashti Bunyan,...
Watch 'Right Here Is Home', The FADER's short documentary on JPEGMAFIA
The FADER presents ‘Right Here Is Home’, a new documentary about rapper and producer JPEGMAFIA. The documentary displays JPEGMAFIA visiting the Bell Foundry in Baltimore, which was one of the first places where he connected with a creative community. He also explains how the city’s collective fight against police b...
Interview: Emel Mathlouthi: "The most important thing is to be truthful"
Ahead of her performance at Le Guess Who?, we catch up with Tunisian singer, musician & artist Emel Mathlouthi while on her way to a performance in Washington DC. It became a talk about being challenged by collaborators, the Arab Spring and the role of social media, being categorized by singing in Arabic, and the importance of being t...
Watch serpentwithfeet & the Heritage Orchestra's hauntingly beautiful performance at BBC Proms
As the boundary-breaking serpentwithfeet, New York producer and songwriter Josiah White bridges the gap between the sensual and the spiritual with a blend of experimental R&B,...
Track of the Week #7: Katey Red - 'Where Da Melph At'
Every week, we bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. This week, it's a high-energy celebration of New Orleans bounce from one of the first openly gay artists within the...
Watch: La Blogothèque presents A Take Away Show with serpentwithfeet
Two weeks ago, serpentwithfeet released his first full-length 'soil'; an accomplished exploration of the r&b, gospel, and pop trinity. Now, La Blogothèque has released a stri...
Read: Islam Chipsy & EEK in conversation with Crack Magazine
Notorious for their open-air wedding celebrations and street parties, Cairo-based power trio Islam Chipsy & EEK is without question one of the most rowdy live acts in the world. In an interview wi...
DJ Firmeza drops new EP 'Ardeu'
Following his 2015 debut 12” and numerous international forays, DJ Firmeza’s new EP ‘Ardeu’ sees the free-spirited Portuguese artist inject devilish detail into his productions at no expense to his signature. All four cuts are intensely rhythmelodic and include two highlights revolving Firmeza&r...
Revealing the full program for Le Guess Who? 2022
From 10-13 November, Le Guess Who? returns to Utrecht for its 15th Anniversary Edition. We now proudly reveal the full 2022 line-up, with new additions joining the likes of Abdullah Ibrahim, Low, Lole Montoya, Nia Archives, as well as festival curators Animal Collective, clipping., and CURL. General program Joining Le Guess Who?&rsquo...
Kickstarter x Kapitaal x Stranded FM host Official LGW21 Hangout with live sessions, DJ sets & exhibitions
This year, Kapitaal returns as the official Le Guess Who? 2021 Hangout. Utrecht's beloved independent print workshop collaborates with Kickstarter and Stranded FM to bring you a program with radio and DJ sets, interviews, live sessions, art exhibitions, film screenings, and all things print & sound from Friday 12 November till Sunday...
DJ Fitz, LGW resident DJ, releases FITZ MIX: a cassette with rare melancholic jams from around the world
DJ Fitz is a regular guest of Le Guess Who? and to be considered our resident DJ, seeing that he has participated in pretty much each edition of the festival. Fitz is also one of the world’s primary authorities in making obscurities part of a larger canon, and he has now released a cassette with super rare melancholic jams...
Podcast: listen to Part 1 of 'DJ Fitz: The Birth of a Scene'
Le Guess Who? presents 'The Big Playback', a podcast about all things music. For the occasion of Le Guess Who’s 15th Edition, we pay tribute to DJ Fitz- the man, the legend, the only artist to have been on every single lineup. In this two part series we dig first into Fitz’s illustrious past in NYC as a DIY show or...
Listen to DJ Firmeza's new track 'Intenso', from upcoming EP 'Ardeu'
Free-spirited Portuguese artist DJ Firmeza brings a blend of styles to the table. His music is rhythmically complex, insanely energetic and conjures a percussion-laced hybrid of Angolan dance workouts with penetrative house music. Now, he has announced his return to Príncipe Discos with a new EP 'Ardeu'. The EP...
Podcast: Part 2 of 'DJ Fitz: The Birth of a Scene'
Le Guess Who? presents 'The Big Playback', a podcast about all things music. For the occasion of Le Guess Who’s 15th Edition, we pay tribute to DJ Fitz- the man, the legend, the only artist to have been on every single lineup. In this final episode of the series (revisit the first part here), we follow Fitz to Berlin and beyo...
Listen: 'Sucio' by LYZZA x DJ Babatr, from upcoming Chromesthesia compilation album
On Friday, 8 November 2024, the compilation album Chromesthesia: the Colour of Sound Vol. 1 is set to be released. Brainchild of British-Egyptian historian Hannah Elsisi (NYU AD, Cambridge), Chromesthesia—aptly named "the colour of sound"— tracks afro-diasporic rhythms from the Whole Mangrove World. Now, the first single from...
LGW22 photo series: The Staples Jr. Singers, Nyege Nyege, Estrella Morente, clipping. and more
Our residential photographers Juri Hiensch and Melanie Marsman have been exploring Le Guess Who? again in 2022, captured different photo series during the festival. The upcoming time, we'll be sharing these series on this website and our social media. Curated by Animal Collective, by Juri Hiensch For LGW22, Baltimore quartet Animal Co...
"Lifting each other up to cross the finish line": COSMOS goes Behind the Scenes in Accra, Ghana with Oroko Radio
COSMOS: Behind the Scenes with Oroko Radio In 'Behind the Scenes', COSMOS dives into local stories from across the world together with our global partners. Within the first two years of their existence, Oroko Radio has come from a beautiful idea to a globally renowned fixture in independent broadcasting, connecting the dots between Accr...
Full curated programs + various special projects announced for Le Guess Who? 2019
Following our initial line-up announcement in May, we're now pleased to reveal the full curated programs by Fatoumata Diawara and Iris van Herpen & Salvador Breed for the festival, as well as new additions for Moon Duo, Patrick Higgins, and The Bug curations. We're also announcing Príncipe Discos and Spazio Disponibil...
Beatmaker, DJ & 'king amongst cratediggers' Kutmah added to Le Guess Who? program
We couldn’t resist: we’ve added beatmaker, DJ & 'king amongst cratediggers' Kutmah to the line-up for Le Guess Who? 2017. This will be a DJ set on Friday, 10 November in TivoliVredenbu...
Listen to Moor Mother's FACT mix 593
Working from her base in Philadelphia, Camae Ayewa, aka Moor Mother, has taken a wide range of influences and distilled them into an essential, idiosyncratic sound best evidenced on last year’s...
Listen to OCnotes' DJ mix for KEXP's Midnight in a Perfect World
"OCnotes is known for his wildly unpredictable and consistently on-point DJ sets, which could be considered snapshots of his comprehensive appetite for original sounds," as we wrote in our bio fo...
LGW x SPEAK present: Lisbon's DJ Lycox introduced by Ana Góis & José Teixeira
Le Guess Who? is proud to welcome both artists and visitors of many different nationalities to Utrecht each year. In collaboration with SPEAK, we started a new video series in which Utrechters with foreign roots introduce an artist on the Le Guess Who? 2021 line-up from their country. SPEAK connects locals, newcomers and migra...
Kapitaal x Stranded FM x Julian Brimmers host Official LGW22 Hangout with live sessions, artist talks, DJ sets, print-making & exhibitions
Utrecht's beloved independent print workshop, Kapitaal, collaborates with Stranded FM and Julian Brimmers to host the official Le Guess Who? 2022 Hangout through all things print and sound. The program includes radio and DJ sets, artist interviews, live sessions, art exhibitions, film screenings, and print-making from Friday 11 November -...
Revealing the Guest Curators & Initial Line-Up for Le Guess Who? 2024
Le Guess Who? exists to promote sounds that are often overlooked, and to platform fresh perspectives on what is possible in music. Artists from all over the world offer an insight into the unprecedented diversity of human creativity. Le Guess Who? returns 7-10 November 2024 for its 17th edition in Utrecht, The Netherlands. We&rsq...
Photo series: Touching Bass presents INNA at LGW24 by 36framez
Touching Bass is a London-based musical movement founded by Errol and Alex Rita, comprised of a community-come-club night, record label, staple NTS Radio show, concert series and curatorial studio. Since its inception, Touching Bass has steadily established itself as one of London’s most important musical incubators, gaining cult s...
Revealing new projects & program additions for Le Guess Who? 2018
In addition to the previously announced initial line-up and curators, we now reveals a range of special projects and performers for the festival: Future Feminism; 15 years of RVNG Intl.; ONCEIM; and t...
Revealing the full line-up for Le Guess Who? 2019
Following the announcements of the curated programs by Fatoumata Diawara, Iris van Herpen & Salvador Breed, Jenny Hval, Moon Duo, Patrick Higgins, and The Bug, we are now proud to reveal the full program for Le Guess Who? 2019. New additions include the premiere of AEAEA (Patrick Higgins & Nicolas Jaar), Aldous Harding, Deerh...
Listen to all Stranded FM festival & radio shows from Le Guess Who? 2019
Utrecht's Stranded FM celebrate and share music from all over the globe, becoming our city’s bastion for discovering fresh sounds. During their four-year run, this Dutch underground radio station is built on a sense of community, a fertile DIY-mindset, plus a wholehearted love for cutting-edge music. During Le Guess Who?...
Watch: Björk plays surprise DJ set at Le Guess Who? 2019
Last night, Friday, 8 November, we welcomed Björk for a surprise DJ set in the TivoliVredenburg venue. Björk was present at the festival as a guest of 2019 festival curators Iris van Herpen, a Dutch radical fashion designer, and sound artist Salvador Breed. Iris van Herpen and Salvador Breed have invited a.o. Danish pop adventu...
Podcast: listen to part 4, the final part of 'For the Record'
Le Guess Who? presents 'The Big Playback', a podcast about all things music. Episode 3 is a four-part series entitled 'For the Record', exploring the role of the archivist from all angles, released in weekly installments. In this new series, host Margaret Munchheimer talks to an independent archival collective in Indonesia; a sound and p...
Revealing the full program for U? 2023
(scroll naar beneden voor de Nederlandse tekst) U?, the freely accessible city program of Le Guess Who?, returns to Utrecht on 11 and 12 November 2023 for its third edition. This program is created for, but especially with Utrecht, to celebrate the city's creativity in all its diversity. Utrecht has an enormous variety of community cent...
COSMOS Embassy Announcement: UMA (Detroit, USA)
COSMOS x Underground Music Academy announce their 2024 Embassy in Detroit, USA A place to learn about the past, present, and future of dance music. With the Underground Music Academy, Detroit’s own Waajeed has created a utopian space for the city's aspiring musicians. Among music fans, few places occupy a similar space in the coll...
Theo Parrish releases new EP 'Traffic Jams'
Le Guess Who? 2024 will host a rare and exclusive extended vinyl set by Theo Parrish. The acclaimed DJ now releases his new 2 track EP Traffic Jams, "a response to stagnation and nonmovement", via his Detroit based label Sound Signature. The first ever-flowing song Positive Mental Attitude Solves All is a tribute to the eternal elder and...
COSMOS Embassy Announcement: U? (Utrecht, NL)
COSMOS x U? announce their 2024 Embassy in Utrecht, the Netherlands For the first time since its inception, U? – Le Guess Who’s freely accessible city program – enlists five Community Curators from different cities, to bring fresh new perspectives to the Utrecht’s subcultural network. What they all have in common...
Listen to 'Dark Out' from upcoming Chromesthesia compilation album
On Friday, 8 November 2024, the compilation album Chromesthesia: the Colour of Sound Vol. 1 is set to be released. Brainchild of British-Egyptian historian Hannah Elsisi (NYU AD, Cambridge), Chromesthesia—aptly named "the colour of sound"— tracks afro-diasporic rhythms from the Whole Mangrove World. Following the collaborati...
Time Schedules, Program Update + Talks, Films & Exhibition for LGW24
We are excited to present our film & talk program, as well as a special exhibition, new additions to our 2024 line-up and the long-awaited time schedules for Le Guess Who? 2024. Time Schedules Start your scheduling now! The time schedules for Le Guess Who? 2024, as well for U?, our freely accessible city program, are online now. Pl...
Read: Questions of Home by Raziyah Heath
Raziyah Heath is an independent curator (a.o at Metro54), programmer, curious cat, hater, organizer, killjoy, lover, DJ and artist. At the moment she mainly delves into sonic realms/dimensions, and uses DJing under the name Chinnamasta as a medium for research and discoveries. Their work aims to uncover the cross pollinations of Afro-dia...
Listen: COSMOS on Refuge Worldwide with Hassan Kamil and stegi.radio
This week, COSMOS and Refuge Worldwide are bringing their ongoing partnership to life during Le Guess Who? 2024. Taking over the Pandora Foyer in TivoliVredenburg, this collaborative 4-day broadcast will be full of in-depth interviews, deep listening and dancefloor-ready DJ sets. Hosted by Refuge Worldwide’s own Richard Akingbehin,...
Photo series: Crystallmess' curation at LGW24 by Melanie Marsman
After an unforgettable closing set at Le Guess Who? last year, Paris-based artist and producer/DJ Crystallmess returned to the festival both as a performer and as a curator, presenting her very own program. Crystallmess combines elements of film, music, performance and visual art in her radically interdisciplinary work. In doing so, she...
Playlist: LGW24 curated by Crystallmess
Each year, Le Guess Who? invites trailblazing creatives to curate their own dedicated programs, highlighting their inspirations, emerging acts and fellow like-minded artists, with an emphasis on discovery and exploration.Paris-based artist and producer/DJ Crystallmess introduces her curation at Le Guess Who? 2024 with a playlist that she...
‘A sudden, uncontrollable urge to dance’: the magic of Nyege Nyege Tapes & Hakuna Kulala Club Night
Forget Detroit, Chicago, and Berlin for a minute. Some of the most exciting electronic music records are being cut in the capital of Uganda, Kampala, and many are coming out of label Nyege Nyege Tapes. The collective is committed to shedding light on some of the best outsider music made in Kampala and all around East Africa. This Novembe...
Interview: Future Feminism with Johanna Constantine
On a sinking ship penetrated by patriarchy, what do you “choose” to do?: Future Feminism with Johanna Constantine This year, Le Guess Who? collaborates with Turkey's Bant Mag. The independent magazine, based in Istanbul, has been bringing together new and exciting tendencies about music, film, arts and culture since 2004. Sta...
First artists & full curated programs announced for Le Guess Who? 2022
Le Guess Who? is a Celebration of Sound. From 10-13 November, the festival returns to Utrecht, The Netherlands, for its 15th Anniversary Edition. We now reveals the guest curators and their full curated programs, as well as the first artists for the general program. Curated programs by Animal Collective, clipping., and CURL Inviting gue...
Listen/read: AMPFEMININE: "Your excuse of ‘there aren’t that many good female and non-binary DJs’ is not valid"
You can also listen to this story – below or via your favorite podcast app. Words & audio by Cheri PercyPhotography by Tengbeh Kamara Rotterdam based-DJ collective AMPFEMININE scours its diverse database to bring an evening of fresh feminine energy to this year’s Le Guess Who? proving that female and non-b...
Listen: Anh Phi – Southeast & East Asia Special (COSMOS Mixtape)
Vietnamese-French DJ, producer & label boss Anh Phi, who was involved in the creation of COSMOS' Vietnam Embassy Film in 2023, connects the dots between Ho Chi Minh City, Paris, and Berlin. To celebrate his debut EP, Buông, we proudly present this exclusive mix for COSMOS, dedicated to the buzzing Southeast and East Asian unde...
U?, freely accessible city festival for and with creative Utrecht, returns for third edition
U?, the freely accessible city program of Le Guess Who?, returns to Utrecht on 11 and 12 November 2023 for its third edition. This program is created for, but especially with Utrecht, to celebrate the city's creativity in all its diversity.The festival aims to let as many Utrecht residents as possible come in contact with the sounds, pers...
Revealing the full program for Le Guess Who? 2024
Widely considered to be one of the most forward-thinking festivals, Le Guess Who? exists to platform fresh perspectives on what is possible in music. Artists from all over the world offer insights into the unprecedented diversity of human creativity. Le Guess Who? returns 7-10 November 2024 for its 17th edition in Utrecht, The Netherland...
Revealing the full program for U? 2024
Lees hier de tekst in het Nederlands. U?, the freely accessible city program of Le Guess Who?, celebrates local and creative communities based in the Netherlands, with a strong focus on Utrecht. From 8-10 November 2024, U? returns for its 4th edition. The 2024 program for U? is now revealed, featuring a festival playground taking place...
Read: Identifying the queer Indonesian diasporic community
Based between Amsterdam and Berlin, Insan Larasati is a community organizer, DJ, designer and inclusivity officer. With artist Shasti Andara they founded Nusaqueer Diaspora, an open-structured collective that focuses on community events for the Indonesian and Southeast Asian Archipelagan queer diaspora. Freshly graduated from the Willem...
Read: Tender hearts in tough (Aussie) harnesses
Hard in style, soft in core. For Luna van der Laan (Looney Lunatic) and Carlos Kok (Boot 122), their passion for noisy, fast music stems from a broad artistic (self-)schooling, high levels of passion for music and, above all, an open mind. With a DIY-mentality, a grounded aversion of the establishment and a substance-over-style-approach,...
Listen: Mala collaborates with Joe-Armon Jones and Nubya Garcia on new track 'Scratch & Erase'
Responsible for some of dubstep’s most iconic cuts, DJ, producer and label owner Mala is now part of a select group of producers taking it to thrilling forward-thinking pastures. His newest track is a collaboration with Joe-Armon Jones and Nubya Garcia. 'Scratch & Erase' is part of the compilation album 'Unti...
Coby Sey, part of LGW22 curators CURL, releases debut album 'Conduit' + shares Sunday Mix for Crack Magazine
South East London producer, vocalist and DJ Coby Sey excitingly intersects contemporary club, DIY-art, and music production. After performing at Le Guess Who? in 2017, he now returns as part of the London collective & guest curators CURL, together with Mica Levi and Brother May. This week, Coby Sey released his debut album 'Con...
Congolese-Canadian musician & songwriter Pierre Kwenders wins 2022 Polaris Music Prize
The 2022 edition of the Polaris Music Prize, an organization that "annually honours and rewards artists who produce Canadian music albums of distinction", has declared Pierre Kwenders’ latest album ‘José Louis and the Paradox of Love’ to be Canada’s album of the year. Pierre Kwenders, the stage name of Jos&...
Introducing our new video series 'Hi! How Are You?'; watch the first episode, feat. RP Boo, Maria Chavez, and Isokratisses
We're introducing our new video series ‘Hi! How Are You?’, in which we check in with previous LGW performers about how they are doing & what’s been keeping them busy. First up in episode 1 are the originator of footwork music RP Boo, Peruvian sound artist Maria Chavez, and Greek vocal group ...
Experience the true soundsystem culture with Jah Shaka Sound System x Krackfree at Le Guess Who?
Jah Shaka is an absolute pioneer in sound system culture and has been spreading his message of love and spirituality across the world for over 40 years. On Saturday, 9 November, he will bring his legendary dubs to Le Guess Who? for a 4-hour set, performing on Krackfree Soundsystem, a collective operating from Eindhoven. The soundsystem c...
FACT to host 3-day program at BASIS during LGW19, featuring Mala, Príncipe Discos, Vladimir Ivkovic & more
FACT, one of the long-term collaborators of Le Guess Who?, will host a program across three nights during the festival this year at BASIS: a nightclub located in a wharf cellar in the city center of Utrecht. BASIS has been a part of the festival since last year and is a perfect location to discover some of groundbreaking and forward-think...
Machinedrum & Jimmy Edgar are J-E-T-S; listen to their collaborative album 'Zoospa'
J-E-T-S released an EP in 2012 and another in 2015, each offering a handful of soul-inflected DayGlo house and techno tracks. Now, almost seven years after their inception, they’ve returned with their debut full-length 'Zoospa'. The album not only showcases the playfulness when it comes to incorporating different styles of genres in...
Introducing: BASIS - a sanctuary for house/techno lovers at Utrecht's medieval canals joins LGW18
This year, Le Guess Who? will feature three new venues for the official music program: WAS., BASIS, and Poema. All of them are part of Utrecht’s buzzing nightlife and are among the most prominent clubs in town. This time, we introduce you to BASIS: an Utrechtian sanctuary for house and techno lovers. "BASIS is located at a unique v...
Listen to a 7-hour playlist with King Britt productions & remixes
Accomplished Philly-based musician, DJ, author and producer King Britt has shared a playlist with his collected productions and remixes, chronicling the musical development through his vast catalogue...
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe's show is rescheduled; Colin Benders & Maarten Vos perform tonight
Unfortunately, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe can't perform today due to a cancelled flight. Colin Benders & Maarten Vos will play instead at Hertz, 21:15-22:15. Rob Lowe's show is rescheduled to tomorr...
Explore Grouper’s curated program for Le Guess Who? 2017
(artwork by Grouper's Liz Harris) Liz Harris aka Grouper is one of the most prominent and inspiring musicians exploring the space between sound and song. While mostly ambient based, her compositions...
Ahmed Fakroun: rediscovered pioneer in modern Arabic music, live with Dutch-Turkish act Altin Gün
Ahmed Fakroun is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, raï singer (based on a form of Algerian folk music from the 20's) and pioneer in modern Arabic music. As a kid, Fakroun already developed a f...
Listen: OCnotes releases new album 'Doug Morris'
Born Otis Calvin III, OCnotes has been an artist, musician, DJ, author, motivational speaker and vibrant figurehead within Seattle’s music scene since the turn of the decade. He just releas...
Stream Fhloston Paradigm's new album 'After...'
Fhloston Paradigm is one of the many groundbreaking excursions of renowned Philly producer, musician and DJ King Britt. His new album has just been released, entitled 'After...', and featuring collabo...
OCnotes' 'Secret Society' album is out now
OCnotes is known for his wildly unpredictable and consistently on-point DJ sets. It's pretty clear to see why Shabazz Palaces invited him as part of their curated program at Le Guess Who?. His new alb...
OCnotes: a wildly unpredictable yet razor-sharp sound explorer, curated by Shabazz Palaces
Born in the Southwest of the United States as Otis Calvin III, OCnotes was influenced at an early age by skateboard culture and developed a fascination for cartoons, as well as receiving musical educa...
Watch: Pan African Music meets Menzi and Turkana at Le Guess Who? 2021
During Le Guess Who? 2021, our media partner Pan African Music captured video portrait of DJ's Menzi and Turkana. Both artists performed at the Nyege Nyege Tapes present Hakuna Kulala Club Night at the festival. Durban native Menzi has been a steady presence in South African electronic music for a number of years. After producing f...
LGW21 photo series: Hidden Musics, Pink Oculus, Eddie Chacon, Hakuna Kulala Club Night and more
Our residential photographers Juri Hiensch and Melanie Marsman have been exploring Le Guess Who? again in 2021, captured different photo series during the festival. The upcoming time, we'll be sharing these series on this website and our social media. Portrait series at LGW21, by Melanie Marsman At Le Guess Who? 2021, residential phot...
Watch: Le Guess Who? & Garage Noord present Amsterdam residency with Kelman Duran
In collaboration with Le Guess Who? and Garage Noord, the celebrated Dominican-American multi-disciplinary artist Kelman Duran presented a residency & club night including Emma dj, Torus, Bamoa Yende, Pebble, Noise Diva and WHYDJ. Kelman Duran went to Amsterdam for a one-week residency, making music with local communities and hosting...
Photo series at U? 2022
Utrecht based photographer Rogier Boogaard captured documentary photo series of artists involved in the festival.De Utrechtse fotograaf Rogier Boogaard heeft artiesten die betrokken waren bij het festival vastgelegd in documentaire fotoseries.
Explore the line-up of LGW24 with our official playlist
Le Guess Who? is a playground for discovery and exploration, and once again that's deeply reflected in our 2024 program. Now that we've revealed the full line-up, including the curated programs by Arooj Aftab, Bo Ningen, Crystallmess, DARKSIDE, Mabe Fratti, and Touching Bass, it's time to start your musical discovery again. Take a deep...
Explore the line-up of U? 2024 with our official playlist
U?, the freely accessible city program of Le Guess Who?, celebrates local and creative communities based in the Netherlands, with a strong focus on Utrecht. U? 2024 includes music, workshops, films, exhibitions, shared meals, discussions, and much more, spotlighting the diversity of the creativity from Utrecht and beyond. Now that the fu...
Read: Underground Up! - A Stage for Underground Artists
U?, the freely accessible city program of Le Guess Who?, returns to Utrecht this year with an emphasis on community. As a festival that aims to amplify local communities from the fringe, U? understands the importance of free spaces that are available for creation and for communities to thrive. Words by Gloria MaPhotography by Mirel Masic...
Playlist: LGW24 curated by Arooj Aftab
Each year, Le Guess Who? invites trailblazing creatives to curate their own dedicated programs, highlighting their inspirations, emerging acts and fellow like-minded artists, with an emphasis on discovery and exploration.Three years after her last Le Guess Who? performance, Brooklyn-based singer, composer, and producer Arooj Aftab is back...
Experience COSMOS onsite & online during LGW24
COSMOS, our global music community, is a hybrid platform designed to be experienced digitally and IRL. As such, we’ll offer multiple ways of getting involved online and onsite during Le Guess Who? 2024. Here’s how:
Photo series: Hannah Elsisi presents Chromesthesia at LGW24 by Juri Hiensch
From Rio to Cairo, Miami to Kampala, Chromesthesia tracks Afro-diasporic rhythms and explores the history that undergirds Afro-descendant electronic music. At Le Guess Who? 2024, British-Egyptian award-winning social and intellectual historian Hannah Elsisi presented the 13-hour durational performance of Chromesthesia. Our residential ph...
Photo series: Alex Rita presents Calm Roots at LGW24 by 36framez
Each year, Le Guess Who? invites trailblazing creatives to curate their own dedicated programs, highlighting their inspirations, emerging acts and fellow like-minded artists, with an emphasis on discovery and exploration. Touching Bass, a London-based musical movement founded by Errol and Alex Rita, was one of the guest curators for Le Gu...
COSMOS & Refuge Worldwide continue their partnership for 2025
Le Guess Who? and COSMOS are excited to announce the continuation of their partnership with Berlin-based community radio Refuge Worldwide in 2025. Together, we will once again present sounds and stories from around the world, hand-picked by local artists. Since 2021, Refuge Worldwide has become an important community radio and cultural h...
Listen: The Vinyl Factory in conversation with Hello Skinny's mastermind Tom Skinner
For Vinyl Factory's monthly Soho Radio Show, Hello Skinny's mastermind Tom Skinner joined VF editor Anton Spice to introduce his latest LP 'Watermelon Sun', alongside a handful of its influe...
Stereogum navigates the many styles of Yves Tumor with 9 essential tracks
The enigmatic pop experimentalist Yves Tumor wins over new audiences every time he releases new music. Over the years, he has explored the most extreme genres, using harsh noise, field recordings...
Introducing: acoustic guitar visionary & urban mythologist Sibusile Xaba
With a wonderful blend of African folk, flamenco, bossa nova and jazz, Sibusile Xaba is slowly conquering the hearts of audiences outside of his home country South-Africa. His sound - both playful and...
Revealing the full time schedules for LGW18 + new acts added to the line-up
We've published the full time schedules for Le Guess Who? 2018. Dig in and find out who's playing when & where here. We’ve also added some new acts to the program: The Bug vs Miss Red,...
The New Yorker picks Etran de L'Aïr's cellphone-recorded 'No. 1' as album of the year
Etran de L'Aïr are a wedding band based in the town of Agadez, an urban center of the desert, and a city renowned for the production of music – in particular the electric guitar and the so-called “desert blues”. The name Etran de L'Aïr translates to “the Stars of the Aïr,” the mountainous regi...
Listen: Model Home release collaborative album with Saint Abdullah
Washington-based experimental hip-hop duo Model Home have released a new collaborative album with Iranian dub duo Saint Abdullah. 'Invasive Inclinations' is described as a meeting of forces from "two similar planets in different galaxies but interchangeably habitable". The album was recorded in one day at Pioneer Works Center F...
Listen: Damon Locks' Black Monument Ensemble release new song 'Keep Your Mind Free'
Chicago's Damon Locks' Black Monument Ensemble have released a new song from their upcoming album 'NOW', to be released on April 9th. With a mix of pulsing trumpet sounds, 'Keep Your Mind Free' originated from the reflection that Covid-19 has different outcomes for each group of society, especially for people in prison...
Listen: Pink Siifu releases NEGRO DELUXE
Rapper and producer Pink Siifu's has become known for his mercurial talent for intersecting styles and culture. Last year, Pink Siifu released 'NEGRO', an album that employs influences from Sun Ra, Bad Brains and the late great Ras G to materialize a firebrand, revolutionary assault on police brutality and racism. Now, the rapper an...
Pink Siifu releases video for 'lng hair dnt care' from upcoming album 'GUMBO’!'
Rapper and producer Pink Siifu has a mercurial talent for intersecting styles and culture. Following the release of 2020's 'NEGRO' (which got expanded to 'NEGRO DELUXE' earlier this year), Pink Siifu is now already preparing his follow-up, entitled 'GUMBO’!', out August 3. The album will feature contributions by Nic...
Listen: Pink Siifu releases new album 'GUMBO'!'
Rapper and producer Pink Siifu has released new album 'GUMBO'!', the follow-up to his 2020 release 'NEGRO' (which got expanded to 'NEGRO DELUXE' earlier this year). 'GUMBO'!' features guest appearances from a.o. Georgia Anne Muldrow, Bbymutha, Nick Hakim, Liv.e, and Maxo. Production comes from a.o. the Alchemist, Monte Boo...
Revealing the full line-up for Le Guess Who? 2021 with 70 new program additions
Le Guess Who? exists to bring people together through art and music, and despite the uncertainty of the times we have continued to work toward that end. Some things might change, and some things will change, but we have put together a festival for 2021 that we are extremely proud of, and will bring it to you in whatever form possible.&nbs...
Listen: Gambian-British rapper Pa Salieu releases new EP 'Afrikan Rebel'
Following his recent collaboration with slowthai called 'Glidin', Gambia-born, Coventry-based rapper and BBC Sound of 2021 winner Pa Salieu is back with a new, three-song EP titled 'Afrikan Rebel'. This latest EP features guest appearances from Nigerian artists Tay Iwar, Zlatan and Obongjayar. Listen to 'Afrikan Rebel' below. The Face al...
Boss of Brussels rap Zwangere Guy releases new single 'FAMILIE BOVEN ALLES' with rap crew STIKSTOF
Zwangere Guy is renowned for his honest lyricism and compelling live shows. His unshakeable conviction, found all over his rhymes and delivery, led him to quickly be considered 'the boss of Brussels rap'. Now, together with rap crew STIKSTOF, Zwangere Guy releases 'FAMILIE BOVEN ALLES' (featuring Dutch rapper Sticks), the title...
Timetable & last program additions for LGW21 revealed + limited Saturday Tickets to go on sale
With just one week until the 14th edition of Le Guess Who?, the organization shares the timetable and last program additions for this year’s festival. Aside from some cancellations, the Utrecht festival for boundary-crossing music and culture now announces 41 final program additions, featuring live music performances, film screening...
Oakland-born writer, MC, and producer Nappy Nina shares new single 'Amen'
While Nappy Nina previously made appearances on Yaeji, Quelle Chris, and Son Lux's music, her characteristic breezy flow has led her to conquer stages worldwide in her own right. For her Le Guess Who? performance, she will be joined by DJ Stas THEE Boss. Now, the Oakland-born writer, MC, and producer releases her new song, produced...
Damon Locks discusses Black Monument Ensemble's 'NOW' with Nombuso Mathibela for PAM
Pan African Music (PAM)'s contributor Nombuso Mathibela had the opportunity to interview Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble about their latest album, 'NOW', which features Erica Rene, Tramaine Parker, Richie Parks, Phillip Armstrong, Eric Tre’von, Monique Golding, and Angel Bat David (clarinet) and Ben LeMar Gay (cornet and me...
Read: "the crowning glory of Coventry"; PAM meets up with Pa Salieu
In an interview with LGW partners Pan African Music (PAM), Pa Salieu, a Coventry-based rapper and the king of UK-rap talks about his debut album, the history of Coventry, initial and current inspirations, and more. At just 24 years old, Pa has successfully collaborated with big names like Jorja Smith and FKA Twigs. He also dippe...
Read via The Quietus: which records would Pink Siifu seek out at the Mega Record & CD Fair?
We're very excited that this year, Le Guess Who? will coincide again (for the first time since 2018) with the Mega Record & CD Fair (November 13 & 14 in Utrecht), which is Europe’s biggest record fair. As a preview for both the festival as well as the fair, we're collaborating with The Quietus on a new series where we...
COSMOS Embassy: Lisbon, Portugal
East Side Radio is an online radio platform streaming from Lisbon’s East Side, Portugal. It’s designed to be a hub connecting widely recognised domestic and international talent. This COSMOS Embassy was the first happening by East Side Radio after a long pause, during which a new broadcast studio was designed and constructed,...
Letters from musicians: Bant Mag. talk to Damon Locks
Ahead of his performance at Le Guess Who? 2021, Turkey's Bant Mag. talk to Chicago visual artist, musician and sound artist Damon Locks. The interview is part of their series 'Letters from musicians'; as it’s been a whole year under the pandemic conditions, they have reached out to a number of musicians to hear about their varying f...
Damon Locks' Black Monument Ensemble announce new album 'NOW'; watch the video for the title track
Originally conceived as a medium for Chicago-based multi-media artist/activist Damon Locks’s sample-based sound collage work, Black Monument Ensemble (BME) has evolved from a solo mission into a vibrant collective of artists, musicians, singers, and dancers making work with common goals of joy, compassion, and intention. Follo...
Watch: Conjunto Papa Upa releases video for 'Todo Parao'
Conjunto Papa Upa, the so-called Afro-Caribbean retro psychedelic rhythm machine of Venezuelan, Amsterdam-based musician Alex Figueira, has released a new video for 'Todo Parao'. His music, a quirky combination of lo-fi surf rock, funk, psychedelica and samba, resounds the street scenes of Figueira's salad days in Caracas. You can w...
LGW TV content now online, feat. Reports from Other Continents, Vunk on Vacation & more
Following the launch of LGW ON, our very own online TV channel which streamed mid-November 2020, we are now sharing a lot of programs and video content that premiered on the channel via our YouTube account. We've published the videos as part of our new Reports from Other Continents project; all episodes of our alternative travel sho...
Watch: Pink Siifu releases new short film 'NATION TYME!'
Rapper and producer Pink Siifu has released the short film 'NATION TYME!'. Apart from the song of the same name on his latest solo album 'NEGRO', the film also features new music. 'NATION TYME!' quotes 'It's Nation Time', an iconic poem of writer, teacher, poet and political activist Amiri Baraka. As Pink Siifu states, he...
The Body & Dis Fig - Live at Le Guess Who? 2024
The Body & Dis Fig performed live on the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2024. Relive the full, overwhelming - sonically as well as physically - performance below. A crossover between American duo The Body, who have been tinkering with noise and metal since 1999, and Berlin-based DJ, producer, and vocalist Felicia Chen (AKA Di...
Revealing the curators and initial program for Le Guess Who? 2021
Inviting guest curators to build their own programs has become a hallmark of Le Guess Who? over the years. Featuring both their inspirations and fellow like-minded artists, this allows upcoming acts to perform alongside established artists. We are genuinely excited to now reveal the curators for Le Guess Who? 2021, as well as the first pe...
10 things you might not have discovered (yet) in the LGW19 program
Le Guess Who? 2019 is almost upon us! There is an abundance of performances and activities happening this week, so we can imagine that some acts or activities may have slipped through the cracks. Therefore, we've selected 10 things you might not have discovered (yet) in the LGW19 program. 1. Three-day Film Festival at Springha...
Watch Ghanaian duo Fokn Bois perform 'Brukutu' from their latest album 'Afrobeats LOL'
FOKN Bois are your quintessential agent provocateurs. Their music speaks truth to power and tackles issues that afflict humanity, including corruption, social inequality, religious exploitation and indiscipline. These are the linchpins of most of their musical or cinematic creations. In February, the Ghanaian duo released thei...
Zonal share title track of upcoming album 'Wrecked'
ZONAL has shared the title track to their forthcoming album 'Wrecked', which is out on 25 October via Relapse Records. ZONAL is the collaborative noise, dub and industrial project of Le Guess Who? 2019 curator Kevin Richard Martin (The Bug, King Midas Sound) and Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, JK Flesh). The album contains...
Vier de LGW19 line-up announcement met Lechuga Zafiro, 19 september in EKKO
Op donderdag 19 september onthult Le Guess Who? de volledige line-up voor de komende festivaleditie in EKKO, met optredens van Ben Shemie (SUUNS), Conjunto Papa Upa, Lechuga Zafiro en een speciale editie van Stranded FM x The Current. De Uruguayaanse DJ en producer Lechuga Zafiro probeert de grens tussen het verkennende karakter van de c...
Video: watch Madlib meet his hero, Ethiopian legend Ayaléw Mesfin
As part of Madlib’s Medicine Show, Noisey recorded a video in which the producer, rapper and DJ - known for his work with Talib Kweli, J Dilla and MF Doom - meets one of his heroes he’s spent his career sampling and sourcing inspiration from: legendary Ethiopian funk artist Ayalew Mesfin. Mesfin’s music rebelled vigorou...
Stream/download: The Wire shares Saul Williams & King Britt's 'Unanimous Goldmine' performance at LGW18
Le Guess Who? 2018 curator Moor Mother invited actor, screenwriter and noise poet Saul Williams and Philly-based musician, DJ and producer King Britt to present the collaborative performance 'Unanimous Goldmine' at the festival. These two great minds gave an exclusive, one-time collaborative performance entitled that was named after...
Relive Saul Williams & King Britt's 'Unanimous Goldmine' performance at LGW18 via Red Bull Radio
Red Bull Radio has premiered the full recording of 'Unanimous Goldmine', the collaborative performance between actor, screenwriter and renowned harbinger of noise poetry and hip hop futurism Saul Williams; and accomplished Philly-based musician, DJ, author and producer King Britt. On the explicit invitation of M...
The Heliocentrics to replace Georgia Anne Muldrow at LGW18
Due to unforeseen circumstances it is with the deepest regret that Georgia Anne Muldrow & The Righteous will be unable to play at this year's Le Guess Who?. Instead, The Heliocentrics will perform at TivoliVredenburg's Ronda on Sunday, 11 November. About The Heliocentrics Eclectic London-based group The Heliocentrics, musical...
Track of the Week #23: The Scorpios - 'Mashena'
Every week, we bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. As the festival is getting closer and closer, we dive deeper and deeper into this year's worldly, prismatic line-up. This week, we highlight the elated mix of Arabic rhythms, raw Eastern funk and vintage psychedelia of The Scorpios. Having fled from the...
Blanck Mass amongst final line-up additions + announcing venue hosts
Today, we announce three final line-up additions for Le Guess Who? 2018, including a performance by British electronic musician/producer Blanck Mass. We are also sharing some venue hosts during the festival; find their descriptions below & see when/where they are hosting in our downloadable time schedules. Blanck Mass Sin...
Track of the Week #16: JPEGMAFIA - '1539 N. Calvert'
Every week, we bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. Last week, we highlighted a classical and timeless hip hop track of Georgia Anne Muldrow. This week, we shift phase...
Video portrait: Shabaka Hutchings on Impulse!, curating at LGW, and music as joyous celebration
"It feels like signing with Impulse has given validity to the way I've perceived my music act. It is a legitimate part of the jazz canon" We meet up with jazz superforce Shabaka Hutchings in Utrecht...
Track of the Week #12: Sibusile Xaba - 'Open Letter to Adoniah'
Every week, we’ll bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. This week, we offer you an extraordinary mix of bossa nova, flamenco, jazz and prog folk, courtesy of ...
Listen to Gonzo (circus)' mixtape for LGW17
Gonzo (circus), one of the best in-depth music/culture magazines in The Netherlands & Belgium, has compiled a mixtape for Le Guess Who? 2017, featuring Ben Frost, OCnotes, Surajit D...
Stream: eclectic London-based collective The Heliocentrics live at Le Guess Who? 2018
For eclectic London-based group The Heliocentrics, musical boundaries are invisible. This collective has the ability to fluently string together a broad spectrum of genres, including free-form jazz, h...
Playlist: Le Guess Who? 2019 selected by Walter Roadburn
If there's one festival in The Netherlands that we feel a spiritual connection with, then surely it's Roadburn, who continue to challenge and rediscover themselves which each new edition. Now, Roadburn's main man Walter Hoeijmakers has collected some of his favorites from the Le Guess Who? 2019 line-up in a personal playlist for you to di...
Explore Iris van Herpen & Salvador Breed's curation at LGW19 with their exclusive playlist
Le Guess Who? 2019 curator Salvador Breed has personally put together a playlist for the program he curates together with Iris van Herpen at the festival. The playlist features their favorite tracks from each artist they have invited to Le Guess Who?. About:Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen is widely recognized as one of...
Le Mini Who? 2018 announces full line-up; explore the program via Spotify
Le Mini Who? returns as part of Le Guess Who? 2018 on Saturday, 10 November. As a spin-off festival of Le Guess Who?, it transforms many of Utrecht’s local bars, restaurants, venues and warehous...
Listen: Shabaka Hutchings' personal playlist for his curated program at LGW18
Jazz superforce Shabaka Hutchings curates his own program at Le Guess Who? 2018, hosting a variety of inspirations, interests and like-minded artists. Now, he has put together a personal playlist...
Playlist: LGW22 curated by clipping.
This year, West Coast-based hip-hop trio clipping. are one of the guest curators for Le Guess Who? 2022. Now that their full program has been revealed, the trio share a playlist that they have personally put together with their favorite tracks of the diverse range of artists they have invited for the festival.
Coco María presents Club Coco: vital new music influenced by vintage sounds
When DJ and artist Coco María moved from Mexico to Europe, she brought the hidden gems of Latin American musical culture with her. Growing up surrounded by music, Coco María not only grew fond of the sounds of her childhood but also developed a love for sharing them with the rest of the world. Born out of this passion of he...
Podcast: listen to part 3 of 'For the Record'
Le Guess Who? presents 'The Big Playback', a podcast about all things music. Episode 3 is a four-part series entitled 'For the Record', exploring the role of the archivist from all angles, released in weekly installments. In this new series, host Margaret Munchheimer talks to an independent archival collective in Indonesia; a sound and p...
Podcast: listen to part 2 of 'For the Record'
Le Guess Who? presents 'The Big Playback', a podcast about all things music. Episode 3 is a four-part series entitled 'For the Record', exploring the role of the archivist from all angles, released in weekly installments. In this new series, host Margaret Munchheimer talks to an independent archival collective in Indonesia; a sound and p...
Podcast: listen to episode 3 of 'The Big Playback' about the role of the archivist in music
Le Guess Who? presents 'The Big Playback', a podcast about all things music. Episode 3 is a four-part series entitled 'For the Record', exploring the role of the archivist from all angles, released in weekly installments. In this series, host Margaret Munchheimer talks to an independent archival collective in Indonesia; a sound and perfo...
Liv.e shares new track 'Ghost'
While Dallas-bred Liv.e might take cues from artists as diverse as Erykah Badu, DJ Screw, and Sun Ra, she mainly crafts her own idiosyncratic breed of lo-fi R&B. In the words of NME, she's 'R&B’s new avant-garde star who’s ‘tired of whispering.' That categorization is more true than ever on new track 'Ghost', he...
Playlist: LGW22 curated by Animal Collective
For Le Guess Who? 2022, Baltimore quartet Animal Collective has curated their own program featuring their their inspirations and fellow like-minded artists. While Animal Collective themselves unfortunately had to cancel their performance (instead, Panda Bear & Sonic Boom will perform after releasing a spectacular album earlier this ye...
Listen: Derya Yıldırım releases compelling new track 'Darıldım Darıldım'
As part of their upcoming EP 'Dost 2' out on November 11, Derya Yıldırım releases new track 'Darıldım Darıldım'. A compelling mix between traditional Anatolian sounds and warm beats, 'Darıldım Darıldım' leaves listeners in a unique state of trance, combined with an irresistible desire to dance the night away. Derya Yıldırım & G...
MIKE shares new single 'Red Jacket 6'
New York City rapper MIKE releases new single ‘Red Jacket 6’, which he produced with DJ Blackpower, Tony Seltzer and RedLee. It is his first material since the release of last year's 'Beware Of The Monkey'. The new single arrives ahead of MIKE’s Young World festival. In July, the freely accessible festival returns t...
Deena Abdelwahed announces new album 'Jbal Rrsas'
Deena Abdelwahed draws as much from clubbing as she does from the avant-garde scene. Since the release of her debut LP Khonnar, the DJ and producer has been showered with praise for the fine-drawn ways in which her work paints the diversity of Arabic music. On 8 September, Abdelwahed will release her new album Jbal Rrsas, which she...
Revisit our video portrait of James Holden in his London studio
James Holden's musical life is full of diversity, be it in roles assumed (producer, remixer, DJ, record label boss, synth maestro, band leader, mix engineer, and software developer) or in genres explored (trance, progressive house, minimal techno, IDM, synth, and jazz). His latest rave record, Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space Of...
El Kontessa releases new album 'Nos Habet Caramel'
As El Kontessa, producer, DJ, and multidisciplinary artist Fajr Soliman deconstructs Cairo’s soundscapes and combines them with accelerating polyrhythms, echoing Mahraganat percussion, vocal hits and bursts of synths, turning them into multilayered sonic explorations. Since debuting in 2018, El Kontessa has been a staple of Egypt&...
Playlist: LGW23 curated by Heba Kadry
As a hallmark of Le Guess Who?, the festival each year invites trailblazing creatives to curate their own dedicated programs, highlighting fellow like-minded artists and those that have inspired them. Heba Kadry, a mastering engineer born in Egypt and currently based in Brooklyn, has curated a program for Le Guess Who? 2023 that she now...
Revealing the full program for COSMOS 2023
COSMOS is Le Guess Who?’s globe-spanning initiative that amplifies exciting music scenes from around the world through films, interviews, performances, and artist residencies. We now reveal the full 2023 line-up, after previously announcing the Embassies and COSMOS Live, the first-ever live program, to be presented at Le Guess Who?...
Lee Gamble shares new album 'Models'
Lee Gamble creates genre-agnostic music. Across his discography - now spanning over a decade -, he has incorporated amongst others dub, garage, and jungle, bleeding into grindcore metal and machine-strength techno. Now, the UK-based musician, composer, producer, and label-head returns with his new album 'Models'. The album, mastere...
Listen/read: Ndox Electrique root their sound in Senegal's healing ceremonies
You can also listen to this story – below or via your favorite podcast app. On the closing day of Le Guess Who? 2023, the festival features the first international performance of Ndox Electrique, whose music is inspired by an ancient ritual of the spirit-world originating from Senegal’s n’döep ceremonies. ...
Read: Antipop Consortium are hip-hop's most notorious futurists
Coming up at the turn of the century, when underground rap was all about dusty loops and intricate battle rhymes, Antipop Consortium mixed an experimental, electronically charged sound palette with lyricism sharpened on the NY poetry scene. While they quickly summoned a cult following stateside, Europe’s alternative music circuit to...
Photo series: Heba Kadry's curation by Juri Hiensch
As a hallmark of the festival, each year Le Guess Who? invites trailblazing creatives to curate their own dedicated programs, highlighting fellow like-minded artists and those that have inspired them. For the 2023 edition, Le Guess Who? invited mastering engineer Heba Kadry, who curated a comprehensive program, weaving together an array...
Read: Jori Collignon talks running Gris Gris Records with Tânia Baldé
Having spent many years touring and drawing inspiration from many corners of the world, Jori Collignon has at last found a home in the idyllic Palmela, Portugal. It is here where you can find a home complete with a guesthouse, garden, studio, and a vibrant hub where artists from different parts of the world come together to exchange ideas...
Le Guess Who? & U? present Sydney Lowell
Sydney Lowell is a creative spirit, human, artist and entrepreneur from Amsterdam. She mainly operates as a poet, but recently started incorporating music and movement into her creative practice. Next to that, she’s a teacher, voice actor, host, and co-founder/producer of creative platforms We The People and 2PHRASE. Sydney sees...
Photo series: COSMOS Live by Melanie Marsman
COSMOS was born out of Le Guess Who?’s mission to platform adventurous sounds that have the power to enrich lives. It’s a hub for experimentation and inspiration, and an ever-expanding network of creative minds. Through films, interviews, performances, and artist residencies, COSMOS connects international music communities and...
Le Guess Who? presents international residency in Goa, India, as part of hybrid platform COSMOS
Le Guess Who? has always worked with a borderless and boundary-crossing ethos. It led the organization to create COSMOS: a hybrid (both online and offline) platform that promotes international collaboration. Via this platform, organizations and initiatives from around the world give an insight into their local cultural scenes through film...
COSMOS, our hybrid platform, returns 10-15 May
COSMOS is Le Guess Who?’s hybrid platform with both live and on-demand exclusive content. Beyond music, beyond film, and beyond borders, COSMOS translates the festival’s mission to the online environment. From 10-15 May, 2022, the 2nd edition of COSMOS will be freely available for worldwide streaming via cosmos.leguesswho.com....
COSMOS Embassy Announcement: ICRN (Vilnius, Lithuania)
COSMOS x ICRN announce their 2024 Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania Bringing together DIY broadcasters from the Baltics and beyond, the Independent Community Radio Network (ICRN) has created an impactful platform that proves once more, that there is always strength in numbers. In 2022, a handful of activists and community radios from...
U? collaborates with community curators for 2024 program
Le Guess Who? exists to bring people together through music and art. U?, its freely accessible city program, is dedicated to celebrating creativity in all its diversity. For U? 2024, we are collaborating with five different NL-based community curators who will highlight their communities and creativity at the festival. U? aims to collabo...
COSMOS & LGW announce partnership with Refuge Worldwide
Le Guess Who? and COSMOS, our worldwide music community, are excited to announce a new partnership with Berlin-based community radio Refuge Worldwide. Beaming out of Oona Bar in Berlin’s Weserstraße Kiez since 2021, Refuge Worldwide has grown into an important community radio and cultural hub, spreading cutting-edge music wit...
Liliane Chlela presents the world premiere of 'I; the hybrid and the antidote' at LGW24
Born in Beirut and based in Montreal, Liliane Chlela is a producer, DJ and performer whose progressive sound experiments brought her to the forefront of the electronic and experimental music scene, both in Lebanon and far beyond. At Le Guess Who? 2024, Liliane Chlela will present the live premiere of I, the hybrid and the antidote. &ldqu...
"Tired of having a plan": COSMOS goes Behind the Scenes in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with Rắn Cạp Đuôi
COSMOS: Behind the Scenes with Rắn Cạp Đuôi In 'Behind the Scenes', COSMOS dives into local stories from across the world together with our global partners. Vietnamese experimental music collective Rắn Cạp Đuôi have been expanding their vast auditory spectrum since forming back in 2015. On their first two albums, Ngủ N...
Listen: COSMOS on Refuge Worldwide with ICRN and Buh Records
Every first Monday of the month, COSMOS broadcasts episodes of their radio show on Refuge Worldwide, highlighting their deep-running network of partners from around the world. On Monday, 2 September, from 4-6 PM, COSMOS returns with two new episodes. Buh Records The first hour is curated by Peruvian avant-garde stalwarts Buh Records who...
U? presents Elekufiya at HE:LEEN Festival
(scroll naar beneden voor de Nederlandse tekst) On Saturday 14 September, U? presents a program at HE:LEEN Festival in the Le Guess Who? office. This year, HE:LEEN Festival returns to Rotsoord for a new edition full of talented musicians, artists and performers. The festival highlights the creative and energetic appearance of the area....
Read: LGW x The Wire special, ft. Theo Parrish, Wadada Leo Smith, Nadah El Shazly + more
Ever since 1982, The Wire stands out as one of the best independent, in-depth print and online music magazines. The Wire celebrates and interrogates the most visionary and inspiring, subversive and radical, marginalized and undervalued musicians on the planet, past and present. Leading up to Le Guess Who? 2024 we're very honored to...
COSMOS Embassy Announcement: Touching Bass (London, UK)
COSMOS x Touching Bass announce their 2024 Embassy in London, UK Touching Bass is a London-based musical movement founded by Errol and Alex Rita, comprised of a community-come-club night, record label, staple NTS Radio show, concert series and curatorial studio. Since its inception, Touching Bass has steadily established itself as...
Listen: The Body & Dis Fig - Live at Le Guess Who? 2024
The Body & Dis Fig performed live on the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2024. Relive the full, overwhelming - sonically as well as physically - performance below. A crossover between American duo The Body, who have been tinkering with noise and metal since 1999, and Berlin-based DJ, producer, and vocalist Felicia Chen (AKA Di...
COSMOS Embassy Mix Vol. 1: Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective (HCMC, Vietnam)
This year, COSMOS once again proudly partners up with acts, institutions, and collectives from around the globe. The 2023 Embassies are located in Vietnam, Australia, Indonesia, Canada, Greece, UAE, Peru and Ghana. In order to introduce the amazing talents behind these collaborations, we're starting a new interview & music series call...
Official Le Guess Who? 2024 app now available
Our official Le Guess Who? 2024 app is now available, made in collaboration with TMSQR. With this app, you can explore the line-up, create your personal timetable, find your way through Utrecht with the interactive festival map and listen to the official LGW24 playlist. You can also switch easily between Le Guess Who? and U?, our freely a...
Explore the LGW25 program: dive in to our official playlist
More than ever, the Le Guess Who? 2025 program creates a space where the margins become the center, where the overlooked are elevated and where traditions collide to reimagine themselves in the present. A place where music is not confined by genre, language or geography, but stands as an open invitation to listen deeply, feel fully and to...
Guest curators & initial line-up announced for Le Guess Who? 2025
Le Guess Who? returns 6-9 November to Utrecht, The Netherlands, taking place across different venues in and around the city. We now reveal the guest curators and the initial line-up for the 2025 festival edition. More than ever, the program creates a space where the margins become the center, where the overlooked are elevated and where t...
Dive into the latest releases from gyrofield's curation of leftfield electronic artists at LGW25
Hong Kong producer gyrofield is a rising star whose influences span a.o. drum & bass, ambient, techno, hyperpop, grime and dubstep. After a period in Bristol, they have recently moved to Utrecht, and their curation at Le Guess Who? 2025 features musical heroes and like-minded artists. Together with fellow DJs & producers Ciel, Cal...
Listen: Edna Martinez Presents Picó: Sound System Culture From The Colombian Caribbean
Hand-painted sound systems, often adorned with dazzling colours and striking imagery, each with its own name and sonic identity: for decades, the Picó mobile discos have become the heart of neighbourhood bailes on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. The sounds of genres like champeta, highlife, soukous, mbaqanga, zouk, soca, and cumb...
Saul Williams & King Britt present 'Unanimous Goldmine' – Live at Le Guess Who? 2018
In one corner, the shamanistic Saul Williams, actor, screenwriter and renowned harbinger of noise poetry and hip hop futurism. In the other corner, cleric of eclecticism King Britt, accomplished Philly-based musician, DJ, author and producer. On the explicit invitation of Moor Mother, who was a guest curator at Le Guess Who? 2018, these...
The Heliocentrics - Live at Le Guess Who? 2018
For eclectic London-based group The Heliocentrics, musical boundaries are invisible. This collective has the ability to fluently string together a broad spectrum of genres, including free-form jazz, hip-hop, psychedelic grooves, krautrock, and musique concrete. Since their first appearance on DJ Shadow’s album ‘The Outsider&...
Freely Accessible U? Programme Highlights
U? is Le Guess Who’s participatory and freely accessible day program, made for–and with–the city of Utrecht. With U?, Le Guess Who? extends its mission to enrich people through music and culture even further to the city. From 10 to 13 November 2022, U? returns for its second edition. The program is made with, or even ent...
Le Guess Who? 2019 Press Archive
“With the able steer of festival curators Jenny Hval, Moon Duo, Fatoumata Diawara, and Iris Van Herpen, this year’s boundary-crossing festival Le Guess Who?? welcomed visitors from over 60 countries and proved that even in times of political divide, music and art can bring us together into a more hopeful future.” - The...
Le Guess Who? 2018 Press Archive
The Netherlands 3FM: Eva Koreman nieuwe presentator 3voor12 radio 3FM: Le Guess Who? 2018: Ralph-Herman snapt niet wat Colin Stetson doet3FM: Timo op Le Guess Who: van gevoelige liedjes in een kerk tot stoned rappers3voor12: Kijk terug: James Holden & The Animal Spirits op Le Guess Who? 3voor12: Festivals willen dat je een kaart...
COSMOS Embassy: Lima, Peru
In partnership with Buh Records. Buh Records is a record label, based in Lima-Peru, founded in 2004 by Luis Alvarado. Focused on a wide universe of experimental and unconventional music, with outstanding work in the historical archive of Peruvian and Latin American experimental and avant-garde music, attracting the attention...
COSMOS Embassy: Utrecht, The Netherlands
U? is Le Guess Who? participatory and freely accessible day program created for and with the city of Utrecht. During U?, programs are made with, or even fully by, local initiatives, entrepreneurs, social institutions and community centers. With U?, Le Guess Who? further promotes its festival mission throughout the city of Utrecht: present...
COSMOS Embassy: Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Ajabu Ajabu is a screen, a studio, and a collective devoted to the preservation, production, and presentation of audio-visual art forms in Tanzania. For COSMOS, they presented "A Stream of Consciousness" - a hybrid audio-visual festival taking place at the Ajabu Ajabu Audio-Visual House ft., a digital stage from COSMOS alongside li...
COSMOS Embassy: Accra, Ghana
In partnership with Oroko Radio. Oroko is a not-for-profit independent internet radio station based in Accra, Ghana. We aim to connect, inspire and empower through conversation, collaboration and community. Oroko Radio provides a stage for musicians, DJs, thinkers, moderators, and content creators: an independent hub for expression...
Volledige programma U? 2024 onthuld
U?, het gratis toegankelijke stadsprogramma van Le Guess Who?, viert lokale en creatieve communities, met een sterke focus op Utrecht. U? keert van 8-10 november 2024 terug voor de vierde editie. U? onthult nu het volledige programma voor 2024, met op zaterdag 9 november een festival-playground in het Cartesiusgebied, en daarnaast veel a...
COSMOS Embassy: Detroit, USA
In partnership with Underground Music Academy. “KNOW THE PAST. CHANGE THE FUTURE.” Operating under this slogan, Detroit’s Underground Music Academy is a place to learn about the past, present, and future of dance music. A utopian space for the city's aspiring musicians, created by a team of idealists brought toge...
COSMOS Embassy: Nairobi, Kenya
In partnership with Santuri East Africa Santuri East Africa is a community-focused music innovation hub based in Nairobi, Kenya.Their goal is to bring about a more equitable, authentic, and diverse music industry. For a full decade, the Santuri organization has been supporting, highlighting, and releasing a mix of contemporary and tradit...
About Le Guess Who?
With the motto of Listening is the Way Forward, Le Guess Who? is widely considered to be one of the most forward-thinking festivals around.