Search: Girl Band
Earth Girl Helen Brown
San Francisco platform The Earth Girl Helen Brown Center For Planetary Intelligence Band (or E.G.H.B.C.P.F.I.B), lead by Helen Brown, was first devised by Sonny Smith for his 100 Records Project...
Watch METZ's short film on the making of new album 'Strange Peace'
With new album 'Strange Peace', METZ frantically push their well-established sound even further, capturing the notorious intensity of their live shows. The album was recorded in just four days wi...
Playlist: Kim Deal's personal introduction to The Breeders
Gaining worldwide recognition with their smashing, gummy hit single ‘Cannonball’, The Breeders were a leading figure in the 90s grunge scene. After a ten-year hiatus, they recently release...
COUCOU CHLOE
Along with Shy Girl and Sega Bodega, French artist and producer Coucou Chloe is the co-founder of burgeoning label/collective NUXXE. Her malformed take on pop music is as mind-melting as it is urgent,...
The Burial Of Kojo
Presented by Le Guess Who? & Springhaver The Burial Of Kojo follows the story of Esi, as she recounts her childhood and the tumultuous relationship between her father, Kojo and her uncle, Kwabena...
Watch: Zanzibar singer Siti Muharam's European live debut at LGW21, premiered by Songlines
Zanzibar singer Siti Muharam performed live at Le Guess Who? 2021, marking her European live debut. In 2020, she received the prestigious Songlines Awards for African Artist of the Year following the release of her album 'Siti of Unguja'. Now, Songlines premieres the concert film of Siti Muharam's performance at Le Guess Who?, featur...
Watch: The Bug feat. Dis Fig, Flowdan & Logan - Live at Le Guess Who?
The Bug performed live as one of the closing acts of Le Guess Who? 2022, accompanied on stage by MC's Dis Fig, Flowdan and Logan to bring the buzzing energy found on The Bug's record to life. Relive part of the performance with our concert film below, featuring Fat Mac and Dirty/I Luv You (Freestyle) feat. Flowdan, Take feat. Dis Fig and...
Dur-Dur Band
The story of Somalia’s legendary Dur-Dur Band is one of regrouping and resilience. In the 80s, their vibrant Somali funk music embedded the nightlife of the capital of Mogadishu. Since dictator...
Amsterdam-based indie rock crusaders Personal Trainer release new song 'Former Puppy'
*Update: Personal Trainer have released their debut album 'Big Love Blanket' in full, listen below: Big Love Blanket by Personal Trainer Just a week before Le Guess Who? 2022, Personal Trainer will release their debut album 'Big Love Blanket'. It's as euphoric, energetic and colorful as the band itself is, and to whet your appetite, the...
Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff
Vital and exciting, the music of Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff is rooted in a very specific community, Dakar’s nightlife scene, but speaks to the world. For twenty years and across three gene...
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley & His Sekondi Band
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley is the true originator of simigwa-do, a Ghanaian fusion of afro funk, soul and jazz. His work with the Uhuru Dance Band and the The Apagya Show Band (the latter with one-time mento...
Noori & His Dorpa Band
Noori's musical journey began far before Ostinato Records scouted his mysterious band in late 2021. In the nineties, the then eighteen-year-old came across a guitar neck in Port Sudan. Forging it with...
Daniel Okiror & band
Daniel Okiror, whose roots lie in Uganda, plays authentic string instruments from Africa. With his band of professional musicians, he will take you full swing on a safari tour of his African repertoir...
The Cromagnon Band
London’s The Cromagnon Band had made a splash before releasing any work; prior to their debut LP’s launch via We Stay True, the trio had featured on compilations from Andy Votel and Doug S...
Badume's Band & Selamnesh Zéméné
Since 2007, Badume’s Band has tasked themselves with the joyous mission of bringing the golden age of Ethiopian music to new eyes and ears. In Selamnesh Zéméné (Debo Band, T...
The Mauskovic Dance Band
Hailing from Amsterdam, The Mauskovic Dance Band is a brainchild of producer and multi-instrumentalist Nic Niggebrugge, a.k.a Nicola Mauskovic. After years of playing drums for bands like Jacco Gardne...
De Saffier & Kaffeetaria Presents
De Saffier en Kaffeetaria will get wild! Together, they are showcasing their most valuable gemstones on their own stage. They will host an extensive and eclectic collection of singer-songwriters, DJs,...
Maâlem Houssam Guinia & Band
Maâlem (or ‘master musician’) Houssam Guinia is the son and successor of the late Mahmoud Guinia, an emblematic figure in the practice of West-African Gnawa music. Gnawa is an extens...
Ayalew Mesfin & Debo Band
Quintessential Ethio-groove performer Ayalèw Mesfin has joined forces with the renowned US-based ensemble Debo band for his first European live performance ever, and in truth, few collaboration...
Tiny Room Records: We vs. Death
22 years ago, four kindred musical spirits found each other at Utrecht University. They shared a passion for unconventional music and formed We vs. Death. For ten years they steadily built on a succes...
Niger's desert blues group Etran de L’Aïr announce new album 'Agadez'; listen to 'Adounia'
Etran de L'Aïr, the best of Saharan rock, has been in the game for 25 years. They're well-known for their hypnotic sound and sun-bleached melodies. This family band of brothers and cousins shared a common ancestry; in the shadow of the grand mosque, Etran's members are all the sons of nomadic families who settled in Agadez's small ne...
Freaky Dancing: Onegg (live)
The Utrecht based Onegg is a synthesizer collective led by twins Ewa and Marysia Saras, with band member Mariette Huls by their side. The band produces hauntological, synth based electronica. Melody a...
Condor Gruppe
The Antwerp-based nine-piece ensemble Condor Gruppe takes you on a hypnotic trip through their record collections, paying tribute to obscure Italian 70s film soundtracks, krautrock and psychedelic gro...
U? returns to Utrecht for its fourth edition
U?, the freely accessible city program of Le Guess Who?, returns to Utrecht for its fourth edition. U? celebrates local and creative communities based in the Netherlands, with a strong focus on Utrecht. Our mission: Amplifying local communities from the fringe, U? is Utrecht’s radical playground for experimentation, co-creation and...
Watch/Listen: French indie-pop band Keep Dancing Inc performs live at 3voor12 Radio
French indie-pop band Keep Dancing Inc debuts on Dutch Radio with a live-session at 3voor12 Radio.
Birth of Manuel
Birth of Manuel is a Faxe-powered punk band from the Utrecht underground scene. Founded by members of Throwing Bricks, Ontaard (performed at U? 2023) and Ciao Bon Jovi Jon Bon Jon Jovi Jon, with the g...
Black Lips
Still the crudest, strangest and loudest band from Atlanta. On their eighth LP, the cheekily titled 'Satan's Graffiti or God's Art?', the band unrolled an 18-song epic revelling in Wall Of Sound grand...
The Ex (2017)
The adventurous, innovative Dutch band The Ex have defied categorization ever since their origination in 1979. Born out of the punk explosion, when anything and everything was possible, the band have...
Endless Boogie
Formed in 1997, Endless Boogie is an American rock band who are living up to their own band name. They’re well known for their seemingly infinite, minimalist jams, onstage as well as on record....
Brigid Dawson & Sunwatchers
Brigid Dawson may have become known as a centerpiece for Thee Oh Sees, in which her whimsical harmonies gave the band’s psychedelic rock new meaning. Now, she takes her keyboard and vocals elsew...
Ice Balloons
According to the band itself, it was a ‘common misinterpretation of psychosis’ that led Ice Balloons to start making music. The Brooklyn-based noise/rock band features Sean Kennerly (Samia...
Nagasaki Swim
Jasper Boogaard has felt at home in Rotterdam all his life, but to find his musical peers he needed to look elsewhere – in Philadelphia, home to bands like Hop Along, Alex G and Algernon Cadwall...
Petersburg
Petersburg is one of the most mysterious and unique indie bands in the Netherlands. The band, formerly known as Petersburg Orderer and consisting of Camiel Muiser, Erik van de Paardt, Boris de Klerk (...
Greet & Meet
Common Frames and Radio Einstein present Greet & Meet: films, podcasts, photographs, talkshows and art, about and by newcomers from Utrecht and the surrounding region. In the wooden trailer you ca...
Combo Qazam
Combo Qazam is a post-punk band from Utrecht that relies heavily on grooves and eerie vocal harmonies. On their well-received debut Flight Music (2020), they link this to 90s indie, math rock, prog an...
Inkhorn Controversy
Inkhorn Controversy is a band from Utrecht that plays both Dutch and English alternative pop rock. Their sound is Britpop/Postpunk-like with some Progrock influences. With theiridiosyncratic texts the...
Aldous Harding - Live at Le Guess Who? 2019
Following the release of her latest album ‘Designer’ last year, New Zealand songwriter Aldous Harding performed at Le Guess Who? 2019, becoming one of the audience’s highlights of the 13th edition of the festival. The show rendered instrumentation and voice into the most vivid and impressionistic of scenes. Harding&...
Girl Band shares video for new song 'Going Norway', from upcoming album 'The Talkies'
Dublin's Girl Band has released the new song 'Going Norway' from the upcoming album 'The Talkies', which will be released on 27 September via Rough Trade. Going Norway' follows the previously released 'Shoulderblades' and comes with a both disturbing and witty video that was directed by Bob Gallagher; watch below. Girl Band's Dara Kiely...
Speakers Corner Quartet & Friends
Biscuit, Kwake Bass, Peter Bennie, and Raven Bush began playing together as the house band on open-mic night Speakers' Corner in Brixton, London. Fifteen years after their start as a band and more tha...
Salsa de Hoy
The sun always shines with Salsa de Hoy. The uplifting salsa music played by this 11-piece band is like a little electric fire. Feel free to dance, but don’t feel obliged to do anything. Just br...
Celestial Spaces: Moonwatch
Moonwatch plays layered dream indie pop, merging spellbinding melodies with reverb-drenched textures to convey the moods of the night sky. The members of the five-headed band from Utrecht joined force...
aural conduct: Salutingrome (live)
Salutingrome started as the aperture for the evocative solo-experiments of Zamity Mitelembe, and has recently transformed towards a poetic and transgressive live-format. Stepping up as a band, with a...
The Brother Moves On
There is a thread binding London and Johannesburg, of which internationally-acclaimed ensemble The Brother Moves On is part. Founded by artist Nkululeko Mthembu and his brother Siyabonga Mthembu, the...
Listen or read: a personal introduction to Egypt’s Mazaher, bearers of the Zar tradition, by Nadah El Shazly
This November, Le Guess Who? will feature a rare performance (their first European show in over 15 years) of Egypt’s Mazaher: a small group of mostly women musicians and singers who play Zar music: chanting songs and playing hypnotic polyrhythms used in a ceremonial event to cleanse the spirits and to clear away illness and discomfo...
Watch Plague Organ's live debut at Roadburn Redux, co-presented by LGW
After the last minute cancellation of Plague Organ's show at LGW OFF last November due to the global pandemic, Le Guess Who? and Roadburn collaborated and facilitated the band's live debut at Roadburn Redux on April 17th 2021. After a limited availability at the Roadburn Redux website, the show is now available in full through...
Watch: Rats on Rafts reveal new video for 'Second Born Child'
Rotterdam-based four-piece band Rats on Rafts release a new live track and video from 'Excerpts From Chapter 3 DELUXE'. An absorbing mix between choral elements, goosebump-inducing piano sounds and Rats on Rafts’ unique post-punk and modern lo-fi musical vocabulary, the single entitled ‘Second Born Child’ invites listene...
COSMOS Embassy: Khartoum, Sudan
In partnership with Hassan Kamil & AndariyamagKnown for its strong rhythms, melancholy lyrics, and bittersweet taste, the Sudanese music scene is more active than ever. This Embassy features a sel...
Hagop Tchaparian
British-Armenian producer Hagop Tchaparian did not walk into dance music in a straight line. Rather, he was previously most known for playing guitar in the short-lived British pop-punk band Symposium....
Library Card shares new single 'Cognitive Dissonance'
Rotterdam-based post-punk outfit Library Card effortlessly distinguishes itself within the city's already rich guitar music scene. The band's latest single, Cognitive Dissonance, perfectly encapsulates the essence of post-punk: angular guitar riffs, angsty spoken-word vocals, and an undeniable, incendiary charisma. Library Card comprises...
Library Card
Library Card came to be when four musicians from the lively Rotterdam music scene became friends. Lot van Teylingen, Mitchell Quitz, Kat Kalkman, and Emre Karayalçin soon emerged together as li...
Library Card
Library Card came to be when four musicians from the lively Rotterdam music scene became friends. Lot van Teylingen, Mitchell Quitz, Kat Kalkman, and Emre Karayalçin soon emerged together as li...
Painkiller Party
Welcome to the world of PAINKILLER PARTY! This band revitalizes Electronicore with a mix of heavy breakdowns, quirky electronics, sweet melodies, and deep growls from a female voice. Think deathcore m...
Listen to Le Cri du Caire's mesmerizing performance at Le Guess Who? 2023
One year ago, Le Cri du Caire released their hauntingly beautiful, self-tilted debut album. We are now thrilled to share the recording of their mesmerizing performance at Utrecht's Jacobikerk during Le Guess Who? 2023, where the group performed the majority of the album, as well as new material. AboutSinger, writer, poet, and expressio...
Listen: Kahil El’Zabar Ethnic Heritage Ensemble live session at BBC Radio 6
Fiftieth anniversaries call for spectacular celebrations, and that is what Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble are embarking on this year. To commemorate half a century of continuously shifting gears and tempos in the jazz-blues continuum, the band is embarking on a new world tour. Before they do so, they visited the BBC...
Nusantara Beat
Amsterdam-based six-piece Nusantara Beat has quickly amassed a cult following, largely due to their exciting new take on Indonesian tradition. By infusing the sounds of traditional Indonesian songs fr...
Bo Ningen share NTS Mix for their curation at Le Guess Who? 2024
This year, Japanese psych-rock outfit Bo Ningen are one of the guest curators of Le Guess Who?, with their curation is dedicated to “representing the Bo Ningen community, with lots of collaborative projects and with a strong focus on audiovisual performances.” As an introduction to their program, Taigen Kawabe, lead singer a...
Dear Omens
Dear Omens is a musical melting pot from the bustling streets of Amsterdam. This band intertwines krautrock, new waves, and dark tones into an idiosyncratic sound. With a fusion of organ, percussion,...
Hizbut Jámm
Hizbut Jámm, the band led by guitarist and composer Raphael Rogiński, came together in a different, pre-pandemic world. Ironically, even back then the group, formed by musicians deriving from d...
Eucademix (Yuka Honda)
Rather than a composer, Yuka Honda, or Eucademix, prefers to call herself a decomposer. As Eucademix, she performs solo electronic ‘sensory’ music, designed to rattle the audience’s...
Seein' Red
The legendary Amersfoort hardcore punk trio Seein' Red formed around 1989 from the ashes of Lärm. The band quickly found their line-up consisting of brothers Paul & Olav van den Berg, on guit...
Sex Swing (U?)
Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle sits between the mountainous regions of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand. The locals call it Sop Ruak - miles and miles of rocks, and, well, opium. London’s Sex Swing...
Sonic Interventions
Sonic Interventions is a band of transdisciplinary, diasporic-futurist musicians based in Berlin. The band emerged in 2020 from weekly jam sessions on Tempelhofer Feld and is now established as one of...
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...
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...
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.
Derya Yıldırım & Grup Simsek
This multi-nationality Anatolian rock outfit is fronted by Turkish vocalist and musician Derya Yıldırım. With members from Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy, Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek of...
ICP Orchestra
The incomparable Instant Composers Pool Orchestra are like the Jedi Knights of improvisation: a collective of musical marvels hacking the conventions of their individual instruments, setting an arena...
Alexander von Schlippenbach & Han Bennink
Alexander von Schlippenbach is the founder of the famous free jazz super-ensemble Globe Unity Orchestra, which at different points featured Peter Brötzmann, the late Jaki Liebezeit, Paul Rutherfo...
Insecure Men
Insecure Men is the wacky side project of Fat White Family-member Saul Adamczewski and Ben Romans-Hopcraft (Childhood). First release ‘Karaoke For One’ contains nine stripped cover songs d...
Mary Margaret O'Hara
Declared a ‘cult hero’ by The Guardian, Perfume Genius has invited Canadian songwriter and actress Mary Margaret O’Hara to Utrecht for a very rare live performance. The undisciplinar...
Den Sorte Skole
Danish sample-duo Den Sorte Skole creates magical, musical storytelling across time and space. By sampling obscure records from all over the globe, all possible genres and from all times, these guys t...
Liars share 2 new tracks: 'Coins in My Caged Fist' & 'The Grand Delusional'
Last month, Liars announced their new album 'TFCF', to be released in August via Mute. After first single 'Cred Woes', the band now shares two new tracks from the album: 'Coins in My Caged Fist'...
Sons of Kemet XL
With Sons of Kemet, sax wizard Shabaka Hutchings takes cues from Afro-Caribbean carnival to contemporary UK grime and hip hop. This is music played with punk drive, the immediacy of club music and rid...
Paddy Steer
Sonic tinkerer Paddy Steer dives into the realms of lo-fi pop, new age, acid jazz and cosmic funk like a kid with a new box of crayons. With a multitude of instruments at his disposal, this Manchester...
The Comet Is Coming
Invoking the cosmic spirits of Sun Ra, futuristic three-piece The Comet Is Coming creates an impetuous blend of jazz, afrobeat and electronica. The group turn their intergalactic jazz into a mythologi...
Shintaro Sakamoto
As a former member of legendary Tokyo-based psychedelic band Yura Yura Teikoku, Shintaro Sakamoto became a cult star in his motherland of Japan. In his solo work, Sakamoto creates post-apocalyptic exo...
The Breeders
Originally formed by Pixies’ Kim Deal and Throwing Muses’ Tanya Donelly, The Breeders are back in rumbling, restless style. Gaining worldwide recognition with their smashing, gummy hit sin...
The Scorpios
Having fled from the fundamentalists in their home country of Sudan, the original members of psychedelic group The Scorpios established themselves in London during the 80s. Once there, they built a gr...
Hailu Mergia
Before Hailu Mergia fled to America in 1981, his group Walias Band was a guiding light in Ethiopia’s thriving nightclub scene. In America, Mergia ended up driving cabs for almost 30 years, but h...
Beverly Glenn-Copeland
Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s 1970 album, reissued by Super-Sonic Jazz this year, is a lush folk-jazz album in the vein of peers such as Tim Buckley and Joni Mitchell. After a twenty year absence, th...
Please The Trees
Originally from the forests of a mountainous region in East Bohemia in Czech Republic, Please The Trees is grounded in the psychedelic riffs and motorik beats of krautrock, striking out with mesmerizi...
Ill Considered
Here’s a first impression of London four piece ensemble Ill Considered to spark your curiosity: their self-titled LP sounds like free-wheeling jams left on the cutting room floor for Curtis Mayf...
Psychic Ills
Although Psychic Ills started as a bedroom recording project fifteen years ago, this New York-based band has been in constant evolution ever since. Never one to shy away from experiment, their music i...
King Champion Sounds
Fronted by Kenia-born musician Ajay Saggar, King Champion Sounds are an impetuous, eight-headed band from The Netherlands and England. Fronted by the inimitable G.W. Sok (former singer of the iconic D...
3 Pharoah Sanders LP reissues coming November 10
Anthology Recordings announces the reissue of 3 of Pharoah Sanders' significant albums: 'Tauhid', 'Jewels of Thought' and 'Summun Bukmun Umyun (Deaf Dumb Blind)'. The records are available exclusively...
Yonatan Gat & The Eastern Medicine Singers
Yonatan Gat became known as a member of revolutionary Israeli punk band Monotonix, as well as an acclaimed recording artist. After powwow drum group the Eastern Medicine Singers initially turned down...
Caspar Brötzmann Massaker
Caspar Brötzmann has embraced a similar vocation as his father, free jazz legend Peter Brötzmann: disrupt conventions through the virtues of noise, innovation, and chaotic physical performan...
Destroyer - Live at Le Guess Who? 2015
Shortly after the release of ‘Poison Season’, Dan Bejar and his band gave an exceptional performance at TivoliVredenburg’s Grote Zaal during the festival. "There are a few bands battling for the title of Best Live Act in the World Today at present, but we’re rallying round Destroyer’s flag on this one....
Träd, Gräs och Stenar (Träden)
For a band whose name translates to “Trees, Grass and Stone”, obviously, these lionized Swedish innovators have upheld their utopian ideals both in ethos and sound since the early 70&rsquo...
Mykki Blanco
In the universe of Mykki Blanco, art and real life don’t imitate each other, but are symbiotic and reciprocal. Few artists could infiltrate mainstream audiences with cinematic, experimental trac...
Efterklang
Whether it’s the early, more electronic-driven beginnings or excavating field recordings at an abandoned settlement in the Arctic Circle, these Danish pop adventurers express boundless enthusias...
Mueran Humanos
Some bands exist to obey your sweetest aural proclivities, but Mueran Humanos is no such band. This Argentinian, Berlin-based duo aims to unnerve and shudder with their strangely fascinating, queasy c...
The Sweet Release of Death
The Sweet Release Of Death triumph over doom-and-gloom with a pinch of dark humor and a penchant for stretching guitar-based music’s outer peripheries. The group forms a maelstrom of ear-splitti...
Acid Rooster
Acid Rooster are pretty much a wet dream for heads who cram their cabinets with Amon Düül, Spacemen 3, Wooden Shjips and Magma. The dynamics of this band diverge from weightless, spaced out...
Shortparis
Russian collective Shortparis is all about tension, friction and disruption, obscuring the boundaries between audiovisual theatre, techno raves and punk rock performance. Whether it’s shattering...
Grupo Pilon
The most riveting, template-shifting music often comes from a state of displacement or transience, and the Luxembourg-based, Cape Verde-born ensemble Grupo Pilon is certainly no exception. Founded by...
Deerhoof & Tigue play 'Friend Opportunity'
Deerhoof is one of those fantastic beasts the world has been lucky to find, an anomaly of a band that can twist any crunch of noise into saccharine hook-heavy pop euphoria. Their wide-eyed trial-and-e...
Vincent Moon & Priscilla Telmon present SACRED✚S (with special guests Angel Bat Dawid & The Brothahood)
Priscilla Telmon & Vincent Moon are a collaborating multidisciplinary artist duo working as independent filmmakers and sound-explorers. Together they produce ethnographic experimental films and mu...
Mueran Humanos: Hospital Lullabies (film)
Berlin-based, Argentina-born noiseniks Mueran Humanos enlisted Carmen Burguess to direct a companion film for their last LP ‘Hospital Lullabies’, which will be screened before the group&rs...
Felix Kubin
True child prodigy, German musician, curator and radio host Felix Kubin first began experimenting with synthesizers at the tender age of twelve. Of course, such a keen interest in sound and music coul...
Introducing: Black Midi: storming UK’s underground with piercing, tense noise rock
We would like to introduce you to Black Midi: part band, part mystery. Despite the fact that they've got almost no online presence and are still unsigned, the group has already garnered praise from me...
Sea Urchin
Rarely has a band sounded so much like their name. It’s as if Egyptian-Austrian artist Leila Hassan and collaborator Francesco Cavaliere picked it out before the instruments themselves. Just lik...
Ored Recordings: Jrpjej & Zaur Nagoy
2019 was quite a different year for ethnographic label Ored Recordings. Instead of setting out on expeditions throughout the frozen Caucasus mountains on a quest to collect traditional music from the...
Don Melody Club
Besides being a member of The Mauskovic Dance Band, Amsterdam-based Donald ‘Donny’ Madjid is also a drum-machine-wielding story-teller, whose debut album ‘Pure Donzin’, takes i...
Aksak Maboul
This Belgian band has been continuously re-inventing itself, mixing and deconstructing genres to create its own unique sonic palette, ever since they first emerged over forty years ago. The only perma...
Kohti Tuhoa
Made up from an ensemble cast of Finish rock musicians – with members hailing from bands like Speedtrap, Maailmanloppu, Perikato, and Kylmä Sota – Kohti Tuhoa is hailed as a...
Jacco Gardner: "Mysteriously, the things I feel connected to just find their way onto my path"
Before debuting his immersive multimedia-performance Somnium at this year’s Le Guess Who?, we had an extensive chat with Dutch musician, songwriter, and composer Jacco Gardner. About Dutch explorers, silent film soundtracks, Zambian rock legends, strange peninsula’s and of course, his upcoming LP Somnium. Jacco Gardner, sitti...
Neneh Cherry - Live at Le Guess Who? 2018
Genre-bending singer Neneh Cherry performed at Le Guess Who? 2018, presenting work from her latest album 'Broken Politics'; you can now listen + watch part of the performance below: Neneh Cherry - 'Shot Gun Shack', live at Le Guess Who? 2018: About:Across decades, Neneh Cherry traversed and transcended every known faction of the...
Girls In Synthesis
Girls In Synthesis is a London-based post-punk and noise rock band, that has been releasing records for 4 years and counting. With their DIY mentality they’re not afraid to experiment. Be prepar...
The Chisel
London band The Chisel’s new EP, ‘Come See Me / Not The Only One’ embodies a variety of British punk traditions, brought on by each member’s distinct origin story; Blackpool, C...
Neptunian Maximalism
Even if Neptunian Maximalism, also known as NNMM, are more of a sparse community of ‘multi occultural engineers’ than a band per se, their mission is crystal clear; to explore the evolutio...
Sons Of Kemet with Special Guests
Sons of Kemet’s latest record, ‘Black to the Future’, was released in May – mostly recorded after the murder of George Floyd. For The Guardian’s Kitty Empire, the album f...
King Hannah
King Hannah are Hannah Merrick and Craig Whittle, a dynamic, creative duo hailing from Liverpool. “If we hadn’t found each other, we don’t know where we would be”, says Craig o...
Playlist: explore Jenny Hval's curated program for LGW19
Norwegian multidisciplinary artist Jenny Hval is one of the curators for Le Guess Who? 2019. Hval will host her very own program at the upcoming edition of the festival, inviting a.o. Japanese musician and sound artist Haco; Canadian-born, Los Angeles-based ambient artist Sarah Davachi; French sound sculptor Felicia Atkinson; Glasweg...
Film: SPAZA – Road to Johannesburg
Please note: in order to attend this film screening on Wednesday 10 November, you can just show your festival ticket at the entrance of Louis Hartlooper Complex. In this film, Johannesburg record lab...
Rats on Rafts: Visions Of Chapter 3 (live)
Rotterdam’s Rats on Rafts’ most recent album, ‘Chapter 3: The Mind Runs A Net Of Rabbit Paths’, is proof of their ambition - and even more so is their one-off performance at Le...
Listen to a unique collaboration between Ahmed Ag Kaedy and Marjo Smolander on new single 'Tenere'
Tuareg guitarist Ahmed Ag Kaedy has released a new single called 'Tenere' in collaboration with Finnish musician Marjo Smolander. Marjo plays the Finnish traditional instrument Kantele and together with Kaedy's enchanting guitar playing, the sounds blend together as one. Even if you can't understand the words they're both singin...
Watch: Efterklang debut new album 'Altid Sammen' live at the iconic Elbphilharmonie concert hall
Recently, Danish pop adventurers Efterklang released their fifth studio album 'Altid Sammen'. The day after the release, they debuted the record live in its entirety at the iconic Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg during this year’s Reeperbahn Festival. The trio was joined on stage by Øyunn on drums,...
The Staples Jr. Singers
In 1975, family group The Staples Jr. Singers released their first and only album: ‘When Do We Get Paid’ - recorded when the gospel band’s youngest members were in their early teenag...
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...
Nihiloxica - Live at Le Guess Who? 2023
Nihiloxica exploded out of Kampala in 2017 with their groundbreaking fusion of Bugandan drumming and UK bass. The band explores the darkest depths between two separate cultures of dance music, uniting abrasive club electronics with raucous percussive energy. At Le Guess Who? 2023, the group presented their late latest album 'Source of De...
Sun-Mi Hong
The Amsterdam-based, but born and raised in Incheon, Korea, Sun-Mi Hong has a unique perspective of life. With a signature of rooted groove in combination with well-tempered outbursts, Sun Mi has plac...
África Negra
In the early seventies, Horacio, a butcher by trade, and his guitarist friend Emidio Pontes decided to form África Negra; the rest is Sao Tome and Príncipe music history. Their unparalle...
Muriel Grossmann Quartet
At the helm of her acclaimed Quartet, Muriel Grossman makes music to uplift those who listen to it. The Austrian composer and saxophonist, born in Paris, has been releasing her own work yearly for ove...
Maria Reis
Grit is something Lisbon-based Maria Reis has in spades, which captured the attention of Animal Collective’s Panda Bear. After the success of Pega Monstro, the punk band created with sister J&ua...
African Head Charge - Live at Le Guess Who? 2023
African Head Charge performed live on the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2023 following the release of their new album 'A Trip To Bolgatanga'. You can now relive the performance with the full audio of the show, which is assured to put a smile on anyone's face. About'A bad attitude is like a flat tire - you can't go anywhere until...
Derya Yıldırım
After performing at the festival with her band, Grup Simsek, in 2017, this Hamburg-based singer and multi-instrumentalist is returning to Le Guess Who? on her own, making Anatolian folk the focus of h...
Yakuni Tunes
The synthpop songs of the Utrecht one-man band Yakuni Tunes contain solid drum computer beats, dreamy vocals and layered retro keyboards. These songs go hand in hand with lyrics about heartache, faile...
Listen: Cate Le Bon, The Notwist, Kate NV & more rework the music of Aksak Maboul on 'Redrawn Figures 1'
For over forty years, Belgian avant-garde group Aksak Maboul has been mixing and deconstructing genres to continuously re-invent themselves. In 2020, the group reappeared from a long hiatus with 'Figures', a double album hailed by critics as ambitious and mischievous. Now, the band release 'Redrawn Figures 1': an album of reworks, remixe...
Celestial Spaces: This Leo Sunrise
This Leo Sunrise is an alt-folk-indie rock band from Utrecht. Honest songs are mixed with cinematic, repetitive drones, creating a broad sound spectrum. The songs, atmosphere, production and lyrics &n...
Nospray: Kalaallit Nunaat
Kalaallit Nunaat, founded in 2018 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, combine their love for noise, post-punk, shoegaze and krautrock into a hypnotizing wall of sound. With music best enjoyed in a cold and...
Brooklyn post-punk five-piece Gustaf share video for new single 'Best Behavior'
Brooklyn post-punk group Gustaf have generated quite the buzz for a band which hasn’t been around for more than a few years. On October 1st, the five-piece will release their long awaited debut album 'Audio Drag For Ego Slobs' via Royal Mountain Records. Following the release of first song 'Book' last month, Gust...
Mourning [A] BLKstar
'A band whose importance is fast becoming evident', wrote Wire Magazine's Neil Kulkarni on Mourning [A] BLKstar. The collective, made up of musicians, writers, and multimedia artists, has a bountiful...
Listen/read: Rats on Rafts' David Fagan: "If we're gonna do a live show, let's try and do something special"
Ever the experimentalists, Rotterdam post-punk quintet Rats on Rafts bring their multi-disciplinary spectacle, Visions of Chapter 3, to Le Guess Who? for its first public-facing debut. And, as frontman David Fagan admits, there’s no telling just quite how it will all pan out…
Baltimore experimental rock quartet Horse Lords announce new album + share video for 'Mess Mend'
*Update: Horse Lords have released their new album 'Comradely Objects' in full - listen below: Something special happened this year while we were working on this year's program: our guest curators Animal Collective and clipping. both had Baltimore experimental rock quartet Horse Lords on their wishlist to perform at the festival. Needl...
Holy Tongue
Drummer, composer, and percussionist Valentina Magaletti (of Vanishing Twin) emerges on this year’s Le Guess Who?’s line-up thrice, further establishing her versatility. As Holy Tongue, sh...
Attila Csihar, Void ov Voices
Cult metal vocalist Attila Csihar has often played a part in wholes; be it Tormentor, the infamous Hungarian metal band where he got his start in the mid-eighties, to Mayhem and Sunn O))), the singer...
COSMOS Embassy: Khartoum, Sudan
In partnership with Hassan Kamil & AndariyamagKnown for its strong rhythms, melancholy lyrics, and bittersweet taste, the Sudanese music scene is more active than ever. This Embassy features a sel...
Scene Report: Anzoategui, Venezuela
Collaborative, mellow sounds, a fusion of traditional Afro-Venezuelan music with jazz and hip hop: this is what Motherflowers and Orestes Gómez, two of the most vibrant Venezuelan music project...
COSMOS Embassy: Tbilisi, Georgia
Mutant Radio is a media platform that focuses on various directions: mixes, interviews, educational shows, live performances and discussions. Gathering artists, DJs, and interesting personalities to f...
dragonchild x Sunken Cages
For this unique crossover, two worlds collide; that of dragonchild, the solo project of Debo Band’s Ethio-American saxophonist D.A. Mekonnen, and that of Sunken Cages, the moniker of Indian-born...
Mong Tong 夢東
What you seek you shall find in Taipei sample-based psychedelic sibling duo Mong Tong 夢東’s music. Psychedelic journeys into the depths of Taiwanese folklore? Musings on the eighties’ med...
Alessandro Cortini
As Nine Inch Nails' keyboard, guitar, and bass player, Alessandro Cortini has carved out for himself a reputation as one of the foremost figures of contemporary electronic music. However, one would be...
Watch Damon Locks' Black Monument Ensemble perform 'The Body Is Electric' live at LGW21
Damon Locks' Black Monument Ensemble performed live at Le Guess Who? 2021. Curated by Matana Roberts for the festival, it marked the group's European live premiere. Now can now relive the performance with this video of the ensemble performing 'The Body Is Electric' from their latest & acclaimed album 'NOW'. AboutThe past and...
Listen & relive: Duma live at Le Guess Who? 2021, curated by Phil Elverum
Kenya's Duma, figureheads of the flourishing Nairobi underground metal scene, performed live at Le Guess Who? 2021 as part of the program curated by Phil Elverum (The Microphones/Mount Eerie). Martin "Lord Spike Heart" Khanja and Sam Karugo released their self-titled album in 2020 through Uganda’s Nyege Nyege Tapes and were i...
Announcing U?, Le Guess Who?'s largest free day program to date
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. This year, even more neighborhoods a...
Watch: Goat - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Swedish psych outfit Goat performed live at Le Guess Who?'s 15th Anniversary Edition in 2022, following the release of their latest album 'Oh Death' via Rocket Recordings. You can now relive part of the performance via our concert film below, which features the tracks 'Under No Nation', 'Gathering of Ancient Tribes', 'Do The Dance', 'Disc...
W.I.T.C.H.
Once upon a time, W.I.T.C.H. ruled Zambia. In the seventies, the band responsible for pioneering ‘zamrock’ often needed police to control the crowds riled up by lead singer Jagari (whose n...
Alan Sparhawk (of Low)
Alan Sparhawk is entering uncharted territory. In 2022, long-time musical partner vocalist and drummer Mimi Parker, with whom Sparhawk founded the mythical slowcare band Low three decades ago, passed...
Photo series: Rəhman Məmmədli by Azad Alizade & Sitara Ibrahimbayli
This year, Le Guess Who? presents the fourth edition of Hidden Musics, a project that focuses on deeply localized music and features artists embedded in rich, often centuries-old musical traditions that have been developed with little or no outside influences. The first series was initiated in 2019 by Le Guess Who? in collaboration w...
The Homesick
This summer’s lively ‘Soola’ is The Homesick announcing themselves back, renewed and reshaped. The Frisian trio, made up of Erik Woudwijk on the drums, Elias Elgersma on the guitar a...
Irreversible Entanglements release new album ‘Protect Your Light’
Irreversible Entanglements, the free jazz collective hailed by NPR as “Perhaps the most thrilling band in jazz right now,” has released their new album Protect Your Light. Released through Impulse! Records, this album marks a significant milestone in the world of experimental jazz. The group is comprised of vocalist Cama...
Big|Brave's new record is out now; stream in full
Montreal's Big|Brave merge guitar torrents, withered noise bursts and shamanic yelps. Now, the trio release their new album 'Ardor' via Southern Lord Records. Stream it in full below: 3 slowly de...
Special Interest
With last year’s ‘Endure’, New Orleans-based Special Interest cemented themselves as everyone’s readily-embraced champions of joyful and biting glam punk. Thanks to fearless vo...
Watch: LGW22 curator Animal Collective in session for NPR's Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
Baltimore quartet Animal Collective has been reshaping the face of what is easiest to call indie rock since the dawn of the new century. Their return earlier this year with ‘Time Skiffs’, the band’s first album in more than half a decade, marked a true return to form. Recently, the group visited the Massachusetts...
Space Siren
With the addition of noiserockband Howrah's Cees van Appeldoorn and Bart Schotman, Space Siren's ensemble, led by Gwendolien Douglas, Aico Turba, and Ineke Duivenvoorde, continues to flourish. Now a q...
Photo series: The Getdowns by Rogier Boogaard
The Getdowns are a young hardrock & punkband from Utrecht. Influenced by bands like Pearl Jam and The Beatles, the four boys produce a massive amount of noise characterised by distortion pedals and raw vocals.
Consensual Peggy
Consensual Peggy emerges as a riotgrrrl punk band, fearlessly embracing the currents of hysteria. Unpredictable, exuding a resounding uproar, and fiercely untamed. Born from a furnace of anger and inc...
Listen: Pankisi Ensemble live at Le Guess Who? 2023
Georgia's Pankisi Ensemble performed live at Le Guess Who? 2023 as part of the Hidden Musics program. Now, you can relive this touching performance with the full audio of the show, recorded at Utrecht's Jacobikerk during the festival. AboutThe Pankisi Ensemble goes against the typical 'ethno-fusion' grain in two ways. First, by not res...
Model/Actriz
‘Dogsbody’, Brooklyn-based quartet Model/Actriz’ first album, crashed onto music listener’s radars earlier this year like a seismic sea wave. It is easy to see why Cole Haden a...
Lik De Kikker
Born during a Christmas Night mushroom trip, Lik de Kikker (Lick the Frog) set out to create an awe-inspiring noise band. With two frogs in control, they craft harsh tek and noise using various gear....
The Getdowns
The Getdowns are a young hardrock/punkband from Utrecht. Influenced by grunge bands like Pearl Jam and legendary classics like The Beatles, the four boys produce a massive amount of noise characterise...
"It was the right place at the right time": COSMOS Goes Behind the Scenes in Montréal, Canada
COSMOS: Behind the Scenes with POP Montréal In 'Behind the Scenes', COSMOS dives into local stories from across the world together with our global partners. Ever since Le Guess Who?'s very first edition, there's been a strong bond with POP Montréal’s 20+ year long history of platforming cutting-edge music. Fo...
Tropical Fuck Storm (2019)
Tropical Fuck Storm’s wailing backing harmonies sound like a coven chanting hellish incantations, and the filthy percussive thrusts, the otherworldly synth flourishes of the band’s debut L...
Still House Plants
Beneath Still House Plants’s post-rock skin thumps a glowing pop heart, and this year’s ‘If I don't make it, I love u’ reveals the UK trio’s anatomy better than any previ...
Water Damage
Drones are a powerful force, capable of whisking our thinking mind far, far, away. Austin-based octet Water Damage yields the same power whenever they pick up their instruments. Veterans from other pr...
ASA-CHANG & Junray
Playing at the iconic Fuji Rock Festival for five years straight is a feat many dream of, but, for ASA-CHANG & Junray, it’s a blip in their long story. ASA-CHANG is the founder and original...
Tashi Wada
‘What Is Not Strange?’ asks Los Angeles-based performer Tashi Wada on his first solo album’s title. As its name suggests, the artist’s latest work - his most ambitious and impa...
Lunch Money Life
London’s Lunch Money Life has gone dark; their social media displays only a stoic 2025 date. Before then, however, they will play their single show of the year at Le Guess Who?. The band is boun...
Kahil El’Zabar Ethnic Heritage Ensemble
Fiftieth anniversaries call for spectacular celebrations, and that is just what Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble are embarking on this year. To commemorate half a century of conti...
Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou
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 are female bands appearin...
Photo series: LGW24 artist portraits by Melanie Marsman & Juri Hiensch
At Le Guess Who? 2024, residential photographers Melanie Marsman and Juri Hiensch captured a stunning series of artist portraits surrounding their performances at the festival. Part of the series features, among others, Ghanaian-French producer and vocalist PÖ and musician, producer and composer Jowee Omicil, who both performed...
Nadah El Shazly (2017)
Nadah El Shazly is one of the most versatile and progressive Egyptian musicians. The Cairo-based artist garnered that status by immersing herself in many different stylistics, including jazz, classica...
Annie & The Caldwells
Everyone is aware of the power of gospel music, but, to truly feel its electricity, one has to be charged in person. Annie & The Caldwells arrive from West Point, Mississippi to kindly and mightil...
Maurice Louca Quartet
Maurice Louca is one of the most talented names to have emerged from Egypt's thriving experimental arts scene. He is continuously exploring new avenues for his sound. A restless creator, Maurice Louca...
Listen to African Head Charge live at Le Guess Who? 2023
African Head Charge performed live on the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2023 following the release of their new album 'A Trip To Bolgatanga'. You can now relive the performance with the full audio of the show, which is assured to put a smile on anyone's face. About'A bad attitude is like a flat tire - you can't go anywhere until...
Waterschade
Waterschade is a young punk band from Haarlem who do not like patriarchy, racism and, of course, capitalism. They express this with tight bass lines, hard riffs and lots of screaming. With a mix of ha...
Devon Rexi
Amsterdam-based group Devon Rexi, founded by Nic Mauskovic (AKA Nicolini, former Le Guess Who? artist) and Nushin Naini, create dubby, playful experimental music. The fried-Farsi vocals are sung in th...
Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto
Latin American music traditions Gaita and Cumbia likely would not have thrived through time without the toil of Latin GRAMMY-winning Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, who have continuously been pushing the...
GNOD + MC Sissi
In early 2021, GNOD’s Paddy Shine (one of the two ever-present members of the psychedelic noise-rock collective) crossed paths with MC Sissi at an artists’ residence nestled between the Po...
Laura Palmer
Four-piece band Laura Palmer balances abrasive melodies, soaring drones and dreamy soundscapes. The result is a melting dystopian soundtrack that thunders alienating through chaos.
Elias Rønnenfelt
For the last 16 years, musician and poet Elias Rønnenfelt has fronted Danish band Iceage. This month, he’ll release his first solo album, ‘Heavy Glory’. This work is the sound...
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...
Patrick Shiroishi
Japanese-American musician and composer Patrick Shiroishi is best known for the new ways he bends notes out of the saxophone’s mouthpiece, both in a band setting (The Armed, Wild Up, and Upsilon...
Big|Brave (2017)
Montreal's Big|Brave occupy a unique sonic space. Merging guitar torrents, withered noise bursts and shamanic yelps into a fully fleshed-out artistic vision, Big|Brave make believers everywhere their...
Tomo Katsurada
From the warm cocoon of Dream of the Egg begins the new, deeply personal, journey of Tomo Katsurada, known for his work with the Japanese psychedelic band Kikagaku Moyo. It’s the first of five a...
Attila Csihar & Iggor Cavalera
Le Guess Who? 2025 guest curator Ziúr brings together unique super-duo Attila Csihar & Iggor Cavalera. On drums is the co-founder of legendary Brazilian band Sepultura, whose groundbreaking...
Los Wembler's de Iquitos
Like a magic spell, the psychedelic groove of Peruvian legends Los Wembler’s de Iquitos pulses deeper than ever. Creators of the Amazonian cumbia, this group has been among the pioneers of psych...
Mopcut ft. MC dälek
Free jazz improvisation: check. Punk approach: check. Sound art extravaganza: check. Mopcut is the extraordinary trio consisting of experimental vocalist and electronic musician Audrey Chen; one of Eu...
33EMYBW & Li Jianhong
Le Guess Who? 2025 guest curator Tianzhuo Chen invites two influential figures of the Chinese music scene to perform and improvise together on stage. Groundbreaking guitarist Li Jianhong is a pioneer...
Goblin Daycare
With their hi-voltage synth punk performances, Goblin Daycare prove that punk doesn't have to be stuck in the past or defined by worn-out clichés. As a matter of fact, the Turkish quartet&rsquo...
Luisa Almaguer
The harmonies of singer-songwriter Luisa Almaguer flow with the warmth and vibrancy of a celebration shared with the chosen family. Drawing from Mexican musical traditions, her voice carries both stre...
Makaya McCraven - Live at Le Guess Who? 2019
Makaya McCraven is one of Chicago’s most versatile and in-demand drummers. At Le Guess Who? 2019, McCraven, together with his stellar live band, gave a wonderfully free-spirited performance. As debut of the show, the group played the brand new song 'In These Times', which you can view below, as well as listen to the entire perf...
Girl Band release new track 'Salmon Of Knowledge'
Girl Band will release their sophomore album, 'The Talkies' on 27 September via Rough Trade. The Irish post-punk group already shared 'Shoulderblades' and 'Going Norway' from the record, now they are back with new track 'Salmon Of Knowledge'. The track is named after a creature from Irish mythology, and was once in the running for the tit...
Listen to Girl Band's new album 'The Talkies'
Four years on from their acclaimed debut album 'Holding Hands With Jamie', Girl Band are back with 'The Talkies', out today via Rough Trade. This Irish wrecking crew has become one of the most fearsome live units of the decade thanks to their shredding and propulsive performances. 'The Talkies' is as devastating as it is ja...
Asher Gamedze - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Asher Gamedze is a cultural worker based in Cape Town, working mainly as a musician, writer, organizer and an educator. With his band, he performed live during the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2022. You can now listen to three tracks that the group performed live from their 'Dialectic Soul' album (2020): 'Eternality', 'Siyabulela...
Listen: Earth Girl Helen Brown release 'Earth' EP, featuring members of OSEES, Black Dice, and Total Control
Earth Girl Helen Brown Center For Planetary Intelligence Band (or E.G.H.B.C.P.F.I.B) is an inclusive, expansive, non-discriminatory communicative platform with a primary objective of directing and energy and capital toward organizations and causes committed to longevity, peace, popular intelligence, responsib...
Rotterdam's The Sweet Release of Death shares new single 'Sick Girl'
Rotterdam's beloved The Sweet Release of Death have announced their return with new album 'The Blissful Joy Of Living', out October 10th, via Subroutine Records. The album finds the band reaching for their core instincts, channeling the brimming energy of their live shows. You can now listen to new single 'Sick Girl', which is a...
Revealing 46 program additions for Le Guess Who? 2021
It is true that making plans for shows and festivals in 2021 is a bit of a gamble. But Le Guess Who? believes that it’s important to have something to look forward to. In the spirit of cautious optimism, we are proud to announce the second round of confirmations for November 11-14 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Le Guess Who?’s...
"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...
See Tropical Fuck Storm transformed into a band of apes in new video 'The Happiest Guy Around'
Australia's Tropical Fuck Storm maps their own music from noise-rock and post-punk. This August, the band released their new album 'Braindrops' through Joyful Noise and now they share a new video for album track 'The Happiest Guy Around'. Directed by Glendon and Isabella, who are also known as 'the animators for the stars', we s...
Listen: The Sweet Release of Death releases new album 'The Blissful Joy Of Living'
Today, Rotterdam's noise pop revisionists The Sweet Release Of Death make their much-anticipated return with third LP 'The Blissful Joy Of Living', out now via Subroutine Records. The album could be considered a playful counter-statement to their own name. Over the span of six songs, it offers an acute glimpse of a band mired in tota...
Listen to Gruff Rhys's new album 'Pang!' in full
Best-known as spearhead of post-alternative band Super Furry Animals, Gruff Rhys has a long history in British rock. The Welsh artist is rightly considered one of the UK’s most unique and creative songwriting talents. Now, Rhyss releases his new album 'Pang!', the sixth record under his own name, for which he assemble...
Listen & relive: Ice Balloons live at Le Guess Who? 2021, curated by Matana Roberts
Brooklyn-based noise/rock band Ice Balloons features Sean Kennerly (Samiam) on bass and vocals, Kyp Malone (TV on the Radio) on synthesizers and modules, and Lyla Vander (Habibi) on drums and vocals. According to the band itself, it was a ‘common misinterpretation of psychosis’ that led Ice Balloons to start making music. The...
clipping. - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
During the 15th Anniversary Edition of Le Guess Who? in 2022, West Coast hip-hop trio clipping. performed live as part of their guest curation at the festival. We're thrilled to now share the concert film of the performance, with clipping. performing tracks from throughout their discography, including fan favorites such as ‘N...
Premiere: Old Time Relijun share video for 'Break Through', from upcoming album 'Musicking'
After more than a decade of silence, we're absolutely thrilled to announce the return of Old Time Relijun, "one of the most distinctive and feral rock groups", in the words of The Stranger. Headed by the idiosyncratic Arrington de Dionyso, the group is celebrated for their raw and life-affirming songwriting. After qui...
Goat - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Swedish psych outfit Goat performed live at Le Guess Who?'s 15th Anniversary Edition in 2022, following the release of their latest album 'Oh Death' via Rocket Recordings. You can now relive part of the performance via our concert film below, which features the tracks 'Under No Nation', 'Gathering of Ancient Tribes', 'Do The Dance', 'Disc...
Listen: noise dissidents Lightning Bolt release loud, fun and abrasive new album 'Sonic Citadel'
More than two decades after Lightning Bolt's acclaimed self-titled LP, they still know how to pulverize and pummel listeners into submission with their deafening interpretation of noise rock music. Today, the Rhode Islanders release their seventh LP 'Sonic Citadel' via Thrill Jockey. Bassist Brian Gibson and drummer/vocalist Bri...
Lightning Bolt announce new album 'Sonic Citadel'; listen to new music + watch the LGW video portrait
Rhode Island noise dissidents Lightning Bolt's shows are the stuff of myth and legend. When the group performed at Le Guess Who? in 2015, we spoke with Brian Gibson and Brian Chippendale backstage about distortion and masks, and captured their explosive live performance afterwards. Watch below: Now, the noise rock...
Listen & relive: Asher Gamedze live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Asher Gamedze is a cultural worker based in Cape Town, working mainly as a musician, writer, organizer and an educator. With his band, he performed live during the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2022. You can now listen to three tracks that the group performed live from their 'Dialectic Soul' album (2020): 'Eternality', 'Siyabulela...
Listen: Gruff Rhys talks new album 'Pang' & celebrates 20 years of 'Guerrilla' on 'Kyle Meredith with...'
Welsh artist Gruff Rhys might be best known as frontman of Super Furry Animals, though his solo records and side projects are just as brilliant, both on a sonic and conceptual level. On the latest episode of Consequence of Sound's 'Kyle Meredith with...', Rhys discusses his new album 'Pang': an album sang entirely in Welsh,...
Listen to Zwangere Guy perform 'Beter Leven', 'Wie is Guy?', and 'RAF (Rien à Foutre)' at LGW21
With his unshakeable conviction, found all over his rhymes and delivery, Zwangere Guy quickly became considered ‘the boss of Brussels rap’. In his live shows, his boastful, insolent and exciting personality always shines bright. Zwangere Guy performed live at TivoliVredenburg's Ronda during Le Guess Who? 2021 on the nig...
Stream: Tropical Fuck Storm release new album 'Braindrops'
Today, Tropical Fuck Storm release their new album 'Braindrops' through Joyful Noise. It is the sophomore full length LP from the Australian band featuring Gareth Liddiard and Fiona Kitschin, formerly of The Drones. If you appreciate the combination of chaotic guitars, grooving bass lines and fickle drum patterns, you are in for...
Listen: Föllakzoid releases new album 'I'
Today, Chilean cosmic group Föllakzoid releases new album 'I'. It is the fourth full-length album by Föllakzoid, described by the band as a multidimensional reconsideration of what the process of songwriting, performance, and creating a work of recorded music can be. To achieve this, the record was constructed ou...
Tropical Fuck Storm shares video for new song 'Who's My Eugene?'
Australia's Tropical Fuck Storm, with former The Drones members Gareth Liddiard and Fiona Kitschin, have released a new song and video from their upcoming album 'Braindrops'. 'Who's My Eugene?' is the third single from their new album, to be released 23 August via Joyful Noise/Flightless Records. You can watch a...
Gruff Rhys announces new album 'Pang!', shares title track
Welsh artist Gruff Rhys is best known as spearhead of perpetually wry pop oddballs Super Furry Animals, though his side projects and solo records are just as brilliant, both on a sonic and conceptual level. Now, Rhys announces his new solo album 'Pang!', to be released 13 September via Rough Trade and sung entirely in Welsh with a couple...
"Surfbort want to move you": Read Crack Magazine's interview with Brooklyn glam punkers
Brooklyn-based punk band Surfbort's supercharged vintage 80s glam punk sensibility is a potent and passionate vessel for addressing addiction, mental health and sexuality. Now, Crack Magazine publishes an interview with Lead singer Dani Miller, who explains how Surfbort originated, growing up, the release of their debut 'Friendship M...
Listen/watch: Faust IV live at Le Guess Who? 2021, premiered by The Wire
The cult album Faust IV was the fourth studio album released by the German krautrock group in 1973. Reimagining the music from the iconic album, Faust IV was performed live at Le Guess Who? 2021 as part of the curated program by OSEES' John Dwyer. Faust IV Live! captured the strange magic that then and now defines Faust as an entity unto...
Listen & relive: The Brother Moves On live at Le Guess Who? 2022
The Brother Moves On, the captivating South-African ensemble famous for masterfully drawing from past, present and future, performed at Le Guess Who? 2022 following the release of '$/He Who Feeds You…Owns You' via Shabaka Hutchings' Native Rebel Recordings. You can now listen to & relive the full performance. AboutTher...
Listen & relive: Sarathy Korwar live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Sarathy Korwar performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022 on the night preceding the release of his new album 'KALAK'. You can now relive the full performance below, which includes tracks from that album, as well as 'Coolie', performed live together with Alabaster dePlume. AboutBorn in the US, Sarathy Korwar grew up in Ahmedabad and Ch...
Listen & relive: The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar live at Le Guess Who? 2022
The Master Musicians of Jajouka, led by Bachir Attar, performed live at the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of the Hidden Musics project following the release of their new album 'Dancing Under The Moon', released earlier in 2022 via Glitterbeat Records. You can listen to and relive the full performance below. About B...
Listen to Italia 90's frenzied post-punk on new track 'An Episode'
South London's four-piece Italia 90 returns with the release of 2019 'An Episode': a fierce post-punk track and the first single from their upcoming EP, 'Italia 90 III', which will be out later this year. The distinctive vocal is paired with frenzied and textured guitar work, propulsive percussion and a distorted and dogged...
Cate Le Bon and Deerhunter's Bradford Cox to release collaborative EP; listen to 'Secretary'
Earlier this year, Cate Le Bon collaborated with Deerhunter to produce their new album, 'Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?'. Now, their collaboration continues, with Cate Le Bon & Deerhunter's Bradford Cox uniting on a new collaborative EP 'Myths 004', to be released via Mexican Summer on November 1st. Fo...
Watch OSEES perform 'Turned Out Light' live at LGW21 + listen to Bent Arcana's full set at the festival
Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, visual artist and record label owner John Dwyer was one of the curators for Le Guess Who? 2021, presenting his personal program with inspirations and fellow like-minded artists. As part of the curation, Dwyer also performed twice himself on the final day of the festival: first with jam-loving c...
Watch: Eddie Chacon live at Le Guess Who? 2021
Eddie Chacon performed live at Le Guess Who? 2021 following the release of his latest album ‘Pleasure, Joy and Happiness’, made in collaboration with producer John Carroll Kirby. You can now watch & listen to four tracks from the performance below. AboutAs part of the soul duo Charles & Eddie, Eddie Chacon exper...
Listen & relive: Galya Bisengalieva live at LGW21, presented by Uncloud
Kazakh-British composer and violinist Galya Bisengalieva performed her latest album 'Aralkum' in full live at Le Guess Who? 2021, as part of the program presented by Uncloud. You can now listen & relive the entire performance. "It has been speculated how the current environmental crisis we face will inspire musicians, the sam...
Listen & relive: Alabaster dePlume's full performance at Le Guess Who? 2021
Musician and poet Alabaster dePlume was Le Guess Who? 2021’s Artist in Residence and can be described as many things: a cleric of the written word, a maverick of sound, a conductor of communion. He garnered a substantial breakthrough in 2020 with his gorgeous compilation album ‘To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1’, a c...
Watch: OSEES plays live cover of Faust's 'J'ai Mal Aux Dents'
Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, visual artist and record label owner John Dwyer is one of the curators of Le Guess Who? 2021. One of the artists he invites to the festival is German krautrock group Faust, who will perform their iconic album 'Faust IV'. Earlier this year, Dwyer's main band OSEES played a l...
Listen to Cate Le Bon and Deerhunter's Bradford Cox collaborative EP 'Myths 004'
Cate Le Bon and Deerhunter's Bradford Cox are certainly no strangers to each other. Earlier this year, Le Bon produced Deerhunter's new album 'Why hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?', and now, the duo release a collaborative EP 'Myths 004' via Mexican Summer. Previous pairings in the series have included Ariel Pink with Weye...
Read: The Line of Best Fit interviews Jenny Hval & The Raincoats ahead of LGW19
The Line of Best Fit recently sat down with Jenny Hval and The Raincoats ahead of their performances and Jenny Hval's curation at Le Guess Who? 2019, discussing their careers, albums & lots more. The interview with Jenny discusses the concept of her latest record 'The Practice of Love', language and her mother tongue, Norway an...
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...
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...
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...
Listen: Dutch outfit Plague Organ live at Le Guess Who? 2021
A nice surprise came our way recently. The sound engineer at De Helling during Le Guess Who? 2021 was able to capture the intense performance of Dutch outfit Plague Organ. Or at least, almost the entire performance: apparently the engineer was so overwhelmed upon the start of the show that he was about half a minute late with starting the...
Watch: Pink Oculus - Live at Le Guess Who? 2021
Dutch-Surinamese artist Pink Oculus premiered her new project 'Before Wisdom' live at TivoliVredenburg during Le Guess Who? 2021. 'Before Wisdom' is a special collaboration with audiovisual artist Boris Acket, spatial designer and scenographer Dennis Vanderbroeck, and writer Vincent van Velsen. The newest video to appear online now...
Listen & relive: Rival Consoles at Le Guess Who? 2022
London-based producer Ryan Lee West, aka Rival Consoles, performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of the program curated by clipping., following the release of latest album ‘Now Is’. You can now listen to and relive the full performance below. AboutThroughout his critically acclaimed fifteen-year career, Rival Con...
Listen: Dreamcrusher releases 'Live at Le Guess Who? 2022' for Bandcamp Friday
Dreamcrusher, the project of multidisciplinary artist Luwayne Glass, performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of the program curated by clipping. You can now listen to his performance below, released via Dreamcrusher for Bandcamp Friday. Live at Le Guess Who? 2022 by DREAMCRUSHER AboutDreamcrusher began on Kansas-born, New Yor...
Listen & relive: Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Ghent-based duo Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022 following the release of their acclaimed debut album 'Topical Dancer'. You can listen to & relive their performance with 3 tracks: 'Mantra', 'Ceci n'est pas un cliché', and 'Thank You'. About Cultural appropriation, misogyny, rac...
Stereogum premieres Colin Stetson’s haunting track ‘Charlie’
Saxophone powerhouse Colin Stetson released a new instrumental track entitled ‘Charlie’. Premiered via Stereogum, this nerve-wracking, eerie track is composed for the upcoming horror film...
Listen: LGW21 curator John Dwyer talks to Brigid Dawson about songwriting, memories of touring, classical music, and birthday presents
John Dwyer (OSEES, Bent Arcana) is one of the guest curators for Le Guess Who? 2021. His stirring program includes Brigid Dawson, whom he played with for years. Dawson released the debut record of her The Mother’s Network project last year via Castleface Records and will be taking the festival stage with Sunwatchers. Ahead of...
'7: Triple Moon': an ode to female power in choreography, a 3-D art installation, and magical ritual
This year's Le Guess Who? features a project which is like nothing we ever brought to you before. Choreographer Nicole Beutler directed '7: Triple Moon': an interdisciplinary project with a combinatio...
Listen to Den Sorte Skole's Mixtape for Le Guess Who? 2017
Denmark's Den Sorte Skole create magical, musical storytelling across time and space. For Le Guess Who? 2017, the duo have put together a special mixtape with artists performing at the festival. Liste...
Listen/read: Cheikha Rabia: a destiny tied to the continuous reinvention of rai, by Lafawndah
This November, Le Guess Who? will feature a special performance by Cheikha Rabia, a renowned singer with over five decades of experience in reinventing rai music. Her performance will be a collaboration with Esraa Warda, a prolific dancer expert in traditional North African dance forms. Both artists hail from Algeria, but currently, Cheik...
"We construct a different narrative": COSMOS goes Behind the Scenes in Athens with stegi.radio
COSMOS: Behind the Scenes in Athens with stegi.radio In 'Behind the Scenes', COSMOS dives into local stories from across the world together with our global partners. The scene in Greece has undergone a renaissance of sorts, with Athens becoming a hotspot for creative minds from around the world. Needless to say, this development hasn't...
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...
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 The Vinyl Factory's story about how Dur-Dur Band defined Somali funk
Somalia's legendary Dur-Dur Band played a major role in the 1980s nightlife of the capital Mogadishu. After reissues by Awesome Tapes From Africa and Analog Africa, Dur-Dur Band's mix of vibrant funk and traditional Somalian rhythms earned renewed recognition globally. The Vinyl Factory's longread tells the story about how the Somalian C...
Watch Noori & His Dorpa Band live at LGW22 + read Pan African Music interview
Sudan's Noori & His Dorpa Band performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022, presented in collaboration with Ostinato Records. Below, you can relive the performance with our video of a part of the concert, as well as the audio of the full show, with a spirited introduction by Ostinato's Vik Sohonie before the band came on stage. Additionall...
Tracing the Roots: Art Ensemble of Chicago’s Great Black Music, Ancient To The Future
In the mid-1960s, Art Ensemble of Chicago sprung from the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Ever since, they have been celebrated as one of the most remarkable free ja...
The Mauskovic Dance Band release ecstatic new track 'Things To Do'
While The Mauskovic Dance Band, brainchild of producer and multi-instrumentalist Nic Niggebrugge, is based in Amsterdam, the group create an ecstatic and exotic fusion of Colombian rhythms, 70’s afro-beat and hypnotic disco. To celebrate their UK debut mini-tour, the group is set to release a 7" single;...
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. ...
Kahil El’Zabar Ethnic Heritage Ensemble - Live at Le Guess Who? 2024
Kahil El'Zabar Ethnic Heritage Ensemble celebrated their 50th anniversary on the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2024, commemorating half a century of continuously shifting gears and tempos in the jazz-blues continuum. Listen to, and relive, the full performance below. The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble was founded by El’Zabar in...
Breakdown: Paddy Steer's Otherworldly & Wonderful DIY Weirdcraft
To fight the ordinary, Paddy Steer does the extraordinary. Surrounded by knobs, wires, keys, and wearing self-made, Sun Ra-inspired costumes, Paddy Steer looks and sounds like a music wizard from anot...
Watch: Vrije Geluiden sessions at LGW22, featuring Hatis Noit, Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul, Noori & His Dorpa Band + more
VPRO Vrije Geluiden were present at Le Guess Who? 2022 to capture several sessions with festival artists in TivoliVredenburg. Over the next couple of weeks, these will go online every Sunday. The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar Jajouka is the name of a hidden village in the Jebala foothills of northern Morocco. Here, The...
Watch Rose City Band perform live at KEXP
‘Porch music’, a term coined by acclaimed guitarist and vocalist Ripley Johnson (Wooden Shjips, Moon Duo), aptly describes his country psychedelic rock project Rose City Band. At first inspired by warmer months, Johnson has now embarked on a forever summer. Their new album, 'Garden Party', is said to be, &ldquo...
Listen/read: Favorite Stereolab tracks by artists from their LGW23 curation
For Le Guess Who? 2023, Stereolab have curated an eclectic program, highlighting their various interests and inspirations. We've asked artists from their curated program to choose their favorite Stereolab track, what the band means to them and/or what it means to be curated by them. Listen to the playlist by artists from the Le Guess Who...
The Breeders release ‘All Nerve’, the band’s first album in ten years
Last March, the beloved nineties alt-rock band The Breeders released a new album; the band's first in ten years. With the iconic ‘Last Splash’ line-up brought back together, their new full...
Stream Kikagaku Moyo's new album 'Masana Temples' in full
Tokyo-based group Kikagaku Moyo forges heavy-improv psychedelia, including elements of German Krautrock, classic Indian raga and acid folk. Kikagaku Moyo - Japanese for "geometric patterns" - finds a...
Dreamcrusher - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Dreamcrusher, the project of multidisciplinary artist Luwayne Glass, performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of the program curated by clipping. You can now listen to his performance below, released via Dreamcrusher for Bandcamp Friday. Live at Le Guess Who? 2022 by DREAMCRUSHER AboutDreamcrusher began on Kansas-born, New Yor...
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley announces new album '11th Street, Sekondi', shares first single 'Black Woman'
Ghanaian saxophonist, singer and guitarist Gyedu-Blay Ambolley returns with a brand new album, entitled '11th Street, Sekondi', and now shares the first single 'Black Woman'. On the album, named after the area of West Ghana where he grew up, Ambolley looks back at the area and musical styles that shaped his life. '11th Street, Sekond...
Introducing: Canada collective Crack Cloud construct something radically new out of post-punk’s past
Crack Cloud is not what you should consider a regular band. A self-described ‘mixed media collective’, they take shape as a fluid collective of numerous individuals from Alberta, Canada wi...
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...
U? presents first Utrecht residency with 45ACIDBABIES
(scroll naar beneden voor de Nederlandse tekst) U?, the freely accessible city program of Le Guess Who?, returns in 2023 for its third edition. The program of U? is created for, but especially with the city of Utrecht, to celebrate the city’s creativity in all its diversity. With U? we aim to let Utrecht residents come in contact...
"It feels like you have done your part": COSMOS goes Behind the Scenes in Khartoum, Sudan
COSMOS: Behind the Scenes in Khartoum, Sudan We discuss LGW Embassy: Khartoum, Sudan with Hassan Kamil: a talk about portraying another image of the continent, the country, and the city; how music in Khartoum grew to be ‘a form of resistance’; and how it is home to a rich array of meaningful, beautiful, and unique sounds; dif...
COSMOS Embassy Announcement: Honiunhoni (Karachi, Pakistan)
COSMOS x Honiunhoni announce their 2024 Embassy in Karachi, Pakistan Honiunhoni is an independent production company and record label founded by musician and anthropologist Daniyal Ahmed. Rooted in the ethos of ethnographic research, Honiunhoni celebrates Pakistan's cultural richness and diversity by curating and highlighting the...
Kikagaku Moyo announce new album 'Masana Temples'; share first track 'Gatherings'
Japanese for "geometric patterns", Kikagaku Moyo serves heavy-improv psychedelia with elements of German Krautrock, classic Indian raga and acid folk. The band have just announced the follow-up to 201...
Revealing the initial line-up for Le Guess Who? 2019
We're pleased to reveal the initial line-up for Le Guess Who? 2019, dedicated to boundary-crossing music from all over the world. The first 87 acts include very rare performances by Asha Puthli, Ustad Saami, and Ayalew Mesfin & Debo Band, as well as the curated programs by Jenny Hval, Moon Duo, Patrick Higgins and The...
Listen: Black Country, New Road release debut album 'For the first time'
The enigmatic seven-piece band Black Country, New Road have released their long anticipated debut album 'For the first time'. It was recorded with Andy Savours (My Bloody Valentine) and is released via Ninja Tune. In anticipation of the album release, The Quietus spoke to four of the members about what really...
Brooklyn's Gustaf, curated by John Dwyer for LGW21, release video for 'Book' from upcoming album
Gustaf are New York's 'hardest working…and most reliably fun bands' according to BrooklynVegan. Now the five-piece announce their new album 'Audio Drag For Ego Slobs', out October 1st via Royal Mountain Records. As a result of their magnetic live show, the band caught the attention of a.o. Beck (who had the band open...
Read: Pan African Music interviews Ethiopian funk legend Ayalew Mesfin
Ethio-groove legend Ayalew Mesfin rebelled vigorously against Ethiopia’s dictatorial oppression of the 70s, which led to several months in jail and a prohibition to play music for 13 years. Last year, his compilation album Hasabe (My Worries) was released after his music had gone unheard for 40 years, and now, we celebrate Mesfin wi...
Joan of Arc share new song ‘Indelible in the Hippocampus is The Laughter’
Tim Kinsella's art-rock band Joan of Arc have released their new song ‘Indelible in the Hippocampus is The Laughter’, which is a selection of audio from the live score the band made f...
Premiere: King Champion Sounds - 'Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah'; new album 'For A Lark' released during LGW
Formed by Kenya-born musician Ajay Saggar in 2013, King Champion Sounds are an impetuous, eight-headed band from The Netherlands and England. Fronted by the inimitable G.W. Sok (former singer of...
Dutch-Turkish psych rock band Altin Gün release their first single
Anatolian psych folk revivalists Altın Gün are, most simply put, a power pact between members of Jacco Gardner and Jungle By Night, who wound up crossing paths with musicians Erdinç Ecevit...
Plague Organ - Live at Le Guess Who? 2021
A nice surprise came our way recently. The sound engineer at De Helling during Le Guess Who? 2021 was able to capture the intense performance of Dutch outfit Plague Organ. Or at least, almost the entire performance: apparently the engineer was so overwhelmed upon the start of the show that he was about half a minute late with starting the...
Photo series: W.I.T.C.H. at LGW23 by Juri Hiensch
Once upon a time, W.I.T.C.H. ruled Zambia. In the seventies, they were the driving force behind the decade's 'zamrock' movement, blending traditional African rhythms with garage rock. In 2023, W.I.T.C.H. performed at Le Guess Who? following the release of their new album Zango, their first in nearly four decades. Our residential photogra...
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.
Read: Istanbul’s Creative Scene Unites in Times of Crisis
Interview: Ozan Tekin x IDGK “İstanbul’u Dinliyorum Gözlerim Kapalı” is the title of a poem by Turkish poet Orhan Veli Kanık. It beautifully describes a city best experienced with all senses wide open. A sentiment that our 2025 COSMOS Embassy IDGK shares so much, that they’ve borrowed their name acronym from...
Introducing: Sudanese/London collective The Scorpios bring life-affirming soul & vintage psych funk
Listening to the life-affirming soul and vintage funk of London collective The Scorpios, you probably won't be surprised to find out most of its members originate from Sudan. After fleeing the fundame...
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...
Lole Montoya - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
From the minute when flamenco innovator Lole Montoya stepped onto the stage at the Jacobikerk during Le Guess Who? 2022, we knew we were in for a magical moment in time. Together with guitarist Juan Carmona, she gave a rare and very touching performance as part of the Hidden Musics project. Luckily, you can relive it now with our concert...
Read: The Quietus' introduction to Idris Ackamoor's spiritual jazz
Idris Ackamoor is saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, tap dancer, actor and artistic director of the Pyramids. As part of their 'The Strange World of...' series, The Quietus has published a long read featuring 10 tracks as "points of entry into his formidable body of work." In the article, Ackamoor himself talks about the late...
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...
Listen: James Holden's brand new album 'The Animal Spirits' is out now
Today, James Holden & The Animal Spirits release their brand new album. Built around Holden's modulair synths, it is inspired by spiritual jazz and Moroccan Gnawa: "Legendary jazz band leaders&nbs...
Stream METZ's Steve Albini-produced new album 'Strange Peace'
Post-grunge/noise/hardcore juggernaut METZ is back with their new, Steve Albini-produced album 'Strange Peace'. This time around, the band have captured the notorious intensity of their live show...
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...
Unearthed: An exclusive interview with Abdullah Ibrahim published by The Wire in 1984
This November, Le Guess Who? will feature a spellbinding solo piano performance by Abdullah Ibrahim, South Africa’s most eminent pianist, anti-apartheid activist and a world-respected master musician. Abdullah Ibrahim's effervescent music is instantly recognizable, taking the audience on a journey through gospel and jive, American j...
Listen: Idris Ackamoor releases avant-garde / Afro-jazz recordings from the 70s
From the archives of Idris Ackamoor comes the first ever vinyl release of Ackamoor's debut avant-garde / Afro-jazz recordings from 1971 with The Collective entitled 'Idrissa's Dream.' Released via Strut Records on double 12" LP and digital formats on November 4th 2022, 'Idrissa's Dream' is exactly what the title implies - dreamy and...
Watch: Nihiloxica live at Le Guess Who? 2023
Nihiloxica exploded out of Kampala in 2017 with their groundbreaking fusion of Bugandan drumming and UK bass. The band explores the darkest depths between two separate cultures of dance music, uniting abrasive club electronics with raucous percussive energy. At Le Guess Who? 2023, the group presented their late latest album 'Source of De...
"I have these stories in my mind": COSMOS goes Behind the Scenes in Pernambuco, Brazil
COSMOS: Behind the Scenes in Pernambuco, Brazil Following their broadcast during Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of COSMOS, we talk to Ana Garcia and Benke, the people behind Coquetel Molotov to discuss the local music scene in the city of Caruaru; how their involvement in COSMOS became Coquetel Molotov’s first musical incubator; and di...
Sudanese/London collective The Scorpios release new single 'Mashena'
Having fled from the fundamentalists in their home country of Sudan, the original members of psychedelic group The Scorpios established themselves in London during the 80s. After releasing their self-...
Minyo Crusaders - Live at Le Guess Who? 2019
Japanese 10-piece ensemble Minyo Crusaders performed at Le Guess Who? 2019, following the release of their debut album ‘Echoes of Japan’, at one of the festival main stages: TivoliVredenburg's Grote Zaal. It became a life-affirming and glorious performance that you can now relive with the audio recording of the full show, and...
Black Country, New Road share stripped back, acoustic version of 'Track X'
Following the release of their debut album 'For the first time' earlier this year, the enigmatic Black Country, New Road now display a new, more intimate side of the band with a stripped back and acoustic version of their single 'Track X', retitled into 'Track X (Guest)'. Listen below. "This version is where the lyri...
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...
Mourning [A] BLKstar - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Mourning [A] BLKstar performed live on the opening night of Le Guess Who?'s 15th Anniversary Edition in 2022. The collective, made up of musicians, writers, and multimedia artists, has a bountiful track record, amassing several releases under its belt since 2015. Their music is for both eulogies and revolutions, as they expand upon contem...
Watch: Angel Bat Dawid shares very first video, for 'Impepho'
Spiritual jazz musician Angel Bat Dawid has shared her very first video, for the track 'Impepho'. It is directed by Chicago artist and filmmaker Amir George, and the track is part of her latest album 'The Oracle': a record where the vibrant, spiritual, free-jazz of black life as it stands today is documented. Angels' sound grows at t...
Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca shares video for 'AGGUA' from upcoming album 'YESUN'
The acclaimed Havana-born pianist Roberto Fonseca draws from a wide range of musical traditions and genres, including jazz, elements of classical music and Cuban's rich music traditions. He previously performed in the legendary Buena Vista Social Club and was handpicked by Herbie Hancock himself as his touring mate. Following t...
Read Bandcamp's feature about Minyo Crusaders' Japanese folk music for the post-modern age
The 10-piece Japanese ensemble Minyo Crusaders breathes new life into traditional Japanese folk songs. The word 'Minyo' refers to these songs, that have mostly disappeared from everyday consciousness in 21st century Japan. On their new album 'Echoes of Japan', they merge the traditional minyo with Latin, African and Caribbean rhythms and...
"Angel Bat Dawid taps into the root of all black music": Chicago Reader discusses spiritual jazz album 'The Oracle'
At the age of 34, Chicago-based Angel Elmore quit her job selling high-end lingerie and pursued her childhood dream to become a musician. Now, as Angel Bat Dawid, she sings, composes, and plays keyboard and clarinet, which led to the release of her spiritual jazz album 'The Oracle' earlier this year. She recorded it over a period of more...
Premiere: Please The Trees share video for 'Infinite Dance'; new album out 19 September
Czech Republic's Please The Trees originally hail from the forests of a mountainous region in East Bohemia. Grounded in the psychedelic riffs and motorik beats of krautrock, the band will present...
Meridian Brothers share new video for 'No Me Traiciones'
The Bogotá-based sextet Meridian Brothers offer a very distinctive and playful take on tropical sounds like salsa, cumbia and reggaeton in an electronic context. The band have now shared t...
Beverly Glenn-Copeland: “I was making music for a generation that had yet to be born”
A classical singer. A multi-instrumentalist. A transgender artist. An experimental pioneer of electronic music. A children’s show composer and actor. A Buddhist practitioner. A psychotherapy co-...
The 17 favorite performances of LGW17, as chosen by you
Every year in our visitors survey right after the festival, we ask you what your favorite performance of the festival. Below are your 17 choices of Le Guess Who? 2017. We're pleased to also share the...
James Holden added as curator + more new additions; day tickets on sale now
Electronic sound explorer James Holden is added as curator for Le Guess Who?, hosting multiple stages on Saturday, 11 November. Performing is Moroccan Gnawa musician Maâlem Houssam Guinia &...
James Holden announces new album, shares first track 'Pass Through the Fire'
Electronic explorer James Holden has just announced his new album 'The Animal Spirits', to be released 3 November via his own Border Community label. The album follows 2013's acclaimed The Inheritors....
Video portraits: Elza Soares, Julia Holter, Lee Ranaldo & more at LGW16
Le Guess Who? & de Volkskrant bring you video portraits of artists performing at Le Guess Who? 2016. We meet legendary Brazilian protest singer Elza Soares before her performance, and talk...
Sarathy Korwar - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Sarathy Korwar performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022 on the night preceding the release of his new album 'KALAK'. You can now relive the full performance below, which includes tracks from that album, as well as 'Coolie', performed live together with Alabaster dePlume. AboutBorn in the US, Sarathy Korwar grew up in Ahmedabad and Ch...
Watch: Alabaster DePlume - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Alabaster DePlume gave a special performance on the opening night of Le Guess Who?'s 15th Anniversary Edition, joined on stage by a.o. Jeff Parker (Tortoise) on guitar and Asher Gamedze on drums. Revisit the performance with our concert film, featuring ‘What’s Missing’, ‘Visit Croatia’, ‘Mrs Calamari&rs...
Listen: Lewsberg performs 'The Corner' live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Lewsberg, hailed as "Rotterdam’s answer to The Velvet Underground" by NME, performed live on the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2022. We now share the track 'The Corner' from that performance (taken from their 2021 album 'In Your Hands') just as the band are about to go on an international tour which will bring them to Germany, USA,...
"If you keep something to yourself, you kill it": COSMOS goes Behind the Scenes in Slemani, Kurdistan-Iraq
COSMOS: Behind the Scenes in Slemani, Kurdistan-Iraq Following their broadcast during Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of COSMOS, we talk to Space21's Hardi Kurda about the concept of illegality; the musical cacophony of Slemani; the US-led invasion of Iraq, which happened twenty years ago, and also how it led to surprising musical discoveries...
Concert film: W.I.T.C.H. live at Le Guess Who? 2023
W.I.T.C.H., the band responsible for pioneering zamrock, returned to the stage during Le Guess Who? 2023 following the release of their new album 'Zango', their first in nearly four decades. On stage, they were joined by a.o. Jacco Gardner, Michael Rault and Nico Mauskoviç. Relive the performance below with our concert film and the...
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...
Tropical Fuck Storm release live album 'Inflatable Graveyard'
Trailblazing and exhilarating: previous Le Guess Who? visitors will already know Tropical Fuck Storm’s powerful live performance. After many years touring around the globe, the Australian band now release their first live album Inflatable Graveyard via Three Lobed Recordings. The record captures the band's 2022 show at Chic...
Support DNA? AND? and help them create a VR Music Improvisation Experience
On the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2024, attendees will be treated to a performance by Oslo-based improvisation project DNA? AND?. Going strong for over a decade, the collective has traveled the world, played with N.U. Unruh and Hamid Drake, and gathered praise from international outlets such as The Quietus and more. For the upcoming...
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...
Ethiopian funk pioneer Hailu Mergia releases his first album in 15 years
Before Hailu Mergia fled to America in 1981, his group Walias Band was a guiding light in Ethiopia’s thriving nightclub scene. In America, Mergia ended up driving cabs for almost 30 years, but h...
Listen to Circuit des Yeux cover Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes' 1969 song 'Soeur de Race'
In a new episode of Red Bull Radio's Open End, Circuit des Yeux premiered her cover of 'Soeur de Race', from French-Portuguese avant-garde singer Catherine Ribeiro. With her band Alpes, Ribeiro r...
Track of the Week #13: Shintaro Sakamoto - 'Let's Dance Raw'
Every week, we’ll bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. This week it is Japanese cult star Shintaro Sakamoto, a former member of legendary psychedelic band Yura Yura T...
Revealing the full line-up for Le Guess Who? 2018 + day tickets on sale now
We're proud to reveal the full line-up for Le Guess Who? 2018 with 47 new additions to the program. Starting today, day tickets for the festival are also on sale. The final additions to the Le...
Stream DJINN's self-titled debut album
Newcomers DJINN are an alliance formed by musicians in Swedish outfits Hills and GOAT. The group creates a hypnotic brew of free-jazz, psychedelic music, and harmonious folk, with their name being derived from the Arab folkloristic creature of djinn, a supernatural and invisible force by the band interpreted as meaning "a being that...
Listen: JK Flesh releases new EP 'In Your Pit' via The Bug's PRESSURE label
"With his pioneering industrial metal band Godflesh, Justin Broadrick writes songs built on concussive beats, apocalyptic riffs, and feral howls. It’s music made for an audience who, during live shows, reward the storm of sound with rapt attention. But when Broadrick performs in techno clubs as JK Flesh, he wears a hoodie that...
Los Pirañas announce new album 'Historia Natural'
Los Pirañas have announced their new album 'Historia Natural', to be released 11 October via Glitterbeat Records. It's the third album of the Colombian band featuring Eblis Alvarez (Meridian Brothers), Mario Galeano (Frente Cumbiero, Ondatropica) and Pedro Ojeda (Romperayo, Frente Cumbiero). 'Historia Natural' was recorded li...
YĪN YĪN celebrate release of new album 'The Rabbit That Hunts Tigers' at LGW19; listen to first single 'Pingpxng'
Using South East Asian music from the 60s and 70s as their main inspiration, Dutch psych/funk group YĪN YĪN combines these influences with disco, funk, and electronic music for a blend that they like to call "Thaichedelic". After two remarkable singles released through Bongo Joe Records, they now announce their new album 'T...
Listen to Suuns' newest album, 'The Witness'
Avant-rock group Suuns' relationship with Le Guess Who? goes way back; the three-piece Montreal band has always positively surprised us with their releases and their newest, 'The Witness', their first for Joyful Noise Recordings, is yet another impressive step of their sonic universe. Produced and recorded over the course of 2020 at ...
Niger's Etran de L'Aïr share new single 'Toubouk Ine Chihoussay'
Hailing from the town of Agadez, which is known as “the gateway to the desert”, Etran de L’Aïr capture the pulse of everyday life at weddings, baptisms, political events, outdoor soirees alike. In 2020, The New Yorker's Amanda Petrusich picked the group's 'No. 1' as her favorite album of t...
Knekelhuis Presents: four artists you don't want to miss at Le Guess Who? 2021
Knekelhuis is an Amsterdam-based independent record label that heightens the aesthetic similarities between different genres, eras, and scenes, including wave, punk, synth-pop, industrial, ambient, techno, and abstract electronics. This year, Knekelhuis is presenting an international selection of label-related artists and dear friends th...
Watch + listen: Suuns live at Le Guess Who? 2021
Avant-rock group Suuns have always surprised us with their releases and their newest, ‘The Witness’, on Joyful Noise, is yet another impressive step of their sonic universe. Following the release of the album, Suuns performed at Le Guess Who? 2021, and we're happy to now share the concert film of this performance as well as th...
Read Bant Mag.'s track by track interview with Black Country, New Road
Even with just limited material out, the enigmatic Black Country, New Road became a steadfast live sensation with their mixture of post-punk, ashen Slint-like minimalism and pastoral dark folk leanings. Ahead of their performance at Le Guess Who? 2021, Turkey's Bant Mag. did a track by track interview with the British ban...
Listen to & watch video for Black Country, New Road's new song 'Track X'
London-based seven-piece band Black Country, New Road have released a new song from their upcoming debut LP 'For The First Time', to be released February 5th via Ninja Tune. Vocalist and guitarist Isaac Wood states that 'Track X' was first worked on back in 2018 but never made it to Black Country New Road's live performances. ...
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...
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...
Lightning Bolt - Live at Le Guess Who? 2019
Powerhouse duo Lightning Bolt performed live at Le Guess Who? 2019 in Utrecht, The Netherlands, marking the 25th Anniversary of the band. The performance was curated by Patrick Higgins. Now, we're pleased to help you relive this intense show in both video and audio, captured at 2AM on Friday night at the festival. Listen + watch more Le...
Watch Kikagaku Moyo's new video for 'Nazo Nazo'
Tokyo-based psychedelic group Kikagaku Moyo share another taste from their forthcoming album 'Masana Temples', to be released 5 October via Guruguru Brain. This time, it's the video for 'Naz...
Listen: Sudan/UK collective The Scorpios live at Le Guess Who? 2018
Sudan/UK collective The Scorpios performed on the closing day of Le Guess Who? 2018. Inspired by traditional Sudanese music and 60s and 70s pop, the group create an elated mix of Arabic rhythms, raw Eastern funk and vintage psychedelia. You can now listen to their full festival performance: About Having fled from the fundamentalists i...
Watch: Sons of Kemet perform 'Your Queen Is A Reptile' for Boiler Room & Mercury Prize
Sons Of Kemet's new album 'Your Queen Is A Reptile' (released in March via Impulse!) is the "jazz" choice for nomination in this year's Hyundai Mercury Prize. Ahead of the event, the band gi...
A Genre In Motion: Lydia Lunch & New York No Wave
Le Guess Who 2018 will host the influential Lydia Lunch and her Big Sexy Noise. How did Lunch become the revered anti-establishment figure she is today? This article offers a brief exploration of the...
Tracing the Roots: Kadri Gopalnath, a lifetime of pioneering Indian Carnatic music
Indian classical pioneer Kadri Gopalnath has devoted a lifetime to integrate the saxophone into the classical Indian genre of Carnatic music. We trace down the roots of this boundary-breaking art...
"Finding recovery in dancing post-punk": Loud And Quiet meet Crack Cloud
A multimedia collective that includes members from different cities, ethnicities and origins, Crack Cloud express themselves through quirky, pungent songs filled with adventurous spirit. Loud And...
Mudhoney announce new album 'Digital Garbage', share first single 'Paranoid Core'
Seattle icons Mudhoney have announced their new album, to be released on 28 September via their home base Sub Pop. 'Digital Garbage' will be the band's tenth record, with even more reason to celebrate...
Premiering Sun Ra Arkestra's LGW17 recordings, spanning decades of the Sun Ra legacy
With their cosmic jazz celebration, Sun Ra Arkestra was one of the closing acts of Le Guess Who? 2017. We're pleased to now bring you the full recording of this show, spanning decades of the Sun Ra le...
Listen to Turkish psych group Baba Zula live at LGW14, ahead of their return to Utrecht
Turkish psychedelic music group Baba Zula performed the opening set for the legendary Selda Bağcan at Le Guess Who? 2014. We now bring you the recordings of the show, ahead of the band's return to Utr...
The Line of Best Fit premieres the recordings of Protomartyr live at LGW17
Detroit's Protomartyr performed at Le Guess Who? 2017 as part of the program curated by Basilica Soundscape. Here, the band present work from their newest album 'Relatives in Descent', as well as song...
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...
METZ share new video for 'Drained Lake' from their latest album
Last month, METZ brought out their third record 'Strange Peace'. Now, just before their tour kicks off, the band share a new video for 'Drained Lake'. Frontman Alex Edkins explains the song as "t...
Tune-Yards announce new album; share first single 'Look at Your Hands'
Tune-Yards' follow up to 2014's Nikki Nack will be released early 2018 via 4AD, entitled 'I can feel you creep into my private life'. Now, the band share the first single from the album, 'Look at...
Watch: METZ perform songs from 'Strange Peace' live in the CBC Music Studios
"The loudest band we've ever had in the studio"; with those words, CBC Music shares a new session with METZ, performing songs from their latest album 'Strange Peace'. Watch below. "The noise ro...
Listen to Protomartyr's new album 'Relatives in Descent'
"Now, on its fourth album, the band is moving toward an idiom that’s more flexible and contrasty yet just as gripping: Protomartyr’s own post-post-punk. Its expanded vocabulary includes re...
Protomartyr share new song 'Don't Go To Anacita'
This Friday, Detroit's Protomartyr will release their new album 'Relatives in Descent'. Following first songs 'A Private Understanding' and 'My Children', the band now share third song, entitled 'Don'...
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...
Read: Bandcamp offers an introduction to Greg Fox through different collaborations
Greg Fox started as drummer for the black metal band Liturgy, but ended up making free jazz with Milford Graves. In between, there were involvements in classical music and new age, collaborations with...
METZ announce third album, share new track 'Mess of Wires'
On September 22nd, METZ will release their third studio album 'Strange Peace'. Earlier on, the band already released new songs 'Cellophane' and 'Drained Lake Ahead'. Now, they share 'Mess of Wires fro...
Watch Black Lips' new video for 'Crystal Night'
This year, Black Lips released their 8th album 'Satan’s Graffiti or God’s Art?', and now the band share a brand new video for 'Crystal Night' from the album. The clip tells a tragic love s...
Listen: Shabazz Palaces share 3 track from 'Quazarz: Born On A Gangster Star'
Hip hop's free spirits have announced their new concept album 'Quazarz: Born On A Gangster Star', to be released July 14th via Sub Pop. The band have now shared three singles from the album: 'Shi...
Meet avant-garde guitarist/composer Patrick Higgins, live with Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
Patrick Higgins may be best known as guitarist for the noise-rock band Zs, which New York Times called "one of the strongest avant-garde bands of New York", but his solo work is just as striking. From...
La Blogotheque & LGW present: A Take Away Show with Wilco
In collaboration with LGW, Paris-based La Blogotheque journeyed to Utrecht to record an intimate Take Away Show with Wilco. For the session, the band performs two songs from their latest album, Schmi...
"The Master Of The Forty Nine Notes": The Quietus publishes profile on Ustad Saami
Pakistan’s Ustad Saami is the last living khayál master, a precursor of the ancient, Islamic devotional music of qawwali. Even under threat of Islamic fundamentalists, the 75-year old master has spent his life as a dedicated practitioner of a vanishing art--one that has been passed on from generation to generation since the 1...
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...
Explore the 3rd edition of Hidden Musics at Le Guess Who? 2022, aimed at deeply localized music
In 2019, the concert series Hidden Musics originated between Le Guess Who?, Chris Eckman of Glitterbeat Records and GRAMMY Award-winning producer and writer Ian Brennan, from the shared belief that it is important to platform underrepresented artists, and magnify music produced far from the mainstream. In 2022, we are proud the present th...
Four new projects added to Le Guess Who? 2022
Following the announcement of the curated programs and the initial names for the general program of Le Guess Who? 2022 last month, we are now adding four special projects to the program. These include the third edition of Hidden Musics and programs hosted by Coco Maria, GNOD, and Uncloud. Hidden Musics Le Guess Who? proudly presents the...
Listen: Dry Cleaning release new single 'Don't Press Me' from upcoming album 'Stumpwork'
*update: the band have now released their new album 'Stumpwork'. Stream below: Just a year after 'New Long Leg', which was filled to the brim with unheard-of snark, courtesy of vocalist Florence Shaw's quick-witted lyrics, London's Dry Cleaning have announced the follow-up to their debut album. 'Stumpwork' is out October 21 via 4AD. T...
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...
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...
Listen: The Brother Moves On release new album '$/He Who Feeds You…Owns You'
The Brother Moves On is the captivating South-African performance art ensemble from Johannesburg, famous for the way the artists masterfully draw from past, present and future within music. Now, the group releases an uplifting and inspirational new album entitled '$/He Who Feeds You…Owns You' via Shabaka Hutchings' Native Rebel Rec...
Timetables for Le Guess Who? 2023 are online
Start your scheduling for Le Guess Who? 2023 now! The timetables are online now. Please note: for sustainability reasons, we will only have limited printed timetables available during the festival. A printable PDF version will follow soon, as will our official app. We also have some program updates: we’re thrilled that Antipop C...
NAR & 3voor12 Utrecht join forces for U?
(scroll naar beneden voor de Nederlandse tekst) NAR and 3voor12 Utrecht have wanted to collaborate for a long time, and now, it’s finally happening. The program contains music with influences from different countries and various music styles. The bands and music are both challenging and exciting, aligning with the festival’s...
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...
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...
Listen to Lost Girls (Jenny Hval & Håvard Volden) live at Le Guess Who? 2023
Lost Girls is the Norwegian duo made up of experimental guitarist Håvard Volden and former LGW curator Jenny Hval. Their latest album, 2023's Selvutsletter, continues the intuitive, late night feel of the group's previous work with topics such as cities after dark, music rituals, band practices of the ‘90s, and the early days...
Eucademix (Yuka Honda) shares new EP 'Farm Psychedelia II'
You could describe Eucademix (Yuka Honda) as an electronics instrumentalist, composer, and producer, but mostly, she enjoys calling herself a "decomposer". The artist just released her new EP Farm Psychedelia II. the follow-up to an EP that was released earlier this year, in a further creative burst of "Sensory Music" - again, in her on w...
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,...
Watch: Vrije Geluiden sessions at Le Guess Who? 2024
VPRO Vrije Geluiden once again teamed up with Le Guess Who? the festival to capture several intimate sessions with festival artists - recorded at restaurant De Klub, just opposite of TivoliVredenburg. All sessions are now available to watch below. Eli Keszler NY-based artist, composer, and percussionist Eli Keszler has garnered...
Photo series: Bo Ningen's curation at LGW24 by Melanie Marsman & Juri Hiensch
Japanese psych-rock outfit Bo Ningen is no stranger to Le Guess Who?. After several performances, they returned to the festival in 2024 with their own curation dedicated to 'representing the Bo Ningen community', with many collaborative projects and a strong focus on audiovisual performances. "Bo Ningen, one of this edition’s curat...
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...
12-Hour Drone in former factory Pastoefabriek: from sitar and cello bass drones to shamanic noise
An immersive event and all-encompassing experience, 24-Hour Drone is a roving, international series presented by Basilica Hudson and Le Guess Who?, featuring musicians and sound artists...
Initial line-up announced for 24-Hour Drone 2018 in Hudson, NY
Originated in Utrecht as a collaboration between the festival and long-term partners Basilica Hudson, 24-Hour Drone is a roving, international series featuring musicians and sound artists experimentin...
Full line-up for 24-Hour Drone 2018 in Hudson, NY
A collaboration between Le Guess Who? and long-term partners Basilica Hudson, 24-Hour Drone is a roving, international series featuring musicians and sound artists experimenting within the spectrum of...
Listen: Mudhoney’s fuzz-filled voyage in Europa
Being part of the Seattle scene for three decades, grunge godfathers Mudhoney have stood the test of time. Celebrating their fuzz-filled legacy, Mudhoney released their first live album ‘LiE&rsq...
Stream Joan Of Arc's new album '1984'
Over the past twenty years, Joan Of Arc has been the primary instrument of Tim Kinsella's limitless imagination. With a constantly revolving cast of musicians orbiting around Kinsella, Joan Of Arc&rsq...
Watch Soweto's BCUC present a fusionist 'Africangungungu' session for Red Bull Music
Started out as a social gathering in their native township of Soweto, BCUC (Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness) is an South African alliance of guitarists, djembe players, flute artists, and spoken wo...
Track of the Week #5: Beverly Glenn-Copeland - 'Ever New'
Every week, we’ll bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. This week, it's the new age & folk-jazz pioneer who has been curated by Devendra Banhart as well as Moor Mo...
Track of the Week #9: Hailu Mergia - 'Yefikir Engurguro'
Every week, we’ll bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. This week, it's Ethio-jazz legend Hailu Mergia with a contemplative solo piano track. Together with the Wa...
Track of the Week #11: Ancient Shapes - 'Public Hymns'
Every week, we’ll bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. This week, we pick Ancient Shapes, a new project fronted by songwriter Daniel Romano. Always having been a...
Orchestra of Spheres share first single 'Koudede' from upcoming album 'Mirror'
Orchestra of Spheres send their listeners on a reflective voyage of sonic discovery on their new song 'Koudede'. With the track, the adventurous psych pop group share their love for the Tuareg and Nig...
Oiseaux-Tempête & Friends - Live at Le Guess Who? 2019
Oiseaux-Tempête & Friends gave an overwhelming and immersive performance at Le Guess Who? 2019, joined on stage by G.W. Sok (King Champion Sounds, formerly The Ex), Jessica Moss (Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band), Mondkopf and Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Jerusalem In My Heart, also LGW17 curator). Oiseaux-...
Listen to Ami Dang's folkloric & transcendental album 'Parted Plains'
Ami Dang takes her listeners to higher states of mind through meditative sounds. The Baltimore ambient musician fuses sitar, voice, and electronics to create east-meets-west transcendental music. On her latest solo record 'Parted Plains', she draws inspiration from South Asian and Middle Eastern folkloric narratives. Dang c...
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...
Lost Girls - Live at Le Guess Who? 2023
Lost Girls is the Norwegian duo made up of experimental guitarist Håvard Volden and former LGW curator Jenny Hval. Their latest album, 2023's Selvutsletter, continues the intuitive, late night feel of the group's previous work with topics such as cities after dark, music rituals, band practices of the ‘90s, and the early days...
LGW21 Line-up news: The Necks cancel November tour
Unfortunately, The Necks have to cancel their November tour, including their performance at Le Guess Who? 2021. * update May 5th: Low will not be able to make it to Le Guess Who? 2021 in November. In a statement, the band says: We are sad to announce that due to ongoing COVID issues and restrictions across the world we are...
Irreversible Entanglements, curated by Matana Roberts for LGW21, announce new album + share video for 'Open The Gates'
Irreversible Entanglements is a jazz collective from Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, DC, who have successfully cultivated jazz and associated Black music through a gripping form of avant-garde and free jazz. The group have just announced their new album 'Open The Gates', which will be a split release between the labels Internation...
Listen to multidisciplinary artist Lucinda Chua's exclusive mix for Bleep
Utilizing little more than her voice, a cello and an array of effects, South London multidisciplinary artist Lucinda Chua composes ambient pop songs that feel both intimate and colossal. Earlier this year, Lucinda Chua released her beguiling 'Antidotes 2' EP, "a haunting four-song set of slow-burning ambient chamber-pop, w...
Black Country, New Road announce new album 'Ants From Up There' + share first single 'Chaos Space Marine'
Over the last months, Black Country, New Road have become a steadfast live sensation with their mixture of post-punk, ashen Slint-like minimalism and pastoral dark folk leanings. Following the release of their debut album earlier this year, the group now already announce the follow-up: 'Ants From Up There' will be released February 4 via...
Bertie Marshall releases new compilation 'Exhibit' featuring songs, spoken word, and poetry from the 80s & 90s
In the early 1980s, Bertie Marshall was the frontman for post-punk boundary-pushers Behaviour Red, a group that fed off sound experimentation, tribal drumming, searing vocals, and guitar feedback. In 1983, the group broke up, but Bertie continued sketching out atmospheric compositions, leading to his solo debut in the 1990s. Here, Bertie'...
Goat celebrate 10th Anniversary of debut album 'World Music' with limited edition remastered LP
Ever since the release of their debut album 'World Music' in 2012, Swedish psych/fusion group Goat remain a mystery and ghostly presence on the music scene. However, shortly after the release of the album, public and critical praise quickly caught up with them, with Happy Mag naming the record one of the greatest psychedelic rock albums o...
"Champion of an obscure Ainu lyre": Read Songlines' feature on OKI
As a part of Japan’s northernmost indigenous people, OKI celebrates Ainu folk, while blending it with reggae, dub, throat singing, and Irish, African, and Central Asian tradition. Songlines recently featured the artist in their magazine, focusing on the tonkori, the rare lyre instrument traditionally played by the Ainu, and h...
Listen to The Microphones' full performance at Le Guess Who? 2021
During Le Guess Who? 2021, Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie / The Microphones) was one of five guest curators for the festival. Aside from putting together a personal program of inspirations and like-minded artists, Phil Elverum also performed live with guitarist Jay Blackinton to present Elverum’s latest album, 'The Microphones In 20...
U? keert terug naar Utrecht voor vierde editie
U?, het gratis toegankelijke stadsprogramma van Le Guess Who?, keert terug naar Utrecht voor de vierde editie. U? viert lokale en creatieve communities gevestigd in Nederland, met een sterke focus op Utrecht. Onze missie: Amplifying local communities from the fringe, U? is Utrecht’s radical playground for experimentation, co-creati...
LGW x SPEAK present: Egyptian ensemble Mazaher introduced by Ahmed Mostafa
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...
Read via The Quietus: which records would Ana Roxanne 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...
Minyo Crusaders release 'Live at Le Guess Who?' album
Japanese 10-piece ensemble Minyo Crusaders gave a glorious and life-affirming performance at Le Guess Who? 2019 as part of their first ever European tour, following the release of their debut album 'Echoes of Japan. Now, Mais Um Discos release the recordings of the performance as digital album, available to stream or download. ...
Read via The Quietus: which records would Phil Elverum 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...
Vanishing Twin announce new album & share video for 'Big Moonlight (Ookii Gekkou)'
London's Vanishing Twin's mission is to ‘synthesize psychedelic traditions from around the globe’, inviting psych-jazz and psych-pop flavors from Europe to Southern America. Their previous records clearly signal a job well done, and later this year, they will follow-up with their new album 'Ookii Gekkou' (Japanese for Big Moon...
Ex-Easter Island Head - Live at Le Guess Who? 2024
When UK-based experimental collective Ex-Easter Island Head steps on stage, the electric guitar - an instrument whose possibilities sometimes seem to have been exhausted - is born anew. Mechanical preparations, extended techniques; call it what you want, but, to us, it's more like auditory magic. Watch our concert film of the group...
Watch a video portrait of Egyptian Zar ensemble Mazaher
Mazaher are a small group of mostly women musicians and singers who play Zãr music: chanting songs and playing hypnotic polyrhythms traditionally used as a purification and exorcism ritual to help pacify and cleanse the human spirit. Zar practitioners have been stigmatized because of this exorcist tradition and the aim of...
Watch Black Country, New Road perform new songs on ARTE's 'Echoes' with Jehnny Beth
The enigmatic Black Country, New Road became a steadfast live sensation with their mixture of post-punk, ashen Slint-like minimalism and pastoral dark folk leanings. Recently, the band signed to the more electronic-driven Ninja Tune label, for the release of their debut album 'For The First Time' in early February. Recent...
W.I.T.C.H. - Live at Le Guess Who? 2023
W.I.T.C.H., the band responsible for pioneering zamrock, returned to the stage during Le Guess Who? 2023 following the release of their new album 'Zango', their first in nearly four decades. On stage, they were joined by a.o. Jacco Gardner, Michael Rault and Nico Mauskoviç. Relive the performance below with our concert film and the...
Stream: reggae poet Linton Kwesi Johnson's powerful spoken word/poetry performance at Le Guess Who? 2017
Linton Kwesi Johnson's impressive body of work includes stints as reggae poet, political orator, recording artist, and author/journalist. His 1978 reggae album Dread Beat an' Blood is a statement akin to Gil Scott-Heron's The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. A vocal personality who fights oppression against black youth, the Jamaica-born...
Pankisi Ensemble - Live at Le Guess Who? 2023
Georgia's Pankisi Ensemble performed live at Le Guess Who? 2023 as part of the Hidden Musics program. Now, you can relive this touching performance with the full audio of the show, recorded at Utrecht's Jacobikerk during the festival. AboutThe Pankisi Ensemble goes against the typical 'ethno-fusion' grain in two ways. First, by not res...
Marina Herlop - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Catalan artist Marina Herlop performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of the program curated by Animal Collective, following the release of her latest album 'Pripyat'. Relive the mesmerizing performance with our concert film below, featuring the songs miu, doiloi, abans abans and shaolin mantis. *Update: following the release...
Rival Consoles - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
London-based producer Ryan Lee West, aka Rival Consoles, performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of the program curated by clipping., following the release of latest album ‘Now Is’. You can now listen to and relive the full performance below. AboutThroughout his critically acclaimed fifteen-year career, Rival Con...
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...
Bremer/McCoy share insight in their songwriting process with 'Utopia' video
Jonathan Bremer and Morten McCoy are two Danish musicians knee-deep in many different endeavours, performing under the name Bremer/McCoy. On October 18, they duo released their new album 'Utopia' via David Byrne's Luaka Bop label. Now, the group release an accompanying video giving insight into their creative processes and their way of ma...
Lombok Festival announces full 2019 program
Lombok Festival, one of Le Guess Who?’s satellite events, returns on Friday 8 November. The freely accessible festival is a celebration of the cultural diversity of this city’s district, initiated in collaboration with various locations, musicians, key figures and residents of Lombok. During Lombok Festival, various performan...
Xylouris White share 'Tree Song' video & new song 'Black Sea' from upcoming album 'The Sisypheans'
Xylouris White is the alliance between Greek singer & lute player George Xylouris and drummer Jim White (Dirty Three). Xylouris White reconciles not only the tandem’s respective roots, but above all, a deep friendship forged in 25 years. Now, the group share 'Tree Song', the first single from their upcoming album...
Watch: Sudan Archives releases 'Confessions' video, from upcoming debut album 'Athena'
Violinist, singer, songwriter and producer Sudan Archives shared the first single from her upcoming debut album, now she follows up with a stunning video for 'Confessions', whose closing section also debuts portions of new song 'Black Vivaldi Sonata'. Both tracks are from her impending debut full length 'Athena', out 1 November via S...
Le Mini Who? moves to new area Cartesius for 2019 edition
For Le Guess Who? spin-off festival Le Mini Who?, 2019 marks the move to Cartesius. Le Mini Who? transforms local bars, restaurants, venues and warehouses into improvised venues for (mainly) Dutch underground bands to play. For its 11th edition on Sunday 10 November, Le Mini Who? settles in the Cartesius area, located in the nor...
Vier de LGW19 line-up announcement met Ben Shemie (SUUNS)
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. Ben Shemie, beter bekend als zanger/gitarist van SUUNS is inmiddels geen onbekende meer van Le Gues...
Oiseaux-Tempête share video for new single 'He Is Afraid And So Am I'
Oiseaux-Tempête will release their new album 'From Somewhere Invisible' on 18 October: a collaboration with former Le Guess Who? artists Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Jerusalem In My Heart, also LGW17 curator) and Jessica Moss (Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band), as well as G.W. Sok (King Champion Sounds, for...
Vier de LGW19 line-up announcement met Conjunto Papa Upa, 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. Conjunto Papa Upa is de band van Amsterdamse Venezolaan Alex Figueira. De muziek kun je omschrijven als...
Negativland announce new album 'True False', listen to first single 'Discernment'
Experimental outfit Negativland have bursted many bubbles over the decades with their quizzical remapping of pop culture, media and advertising. Now, the group is set to release their new album 'True False', out 25 October. It is one of two interconnected double albums the band plans to release within the next year. In 2015, t...
Moon Duo announce new album; share title track 'Stars Are The Light'
Psychedelic/krautrock mystics and LGW19 curators Moon Duo have risen up as one of the most intoxicating live acts of this decade. Now, the group announce their new album 'Stars Are The Light', to be released by Sacred Bones on 27 September and produced by Sonic Boom. The Oregon band’s trademark sound is as much acqu...
Explore Melissa Laveaux's Haitian roots and native folk spirituals in The Guardian interview
The work of Ottawa-born, Paris-based musician and singer Mélissa Laveaux brims with defiance, cheekiness, and pride, combining lost traditions with modern influences like psych rock, calypso, folk pop, and punk. In an interview with The Guardian, Laveaux talks about her third and most recent album 'Radyo Siw&e...
Read: The Quietus interviews Joe Cardamone ahead of LGW18
Ahead of his appearance at Le Guess Who? 2018, The Quietus interviews Joe Cardamone about his searing new multimedia project, making art in the era of Trump, and how he survived the end of the gr...
Daniel Romano's Ancient Shapes release new album 'Silent Rave'
Daniel Romano has always been a free and restless spirit, as well as a gifted and masterful musician. His new brainchild is Ancient Shapes: a fast and rebellious punk poetry outfit. Now, the...
Interview: DRINKS: "Nonsense is a good reaction to everything that’s going on"
DRINKS are set to return to Le Guess Who? with a fresh batch of offbeat psych pop vignettes. We linked up with eternal nomads Cate Le Bon and Tim Presley via FaceTime to talk about living off the grid...
Relive Indian Carnatic music pioneer Kadri Gopalnath's mesmerizing performance at LGW18
On the closing night of Le Guess Who? 2018, Indian Carnatic music pioneer Kadri Gopalnath gave a mesmerizing performance, curated by Shabaka Hutchings. Listen to the full show, and watch and excerpt from the performance below. About: Kadri Gopalnath’s life’s work is to incorporate the woodwind instrument into the cla...
Watch + listen: Neneh Cherry live at Le Guess Who? 2018, performing tracks from 'Broken Politics'
Genre-bending singer Neneh Cherry performed at Le Guess Who? 2018, presenting work from her latest album 'Broken Politics'; you can now listen + watch part of the performance below: Neneh Cherry - 'Shot Gun Shack', live at Le Guess Who? 2018: About:Across decades, Neneh Cherry traversed and transcended every known faction of the...
Watch: VPRO Vrije Geluiden sessions with Sibusile Xaba, Vera Sola and Ill Considered at LGW18
During Le Guess Who? 2018, VPRO Vrije Geluiden recorded a two-part television special featuring studio sessions with festival artists. The first part featured performances by Sibusile Xaba, Vera Sola and Ill Considered, as well as live recordings from the festival shows of Anoushka Shankar and Neneh Cherry. You can rewatch the complete ep...
Celebrating 30 years of Mudhoney at LGW18 + watch our Hot Snakes video portrait
On Sunday afternoon, we’ll take a deep dive down into the depths of punk, new-wave and blood pounding rock ‘n roll. Together with long time festival location dB’s and brand new venue WAS., we will set the stage for a raving punk party, leading up to the celebration of 30 years of Mudhoney. Endless Boogie & Bloody Ma...
New Zealand's Orchestra Of Spheres release new album 'Mirror'
Filled with whimsical forays into glossed up afro-funk, psychedelic disco and sprawling electronics, New Zealand's Orchestra Of Spheres have released their new, bewildering album 'Mirror' via Fire Records. Opening with the almost-ten-minute-long title track, their album is a mainly instrumental exploration of energies and atmospheres...
Kapitaal: Official Hangout of Le Guess Who? 2018
This year, Le Guess Who? will have its very own, official festival hangout, hosted by Kapitaal: a Utrecht-based -open- studio for screen-, etch- and risoprint. A meeting place with a proper program, filled with exhibitions, lectures and music, owners Carlien and Ramon create a social place where craftsmanship, design and pop-culture meet....
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...
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...
Introducing: WAS. - from a raving punk celebration to stunning club beats
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. In this feature, we introduce you to the pop-up nightclub of WAS.; a place where many electronic music freaks are assured t...
Watch: King Champion Sounds release new video 'Memory Is Imagined'
Leading up to their forthcoming album 'For A Lark', set to be released on the exact same day as their performance at Le Guess Who?, King Champion Sounds has shared a new video for 'Memory Is Imagined'. Premiered via Louder Than War, this track is a deeply psychedelic and transformative song featuring heavy guitar action courtesy...
Introducing: BCUC's sensational Soweto Afro-psychedelia
The sensational Afro-psychedelic collective BCUC (Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness) started out as a social gathering in their native township of Soweto, South Africa. Even with a relatively short h...
Selda Bagcan returns to Utrecht in September, presented by International Literature Festival & LGW
After a triumphant performance at Le Guess Who? 2014, which saw legendary Turkish protest singer and political activist Selda Bağcan close the festival that year, the singer will return to Utrecht on...
Listen: Mudhoney share 'Kill Yourself Live', an organ-filled odyssey on internet fame
Legendary grunge rockers Mudhoney have shared an organ-filled new single from their upcoming album 'Digital Garbage'; their first in five years. 'Kill Yourself Live' is a bleak examination of viral cu...
Watch: The Breeders release homemade video for 'Nervous Mary', recorded in Nijmegen
In their artist bio, we describe The Breeders as 'one of the most playful and wayward acts to emerge from the 90s grunge scene'. Their playful spirit sure becomes apparent with a new homemade video th...
Devendra Banhart & Tim Kinsella talk literature, spirituality and friendship in Talkhouse Podcast
After recently covering each other's music, Devendra Banhart and Joan Of Arc's Tim Kinsella now discuss Kinsella's novels, Banhart's poems that originated while ashram-hopping in India, spir...
Track of the Week #8: DRINKS - 'Corner Shops'
Every week, we’ll bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. This week, it's 'Corner Shops' by Tim Presley (White Fence) and Cate Le Bon, who together form the pleasan...
Watch: Hello Skinny perform 'Rashad' live at Church Studios for NTS
Hello Skinny, the project founded by Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, takes inspiration from a.o. UK jazz, Jersey house, R&B, hip-hop, footwork and Arthur Russell-minimalism. The nods to footwor...
The Breeders perform 'Wait In The Car' and 'Cannonball' on Jools Holland
Earlier this week, The Breeders returned to Later… with Jools Holland after the release of their latest album 'All Nerve'. With the iconic ‘Last Splash’ line-up together a...
Audio archive update: Elza Soares live at Le Guess Who? 2016
After eight decades of triumph and tragedy, Brazilian protest singer Elza Soares is lauded as queen of samba and a powerful voice against repression and injustice relating to gender, race, sexual orie...
Revisit James Holden & The Animal Spirits' live performance at LGW17
Electronic explorer James Holden presented his new performance 'James Holden & The Animal Spirits' live at Le Guess Who? 2017, featuring tracks from his new album; a record that enhances Holden&rs...
Watch: La Blogothèque & LGW present A Take Away Show with Juana Molina
During Le Guess Who? 2017, La Blogothèque traveled to Utrecht to record two intimate Take Away Shows at special locations in our city. After releasing our session with Sudan Archives (recorded...
Wire Magazine shares Q&A's with Jerusalem In My Heart and The Bug & Dylan Carlson at LGW17
The Wire is an independent, monthly music magazine celebrating and interrogating the most visionary and inspiring, subversive and radical, marginalised and undervalued musicians on the planet, past an...
Listen: Liars live in session at BBC Radio 6 Music, performing songs from 'TFCF'
Liars seem to have found secret wormholes to travel between genres like corrosive noise, freewheeling art-rock and seedy electronics, coming up with unique blends of it with every new album. Earlier...
Interview: Dälek go crate-digging at the World's Largest Record Fair during LGW17
The Line Of Best Fit interview Dälek's Will Brooks, on 3 albums he'd be crate-digging for at the World's Biggest Record Fair, happening in Utrecht during Le Guess Who? 2017. R...
Watch: a portrait of Alanis Obomsawin by Charles-André Coderre (Jerusalem In My Heart)
Alanis Obomsawin received worldwide acclaim as a filmmaker and visual artist. Her work is binded by crusading for the rights and well being of indigenous populations while simultaneously celebrating t...
Watch: Black Lips perform live for The Pyles Sessions
When performing in San Diego last June, Black Lips also visited Signature Sound to perform some tracks from their latest album 'Satan's Graffiti or God's Art?' in session for FTW New Music....
Watch: Ex-Easter Island Head shares new video for 'Sixteen Snares'
UK-based musical collective Ex-Easter Island Head utilize horizontally-laid electric guitars and bass, developing their own distinctive musical language, eschewing digital processing and effects for a...
Watch a full live performance by Kevin Morby via KEXP
KEXP have captured a full live performance by Kevin Morby last August at The Triple Door in Seattle, and now shares the footage, featuring a lot of songs from Morby's latest album 'City Music'. W...
Explore James Holden's curated program for Le Guess Who? 2017
(Artwork by Raimund Wong) Playing live following ‘The Inheritors’ was a complete new experience for James Holden; improvising with live drums, sax and synths opened a new world for Holden...
Watch: Le Guess Who? & Volkskrant video portrait of James Holden
Le Guess Who? & de Volkskrant bring you video portraits of artists performing at Le Guess Who? 2017. We visit James Holden in his London studio to discuss his new album 'The Animal Spirits', play...
Le Mini Who? announces full line-up
Le Mini Who? is a spin-off festival of Le Guess Who?. It transforms many of Utrecht’s shops and bars into improvised venues for (mainly) Dutch underground bands to play, where people jostle for...
Listen: Pan African Music premieres the recordings of Les Filles de Illighadad at Le Guess Who? 2016
In collaboration with Vrije Geluiden, we recorded one of the performances of Niger's Les Filles de Illighadad at Le Guess Who? 2016. Pan African Music now premieres these recordings, ahead of the rele...
Watch Liars' new video for 'Staring At Zero'
One month ago, Liars' Angus Andrew releases his new album 'TFCF'. "It's the oddness of Liars, that weird shamanic essence of Angus Andrew that has shaped their best albums and most unhinged gigs,...
Interview: Kevin Morby goes crate-digging at the World's Largest Record Fair during LGW17
The Line Of Best Fit interview Kevin Morby, on 3 albums he would be crate-digging for at the World's Biggest Record Fair, happening in Utrecht during Le Guess Who? 2017. Featurin...
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...
Oumou Sangaré cancels her performance at LGW17; Sun Ra Arkestra graces our line-up instead
We regret to inform you that Oumou Sangaré has to cancel her performance at Le Guess Who? 2017. But we’re also pleased to announce that Sun Ra Arkestra will grace our line-up instead, bri...
Meet Moroccan Gnawa master Maâlem Houssam Guinia, curated by James Holden for LGW17
Maâlem Houssam Guinia is the son and successor of the late Maâlem Mahmoud Guinia, an emblematic figure in the practice of West-African Gnawa music. Maâlem means 'master musician', an...
Stream Liars' new album 'TFCF' in full + watch new video for 'Cred Woes'
Let's cut that wedding cake. Liars' new album 'TFCF' is out today, and you can stream it in full via the embed below. As Angus Andrew previously said about the album: "My favourite feeling is goi...
Lost Horizons (ft. Cocteau Twins' Simon Raymonde) announce album; share first tracks
Lost Horizons is a new collaborative project formed by Simon Raymonde of Cocteau Twins and Richard Thomas of instrumental quartet Dif Juz. The duo's upcoming album 'Ojalá' will be released on R...
Listen to Protomartyr's new song 'My Children'
Following the announcement of their new album, together with first single 'A Private Understanding', Detroit's Protomartyr now share second song 'My Children' from the album. Listen below. "Anxiously...
Read: Jambinai guide The Line of Best Fit through Seoul, South Korea
South Korean outfit Jambinai performs a thrilling mix of post rock, noisy jazz, dreamy ambient, electro and metal. If you're interested in learning more about the city of Seoul, look no further. For T...
The Como Mamas: gospel trinity that can move and save you, lift you up & pull you through
Hailing from the small town of Como, Mississippi, The Como Mamas consist of Sisters Angela Taylor and Della Daniels together with their friend Ester Mae Smith. They have been singing together since ch...
Oiseaux-Tempête share new album
Oiseaux-Tempête return with AL-'AN ! (And Your Night Is Your Shadow; A Fairy Tale Of Piece Of Land To Make Our Dreams). A rich album, partly recorded in Beirut with local musicians and creating...
Stream Thurston Moore Group's new album 'Rock N Roll Consciousness'
Thurston Moore shares his new album 'Rock N Roll Consiousness'. His current group features an all-star cast: Debbie Googe (My Bloody Valentine) on bass, James Sedwards (This Is Not This Heat) as...
Listen to Zeal & Ardor's new album 'Devil is Fine'
Zeal & Ardor just released their debut album 'Devil is Fine'; stream it in full below. "‘Devil Is Fine’ offers a dazzling array of elements somehow working in cohesion, be it hallowed...
Rolling Stone interviews Pissed Jeans on new album 'Why Love Now'
Pissed Jeans' new album 'Why Love Now' will be out tomorrow via Sub Pop. Today, Rolling Stone share their interview with frontman Matt Korvette, on how Lydia Lunch, author Lindsay Hunter helped s...
Aquaserge share new album 'Laisse ça être'
France’s Aquaserge shape their own fantastic musical planet, sprouting out lush prog workouts, weirdo pop and meditative dance grooves. The collective now releases their fifth album 'Laisse &cce...
Watch: Zeal & Ardor in session for Couleur3
Swiss-American musician Manuel Gagneux funnels the spells of black metal into howls of Tom Waits-esque juke joint blues. Live, Zeal & Ardor becomes an overpowering sensation. To get an idea, watch...
Watch Weyes Blood perform 'Do You Need My Love' in session for Pitchfork
Multi-instrumentalist and singer Natalie Merling aka Weyes Blood returns to Le Guess Who? this year, invited by Perfume Genius for his curated program. Pitchfork recorded a mesmerizing session with We...
Daniel Romano's Ancient Shapes shares video for 'Giant Comma' ahead of LP release
Daniel Romano's frantic power pop project Ancient Shapes will release the follow up last year's self-titled album on 5 October via You've Changed Records. Entitled 'Silent Rave', the album was pr...
"As a witch I believe in the magic that happens on stage": La Bruja de Texcoco interviewed by MusicMap
Octavia Mendoza Anario, aka La Bruja de Texcoco (‘The Witch of Texcoco’), reinvigorates the canon of Mexican folk by deviating from it. La Bruja recalibrated her classical teachings to create an astonishing tapestry of traditional Mexican music, baroque and jazz, playing various string instruments, percussion and harp. L...
Playlist: An Introduction to Art Ensemble of Chicago, compiled by Ben Ratliff
In the mid-1960s, Art Ensemble of Chicago sprung from the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Ever since, they have been celebrated as one of the most remarkable free jazz movements to arise from Chicago’s already rich jazz heritage. Moving far beyond jazz, avant-garde and performance art, the ensemble...
Playlist: New & Notable at Le Guess Who? 2018
As every year, an important part of the Le Guess Who? program is about making new discoveries; experiencing new sounds and artists that might become new personal favorites in the future. To help you e...
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...
Oiseaux-Tempête release LGW19 performance for Bandcamp Friday, featuring Jessica Moss, Mondkopf, and Radwan Ghazi Moumneh
Oiseaux-Tempête gave an overwhelming and immersive performance at Le Guess Who? 2019. For Bandcamp Friday, the cross-cultural, multi-genre improv group now officially release the recordings of Oiseaux-Tempête & Friends live at Le Guess Who? 2019. For this special performance, titled Oiseaux-Tempête & Frien...
Watch: 3voor12 live sessions at LGW21 with Bendik Giske, Automatic, Mario Batkovic, and Vanishing Twin
At Club Nine on the top floor of TivoliVredenburg, the main location and hub of Le Guess Who?, Dutch broadcaster VPRO 3voor12 recorded live sessions with four artists who performed at Le Guess Who? 2021.Watch and listen to the sessions with Berlin-based abstract saxophonist Bendik Giske, Los Angeles indie punk band Automatic, Bosnian-Swis...
Goat announce new album 'Oh Death'; listen to new track 'Under No Nation'
*Update: Goat have now released their new album 'Oh Death'. Stream below: Goat announce the release of their upcoming album ‘Oh Death’ and share one of the tracks entitled ‘Under No Nation.’ A fascinating blend between 70s funk and 80s post-punk, ‘Under No Nation’ transports listeners to a colourful,...
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...
Interview: The Quietus speak to Baltimore quartet Horse Lords
In an interview for The Quietus, Jakub Knera speaks with Baltimore experimental rock quartet Horse Lords. Days before the release of their upcoming album 'Comradely Objects,' Horse Lords open up about their new record, politics and architecture in their music and how the pandemic changed the way they play. Read the full interview here, an...
U?: Girls In Synthesis share new single 'Pulling Teeth', embodying their "new mission statement"
(Nederlandse tekst hieronder)Girls In Synthesis is a London-based post-punk and noise rock band that has been releasing records for 4 years and counting. With their DIY mentality they’re not afraid to experiment. You can now listen to their latest single ‘Pulling Teeth’.<a href="https://girlsinsynthesi...
Listen: Rotterdam four-piece Lewsberg release new cassette 'Sweets'
For their upcoming tour, Rotterdam-based band Lewsberg has put together a unique, extremely limited cassette tape 'Sweets', featuring two new indie pop gems. To accompany the catchy 'Sweets' song, Lewsberg also pieced together a sweet, captivating DIY video that's assured to lift you up. While the track 'The Playground' offers list...
LGW x IDFA: film program during LGW22 at Slachtstraat Filmtheater
This year, LGW is collaborating with IDFA, one of the world's leading documentary events. IDFA believes in the power of documentary film as a high-quality, artistic form of information and reflection. We’re presenting a film program on Friday, Saturday & Sunday during LGW22. This program is screened at Slachtstraat Filmtheater...
Watch the concert film of Mourning [A] BLKstar - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Mourning [A] BLKstar performed live on the opening night of Le Guess Who?'s 15th Anniversary Edition in 2022. The collective, made up of musicians, writers, and multimedia artists, has a bountiful track record, amassing several releases under its belt since 2015. Their music is for both eulogies and revolutions, as they expand upon contem...
Watch: Lole Montoya - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
From the minute when flamenco innovator Lole Montoya stepped onto the stage at the Jacobikerk during Le Guess Who? 2022, we knew we were in for a magical moment in time. Together with guitarist Juan Carmona, she gave a rare and very touching performance as part of the Hidden Musics project. Luckily, you can relive it now with our concert...
Watch: clipping. - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022 concert film
During the 15th Anniversary Edition of Le Guess Who? in 2022, West Coast hip-hop trio clipping. performed live as part of their guest curation at the festival. We're thrilled to now share the concert film of the performance, with clipping. performing tracks from throughout their discography, including fan favorites such as ‘N...
Decisive Pink (Kate NV & Deradoorian) release debut album 'Ticket To Fame'
Much like the Wassily Kandinsky painting which inspired their band name, the music of Decisive Pink (the duo made up of Angel Deradoorian (formerly of Dirty Projectors) and Russian experimental pop artist Kate NV) is a colorful puzzle, bursting with joy and romance. Now, Decisive Pink release their debut album 'Ticket To Fame', on...
'Baskot Lel Baltageyya', debut album of musician Adham Zidan & poet Anwar Dabbour
Last month, Baskot Lel Baltageyya (meaning 'cookies for thugs'), a Cairo-based project headed by musician Adham Zidan and poet Anwar Dabbour, released their self-titled debut album. An album that serves as an extension of their phantasmagoric live show. Baskot Lel Baltageyya by Baskot Baskot Lel Baltageyya started as...
Concert film: Marina Herlop live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Catalan artist Marina Herlop performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of the program curated by Animal Collective, following the release of her latest album 'Pripyat'. Relive the mesmerizing performance with our concert film below, featuring the songs miu, doiloi, abans abans and shaolin mantis. AboutOn ‘miu’, a s...
Special projects revealed for Le Guess Who? 2023
Following the announcement of the initial line-up for Le Guess Who? 2023, including programs curated by Heba Kadry, Nala Sinephro, Slauson Malone 1 and Stereolab, we now add several special projects to this year’s festival edition, featuring COSMOS, Hidden Musics and The Anonymous Project. Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective COSMOS...
Watch: Panda Bear & Sonic Boom - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Panda Bear & Sonic Boom performed at Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of Animal Collective's curation, following the release of their latest album 'Reset'. Relive the performance below with our concert film, which features the songs Everyday, Edge of the Edge, Danger, and Livin’ in the After. AboutSix years ago, Peter Kember,...
Moin release 'Clocked Off', new EP with outsider jams
"Moin are subtly but brilliantly reinventing rock music", wrote Pitchfork last year in their review of the London three-piece's album Paste. Rest assured, they keep doing exactly that with the release of their new EP Clocked Off, self-described as "Outsider jams that rolled out of the studio. Part experiments, part sketches." Compr...
Watch: Dry Cleaning - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
London's Dry Cleaning performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022 following the release of their sophomore album, the John Parish-produced Stumpwork. You can now relive the performance with our concert film below. It features the Stumpwork-tracks No Decent Shoes For Rain, Don’t Press Me, Conservative Hell and Driver’s Story as well a...
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...
Watch: They Hate Change - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Tampa rap duo They Hate Change performed at Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of the program curated by clipping., following the release of Finally, New; their debut album for Jagjaguwar. Relive the ecstatic performance below with our concert film, featuring two unreleased tracks produced by John Carroll Kirby and Zach Witness: AboutTampa&rsq...
Listen to Sudan Archives' debut album 'Athena'
Today, violinist and vocalist Sudan Archives (Brittney Parks) releases her debut album 'Athena' via Stones Throw. The album is filled with deeply textured tracks that feel contemporary, groovy and powerful at the same time. Parks started to play violin at a young age, which she learned by playing in her local church choir...
Colleen announces new double LP; listen to 'Subterranean (Movements I-II-III)'
French artist Cécile Schott, aka Colleen, is fearless when it comes to her willingness to explore new ways of expressing herself as a solo performer. Now, she announces Le jour et la nuit du réel: her first double LP and the follow-up to the glistening ambient pop of 2021's The Tunnel and the Clearing. Le jour et la...
Watch: Cheikha Rabia & Esraa Warda - Live at Le Guess Who?
Renowned rai singer Cheikha Rabia & Esraa Warda, a prolific dancer expert in traditional North African dance forms, performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of the Hidden Musics project. Relive the mesmerizing performance at TivoliVredenburg's Pandora via our concert film below: AboutCheikha Rabia and Esraa Warda both hail from...
Listen to Nihiloxica’s new album ‘Source of Denial’
As Nihiloxica, musician Spooky-J and producer pq harness the full force of the Nilotika Cultural Ensemble's ancient Bugandan drumming tradition of Uganda and focus it on the contemporary dance floor through a dark lens of techno sensibility. Their new album, Source of Denial, which serves as a follow-up of their 2020 debut album Kaloli,...
Lost Girls (Jenny Hval & Håvard Volden) release new album 'Selvutsletter'
Lost Girls, the Norwegian duo made up of former LGW curator Jenny Hval and Håvard Volden, released their sensual debut LP Menneskekollektivet in 2021, which was named one of the year’s best releases by Pitchfork, The FADER, Brooklyn Vegan, Paste, and more. Now, they return with their second album Selvutsletter, released throug...
The Quietus talk to Stereolab about their curation at LGW23
Anglo-French avant-pop group Stereolab have been hailed as one of the most influential and fiercely independent groups of the 90s. Their curation at Le Guess Who? 2023 features a.o. UK’s noted electronic artist James Holden; Nigerien Tuareg musician Bombino; composer and organist Kali Malone together with cellist Lucy Railton and gu...
Photo series: Sophie Nzayisenga by Serrah Galos
This year, Le Guess Who? presents the fourth edition of Hidden Musics, a project that focuses on deeply localized music and features artists embedded in rich, often centuries-old musical traditions that have been developed with little or no outside influences. The first series was initiated in 2019 by Le Guess Who? in collaboration w...
Photo series: The Good Ones by Marilena Umuhoza Delli
This year, Le Guess Who? presents the fourth edition of Hidden Musics, a project that focuses on deeply localized music and features artists embedded in rich, often centuries-old musical traditions that have been developed with little or no outside influences. The first series was initiated in 2019 by Le Guess Who? in collaboration w...
Photo series: Pankisi Ensemble by Dmitrii Zverev
This year, Le Guess Who? presents the fourth edition of Hidden Musics, a project that focuses on deeply localized music and features artists embedded in rich, often centuries-old musical traditions that have been developed with little or no outside influences. The first series was initiated in 2019 by Le Guess Who? in collaboration w...
Photo series: Ustad Noor Bakhsh by Asa Wahag
This year, Le Guess Who? presents the fourth edition of Hidden Musics, a project that focuses on deeply localized music and features artists embedded in rich, often centuries-old musical traditions that have been developed with little or no outside influences. The first series was initiated in 2019 by Le Guess Who? in collaboration with C...
Listen/read: Kamilya Jubran: Witnessing a transcendent moment on stage
This November, Le Guess Who? features a performance by Kamilya Jubran, which was curated by mastering engineer Heba Kadry. Born in Palestine and currently based in Paris, Kamilya Jubran is one of the most revered figures in the experimental and alternative Arabic music scenes. Through her multi-disciplinary work, Jubran continues t...
LGW23 Program Update
We’re pleased to announce that Khyam Allami, Animistic Beliefs, Natural Information Society, Antipop Consortium, Wayne Phoenix, Badume’s Band & Selamnesh Zéméné, Kim David Bots & Lyckle De Jong, Toumba, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Radio Choir performing Delius’ A Song of the...
Le Guess Who? Celebrates Monumental 100th Festival Recording in Online Archive
Le Guess Who? is celebrating an impressive milestone with the publication of its 100th festival recording: dub-reggae ensemble African Head Charge live at Le Guess Who? 2023. Over the years, the festival has continuously expanded its online recording archive via leguesswho.com/recordings. The archive reflects the eclectic nature of Le Gue...
Listen to Moin live at Le Guess Who? 2023, curated by Stereolab
London trio Moin, comprised of Raime’s Joe Andrews and Tom Halstead together with percussionist visionary Valentina Magaletti, performed live at Le Guess Who? 2023 as part of the program curated by Stereolab. You can now listen to and relive the full performance, featuring a previously unreleased track: "'Moin are subtly but br...
Watch: Tom Skinner pays homage to Abdul Wadud at Le Guess Who? 2023
Tom Skinner performed live at Le Guess Who? 2023 as part of the program curated by Stereolab, following the release of ‘Voices of Bishara’. Relive the magnificent show with our concert film, and listen to the full audio of performance, in which the group also pays homage to American cellist Abdul Wadud with interpretations o...
Watch: Vrije Geluiden sessions at Le Guess Who? 2023
VPRO Vrije Geluiden has been a partner of Le Guess Who? for numerous years, and during this year's festival, they again captured several sessions with artists - recorded at Bibliotheek Neude in Utrecht - that will be revealed over the next couple of weeks. Watch below. The Good Ones The Good Ones will surprise you, delight you,...
Watch Alan Sparhawk debut new songs at Le Guess Who? 2023
Last November, Alan Sparhawk returned to Europe to play some select solo shows, the first being a performance at Le Guess Who?. Three decades ago, Sparhawk co-founded the band Low alongside vocalist and drummer Mimi Parker, who sadly passed away in late 2022. Their music derived elemental power from its fearless exploration of quiet, ge...
Watch: Stereolab live at Le Guess Who? 2023 concert film
Recently, we celebrated the 100th festival recording being included in our online recordings archive. Now, we are elated to share the concert film of Anglo-French avant-pop group and festival curators Stereolab live at Le Guess Who? 2023. Hailed as one of the most influential and fiercely independent groups of the 90s, Stereolab's influe...
Basilica Hudson & LGW present the return of 24-HOUR DRONE
Presented by Basilica Hudson and Le Guess Who? in collaboration with Sarah Van Buren, 24-HOUR DRONE is set to return to Basilica Hudson Saturday, May 18th – Sunday, May 19th, 2024 (noon to noon) in Hudson, New York. Tickets are available here. 24-HOUR DRONE features an international roster of musicians and sonic artists acros...
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...
Le Guess Who? & U? present Nusantara Beat
Nusantara Beat are a psych-groove sextet from Amsterdam. The group has quickly amassed a cult following, largely due to the deep connection to their Indonesian roots and a passion for honoring their cultural heritage. Photography by Juri Hiensch
Neighbours Burning Neighbours return with new single 'Neil Young'
Rotterdam's Neighbours Burning Neighbours, known for their malformed brand of noise-pop, are masters of discord-turned-harmony. After three years, we can now celebrate their much-anticipated return in the form of new single Neil Young.The band, which consists of some of Rotterdam's most idiosyncratic rock makers Daanie van den IJssel, Kat...
Theater Utrecht presents controversial theatrical concert PERMANENT DESTRUCTION
(scroll naar beneden voor de Nederlandse tekst) Pain Against Fear is the final part of the controversial music theater trilogy PERMANENT DESTRUCTION, produced by theater creator and performer Naomi Velissariou in co-production with Theater Utrecht. In this performance, Velissariou introduces herself as a popular singer of ‘PERMANEN...
Le Guess Who? starts pilot with Low Income Day Tickets
In 2024, Le Guess Who? starts a pilot with Low Income Day Tickets, specifically for those who otherwise would not be able to attend the festival. This initiative arises from the fact that we hear that the ticket price is one of the biggest barriers for people to visit the festival. We want to give people - who would like to visit the fes...
Tashi Wada releases first solo album 'What Is Not Strange?'
With his music, Tashi Wada explores resonance, dissonance and alternative tunings to create rich and unanticipated effects. Now, the Los Angeles-based composer and performer releases What Is Not Strange?, his first full-length solo album via RVNG Intl. The album - his most ambitious and impassioned yet - finds him rummaging through a puz...
Read: The Quietus interviews Still House Plants
Enmeshing R&B, slowcore and pop influences, Still House Plants’s latest album If I don't make it, I love u is the band’s fullest embodiment of the UK trio’s sound to date. Critically acclaimed, the record marks the post-rock outfit's decade of friendship and consolidates their research for a richer, deeper sou...
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...
Playlist: LGW24 curated by Bo Ningen
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.Japanese psych-rock outfit Bo Ningen introduce their curation at Le Guess Who? 2024 with a playlist that they have...
GNOD + MC Sissi preview new album 'Inner Fucking Peace'
Psychedelic noise-rock group GNOD has been working on rewiring the band's sound together with MC Sissi. This transformative collective now announces their upcoming collaborative album Inner Fucking Peace, out on the 25 October via Rocket Recordings. In anticipation of the record and of their show at Le Guess Who? 2024, the artists share t...
Read: A Dream of Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, by Julián Mayorga
On Friday, 8 November 2024, Le Guess Who? will witness the magic of legendary Cumbia and Gaita ensemble Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto. To say that we are excited about welcoming them to Utrecht would be a massive understatement. In fact, the influence of this Grammy-winning, generations-spanning band on the trajectory of Latin American musi...
Playlist: LGW24 curated by Mabe Fratti
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.Experimental cellist and composer Mabe Fratti introduces her curation at Le Guess Who? 2024 with a personally compiled...
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...
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...
Listen: Noura Mint Seymali live at Le Guess Who? 2024
Noura Mint Seymali performed on the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2024 as part of the program curated by Arooj Aftab. You can now listen to, and relive, the full performance below. Noura Mint Seymali is a nationally adored Mauritanian musical star, born into a prominent line of Moorish griot; West African praise singers, poets a...
Listen: Kahil El’Zabar Ethnic Heritage Ensemble live at Le Guess Who? 2024
Kahil El'Zabar Ethnic Heritage Ensemble celebrated their 50th anniversary on the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2024, commemorating half a century of continuously shifting gears and tempos in the jazz-blues continuum. Listen to, and relive, the full performance below. The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble was founded by El’Zabar in...
Photo series: Arooj Aftab's curation at LGW24 by Juri Hiensch
Three years after her last Le Guess Who? showcase, Brooklyn-based, Pakistani singer and composer, Arooj Aftab returned to the festival in 2024 both as a curator and performer. "Aftab’s voice and her band’s musicianship are breathtaking on their own, but there’s an intimacy, a warmth, an un-self-seriousness that makes th...
Watch/Read: Vincent Schoutsen at Hof van Cartesius by Rogier Boogaard
For U? 2024, Hof van Cartesius presents a diverse program created together with the artists that are located in this unique circular workspace for creative entrepreneurs. Photographer Rogier Boogaard documented two artists who will be part of this year's festival program. Last week we highlighted Sophie Wantia, today we present artist an...
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...
Watch: Ex-Easter Island Head - Live at Le Guess Who?
When UK-based experimental collective Ex-Easter Island Head steps on stage, the electric guitar - an instrument whose possibilities sometimes seem to have been exhausted - is born anew. Mechanical preparations, extended techniques; call it what you want, but, to us, it's more like auditory magic. Watch our concert film of the group...
DARKSIDE share new single 'Graucha Max'
In 2021, DARKSIDE released their highly-acclaimed, sophomore album Spiral, hailed by publications such as Crack, The Quietus, and MOJO as an awe-inspiring assemble of rhythmic sonic landscapes. Now, the group offers audiences a first taste from their new recording sessions with new single Graucha Max. "The track written during sessions...
Ice Balloons - Live at Le Guess Who? 2021
Brooklyn-based noise/rock band Ice Balloons features Sean Kennerly (Samiam) on bass and vocals, Kyp Malone (TV on the Radio) on synthesizers and modules, and Lyla Vander (Habibi) on drums and vocals. According to the band itself, it was a ‘common misinterpretation of psychosis’ that led Ice Balloons to start making music. The...
Zwangere Guy - Live at Le Guess Who? 2021
With his unshakeable conviction, found all over his rhymes and delivery, Zwangere Guy quickly became considered ‘the boss of Brussels rap’. In his live shows, his boastful, insolent and exciting personality always shines bright. Zwangere Guy performed live at TivoliVredenburg's Ronda during Le Guess Who? 2021 on the nig...
The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
The Master Musicians of Jajouka, led by Bachir Attar, performed live at the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of the Hidden Musics project following the release of their new album 'Dancing Under The Moon', released earlier in 2022 via Glitterbeat Records. You can listen to and relive the full performance below. About B...
The Brother Moves On - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
The Brother Moves On, the captivating South-African ensemble famous for masterfully drawing from past, present and future, performed at Le Guess Who? 2022 following the release of '$/He Who Feeds You…Owns You' via Shabaka Hutchings' Native Rebel Recordings. You can now listen to & relive the full performance. AboutTher...
OSEES - Live at Le Guess Who? 2021
Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, visual artist and record label owner John Dwyer was one of the curators for Le Guess Who? 2021, presenting his personal program with inspirations and fellow like-minded artists. As part of the curation, Dwyer also performed twice himself on the final day of the festival: first with jam-loving c...
Bent Arcana - Live at Le Guess Who? 2021
Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, visual artist and record label owner John Dwyer was one of the curators for Le Guess Who? 2021, presenting his personal program with inspirations and fellow like-minded artists. As part of the curation, Dwyer also performed twice himself on the final day of the festival: first with jam-loving c...
Alabaster dePlume - Live at Le Guess Who? 2021
Musician and poet Alabaster dePlume was Le Guess Who? 2021’s Artist in Residence and can be described as many things: a cleric of the written word, a maverick of sound, a conductor of communion. He garnered a substantial breakthrough in 2020 with his gorgeous compilation album ‘To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1’, a c...
Damon Locks' Black Monument Ensemble - Live at Le Guess Who? 2021
Damon Locks' Black Monument Ensemble performed live at Le Guess Who? 2021. Curated by Matana Roberts for the festival, it marked the group's European live premiere. Now can now relive the performance with this video of the ensemble performing 'The Body Is Electric' from their latest & acclaimed album 'NOW'. AboutThe past and...
Eddie Chacon - Live at Le Guess Who? 2021
Eddie Chacon performed live at Le Guess Who? 2021 following the release of his latest album ‘Pleasure, Joy and Happiness’, made in collaboration with producer John Carroll Kirby. You can now watch & listen to four tracks from the performance below. AboutAs part of the soul duo Charles & Eddie, Eddie Chacon exper...
Galya Bisengalieva - Live at Le Guess Who? 2021
Kazakh-British composer and violinist Galya Bisengalieva performed her latest album 'Aralkum' in full live at Le Guess Who? 2021, as part of the program presented by Uncloud. You can now listen & relive the entire performance. "It has been speculated how the current environmental crisis we face will inspire musicians, the sam...
Siti Muharam - Live at Le Guess Who? 2021
Zanzibar singer Siti Muharam performed live at Le Guess Who? 2021, marking her European live debut. In 2020, she received the prestigious Songlines Awards for African Artist of the Year following the release of her album 'Siti of Unguja'. Now, Songlines premieres the concert film of Siti Muharam's performance at Le Guess Who?, featur...
Duma - Live at Le Guess Who? 2021
Kenya's Duma, figureheads of the flourishing Nairobi underground metal scene, performed live at Le Guess Who? 2021 as part of the program curated by Phil Elverum (The Microphones/Mount Eerie). Martin "Lord Spike Heart" Khanja and Sam Karugo released their self-titled album in 2020 through Uganda’s Nyege Nyege Tapes and were i...
Pink Oculus - Live at Le Guess Who? 2021
Dutch-Surinamese artist Pink Oculus premiered her new project 'Before Wisdom' live at TivoliVredenburg during Le Guess Who? 2021. 'Before Wisdom' is a special collaboration with audiovisual artist Boris Acket, spatial designer and scenographer Dennis Vanderbroeck, and writer Vincent van Velsen. The newest video to appear online now...
Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Ghent-based duo Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022 following the release of their acclaimed debut album 'Topical Dancer'. You can listen to & relive their performance with 3 tracks: 'Mantra', 'Ceci n'est pas un cliché', and 'Thank You'. About Cultural appropriation, misogyny, rac...
Noori & His Dorpa Band - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Sudan's Noori & His Dorpa Band performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022, presented in collaboration with Ostinato Records. Below, you can relive the performance with our video of a part of the concert, as well as the audio of the full show, with a spirited introduction by Ostinato's Vik Sohonie before the band came on stage. Additionall...
Alabaster DePlume - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Alabaster DePlume gave a special performance on the opening night of Le Guess Who?'s 15th Anniversary Edition, joined on stage by a.o. Jeff Parker (Tortoise) on guitar and Asher Gamedze on drums. Revisit the performance with our concert film, featuring ‘What’s Missing’, ‘Visit Croatia’, ‘Mrs Calamari&rs...
Lewsberg - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Lewsberg, hailed as "Rotterdam’s answer to The Velvet Underground" by NME, performed live on the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2022. We now share the track 'The Corner' from that performance (taken from their 2021 album 'In Your Hands') just as the band are about to go on an international tour which will bring them to Germany, USA,...
The Scorpios - Live at Le Guess Who? 2018
Sudan/UK collective The Scorpios performed on the closing day of Le Guess Who? 2018. Inspired by traditional Sudanese music and 60s and 70s pop, the group create an elated mix of Arabic rhythms, raw Eastern funk and vintage psychedelia. You can now listen to their full festival performance: About Having fled from the fundamentalists i...
Sun Ra Arkestra - Live at Le Guess Who? 2017
With their cosmic jazz celebration, Sun Ra Arkestra was one of the closing acts of Le Guess Who? 2017. We're pleased to now bring you the full recording of this show, spanning decades of the Sun Ra legacy. The song 'Discipline 27-II' features a special guest appearance by King Khan. Read on below for the astonishing story 'Sun Ra Ar...
Efterklang - Live at Le Guess Who? 2019
Whether it’s the early, more electronic-driven beginnings or excavating field recordings at an abandoned settlement in the Arctic Circle, Danish pop adventurers Efterklang express boundless enthusiasm with each radical new undertaking. The band performed on the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2019, following the release of their new...
Protomartyr - Live at Le Guess Who? 2017
Detroit's Protomartyr performed at Le Guess Who? 2017 in Utrecht, as part of the program curated by Basilica Soundscape. Here, the band present work from their newest album 'Relatives in Descent', as well as songs from their previous records. Watch the band perform 'Don't Go To Anacita' and Half Sister' at the festival + listen to the ful...
Nicole Mitchell & Moor Mother - Offering (live at Le Guess Who? 2018)
As part of her curation at Le Guess Who? 2018, Philly-based noise artist, activist and wordsmith Moor Mother invited flutist, composer, poet and educator Nicole Mitchell for a performance at the festival. It ended up not being a solo performance though, but an exclusive and improvised collaboration between herself and Moor Mother. No...
Linton Kwesi Johnson - Live at Le Guess Who? 2017
Linton Kwesi Johnson's impressive body of work includes stints as reggae poet, political orator, recording artist, and author/journalist. His 1978 reggae album Dread Beat an' Blood is a statement akin to Gil Scott-Heron's The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. A vocal personality who fights oppression against black youth, the Jamaica-born...
The Notwist - Live at Le Guess Who? 2015
After outgrowing their post-hardcore roots in the late 90s, German indie giants The Notwist’s landmark album Neon Golden meshed alternative rock with intricate electronic compositions like no other band before, inspiring followers like Radiohead and Broken Social Scene. Siblings Markus and Michael Acher are worldly souls who cite a...
The Microphones - Live at Le Guess Who? 2021
During Le Guess Who? 2021, Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie / The Microphones) was one of five guest curators for the festival. Aside from putting together a personal program of inspirations and like-minded artists, Phil Elverum also performed live with guitarist Jay Blackinton to present Elverum’s latest album, 'The Microphones In 20...
Deerhunter - Live at Le Guess Who? 2019
Following the release of their latest album 'Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?', Atlanta art-punkers Deerhunter performed live at Le Guess Who? 2019. We're very pleased to now share a video of the band performing 3 songs live at the festival: 'Sailing' (from their 2010 album 'Halcyon Digest'), 'Take Care' (from 2015's...
Cate Le Bon - Live at Le Guess Who? 2019
Cate Le Bon performed live at Le Guess Who? 2019, following the release of her latest album 'Reward'. You can now relive the performance with a video of Cate Le Bon performing 'Home To You' from her latest album, as well as the songs 'Love Is Not Love' and 'Wonderful' from 2016's Crab Day. Additionally, you can stream the full performance...
Kadri Gopalnath - Live at Le Guess Who? 2018
On the closing night of Le Guess Who? 2018, Indian Carnatic music pioneer Kadri Gopalnath gave a mesmerizing performance, curated by Shabaka Hutchings. Listen to the full show, and watch and excerpt from the performance below. About: Kadri Gopalnath’s life’s work is to incorporate the woodwind instrument into the cla...
Elza Soares - Live at Le Guess Who? 2016
After eight decades of triumph and tragedy, Brazilian protest singer Elza Soares is lauded as queen of samba and a powerful voice against repression and injustice relating to gender, race, sexual orientation and class. At Le Guess Who? 2016, Soares gave a powerful performance, presenting work from her 34th album, 'The Woman at the End of...
Faust - Live at Le Guess Who? 2015
One of the standout shows at last year's Le Guess Who? in Utrecht came courtesy of Faust who played an 80-minute set. The set came one week after the terror attacks on Paris with the band dedicating the first track of the show to the victims. The show had no real setlist and marked the start of the festival. - The Quietus Recorded...
Panda Bear & Sonic Boom - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Panda Bear & Sonic Boom performed at Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of Animal Collective's curation, following the release of their latest album 'Reset'. Relive the performance below with our concert film, which features the songs Everyday, Edge of the Edge, Danger, and Livin’ in the After. AboutSix years ago, Peter Kember,...
Dry Cleaning - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
London's Dry Cleaning performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022 following the release of their sophomore album, the John Parish-produced Stumpwork. You can now relive the performance with our concert film below. It features the Stumpwork-tracks No Decent Shoes For Rain, Don’t Press Me, Conservative Hell and Driver’s Story as well a...
They Hate Change - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Tampa rap duo They Hate Change performed at Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of the program curated by clipping., following the release of Finally, New; their debut album for Jagjaguwar. Relive the ecstatic performance below with our concert film, featuring two unreleased tracks produced by John Carroll Kirby and Zach Witness: AboutTampa&rsq...
Cheikha Rabia & Esraa Warda - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
Renowned rai singer Cheikha Rabia & Esraa Warda, a prolific dancer expert in traditional North African dance forms, performed live at Le Guess Who? 2022 as part of the Hidden Musics project. Relive the mesmerizing performance at TivoliVredenburg's Pandora via our concert film below: AboutCheikha Rabia and Esraa Warda both hail from...
The Bug feat. Dis Fig, Flowdan & Logan - Live at Le Guess Who? 2022
The Bug performed live as one of the closing acts of Le Guess Who? 2022, accompanied on stage by MC's Dis Fig, Flowdan and Logan to bring the buzzing energy found on The Bug's record to life. Relive part of the performance with our concert film below, featuring Fat Mac and Dirty/I Luv You (Freestyle) feat. Flowdan, Take feat. Dis Fig and...
Moin - Live at Le Guess Who? 2023
London trio Moin, comprised of Raime’s Joe Andrews and Tom Halstead together with percussionist visionary Valentina Magaletti, performed live at Le Guess Who? 2023 as part of the program curated by Stereolab. You can now listen to and relive the full performance, featuring a previously unreleased track: "'Moin are subtly but br...
Tom Skinner - Live at Le Guess Who? 2023
Tom Skinner performed live at Le Guess Who? 2023 as part of the program curated by Stereolab, following the release of ‘Voices of Bishara’. Relive the magnificent show with our concert film, and listen to the full audio of performance, in which the group also pays homage to American cellist Abdul Wadud with interpretations o...
Le Cri du Caire - Live at Le Guess Who? 2023
One year ago, Le Cri du Caire released their hauntingly beautiful, self-tilted debut album. We are now thrilled to share the recording of their mesmerizing performance at Utrecht's Jacobikerk during Le Guess Who? 2023, where the group performed the majority of the album, as well as new material. AboutSinger, writer, poet, and expressio...
Alan Sparhawk - Live at Le Guess Who? 2023
Last November, Alan Sparhawk returned to Europe to play some select solo shows, the first being a performance at Le Guess Who?. Three decades ago, Sparhawk co-founded the band Low alongside vocalist and drummer Mimi Parker, who sadly passed away in late 2022. Their music derived elemental power from its fearless exploration of quiet, ge...
Noura Mint Seymali - Live at Le Guess Who? 2024
Noura Mint Seymali performed on the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2024 as part of the program curated by Arooj Aftab. You can now listen to, and relive, the full performance below. Noura Mint Seymali is a nationally adored Mauritanian musical star, born into a prominent line of Moorish griot; West African praise singers, poets a...
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...
Video 2019
Relive performances from LGW19 We captured some performances by Aldous Harding, Ayalew Mesfin & Debo Band, Efterklang, Girl Band, Makaya McCraven and Minyo Crusaders on video. Watch below: WATCH THE VIDEOS Press Archive Our archive includes news, reports and interviews for LGW19. Relive the edition with...
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? 2021 Press archive
"Overcoming lockdown obstacles, Le Guess Who? united a global cast of adventurous artists." - Crack Magazine The Netherlands 3voor12: Le Guess Who? strooit alvast met eerste namen en curatoren voor festivaleditie 20213voor12: Dit zijn onze 14 tips voor Le Guess Who? 20213voor12: Playlist Le Guess Who? 20213voor12: LGW21: De gestolde j...
Press 2021
Press Archive Our archive includes press previews, reports and interviews for LGW21. Have a look at all published articles at the link below. VISIT PRESS ARCHIVE
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Thank you for your donation! With your support, we're able to continue to showcase underrepresented sounds that otherwise would not be heard. Photo: Loop at Le Guess Who?, by Erik Luyten.
COSMOS Embassy: Khartoum, Sudan
In partnership with Hassan Kamil & AndariyamagKnown for its strong rhythms, melancholy lyrics, and bittersweet taste, the Sudanese music scene is more active than ever. This Embassy features a selection of considerable Sudanese music and artists including Noori & His Dorpa Band, who mixes diverse genres using Noori's Tambo-guitar...
COSMOS Embassy: Tbilisi, Georgia
Mutant Radio is a media platform that focuses on various directions: mixes, interviews, educational shows, live performances and discussions. Gathering artists, DJs, and interesting personalities to focus on the subject of their preference and their interest, Mutant Radio offers like-minded people an opportunity to enjoy quality music and...