Search: Matana Roberts
Matana Roberts & Jessica Moss
Matana Roberts and Jessica Moss have been close friends and collaborators for nearly two decades. Though they have pursued different career paths, they have remained linked at heart. Because they've r...
Curator: Matana Roberts
Chicago-born clarinetist and saxophonist Matana Roberts describes their work as “panoramic sound quilting”: think loops, field recordings, chanting and snippets of spirituals. As their amb...
Matana Roberts (2017)
Jazz musician, composer and visual artist Matana Roberts nosedives in concepts of ancestry and creative expression. The stories she tells through music; of human experiences, spirituality, improvisati...
Ava Mendoza
There is a good reason why names such as John Zorn, Matana Roberts, and Fred Frith have rushed to play with Ava Mendoza, as the Brooklyn guitarist, vocalist, and composer has built a reputation as one...
Mariel Roberts
Cellist and composer Mariel Roberts plays her instrument of choice like an actor performs a scene, completely engrossed and enraptured within the composition’s totality. As both solo performer a...
Bant Mag. publish Zoom conversation between Matana Roberts and Moor Mother about new paths, music and racism
Ahead of Le Guess Who? 2021, Turkey's Bant Mag. hosted a Zoom chat between irreverent saxophonist and LGW21 curator Matana Roberts and LGW18 curator and musician/activist Moor Mother. During their conversation, the artists talk about new ways to reinvent and produce music during the pandemic, the music industry and Black Lives...
Read via The Quietus: which records would Matana Roberts 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...
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...
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 & 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...
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...
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...
Revealing the full line-up for Le Guess Who? 2021 with 70 new program additions
Le Guess Who? exists to bring people together through art and music, and despite the uncertainty of the times we have continued to work toward that end. Some things might change, and some things will change, but we have put together a festival for 2021 that we are extremely proud of, and will bring it to you in whatever form possible.&nbs...
Listen: Juana Molina performs live in the KCRW studios
Argentine singer, songwriter and actress Juana Molina released her beautiful album 'Halo' earlier this year. During her current tour, she performed some songs from the album live in the KCRW stud...
Le Guess Who? presents hybrid event ON/OFF
Earlier this year, the 14th edition of Le Guess Who? was postponed to 2021. Now, we proudly presents an alternative hybrid event, titled ON/OFF, happening 13-15 November, 2020. ON/OFF is a two-part program for international, as well as local, festival visitors. LGW ON introduces a freely accessible online TV channel with videos, films an...
John Dwyer's Osees release remix album 'Panther Rotate'
With 2020 - finally - coming to an end, John Dwyer's Osees manage to squeeze in one more release: 'Panther Rotate' is a remix version of their album 'Protean Threat', which was released in September. The album is out today; stream it below. KEXP offer an exclusive interview with John Dwyer, in which he talks about Osees’s insp...
Lucrecia Dalt releases outtakes from latest album 'No era sólida'
Following the release of 'No era sólida' last September, Lucrecia Dalt's latest album, the Colombia-born, Berlin-based experimental producer and sound artist now releases six outtakes from the album via RVNG, which she herself describes "a selection of the unselected." Among the six remixed tracks is one called 'Gt', whi...
Phil Elverum's The Microphones announce 'Foghorn Tape' LP featuring "100% background noise"
Following his impressive 'Microphones in 2020' LP last year, Phil Elverum has announced the next release under his moniker of The Microphones, entitled 'Foghorn Tape'. In Phil's own words: "Literally just the noisy fuzzed out tape loop of a “fog horn” (actually a distant pitch-bent bass) that plays through-out the backgro...
Listen: Model Home release collaborative album with Saint Abdullah
Washington-based experimental hip-hop duo Model Home have released a new collaborative album with Iranian dub duo Saint Abdullah. 'Invasive Inclinations' is described as a meeting of forces from "two similar planets in different galaxies but interchangeably habitable". The album was recorded in one day at Pioneer Works Center F...
Listen: Damon Locks' Black Monument Ensemble release new song 'Keep Your Mind Free'
Chicago's Damon Locks' Black Monument Ensemble have released a new song from their upcoming album 'NOW', to be released on April 9th. With a mix of pulsing trumpet sounds, 'Keep Your Mind Free' originated from the reflection that Covid-19 has different outcomes for each group of society, especially for people in prison...
Listen: Pink Siifu releases NEGRO DELUXE
Rapper and producer Pink Siifu's has become known for his mercurial talent for intersecting styles and culture. Last year, Pink Siifu released 'NEGRO', an album that employs influences from Sun Ra, Bad Brains and the late great Ras G to materialize a firebrand, revolutionary assault on police brutality and racism. Now, the rapper an...
Listen: Jesu releases deluxe remaster of 2004 debut EP 'heart ache'
Jesu’s Justin Broadrick has released the original deluxe remaster of 'heart ache', Jesu's debut EP that was initially released in 2004, short after Godflesh broke up. The remaster also features a rare live performance of 'ruined' with guest appearances from Aaron Turner on guitar, Roderic Mounir on drums, featuring Diarmuid Da...
Argentinian "giant of musique concrète" Beatriz Ferreyra, curated by Lucrecia Dalt for LGW21, releases new album 'Canto+'
Beatriz Ferreyra is an 84-year-old composer and sound artist from Argentina, currently living in Hameau de Hodeng, France. Recently dubbed a "giant of musique concrète" by Pitchfork, Ferreyra has now released her new album 'Canto+' via Room40, the follow-up to last year's 'Echos+'. The album collects five pieces...
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 ...
Listen: spiritual soul sensation Gabriels release new single 'Blame'
With their last record 'Love and Hate in a Different Time', released earlier this year, neo-soul sensation Gabriels seek to address hate, hardship and war, but most of all how to push through. The album received praise from the likes of Elton John, Gilles Peterson, and Virgil Abloh. The group, featuring vocalist Jacob Lusk ...
Watch: experimental hip-hop duo Model Home release video for 'Night Break'
Model Home is a hip-hop formation from Washington D.C. Instigated by rapper NAPPYNAPPA and producer Pat Cain, the duo is known for their experiments in liberated sound. On November 5th, the group will release their new album 'both feet en th infinite' via Don Giovanni Records. Completed in just two days and designed with live perfo...
Music for when the sun goes down: 'Under the Liliac Sky' by Arushi Jain
Arushi Jain, a Brooklyn-based singer, producer, NTS radio host, and engineer, has made waves with her music by combining North Indian ragas with an unconventional vision of a centuries-old tradition. Jain was raised on Hindustani classical music, but while studying engineering and coding, she discovered modular synthesis. On her debut al...
Klein announces new album 'Harmattan'; watch the video for 'Hope Dealers'
South London musician, composer and multi-disciplinary artist Klein's work sounds delightfully disheveled - ghostly R&B tracks not meant for the world to listen to. Next month, she'll return with 'Harmattan', her newest album, to be released November 19th via Pentatone. Klein wrote, produced, performed, and mixed the album hers...
Jessica Moss announces new album 'Phosphenes'; listen to first track 'Contemplation II'
Jessica Moss, a violinist and composer based in Montreal, will release her new album 'Phosphenes' (the phenomenon of seeing light without light entering the eye) on November 19th. Moss began her music career in 2014 and currently has four albums under her belt. She uses violin and vocal to create music that are inspired by Middle Eastern...
Read via The Quietus: which records would Angel Bat Dawid 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...
Watch: Slumberland collaborates with Tuvan voice artist Sainkho Namtchylak, considered the first female overtone artist
With Slumberland, Belgian musician, composer, and instrument maker Jochem Baelus creates hypnotic krautrock and post punk colored with distorted exotica. Recently, he started collaborating with Sainkho Namtchylak, a 64 years old voice artist from Tuva, an autonomous republic in Russia north of Mongolia. Namtchylak is regarded as the...
Lees het speciale LGW21 dossier van Gonzo (circus) met Blak Saagan, Space Afrika, Spill Gold, Vladislav Delay & meer
Gonzo (circus), het Vlaams-Nederlandse magazine voor vernieuwende muziek en andere kunstvormen, is al jarenlang een partner van Le Guess Who?. Dit jaar presenteren ze een speciaal LGW21 dossier met interviews uit hun archieven met Space Afrika, Duma, Spill Gold, Angel Bat Dawid, Jessica Moss, Matana Roberts en Vladislav Delay. Daarnaast p...
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...
Damon Locks discusses Black Monument Ensemble's 'NOW' with Nombuso Mathibela for PAM
Pan African Music (PAM)'s contributor Nombuso Mathibela had the opportunity to interview Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble about their latest album, 'NOW', which features Erica Rene, Tramaine Parker, Richie Parks, Phillip Armstrong, Eric Tre’von, Monique Golding, and Angel Bat David (clarinet) and Ben LeMar Gay (cornet and me...
Read 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...
Read: The Guardian talk to The Necks' Tony Buck about improvising and bypassing the brain onstage
After a highly impressive performance in 2015, we can't wait to have dynamic, improvisational trio The Necks back at Le Guess Who? this November. Founded in Australia in 1987, the group have been happily making music on the fringes for over three decades, working outside of conventions and allowing stories to unravel with painst...
Letters from musicians: Bant Mag. talk to Phil Elverum
As it’s been a whole year under the pandemic conditions, Bant Mag. reached out to a number of musicians to hear about their varying feelings, realities and experiences. Next up in this series is songwriter and LGW21 curator Phil Elverum of Mount Eerie and The Microphones, who discuss time restrictions for his creative processes...
Letters from musicians: Bant Mag. talk to Midori Takada
Japanese minimalist composer and percussionist Midori Takada participates in Bant Mag.'s "Letters from musicians" series ahead of her performance and curation at Le Guess Who? 2021. As it’s been a whole year under the pandemic conditions, Bant reached out to a number of musicians to hear about their varying feelings, reali...
Letters from musicians: Bant Mag. talk to Damon Locks
Ahead of his performance at Le Guess Who? 2021, Turkey's Bant Mag. talk to Chicago visual artist, musician and sound artist Damon Locks. The interview is part of their series 'Letters from musicians'; as it’s been a whole year under the pandemic conditions, they have reached out to a number of musicians to hear about their varying f...
Damon Locks' Black Monument Ensemble announce new album 'NOW'; watch the video for the title track
Originally conceived as a medium for Chicago-based multi-media artist/activist Damon Locks’s sample-based sound collage work, Black Monument Ensemble (BME) has evolved from a solo mission into a vibrant collective of artists, musicians, singers, and dancers making work with common goals of joy, compassion, and intention. Follo...
Watch: Pink Siifu releases new short film 'NATION TYME!'
Rapper and producer Pink Siifu has released the short film 'NATION TYME!'. Apart from the song of the same name on his latest solo album 'NEGRO', the film also features new music. 'NATION TYME!' quotes 'It's Nation Time', an iconic poem of writer, teacher, poet and political activist Amiri Baraka. As Pink Siifu states, he...
Read: The Quietus guides you through the music of Linda Sharrock
"Abstracting gospel, folk and blues roots, Sharrock did with the voice what John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and Pharoah Sanders did with the saxophone: pushing beyond their natural range to find ecstatic...
Stream Nadah El Shazly's debut album 'Ahwar' in full
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...
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...
Read: "Turiya Sings: Inside Alice Coltrane’s Sai Anantam Ashram"
Just around Sunset on Sunday, 12 November, the spiritual Sai Anantam Ashram Singers will gather in TivoliVredenburg's Grote Zaal. Over the years, they have been bringing chants as followers of the leg...
Read Jerusalem In My Heart's Epiphany essay on meeting Abdel Karim Shaar (via The Wire)
The kind people at The Wire have made an essay from Jerusalem In My Heart's Radwan Ghazi Moumneh available online for free in their archives. In the Epiphany piece, Moumneh writes about the...
Read: The Quietus interviews Klein about her new EP and the intensity of her music
In a new interview with The Quietus, UK producer Klein discusses being a woman and a producer, and 'Tommy'; her new EP for Hyperdub. Stream a track below, and read the interview here. "Live sho...
Listen to Cairo-based Nadah El Shazly's new track 'Afqid Adh-Dhakira (I Lose Memory)'
Nadah El Shazly is one of the most versatile and progressive Egyptian musicians, channeling traditional Egyptian vocal techniques through genres like jazz, classical, blues, punk rock and el...
Watch a video portrait of jazz trailblazer Shabaka Hutchings
British jazz stalwart Shabaka Hutchings has worked with Sun Ra Arkestra and Mulatu Astatke in the past, and is currently involved in three of his own projects: The Comet is Coming (who performed at Le...
Klein announces new EP 'Tommy'
Following the 'Lagata' EP last year, Klein is now preparing a new release for Hyperdub. The 'Tommy' EP is to be released September 29, and a first cut called 'Run Reprise' is now published - watch bel...
Listen to Alanis Obomsawin's 'Bush Lady' via The Museum of Canadian Music
Today, on International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, we'd like to take a moment to raise attention for filmmaker and musician Alanis Obomsawin, who crusades for the rights and well-being of...
The Guardian interviews Farida Mohammad Ali, "the mother of all maqam"
Farida Mohammed Ali's mastery of the ancient maqam discipline - a lifetime’s pursuit - is truly extraordinary. In execution, this traditional singing technique requires full command of comp...
Listen to Dedekind Cut's new track 'unknown [ Katla edit ]'
Under the moniker of Dedekind Cut, Fred Warmsley occupies that sweet spot between contemporary hip hop and Brian Eno’s ambient experimentations. The Sacramento native just released his new...
Watch: Moor Mother's spoken word-video for Boiler Room
Boiler Room just shared a stunning and poignant new spoken word/rap/poetry-video from Moor Mother, aka Philly-based noise artist, activist and wordsmith Camae Ayewa. Watch below - filmed by&...
Revealing the first curators & initial line-up
The first curators are announced for the 11th edition of Le Guess Who? 2017, each hosting a range of inspirations and befriended artists, and also performing themselves. Perfume Genius invites a.o. Bu...
Listen: An introduction to Pharoah Sanders in 11 Astral Cuts
Pharoah Sanders eagerly bleeds jazz traditions out into the spiritual realms of gospel, soul, African folk and R&B, influencing artists as diverse as The Stooges, Marvin Gaye and Sun Ra (who coine...
LGW x SPEAK present: Brazilian songwriter Sessa introduced by Carlos Santos
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...
Leila Bordreuil releases debut album 'Headflush'
Brooklyn-based, French cellist, composer and sound artist Leila Bordreuil has released her debut album 'Headflush'. The album was recorded in a single afternoon in Brooklyn and comprises a collection of unprocessed amplified cello works, exploring the limits of tonal perception. As a result of Bordreuil's aim to challenge convention...
Listen: pianist Conrad Tao releases new album 'American Rage'
Today, pianist and composer Conrad Tao releases his new album 'American Rage' via Warner Classics. The album features compositions by Frederic Rzewski, Julia Wolfe and Aaron Copland, and explores the roots of rebellion from the 1930s Harlan County labor disputes, through the trauma of 9/11, to the deep divisions of the present day. Conra...
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...
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...
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...
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.