Jerusalem In My Heart is the main project of Lebanon-born, Montreal-based artist and producer Radwan Ghazi Moumneh. Moumneh collects sounds and melodies, both archaic and futuristic, to create a trans...

The audio-visual happening of Jerusalem In My Heart has roots in both Montréal and Beirut, also combining the best of both worlds. Figurehead Radwan Ghazi Moumneh has been nursing the craft of...

Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, better known as Jerusalem In My Heart, has been nurturing the craft of contemporary Middle Eastern music for over a decade. In 2017, he was one of the guest curators for Le Guess...

The audio-visual happening of Jerusalem In My Heart has roots in both Montréal and Beirut, also combining the best of both worlds. Figurehead Radwan Ghazi Moumneh has been nursing the craft of...

Jerusalem In My Heart invites friends from Beirut and Montreal to take over the decks to fill the night to the wee hours of the morning with some badass music. Dress sharp...

Oiseaux Tempête’s cross-cultural, multi-genre improv rock has a tendency to unfold in places of turmoil, recording records in Greece, Turkey and Lebanon in the past. The core duo of Fr&eac...

An intimate portrait of the circumstances surrounding the creation of Jerusalem In My Heart’s live recording of “Wa Ta’atalat Loughat Al Kalam” (The language of speech has brok...

Charles-André Coderre is a Montréal-based filmmaker dedicated to working with analog techniques. Coderre is a member of the Montreal collective of experimental cinema Double Negative and...

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...

While the festival’s numerous performances spread all over the city of Utrecht, there will be one moment we all come together, and that is at the afterparty. The line-up will feature dub-king Ke...

Angus Fairbairn (aka Alabaster DePlume) has a knack for turning the everyday into the absurd. On the opening track of his recent LP ‘The Corner of a Sphere’, he wails: “I’m mak...

On one of her newer songs, Cut Connection, Jesca Hoop tries to reconcile a love with the words "be the drummer in my heart". The magnetic Hoop laces her distinct anti-folk with likewise playful lyrici...

Location: TivoliVredenburg Wilhelmusvlug is a contemporary artist whose main focus for the last 15 years has been on monumental light art and video art installations. All My Colours is a light art in...

Zia Anger’s short films have premiered at the New York Film Festival and Locarno. She has directed music videos for an impressive roster of artists, including Angel Olsen, Mitski, Beach House, Z...

Mevrouw Tamara opens up your mind by telling people’s honest, personal stories, embodied in a calm voice with dreamy electric guitar. Inspired by artists like St. Vincent, Radiohead and My Brigh...

[ THUS TIME GOES BY ] is a new durational sound work by Midori Takada, consisting of four parts, created especially for the Jacobikerk and Le Guess Who?.  1 – THUS TIME GOES BY is based on...

Ian Brennan is a GRAMMY-winning producer and author. He has released seven books and has produced over thirty-eight international records in the past decade from across four continents including the c...

Taking his name from a spot near to his heart and home, Phil Elverum of Mount Eerie and The Microphones makes music heavily imbued with that foggy green mood of Washington state. But far from limiting...

Milford Graves Full Mantis is a portrait of renowned percussionist Milford Graves, exploring his kaleidoscopic creativity and relentless curiosity. Graves has performed internationally since 1964, bot...

As we struggle to keep up with a world enwrapped in digital technology, its influence on art and communication is often dismissed as harmful. Spencer Doran and Ryan Carlile's ambient project Visible C...

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...

Don’t think about the elephant. Don’t think at all.We can only be in this moment. Not thinking.How do we not-do?We do other. Let’s get ourselves to do.The elephant in the room is our...

The 3-channel video ‘Wajãpi’ follows the saga of the Wajãpi indigenous tribe in the north of Brazil while immersing the viewer in a universe of images that unveils at the rhy...

During the summer of 1997, Mark Nelson, guitar player and singer of US post-rock outfit Labradford, wanted to explore the possibilities of sampling and computer technology as well as his interests in...

Roberto SOLO Fonseca still lives in the heart of his birthplace Havana, which explains why his adaptation of Cuba’s musical heritage remains so refreshingly renegade and immediate. He spawned ex...

Hidden Musics Christopher C. King’s relationship with the folk traditions of Epirus, a mountain region connecting Greece with the southern parts of Albania, occupies a special place in his hear...

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...

The tour if full. You can sign up for the waiting list via this form.Le Guess Who? and Triomf invited nine artists to present their work in the public space of Utrecht during Le Guess Who? 2021....

Dälek’s signature corroded rap experimentalism bubbled up with masterpiece ‘Filthy Tongue Of Gods And Griots’, released on Mike Patton’s Ipecac label. These veteran agitat...

By Special Arrangement with Ecstatic Peace Library. No matter how far his musical interests stretch, Thurston Moore’s stylish poise is always prevalent in his work: red-hot, risqué and ra...

Singer-songwriter and producer Emel Mathlouthi combines the vibrant sounds of psychedelic folk with heavy electronics and atmospheric melodies. She gained global recognition when her recording 'Kelmti...

Loving is an experimental pop collaboration between musicians David Parry, Lucas Henderson and Jesse Henderson. Latest release ‘If l am only my thoughts’ marks a newfound appreciation for...

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 place for craftsmanship and de...

The name of this Columbian project means, in Spanish, “suck my finger”. One might wonder if that could be a reference to hallucinogens, since this is decidedly the same state of fever drea...

Shabazz Palaces have always drawn inspiration from the heart and human instinct; the Seattle-based hip hop voyagers produce transcendental albums from an intuitive frame of mind. ‘Black Up&rsquo...

Operating on a crossroad between genres like rock, jazz and avant-garde, Schnellertollermeier execute with great precision, skill and clarity. With instrumental power at the heart of their music, they...

Oorutaichi takes the word ‘fun’ into hyperdrive. This Japanese producer shakes the rules of techno, electro pop and sampling like a can of soda and lets things fly with contagious enthusia...

The Bandcamp-bio for Petbrick deadpans that it’s just ‘Iggor Cavalera (Sepultura) and Wayne Adams making horrible noises that melt your face’. But press play and you’ll find th...

Location: TivoliVredenburg Ginta Tinte Vasermane studied audiovisual arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and graduated from the Netherlands Film Academy in Amsterdam. She works in the field of motion...

The Botanical RevolutionGardens have appealed to our imagination for centuries. We associate them with harmonious bliss, a place to witness the cycle of life and death, a place of contemplation, and a...

Somewhere quite near the place where the trains can be heard as they approach Utrecht Central Station, you will find the Ping Pong Club. Play a few rounds around the table or organise your own tournam...

Theater Kikker x U? presents The EarIn the 30-minute one-on-one performance Sensory Sensation Series No.1 – The Ear, the ear of the participant is central. The participant, the ear and the...

In the Ubuntuhuis you can listen to Ubuntustemmen (voices) Part 1 & 2. In Part 1 you will hear Roos and Amara. Amara plays traditional Guinese kora music and djembé. Roos adds a layer of te...

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...

Movement alters sounds, sounds alter movement, this is what Pablo Molina and Vincent Schoutsen envision behind their collaboration, Sound in Motion. They are shaping each other's realities via a micro...

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...

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...

Location: TivoliVredenburg Charlotte Roger is a visual artist based in Utrecht, evolving in the field of experimental photography. Her work explores the concepts of archives, remembrance and individu...

Location: Weerdsluis Boneless, brainless and bloodless. Jellyfish are fascinating creatures that can survive in various aquatic environments. They can thrive in the ice-cold depths of the Arctic as w...

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...

Movement alters sounds, sounds alter movement, this is what Pablo Molina and Vincent Schoutsen envision behind their collaboration, Sound in Motion. They are shaping each other's realities via a micro...

‘Ongehoorde geluiden’ hands the mic to people who courageously, and sometimes barely, brave daily life in the city of Utrecht. They’ve been homeless for some time and make little or...

Casco Art Institute presents ‘Evolved in shared relationships’ is a solo-exhibition by Finnish artist Alma Heikkilä. Feeling the urge to understand our ecological atmosphere and cons...

Presented by Centraal Museum Visual artist Eva Spierenburg from Zeist is the winner of the K.F. Hein Stipendium 2018. Physicality is omnipresent in Spierenburg’s work. Whether it is the visuali...

Joey van der Kaaij and his neighbor Nuno Monteiro began experimenting recording together in a studio in a student building in de Bijlmer, Amsterdam. That collaboration has transformed into Ayman Maas...

Kaap De Goede Hoop builds a landscape of warm analog tones, crackling beats and disorienting voices. The live set is always different, reacting to the environment and atmospheres in the room. In a war...

As a resident photographer for LGW and a resident of Utrecht, Juri Hiensch has been rediscovering the city of Utrecht. He has captured the unique character of several neighborhoods outside the city ce...

Location: Korte Minrebroederstraat AKMAR is a multidisciplinary artist working with a range of disciplines, from video and computer generated work to physical sculptures. Vanitas is about digital tra...

Cheikha Rabia and Esraa Warda both hail from Algeria, but today, they live in opposite corners of the world. Rabia, a renowned singer with over five decades of experience in keeping Bedouin vocal trad...

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...

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...

While Utrecht-based artist Curling often takes to the stage as a singer in various metal, punk, and noise rock bands, in his DJ-sets he takes a completely different approach. His experimental mix of b...

The famous Bulgarian women's choir Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares ('Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices') is comprised of 22 members. Performing in traditional clothing, the varying voices of the cho...

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...

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...

In the late 80’s, Doug Hream Blunt moonlighted music with a job at a care home in San Francisco. As a relative late bloomer at age 35, he started writing songs after attending a How To Start A B...

In the early 70’s, free-jazz evangelists Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids sprung from the tutelage of the great Cecil Taylor. Drawing furthermore from the vast cosmos of Fela Kuti, Pharaoh Sand...

Efterklang singer Casper Clausen presents his (yet to be released) solo music, made up in a small studio by the river in Cacilhas (Lisbon). With songwriting still in progress, Casper has only played s...

Japanese composer and percussionist Midori Takada is a true luminary in the world of ambient and experimental music, playing solo, in various groups and theatre productions. In the 1980s and 1990s, Ta...

Born to Moroccan parents in Barcelona, Ikram Bouloum began to sprout out of the local music scene much thanks to her ‘sound literacy’ sessions. In them, the artist seeks to create a club u...

Before coming together more recently, Eddie Chacon and John Carroll Kirby may have seemed completely different characters in music. Chacon had experienced proper fame in the mid-nineties, as part of t...

The Flare Quartet, with violinists from the Netherlands, Spain and Canada, was founded in 2020 by a group of master students from the Utrecht Conservatoire. They are joining the  Palestinian, Syr...

Wanderwelle & Floor van het Nederend present their debut graphic novel ‘De Duizendpoot’ (The Millipede). The Wanderwelle duo is known for their electro-acoustic compositions and more....

De Nijverheid is a cultural freeport full of artists from all kinds of disciplines. Over fifty artists call this their second home, making De Nijverheid an artistic hub that sparks new creativity, une...

Music as Spectral Infrastructure Black Audio Film Collective’s 1989 film ‘Twilight City’ presents the financial deregulation and spatial restructuring of London in the late 1980s as...

A woman arrives in Lebanon in search of a missing man, whom she met in Iceland a few years ago. Here, the buildings and landscapes still bear the traces of past conflicts, and the missing friend&rsquo...

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...

Throughout their decades-long musical partnership, Czech artists Irena Havlová and Vojtěch Havel have traveled far and wide, through time and space. They started working together in the mid-eig...

Contradiction alone could describe this Copenhagen-based composer, producer and viola player - but it wouldn’t be enough. Inspired by postmodern and minimalist music, singing in a choir and play...

Despite now being based in Brussels, Kaito Winse was raised in the village of Lankoué, in the Sourou Province of Burkina Faso. Brought up in a musical griot family, he has grown into a message...

Eco-friendly-Afro-futuristic-punk-assemble would only scrape the surface in describing this artist collective based in the Congolese capital city Kinshasa. In order to understand, one must immerse the...

Coral City Flourotour documents the highly fluorescent corals living near the Coral City Camera site at PortMiami in Miami, Florida. These urban corals are not just survivors, but pioneers who have se...

Fatemeh and Rian know each other thanks to their shared love of music. For several years, Fatemeh has been a participant at the weekly music evenings at the AZC in Utrecht. Here she treats the audienc...

Mary continuously builds and breaks tension in her music, resulting in a refreshing and jagged club sound. Ever-curious, her experimental productions and mixes retain a digital and modernist signature...

Lucas Kloosterboer plays the trombone, is a drummer and text performer, and has a degree in Dutch language. Others have described him as a 'freejazz-faun', 'iconoclast', 'slightly down in the mouth',...

In the shed of the Ping Pong Club, the former factory for ‘Werktuigen en Spoormaterieel’ - tools and railway equipment, is the home for the annual Wisselspoor Photo Competition. This year'...

Bumble B. Boy is a failed children’s entertainer and weirdo-punk musical act that blends theatrical live performances, rhythmic post-punk music and fictional multimedia storytelling. Based in Ni...

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...

Farida Mohammad 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 complex m...

The involvement of Meredith Graves (Perfect Pussy) in both mainstream and underground culture is as wide-ranging as it's confronting. Through her roots in hardcore-punk, and her activities as a writer...

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...

Islam Chipsy’s hyperactive keyboard mashing and drum duo EEK’s chaotic bliss rev up crowds into utter frenzy. This mighty Egyptian alliance is without question one of the most rowdy live a...

Oft-sampled though never imitated, Italian composer Gigi Masin’s deft ambient collages first entered our consciousness in the 1970s. Masin finally earned recognition with his 1986 LP ‘Wind...

Lucy Railton’s voice has bloomed from the root of more than 25 years of classical instrumentalism. The cellist and electronic composer’s acclaimed 2018 solo debut 'Paradise 94' marks a new...

Armed with a twenty-two stringed Kora (a West African cross between lute, bridge and harp), troubadour Sourakata Koite uses this traditional instrument to interpret his Senegalese roots. Moving to Par...

Cycle or walk through Utrecht suburb Lombok's main street, and you're immediately welcomed by Turkish and Moroccan grocery stores, bakeries, the smell of kebab, and huge piles of colorful fruits sold...

BAK presents Maria Hlavajova, general and artistic director of BAK, basis voor contemporary art, has been interested in exploring what she calls “the art in the otherwise”. Committed to a...

Conrad Tao first touched a piano as a one-year-old toddler, and by the age of eight, he already performed Mozart’s Concerto No. 12. So, becoming one of the most exciting new faces in classical m...

Composer and cellist Leila Bordreuil grew up in rural Aix-en-Provence, France, before moving to Brooklyn in 2012. Having composed in silence for most of her life, the bustle of Broadway didn’t d...

DJINN, an alliance formed by musicians in Swedish outfits Hills and GOAT, has quickly flourished into a marvel in and of itself. Extracting sonics from the fabric of Alice Coltrane’s astral jazz...

Having become somewhat of a mainstay in Utrecht, Stranded FM celebrate and share music from all over the globe, becoming the city’s bastion for discovering fresh sounds. During their four-year r...

Spazio Disponibile presents Few DJs and producers are as universally acclaimed in techno circles as Italian connoisseur Donato Dozzy. Dozzy possesses that rare ability to zigzag his way into peoples&...

Presented by Centraal Museum Alles is Rond (All Is Round) was made in the city where Louis Andriessen and Madelon Hooykaas both grew up: Utrecht. Both artists have worked together before, but this is...

Presented by Le Guess Who? & Springhaver Franco Rosso’s Babylon had its world premiere at Cannes in 1980 but was deemed “too controversial, and likely to incite racial tension”...

With over twenty releases under a closely-related variety of names – Orinoka Crash Suite, OCS, Orange County Sound, The Ohsees, The Oh Sees, and Thee Oh Sees, and now just Oh Sees – f...

Jazz musician and poet Alabaster dePlume is Le Guess Who? 2021’s Artist in Residence. DePlume can be described as many things: a cleric of the written word, a maverick of sound, a conductor of c...

On their self-titled debut EP, released in 2019, Bristol’s Tara Clerkin Trio capture a unique mood through their breed of smoky jazz, chamber-pop, trip-pop, and sometimes pure experimentalism. T...

Although Mairee Sioux grew up with no musical ambition, music came to be the best vessel to fill a cultural void filled by severed connections to her Polish, Hungarian and Native American ancestry. Sh...

Luc Bersier, Low Bat, Leonard Prochazka and Ariel Garcia may all hail from different places in Western Europe, but the Jean-Luc project drew them together to make several vibrant EPs – each...

Take a tour around the Ulu Mosque in Lombok. This is one of the biggest mosques in the Netherlands, and possibly also one of the most striking ones. When your train pulls into Utrecht Central Station...

Ambient drones, cowboy psychedelia and fuzz folk - that's how singer-songwriter Bart de Kroon AKA Homemade Empire from Utrecht describes the sounds with which he takes us back to the future. With his...

Somewhere close to the sounds of trains leaving and entering Utrecht Central Station, you can find the Ping Pong Club. Ping Pong & DJ’s will take place in this industrial former warehouse. P...

Rotterdam’s new livewire post-punk act Tramhaus have quickly carved out their own space within the iconic Dutch port city. On stage Tramhaus create shell-shocking havoc, with fragments of unfort...

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...

Lubomyr Melnyk doesn’t like being called a composer; ‘I don’t know what I am’, he says. But the seasoned Ukrainian pianist certainly brought something novel to the instrument,...

Location: Vredenburgplein Aïda Gómez is an urban artist based in Berlin. Working with language games and the playful replacement of social codes in our everyday environment, she finds a w...

While working on his blog “Is Your Clam in a Jam?”, Italian film director, script writer and producer Gio Arlotta started a DIY video project capturing underground rock bands' performances...

In this film, Johannesburg record label Mushroom Hour Half Hour’s rotating SPAZA ensemble takes you on a journey through their creative process as they delve into a new project. SPAZA are a band...

‘Promises: Through Congress’ explores visual artist Julie Mehretu’s painting Congress (2003) and the 2021 album by electronic composer and musician Floating Points, jazz titan Pharoa...

Obscure a moment the thinking head, the sovereign eye, the ears of dialogue, the nose of instinct (...) this could create an extraordinary vacancy, an unprecedented brake on the rational injunction in...

Arsenal is about an ensemble set up in Kampala Uganda by composer/producer Jonathan Uliel Saldanha with three virtuoso young musicians belonging to the Nilotika Cultural Ensemble, a bastion in the def...

Oki Kano’s (A.K.A OKI)’s identity, as a part of Japan’s northernmost indigenous people, is central to his person and his art - as he says: ‘I might travel on a Japanese passpor...

In the small inland town of São Domingos on Cape Verde's Santiago Island, The Ano Nobo Quartet delivers a fresh take on Koladera, a guitar-driven, subtly rhythmic sound of a lighter spirit. The...

Nearly a hundred years after the birth of surrealism in Europe, folk artist Anastasia Coope is keeping it alive and well in upstate New York. Both disruptive and whimsical, this nineteen-year-old pain...

Jamaican-American rapper, producer, and performer Ojay Morgan's alias Zebra Katz came through his thesis project - and morphed into a genre-defying extension of his interest in theater and cultural st...

Palestinian writer Farah Chamma's poetry is hosted in Brazilian producer LIEV's soundscapes on chamæleon. Their project explores the intersection between spoken word and musical texture. The duo...

Since 2018, the duo behind Portugal's East Side Radio can be heard in bars and clubs throughout Europe, as well as a few festivals, and, every two months, in Lisbon's Lux Frágil and Porto's Pas...

Julián Mayorga and Ryota Miyake first came across one another at Red Bull Music Academy in 2015. There, the Colombian and Japanese art-pop duo began, and their story rekindled in Montreal, Toky...

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...

In partnership with B-62Egyptian artists Khaled and YUNIS take us on a tour through the music scene of Cairo. Through meetings, conversations and live performances with different artists, we’ll...

In partnership with B-62Egyptian artists Khaled and YUNIS take us on a tour through the music scene of Cairo. Through meetings, conversations and live performances with different artists, we’ll...

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 mechanical massage chair that Edwin Schulte made especially for an exhibition at the EXbunker, looks like an instrument of torture. Volunteer to take a seat in this chair made of recycled material...

Nijhof & Toonk make improvisational clever electronics fuelled by post-rock and dub-laden styles. In their immersive and lingering live-shows, unique pathways are explored and take shape, as the d...

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...

Free parties were on the forefront of electronics since the birth of acid-house. Traveling D.I.Y. community’s like Spiral Tribe and MononoM are synonymous with underground and non-conforming sou...

Zaahirah began her studies of Oriental dance in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After that she moved to Portugal, Spain and is now based in the Netherlands where she teaches bellydance and performs at differe...

Kaðlín is a composer based in The Hague, whose work reflects on deterioration by drawing parallels between the imperfections of memory and technology. She creates ethereal soundscapes by co...

Lili Boulanger (1893) is a unique and prodigious case studies in music history, taking up singing, organ, piano, violin, cello and harp at the premature age of five. In 1913, she became the first woma...

Lebanese legend Abdel Karim Shaar is the last of his generation still performing classical ‘Tarab’ repertoire: a musical form that expresses a state of emotional transition. Shaar develope...

In his 45 years as a musician, Japanese sound wizard Keiji Haino devoted himself to one constant: to never repeat himself. To this day, Haino has done just that, always walking the unexplored passages...

In her enigmatic avant-pop excursions, Jenny Hval breaks free from rigid concepts of sex, mortality, biology and pop culture. Her concept album ‘Blood Bitch’ occupies a fractured but heroi...

Margaret Chardiet doesn't need to change costumes to completely transform on stage. As Pharmakon, she creates an echo chamber of monstrous proportions, making Pharmakon one of the heaviest and most di...

The Israel-born, Switzerland-based Omri Ziegele is a self-taught alt sax player, honing his skills in London and at Boston's Berklee College of Music. Ziegele has performed in theatre and with the cir...

Spring Heel Jack is an electronic duo with roots in drum&bass and jungle. Highlighted by their 2001 album ‘Masses’, Ashley Wales and John Coxon morphed their musical blueprint into the...

Six standalone stories are featured in this film, which are united by a common theme of violence and vengeance. Director Damián Szifrón takes the idea of human behavior of people in dist...

Two years ago, Zimbabwe-born, UK-based musician/poet Farai delivered a straight-up banger in ‘The Sinner’ on the Vol. 1 compilation of African diaspora collective NON Worldwide. Consider t...

K Á R Y Y N is a producer, composer and vocalist who makes textured and emotional music inspired by the human condition, science and spirituality. Born in Alabama, baptized in Aleppo and raised...

Dutch musician/composer Martijn Comes specializes in new media, sound design and electronic-acoustic compositions. Some of his harmonies sound as if they’re being exhumed from the dregs of harsh...

In her home country of Zimbabwe, music icon Stella Chiweshe is endearingly called The Queen of Mbira, becoming the first female artist to gain widespread recognition for a strictly male-dominated disc...

Indeed, the voice of Suuns has plenty more junk in his trunk. Ben Shemie’s fascination with classical music, radio art, new technologies and the free-form experimentalism of labels like Warp Rec...

Leo Svirsky is an American composer, improviser, pianist and accordionist based in The Hague. He explores the ways our listening behavior alters the way we register musical vocabularies. Disorientatio...

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 mo...

Born and raised in China and currently residing in Berlin, Pan Daijing is a groundbreaking artist, composer and storyteller who creates a raw and rare mixture of noise music, performance art, dance an...

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...

In the late 70’s, as member of the notorious Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Lydia Lunch was a leading figure in the rise of New York City’s no-wave scene. Grounded in a dissonant and atonal...

‘What’s in a name?’, they say. In Richard Fearless’ case, a lot. He’s the mastermind behind Death In Vegas, not to mention an accomplished producer and DJ whose scope ext...

The ‘Orchestre de Nouvelles Créations, Expérimentations et Improvisations Musicales’ (ONCEIM) is an orchestra of 34 musicians dedicated to the art of creation and experimenta...

In the early 2000s, Hot Snakes rose to combine Rocket From The Crypt’s walloping garage rock anthems and Drive Like Jehu’s feverish post-hardcore stabs. With aforementioned bands reuniting...

Seattle-based singer-songwriter Austin Crane (aka Valley Maker) has one of the most remarkable voices in contemporary pop music. Accompanied by heartfelt, wistful acoustic guitar arrangements, Valley...

So what do inventive New York-based sound wizard Sarah Hennies and avant-folk/electronic artist Jessica Sligter have in common? Well, they’re both reality-augmenters: Hennies can use any space t...

Chasing Reels presents; dir. Paul Elliott & Sean Lamberth ‘The Library Music Film’ is a quest for some of the most original, but largely unnoticed music ever recorded. In the document...

Chasing Reels presents; in collaboration with Leiden International Film Festival; dir. Ethan Hawke The film ‘Blaze’ is about the unsung songwriting legend Blaze Foley, a relatively obscur...

In collaboration with Future Feminism New York-based performance artists Kembra Pfahler and Johanna Constantine call for the emergence of a feminine collective consciousness with their project Future...

In collaboration with Future Feminism This screening event dives into the performance archives of Future Feminism, giving an insight in the project’s history of creating explicit and extreme pe...

Public Poetry takes the written word into our shared communal life in public space; it brings people together for the sake of the most intimate of verbal arts. In this session, LGW artists are invited...

Diving headfirst into genres like shoegaze, post-rock, noise and black metal, Bliss Signal unleashes a claustrophobic blast of furious energy. The project marks the collaboration between two experimen...

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...

Under the name Nivhek, Liz Harris (Grouper) maps richly detailed inner worlds where enigmatic vibrations and voices glide dimly in and out of the void. Double album ‘After its own death / Walkin...

Joseph Shabason demonstrated his mastery of woodwind, horn and brass instruments on iconic records such as Destroyer’s ‘Kaputt’ and The War On Drugs’ ‘Lost In The Dream&r...

In 1995, Serbian-born, Brazil-based producer Mitar Subotić – also known as Suba and Rex Illusivii – created ‘Wayang’, an album that would be considered visionary even by today&...

The title track of Lifafa’s most recent album ‘Jaago’ tells you all you need to know about the Indian producer, veering from its swooning, rustic flirtations to joyous electronic res...

Throughout her chronicle of life, it’s easy to understand how Vivien Goldman earned the title ‘Punk Professor’. In the 70s, Goldman wasn’t simply satisfied standing on the side...

Tongue-in-cheek, hilarious and often controversial, Ghanaian duo FOKN Bois coined their sound as gospel porn rap, which might be a cryptic way of calling their art slyly subversive. Their music has be...

In the vocabulary of Icelandic artist dj. flugvél og geimskip – translation: ‘dj airplane or spaceship’ – the notion of choice is pretty overrated. Why not rapturously e...

DJ Quesadilla and DJ Fitz, two swashbuckling archeologists of music who habitually turn dancefloors all over the world into journeys of sweet sonic oblivion. The former is one of the most prominent fi...

Adrift somewhere in purgatory between Syd Barrett and Robert Wyatt, the immense spacious beauty of Ed Dowie’s debut LP ‘The Uncle Sold’ can’t be overstated enough. Drawing insp...

Collaboratorium The cartoon physics of Brooklyn experimental outfit Zs, the Lovecraftian doom tandem Ex Eye with Colin Stetson, the blast beat barrages of Liturgy; Greg Fox has an uncanny knack for t...

Presented by BAK - basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht Trainings for the Not-Yet is a project convened by artist Jeanne van Heeswijk and BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, in collaboration with many other...

Presented by Le Guess Who? & BAK - basis voor actuele kunst Le Guess Who? and Jeanne van Heeswijk connected the Chicago-based pianist, clarinetist and composer Angel Bat Dawid with visual artist,...

Presented by Le Guess Who? & Utrecht University In the wake of his recently published fifth book ‘Silenced by Sound: the Music Meritocracy Myth’ and driven by his ongoing field-record...

Presented by Le Guess Who? & Springhaver In this genre-defying film, Zerzura follows a young man from a small village in Niger who leaves home in search of an enchanted oasis. His journey leads h...

Revolt comes in all shapes and sizes for São Paolo-guitarist, producer and songsmith Kiko Dinucci. He cut his teeth in various punk and hardcore bands, filtered that subversive spirit through t...

Jazz collective Irreversible Entanglements came together in the wake of the killing of Akai Gurley by a police officer in 2015. Their sonic poetry, which echoes not only black struggle but also black...

Brooklyn five-piece Gustaf have generated a surprising loud buzz for a band which hasn’t been in circulation for more than a few years. Formed in 2018, they quickly garnered a reputation in punk...

Colombian artist Julián Mayorga reminds us how freeing it can be to not take ourselves too seriously. Upon graduating from a Masters degree in electroacoustics and algorithmic composition in Ma...

Chicago-bred singer and producer KeiyaA may be a newcomer to R&B, her airy yet thoughtful 2020 debut, ‘Forever Ya Girl’ may very well be her ticket to being spoken in the same breath a...

On Zanzibar singer Siti Muharam’s shoulders rests the legacy of her great-grandmother, taarab music legend Binti Saad. Saad is credited as a true trailblazer, being the first woman in East Afric...

When Alogte Oho was a boy, all he ever dreamt of was to join the church choir. When he turned thirteen, he did so and quickly ascended to stardom as a Frafra-Gospel artist. But in his twenties, a seri...

Based in London, born in Lagos, Funmi Ohiosumah began calling herself Flohio as a teenager. Nowadays, her self-given alias is synonymous with the harsh, bleak electronic beats that surround her &lsquo...

On Zwangere Guy’s debut album ‘Wie is Guy?’, there is a swagger in his flow that displays confidence usually only found in rappers who have been around for a while. It is perhaps thi...

Near Stoic is Skander Ben Yahia’s alias, in which he becomes a storyteller. Experimenting with tapes, modular synths, field recordings and archives, the Tunisian musician makes use of every mate...

Zeldzame likes to make high-energy music and uses both his sense of humour and the frustrations of everyday life. A melting pot of different aspects of his personality, pressed together into a style l...

Kleine Crack is the only Belgian artist signed to Burning Fik. The cult-rapper and his producer-teammate Slagter create ominous hip-hop, set to heavy beats. In their hometown ANNA (Antwerp) they are s...

Shoko Igarashi, born in Yamagata prefecture, Japan, took her talent for the saxophone and flute all over the world, from New York to Brussels. Shoko has dabbled in a variety of musical genres, includi...

De Witte Kunst is a Dutch musical ensemble consisting of multi-instrumentalist Lyckle de Jong and songwriter and singer Koen van Bommel. In their songs they dream about a better world, resulting in a...

I Think I Think is a dreampop duo consisting of Aurelia Wurfbain and Silva Westera. With the technological testcases in their music, like using computer controlled hammers/solenoids, tape loops and li...

Three veterans from the Dutch hardcore scene bring you an intense and melodic form of post-hardcorepunk in the vein of Wipers, Black Flag and Bad Brains. With two full-length albums under their belt,...

Are you ready for music from Afghanistan? Ghafar Amini is known within the Afghan community in the Netherlands and plays well-known Afghan songs. Along with the music, you will be able to fully experi...

The performative character of the work of painter Koen Delaere can be compared to experiencing a live music performance or to making music in which meaning evolves while listening and playing. A spont...

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...

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...

Location: Vredenburgviaduct Climate change is destroying our planet, but nature has no voice to protest it or warn us. In their poetic art project Letters from Nature, Jeroen van der Most and Peter v...

“I want to make more music,” was the reaction of Japanese composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto when he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014. Not long after his treatment he started m...

Music as Spectral Infrastructure India Tapes (1969-1972), the opening session of ‘Music as Spectral Infrastructure’, explores the life and afterlife of early experiments in electronic mus...

De Schuurman’s 2021 release – ‘Bubbling Inside’, a collaboration between Kampala-based label Nyege Nyege Tapes and Rotterdam’s platform Pantropical – centers around...

Norwegian-German saxophonist Bendik Giske has likened his art to the one of a machine, but, still, through his music - most recently his second solo album, 2021’s ‘Cracks’ - there is...

Through a blend of tradition and modernity, Egyptian producer YUNIS is distilling and reinventing his country’s folklore – finding inspiration in Sufism, the Egyptian wedding and the conce...

A Pear of Pairs follows vocalist Ian William Craig and composer Daniel Lentz in Santa Barbara, California for the making of their 2020 album, In a Word, for FRKWYS, RVNG Intl’s intergenerational...

Danseruna is an experience happening for the past 4 years in the south of France, in the small village of Capestang. Born from the desire to merge various dance languages, mostly traditional folk danc...

REProduce Live is a peer to peer live streaming platform that showcases left leaning artistic expression within India. Their goal is to weave a new fabric by challenging expectations of what contempor...

U? is Le Guess Who? participatory and freely accessible day program created for and with the city of Utrecht. During U?, programs are made with, or even fully by, local initiatives, entrepreneurs, soc...

On Zanzibar singer Siti Muharam’s shoulders rests the legacy of her great-grandmother, taarab music legend Binti Saad. Saad is credited as a true trailblazer, being the first woman in East Afric...

Little Blue Nothing is an intimate journey into the world of Irena & Vojtech Havlovi, two low-profile Czech viola players who live in the suburbs of Prague, out of society. The two musicians recor...

Tata Janashia (Mutant Radio, Georgia) and Rana Ghose (REProduce, India) both host LGW Embassies during this edition of COSMOS. Both are forward-thinking organizers who try to enrich their local cultur...

On a quest for the awakening of true beauty on stage and all around us, Mathieu David Gagnon conjures up in Flore Laurentienne’s chamber music the lushness of vintage film, blossoming spring, an...

Very few preserve the tradition of the tonkori; Oki Kano, or OKI, is one of the few surviving players of this five-string harp, performed by the indigenous Japanese Ainu people. Kano revives and reinv...

Alabama-born, Marseille-based artist and musician Turner Williams Jr. (formerly Ramble Tamble)’s latest record, 2021’s ‘Let It Warp’, was shaped by the thirty-two winds of the...

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...

Leisha Thomas is Alpha Maid, a guitarist, vocalist, and producer hailing from South East London. Her first solo release on the C.A.N.V.A.S. collective label, 2021's 'CHUCKLE', garnered significant cri...

Emerging from a tangled background, Bint7alal is a rapper and producer now based in London. Her music career was launched in 2020 and her music relies heavily on her ever-present voice - often molded...

This cosmic project began when producer Karl Jonas Winqvist befriended multi-instrumentalist Arouna Kane in Toubab Dialaw. In this village, an hour away from Dakar, Wingvist began improvising with Kan...

Melika Ngombe Kolongo is Nkisi - DJ, producer and co-founder of NON Records, a collective of experimental African artists and of the diaspora. Born in Congo, she adopted the moniker after moving from...

Johannesburg-based artist, jazz percussionist, and thinker Tumi Mogorosi's reputation as one of the most captivating young creatives in the South African scene has only amplified since his acclaimed 2...

Tutto Questo Sentire is a collective started in 2014 by experimental opera singer Olivia Salvadori, composer and cellist Sandro Mussida, and video and sound artist Rebecca Salvadori. Although disparat...

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...

Arizona duo Trees Speak are nowhere close to slowing down creatively, having recently released their fourth record, 'Vertigo of Flaws', in just over one year. It is a colossal leap into an unknown son...

Born in Alexandria and currently based in Cairo, Nancy Mounir is an artist of extraordinary versatility, which allowed her to leave a deep mark in Egypt’s alternative music scene. Her work has l...

Spain’s history can be heard in Lole Montoya’s voice. Uncontained by the categories of ‘singer’ or ‘cantaora’, she emotionally discharges her spirit with unseen cou...

Animism is the idea often found in indigenous belief systems that everything possesses a spiritual essence. A pre-colonial tradition connected with Marvin’s Moluccan and Linh’s Vietnamese-...

Malian singer Oumou Sangaré has become a global legend. Her voice has toted some of the most celebrated titles in contemporary African music, and she has taken on prestigious stages such as the...

In the trusty words of DJ Fitz; ‘DJ Quesadilla is a living legend. I should stop there, but I won't. Born in the Industrial Heartland of North Portugal, in the city of unnecessary bridges and tu...

Bold, brash, polarizing. These are the three adjectives Canada's The Globe and Mail latched onto Lido Pimienta. One could add; transgressive, traditionalist, diva, or folklorist. Embracing Afro-Indige...

Born in New Zealand and based in New York, Dion Lunadon decided to leave A Place To Bury Strangers just as the pandemic struck to brush up his own musical voice. Following 2017’s self-titled deb...

Cultural appropriation, misogyny, racism, post-colonialism, and political correctness are not usually themes heard on the dancefloor; but Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul rebel by inviting the...

Outsider music pioneer Brian Leeds (also known as Pendant, Huerco S., Loidis, and Royal Crown of Sweden) got his start playing for punk and metal bands while growing up in Kansas. In the quest for the...

Rotterdam-based band Lewsberg are fond of taking matters into their own hands. Just like their self-titled 2018 debut and sophomore record, their latest mini-album, last fall's 'In Your Hands', was re...

On 'St Lucian Kuduro Mixtape', DJ Chengz's 2020 outing with Nyege Nyege Tapes, the listener is struck with whiplash at every turn. In the 67-minute showcase of St. Lucia's Kuduro Soca or 'Dennery Segm...

In partnership with Radio AlharaRadio Alhara presents an unprecedented collaboration between Beirut-based multi-instrumentalist and puppeteer Yara Asmar, electronic musician Sary Moussa, and Bethlehem...

In partnership with REProduceA hub of seasoned Indian creatives looking for a new way to be, to reconsider and reassert the India they grew up with and forged: this Embassy aims to present Goa as it e...

In partnership with Mentha Project & BIE MusicThe BIE Music & Mentha Project showcases the originality and creativity of China’s diverse indie music scenes with live sessions of Howie Le...

In partnership with REProduceA hub of seasoned Indian creatives looking for a new way to be, to reconsider and reassert the India they grew up with and forged: this Embassy aims to present Goa as it e...

In partnership with Radio AlharaRadio Alhara presents an unprecedented collaboration between Beirut-based multi-instrumentalist and puppeteer Yara Asmar, electronic musician Sary Moussa, and Bethlehem...

In partnership with Mentha Project & BIE MusicThe BIE Music & Mentha Project showcases the originality and creativity of China’s diverse indie music scenes with live sessions of Howie Le...

John Kayongo, a dancer from Kenia with Ugandan roots, is widely known for his energetic dance workshops. Besides his background in anthropology and modern dance, John brings enthusiasm in heaps, and i...

New at Museum Speelkok, a museum that houses a phenomenal, unique collection of self-playing musical instruments, is the freely accessible art space, where talented artists can exhibit their music and...

puurvuur is a DJ and producer from Utrecht, who plays and makes beats that sit in the cracks between bass music, hiphop, and club. Selections span from breaks to uncategorizable productions around 140...

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...

Jonny Nash began his career whilst living in Japan during the 2000’s, releasing his first records on Kenji Takimi’s seminal label Crue-l. Relocating to London, Nash released a number of re...

Sun Kil Moon challenges the notion that life imitates art. In the curious case of Mark Kozelek, life is art. His stream-of-consciousness folk narratives and nylon-stringed guitar meanderings make Sun...

Kiwi musician Aldous Harding stops you dead in your tracks with her remarkable dark folk hymns. A magnetic stage presence, Harding taps into different moods and characters, often in the very same song...

Swiss-American musician Manuel Gagneux funnels the spells of black metal into howls of Tom Waits-esque juke joint blues. Suffice to say, results are nothing short of spectacular. Debut album ‘De...

Wolfgang Voigt's groundbreaking project GAS is the sound of organic matter and technology living in perfect harmony. As he himself puts it: 'bring the forest to the disco and vice versa'. Voigt struct...

Producer and musician Kelly Lee Owens is a cosmonaut in her own self-shaped zero gravity space. A space where machinery and ambience swell and orbit. Owens shapes this pliable universe to her liking,...

Renowned for her work with guitarist Sonny Sharrock in the 60s and 70s, Linda Sharrock has become a leading light in the world of experimental jazz and avant-garde. Her vocal delivery is a hallmark of...

Canadian artist Sarah Davachi's creates immersive soundscapes with a playful exchange between ancient acoustic instrumentation and analogue synths. Davachi is a real sonic thrill-seeker who enjoys pus...

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...

Yves Tumor is one of the most mysterious and gripping experimental musicians to emerge in recent memory. On his critically well-received LP ‘Serpent Music’ he combines abrasive, slithering...

Roy Montgomery has been a staple artist of Kiwi imprint Flying Nun. The native of Christchurch lives in an environment often struck by natural disasters, which could be why his work generally has a su...

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...

Award-winning Dutch composer, bass clarinet player and saxophonist Joris Roelofs has performed with Han Bennink multiple times since forming an experimental duo together last year. Roelofs has practic...

Han Bennink will engage in a sonic tête-à-tête with none other than Thurston Moore. Moore claimed fame as co-founder and singer/guitarist of influential noise rockers Sonic Youth. A...

La Double Vie de Véronique is a story of two women that go by the same name and share the same hopes and dreams, even though the one lives in Poland and the other in France. Unaware of the exis...

The steady yet ever versatile Kevin Morby extends his musical range with each project he's a part of. Morby exhibits a fleeting beauty and folk rock romanticism in his songwriting, hypnotically explor...

Madensuyu have always been charmed by the mysterious and esoteric, the notion that two mortal souls can inhabit a stage and conjure something bigger than themselves. Their angsty, sprawling brand of n...

Last year, Dunedin lo-fi pop singer Kane Strang debuted his winsome first album ‘Blue Cheese’, and just like that, he joined the Dead Oceans roster. On sophomore LP ‘Two Hearts And N...

Steven Warwick is a British-born, Berlin-based musician and visual artist who performed under the moniker Heatsick in the past. Warwick moulds hypnotic dancefloor-focussed tracks in a similar way to h...

The Violent Magic Orchestra (VMO) is an offshoot of Japan’s brutal orchestra of everything Black, Vampillia. In collaboration with Pete Swanson (ex-Yellow Swans) and French composer Paul R&eacut...

The legendary Sun Ra Arkestra isn’t so much an ensemble as it is an ideology passed on from generation to generation. Founder Sun Ra (visionary pianist, poet, electronica pioneer and composer He...

In Utrecht’s suburb Lombok, you're immediately welcomed by Turkish and Moroccan grocery stores, bakeries, the smell of kebab, and huge piles of colorful fruits sold in the streets. The impressiv...

Alanis Obomsawin is a renowned filmmaker and visual artist. Before she released her album 'Bush Lady', which she will perform in full for the first time at our festival, she made Incident at Restigouc...

Justin 'KUTMAH' McNulty was born in Brighton, England to an Egyptian mother and Scottish father. After moving to the United States at twelve years old, KUTMAH ultimately made a name for himself as an...

Once dubbed the ‘High Priest of L.A. Freak Folk’, Devendra Banhart leaves a swirling trail of mystic folk, raga spirituals and Latin-American rock in his wake. With his weird and wonderful...

In early 2015, free jazz collective Irreversible Entanglements first came together to perform at the Musicians Against Police Brutality event in New York. Drawn from the instrumentalists’ indivi...

Brazilian singer-songwriter Rodrigo Amarante is most famous for writing and performing ‘Tuyo’, the theme song for the Netflix hit series ‘Narcos’. Just don't pin his work down...

The sensational Afro-psychedelic collective BCUC (Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness) started out as a social gathering in their native township of Soweto, South Africa. BCUC is an alliance of guitari...

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...

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...

Vera Sola is a New York-based vocalist, poet and multi-instrumentalist. In recent years, she has worked on numerous projects, including performing with folk-rock artist Elvis Perkins and writing sever...

In the early 00s, Eleanor Friedberger became known as one-half of indie sibling duo The Fiery Furnaces. Since their hiatus in 2011, Eleanor Friedberger unleashed her true songwriter capabilities and h...

Even though the four members of Bo Ningen originate from various regions in Japan, the band was originally formed in London. With their fiery stir of psychedelic experimentation, vigorous noise and se...

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...

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...

Triggered by various Latin American rhythms and tremendous joy, a Meridian Brothers concert always results in one big dance party. Led by composer and multi-instrumentalist Eblis Álvarez, this...

Clarinet master Cüneyt Sepetçi and his Orchestra Dolapdere are among the greatest musicians Turkey has ever produced. Not just adept at blasting out Turkish gypsy music with firecracker fe...

‘Carefree’ doesn’t even begin to describe the music of DRINKS. Untroubled by anything resembling internal logic, White Fence’s Tim Presley and Cate Le Bon indulge in deliciousl...

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...

Step into the boundless and ambient-overlaid world of Chihei Hatakeyama; a sound artist, mastering engineer and record label founder from Tokyo, Japan. By processing acoustic instruments such as guita...

Belgian dancer and choreographer Judith Clijsters isn’t just someone who constructs and performs a dance movement. She observes. More specifically, she observes our bodies, and how we use them....

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...

In one corner, the shamanistic Saul Williams, actor, screenwriter and renowned harbinger of noise poetry and hip hop futurism. In the other corner, cleric of eclecticism King Britt, accomplished Phill...

The ‘Orchestre de Nouvelles Créations, Expérimentations et Improvisations Musicales’ (ONCEIM) is an orchestra of 34 musicians dedicated to the art of creation and experimenta...

Born and raised in Brazil, DJ/producer/vocalist LYZZA is becoming a familiar face during radical, underground club nights all over the world, from Amsterdam all the way to Shanghai. LYZZA recently rel...

Johanna Constantine presents "Rise"&Kembra Pfahler and the Girls of Karen Black present "Fuck Island" Founded by New York-based artists Kembra Pfahler, Johanna Constantine and Anohni, Future Femi...

Painting, dancing, baking, and a degree in neuroscience for good measure; Madeline Kenney is good at a lot of things. One of those things also happens to be music; more specifically, writing and produ...

Art Feynman is a musician and recording artist based in California. Rooted in the world’s oldest religion ‘Animism’, which asserts that all things living and inert are endowed with s...

When her 1983 album Through The Looking Glass was reissued last year by WRWTFWW/Palto Flats, Japanese composer Midori Takada received a new surge of recognition. Takada has remained very productive th...

Raised in North Carolina as the daughter of two devout Jehovah’s Witnesses, Kelsey Lu moved to New York at the age of 18 to study cello. Her debut EP ‘Church’ - which gained acclaim...

As Teamforest, German musician and filmmaker Philip Bückle already released recordings via internationally renowned labels like Morr Music, Aesthetics and Eglantine Records. In 2014, Bückle...

In 1970, soul artist Jerry Williams, Jr. radically reinvented himself as Swamp Dogg: an anti-hero who smashes the conventions of commercial R&B music, and whose subversive lyrics earned him a spot...

With a career that dates back to the 80s, Soichi Terada has long been a bastion of soothing house music in Japan. Thanks in part to Hunee, who provided a showcase of Terada’s work via the Rush H...

In the past, Tim Koh made his mark as steady collaborator with oddball pop outfits such as Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Prince Rama and Gang Gang Dance. In his solo work, the Amsterdam-based K...

The Graindelavoix ensemble from Antwerp is notorious for their daring and alienating performances that embrace the imperfections of what it means to be human. Now, they presents the four-hour piece &l...

Hidden in the rural area of Limburg until recently, this Belgian post-punk gem is ready to take the world head-on. With their latest release ‘Winter / Milk,’ Fornet displays their nonconfo...

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....

While growing up, Amsterdam based electronic music producer Vincent-Paolo developed an early fascination for the chords in soul music and the drums in his dads jazz records. Initially getting into ele...

Kelman Duran presents‘To The North II’ is an experimental documentary by Dominican producer, multimedia artist and filmmaker Kelman Duran. It is the follow-up to ‘To The North I&rsqu...

Centraal Museum presents Black Chords is an installation by the French ‘post-conceptual’ artist Saâdane Afif, which consists of thirteen electric guitars and the same number of ampl...

In collaboration with Centraal Museum The Colombian ambient producer Lucrecia Dalt composed a commissioned piece for the exhibition De Line Up, which displays a rich overview of the power of drawing...

BAK presents London research agency Forensic Architecture is known for its unconventional research methods in order to investigate the violation of human and nature rights. As a Turner Prize 2018 nom...

Since the release of his self-titled debut in 2011, Benjamin John Power, aka Blanck Mass, has demonstrated his versatility as an experimental drone/ambient musician and producer. Apart from being one...

He reimagines classical composers like Bach with modern-day instrumentation. He interrogates the role of individuality in the digital world. He tackles the cataclysms of climate change. Indeed, music...

Whether it’s a stage, a computer screen or a page from a book: Jenny Hval’s multi-disciplinary work aims to break beyond these confining zones to form a deeper connection with her audience...

Like Patrick Higgins, Tyondai Braxton is an innovator in the purest sense. As a former member of Battles, he ventured far beyond the outer dimensions of what we consider pop music. Braxton earned his...

Hosted by FACT A pact made between Justin ‘JK Flesh’ Broadrick and Takeaki ‘Goth-Trad’ Maruyama when they released split-EP ‘Knights Of The Black Table’ resulted i...

Hosted by FACT Slikback is Freddy Njau, an emerging Kenyan producer currently situated in Poland. Associated with the infectious Kampala collective Nyege Nyege, his 2019 EP Tomo renders footwork, gri...

Music derived from Rastafarian sound system culture has known many incarnations over time, but Jah Shaka remains true to its spiritual roots and essence. He arrived as teenager from Jamaica in London...

Like some people collect stamps, Sofia Jernberg collects vocal disciplines. Born in Ethiopia in 1983, the Oslo-based artist mastered myriad styles – from opera singing to pitchless singing &ndas...

The sprawling universe that is the great Acid Mothers Temple was formed in 1995 by Kawabata Makoto. This fabled Japanese collective always held a deep dedication and devotion to improvised music. From...

The Chilean colossus known as Föllakzoid, are clerics of both the cosmic heritage of Can and the more progressive electronics. The trio are no longer bound by concept or narrative on their latest...

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...

One famous sci-fi film once sported the tagline ‘in space no one can hear you scream’, but Prison Religion put that hypothesis to the test and then some. This Richmond, Virginia-based coll...

Hidden Musics Ustad Saami is the last living khayál master, widely considered a precursor of qawwali music that originated in Pakistan. That’s no small distinction, as Saami’s voic...

Drone-based music often wields the power to blur that stark hierarchy between audience and stage, to level everyone in the room as both participant and listener. Korean duo TENGGER are no exception to...

Michele Mercure’s shrouded cinematic works overlap ambient, abstract, and industrial sensibilities, always with a keen and playful sense of their surroundings and acoustics. Not surprisingly, th...

Minyo Crusaders breathe new life into traditional Japanese folk songs (‘minyo’) by merging them with Latin, African and Caribbean rhythms and flourishes of exotica. By doing so, the 10-pie...

After 15 years of performing for passersby at Paris’s Line 2 Metro, Algerian musician Mohamed Lamouri’s trademark ragged voice and buoyant Casio keyboard melodies are reaching ears all ove...

Great pop songs with magic sprinkles of Eastern soundtracks, Spaghetti Western’s spacious twang and some grooving yé-yé sounds, that’s Khana Bierbood in a nutshell. Not surpr...

You know that mechanism where you whisper a message in a circle of people – and as its passed on back to you, that message becomes distorted? That’s a little bit what Portland duo Visible...

Many nomadic Tuareg artists channel and preserve the vibrancy of life that was once the everyday in  Mali. Ahmed Ag Kaedy initially set out to do the same, but instead his haunting eight-track LP...

With a super contagious cocktail of Afrobeat, disco and funk, Arp Frique is the past, present and future scrambled together in one groovy, bright-lit musical skirmish. The Dutch producer’s new l...

Presented by Le Guess Who? & Springhaver Lutz Gregor’s documentary Mali Blues takes a vivid look at the West-African nation’s rich and diverse musical fabric, following folk star Fato...

Presented by Le Guess Who? & Springhaver This heart-warming road movie, directed by Philippe Godeau, follows the titular protagonist, the 13-year-old Senegalese Yao, in his quest to meet his hero...

‘FIS’ stands for ‘forever in search’, and in all respects, this is exactly the intent of producer Olly Peryman. The monumental soundscapes of FIS highlight that sense continuit...

Felix Manuel’s ears are attuned to the spontaneity of jazz while his production chops create original compositions out of a wellspring of samples, textures and beats. Manuel’s extraordinar...

Presented by Le Guess Who? & Centraal Museum James Merry is a visual artist, originally from Gloucestershire in the UK, who is now based in Iceland where he has been living and working with Bj&ou...

US-born, Swedish-based artist Kali Malone builds a truly remarkable synthesis of analog and electronic music, drawing in listeners with discernible warmth and timelessness. Whether she’s utilizi...

Le Guess Who?-curator Patrick Higgins, visual artist Matthew Schreiber and choreographer Monica Mirabile will present the European premiere of their awe-inspired audiovisual project DOSSIER X, immersi...

In cooperation with Gaudeamus AEAEA is the new duo from composers and performers Patrick Higgins and Nicolas Jaar. Utilizing instrumental performance and live digital resampling, the aim of the group...

Like Stereolab and Broadcast exemplified so fervently before them, Empath’s offbeat brand of guitar pop turns discord and noise on their upside, turning and twisting  them into agents of jo...

Taiwan duo Scattered Purgatory is named after a Taoist ritual that redeems and releases souls from a state between life and death. As it turns out, they adopt this notion quite literally in both perfo...

Xylouris White is firmly rooted in the past and future: a tight alliance between Greek musician and songwriter Georgios Xylouris and drummer Jim White. Xylouris White reconciles not only the tandem&rs...

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...

Le Mini Who? is a spin-off festival of Le Guess Who?. It turns venues, cafes, art spaces and even a fire station of the fast-developing and creative area Cartesius into improvised venues for (mainly)...

Collaboratorium With Brian Chippendale and Greg Fox – two figures of drum royalty – are in the neighborhood, we felt a deep urge to bring them together in the same room. Both artists have...

Presented by Le Guess Who? & Centraal Museum  Initiated in 2015, Elegy is a long-term commemorative performance project by South African artist Gabrielle Goliath. Staged in various locations...

Presented by SPRING Performing Arts Festival Happiness explores the area where man and artificiality converge, where synthetic substances help us to re-humanise, maxi-humanise or, for a while, abando...

Presented by Le Guess Who? & Springhaver Part film, part baptism, in Black Mother director Khalik Allah brings us on a spiritual journey through Jamaica. Soaking up its bustling metropolises and...

Presented by Le Guess Who?, Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons, No Seat At The Table, BAK - basis voor actuele kunst, Urban Futures Studio (Utrecht University), RAUM “In urban social...

Stella Chiweshe, The Queen of Mbira, broke new ground by becoming the first artist to successfully combine the mbira with the marimba. She took up the homegrown instrument back in 1964, originally use...

Before Vicky Chow's performance in TivoliVredenburg's Hertz (curated by Patrick Higgins), the Canadian piano virtuoso will perform at Domplein as part of the Keys of Light project,...

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...

Alex Figueira’s Conjunto Papa Upa brings the street scenes of his salad days in Caracas to the stage in infectious, celebratory fashion. Groove is the big overriding factor for Conjunto Papa Upa...

The cult album Faust IV was the fourth studio album released by the German krautrock group in 1973. Listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, where it is referred to as a "krautrock...

Ever since Phil Elverum began releasing records as the Microphones and Mount Eerie, he has been continuously moving the goalpost of musical storytelling to new and exciting horizons. The Microphones&r...

Claron McFadden and Matthew Wright’s Thrift Hybrids exist halfway through sonic and visual domains; the project, presented by The Hague group Ensemble Klang, intends to bridge the gap between pa...

Meant to perform at last year’s LGW OFF event, in 2021 Gebroeders Dieleman van Eeckhout join the main line-up of Le Guess Who?. This project is carried out by unorthodox duo Colin H. van Eeckhou...

Although Menzi’s debut came only last spring, this Durban native has been a steady presence in South African electronic music for a number of years. After producing for several notorious acts, l...

Tunisian-Belgian artist Ghalia Benali has been on the receiving end of many descriptors - perhaps none as fitting as ‘a maker of her own myths’, as said by the New York Times. Benali&rsquo...

Authentically Plastic’s world is made out of contradictions - beginning, of course, with the music. Picking up inspiration from northern Ugandan rhythms, afro-futurism, techno and vogue, there i...

In PAINT, LA guitarist and songwriter Pedrum Siadatian is no longer one fourth of the band Allah-Las, but rather his own person. By himself, he has an opportunity to stretch out his musical and lyrica...

At only 24 years old, Pa Salieu is already being noticed by cultural gatekeepers like Dazed, i-D, GRM, The Fader, Complex, and many more for his show-stopping, dynamic singles, which blend his Gambian...

The guitar has always occupied a special place in Spanish music - namely in flamenco, where players often perform with complicated and acrobatic techniques. But Madrid-born Víctor Herrero rose...

There is something odd, but at the same time staggeringly honest, about Klein’s music. Her tracks sound delightfully disheveled - ghostly R&B tracks not meant for the world to listen to. It&...

Mónika Lakatos was the first ever Romani singer to win the popular Hungarian television talent show Ki Mit Tud? in 1996 - to which she was enrolled in without her knowledge! To this day, she co...

At the center of this neo-soul joint’s music lies one sentiment above all others; perseverance. With their latest record, ‘Love and Hate in a Different Time’, Gabriels – v...

In 2020, Lyra Pramuk published a picture of her vocal cords on Instagram – a display-case of the force behind her debut album ‘Fountain’, arranged entirely from the sound of her...

Born to missionaries in Atlanta, Angel Bat Dawid followed her family from Georgia to Kentucky to Kenya – and when they settled in Chicago, she took up clarinet and music education. Nowadays...

John Surman’s career recently entered its sixth decade, an impressive feat of which this composer, one of the most prolific to emerge from the British Isles in recent memory, can be proud of. Ma...

This experimental duo, born from members of Dutch dream-pop ensemble Bird On The Wire, has been telling vivid stories with their music since 2017, the year in which they released their debut EP. Altho...

For this performance, song and dance collide in a partnership between producer Rian Treanor and video artist Leila Ziu. ‘Altered States on the Dancefloor’ sees director Ziu opening doorway...

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...

Based in San Antonio, Texas, claire rousay makes extraordinary out of the everyday. Voicemails, haptics, environmental recordings, stopwatches, whispers are all made suddenly big, their significa...

Pianist and producer Jamael Dean and singer Sharada Shashidhar were already jazz prodigies in their own right, even before getting together to make more wondrous music. Dean, the grandson of legendary...

Right nextdoor to the chaos of Utrecht Central station is Perron West, an old train car revamped to serve as a get-together. Party by day in the Stiltecoupé; a channel serving silent disco by l...

Originally a punk band, Lola’s Dice have evolved into a tropical, funk, and psychedelic rock rhythm machine. With sounds that are rooted in Latin American percussive music, Lola’s Dice is...

Cengiz Arslanpay is a multi-instrumentalist, sound designer, music technologist and a composer. For this performance Cengiz teamed up with Klaas Hekman, a phenomenal improvisor from Rotterdam. Togethe...

Through sampling and re-sampling of pre-recorded material and live performed pieces, Jos Smolders (modular synthesizer) and Guido Nijs (saxophone and other wind instruments) are trying to find new way...

Have a look inside one of Utrecht’s biggest creative hubs. At Vechtclub Market a large number of entrepreneurs from Vechtclub XL will be showcasing their work. From ceramics and illustrations to...

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 (...

Utrecht’s own synther-songwriter BoterBoter uses his hilarious, absurdist and poetic Dutch-language super-disco as a coping mechanism for his existence in this bizarre world. His unpolished but...

At the Lombok Food Market you will encounter a world of flavours. Local entrepreneurs and residents are serving delicious food all day; from masoesa to tulumba and from hummus to mash. Fill your plate...

Singer-songwriter Immen has a warm, intriguing voice and knows how to evoke a dreamy atmosphere with a dark edge. While most of her songs are written in English, she sometimes reverts back to her Fris...

This event will hit you just as hard in the face as the rest of our program. No, you don’t have to step into the ring yourself, but you will be able to marvel at several intense boxing-matches a...

The Fire Harvest balances beautifully between slow core, country-noir and post-rock. They master the art of dosage, of giving substance to their music in the right way so that tension is preserved. Wh...

An international musical threesome made up of members from Ukraine, Catalunya, Turkey, and, all of them also, the Netherlands, comes together in Trio SonCe, who present 'Five Seasons' – a fascin...

Uncloud 2021 takes the form of a pop-up museum for contemporary and media art. The exhibition, titled ‘Transliminal’, is about the temporary estrangement that takes place during the interm...

Collective Stadwevers explores new grounds together with you to discover how we can experience the city in various and different ways. I Let’s Walk Make Sense / 12:15PM - 1:00PMGet to...

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...

Le Feast returns to Utrecht! On Sunday 14 November, Le Feast invites you into a living room in Utrecht, to enjoy a feast together with people you don't know (yet). Many Utrechtian home-chefs will tran...

Le Guess Who? will host a special lunch at LOU Oudenoord. A place for conversation, reflection, relaxation and great food. Engage in talks with your fellow festival visitors about all the things you&r...

Peach Tree, Ambiguous is a research project mapping production processes of value and meaning in the spiritual void around luxury goods. Simulating a tribalized department-store, the exhibition shows...

Location: Neude What happens when you embrace noise? FROM NOISE is an audio-visual sculpture consisting of countless noise frequencies. The noise is used as a building block in an abstract landscape...

Movies That Matter presents Memory House is the mesmerizing, carefully composed debut of director João Paulo Miranda Maria that follows Cristovam living in the poor, rural north of Brazil. Whe...

Movies That Matter presents “Ladies and gentlemen, you wanna change? Come join us now!” In the powerful, inspiring and eye-opening ‘Mrs. F’, Nigerian theatre director Ifeoma F...

California, 1970. While the youth engages in the sexual revolution, anti-government protests, and the Vietnam War, a different kind of battle takes place underground. Vet Lauren Gray tracks down magic...

Music as Spectral Infrastructure In Turntable Epistemologies, artist, scholar, writer and DJ Lynnée Denise discusses her research into sound system culture during the rollout of neoliberalism...

FlySiifu, the new collaborative project by rappers Pink Siifu and Fly Anakin, proves the Shakesperian saying that you can never have too much of a good thing – in this case, talent. Their first...

During Le Guess Who?, Stranded FM will be hosting radioshows by renowned festival artists and gems from the Utrecht scene alike from their studio. Situated in print-studio Kapitaal, this com...

Drawn together through a mutual love of synthesizers, electronics, and trance-inducing music, English electronic musician James Holden and Polish clarinetist Wacław Zimpel spent four days intensely wo...

The Late Frique Show, hosted by Arp Frique, is a late night talk show highlighting the music and artists you need to discover in order to grow and glow. The Dutch synth funkster making waves in the in...

“It’s not about the stories you know, it’s about the stories you don't know.” Reports from Other Continents is a platform for people to tell their own story. After the overwhe...

With their latest record ‘Oh Yeah?’, New York free-jazz quartet Sunwatchers released their most accessible & melodic work to date. Their aesthetic is best described through the acknowl...

COSMOS is a hybrid stage that aims to bring the Le Guess Who? experience to the world, and the world to Le Guess Who? COSMOS is a sanctuary for experimentation and inspiration, taking place from...

Durban native Menzi has been a steady presence in South African electronic music for a number of years. After producing for several notorious acts, like Babes Wodumo, Moonchild Sannelly, and Mahotella...

Tunisian-Belgian artist Ghalia Benali presented her new project ‘Hadret Ishq’, or the Sufi Project, live at Le Guess Who? 2021. The video premiere of the performance can be seen during thi...

This Baltimore quartet has been reshaping the face of what is easiest to call indie rock since the dawn of the new century. Their 2022 return, ‘Time Skiffs’, the band’s first album i...

Mimi Parker and Alan Sparhawk's music began as a contradiction; playing as softly as possible in the time of the loudness of grunge. However, never the kind to stick to a label, they have shifted thei...

Phoenix rap trio Injury Reserve’s momentum, fostered through their eponymous 2019 record, was put on hold in 2020 when rapper and member Stepa J. Groggs tragically passed away. In 2021, rapper R...

Ottawa-born Myriam Gendron settled in Montreal at age sixteen, working as a book dealer. Her kinship with literature resulted in her first release ‘Not So Deep As Well’, being a nine-track...

‘Visions of Bodies Being Burned’, clipping.’s 2020 release is another cornerstone in their terrifying discography. The West Coast-based hip-hop trio, made up of producers Jonathan Sn...

Le Guess Who? welcomes ‘Dykegeist’ - a new choreographic work from UK performance-maker Eve Stainton, with live sound conceived and performed by musician Mica Levi. ‘Dykegeist’...

On ‘Ground Groove', Maral's third full-length release, the LA-based Iranian-American producer and DJ draws inspiration from a vast personal archive of Iranian folk, classical music, and pop reco...

North London-based rapper, producer, and DJ Lex Amor has been growing her worldwide fandom ever since she broke out in 2016. Working in and around the UK as an artist, youth mentor, and community orga...

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...

Tampa’s Dre and Vonne met as teenagers, finding common ground in their music obsession - no matter how distinct. In between Dre’s East Coast hip-hop influences and Vonne’s hyperlocal...

Oakland-born writer, emcee, and producer Nappy Nina cut her teeth in the Bay Area scene before uprooting to Brooklyn, where she released her 2019 debut album ‘The Tree Act' to much acclaim. Havi...

Although musician upsammy and multidisciplinary artist Sjoerd Martens’ A/V performance originated in the Netherlands, it reflects something profoundly universal. Meandering through digital and a...

Nia Archives, one of the most talked-about newcomers to the jungle scene, is busy crafting every introverted extrovert's dream soundtrack. After teaching herself how to produce at sixteen, the prodigi...

A perennial figure in the New York abstract hip-hop scene, billy woods has been defined by his association with Cannibal Ox's Vordul Mega and as half of both Super Chron Flight Brothers and Armand Ham...

The sound of Bogotá-based group Romperayo - one that infuses tradition with modernity, psychedelia with cumbia, and experimentalism with humor - is a natural fit for the new Colombian music sce...

Based in Jajouka, Morocco, The Master Musicians are a collective of Jbala Sufi trance makers who are committed to creating a contemporary representation of a century-old musical tradition. Their lates...

‘We are many, they are few!’, GNOD’s Chris Haslam cried out once. The Manchester’s collective constitution is indeed ever-growing. For their current line-up, they are joined by...

Via therapeutic frequencies, forest bathing, and binaural sound, Hinako Omori's solo work is more akin to immersive cartography of the mind in ambient tradition than a plain recording. The Yokohama-bo...

Iranian electronic musician Sote and Dutch artist Tarik Barri are coming together for a mesmerizing audiovisual presentation of 'Majestic Noise Made in Beautiful Rotten Iran', Sote’s 2022 record...

Bristol’s Batu, as well as his tight-knit Timedance label, have become staples of the city’s night sound. Treading new ground relentlessly has become the producer and his label’s sig...

When describing the cultural shapeshifter Kode9, there is no easy place to begin. A restless sound explorer, Steve Goodman has taken on many roles throughout his career. Not only is he the founder of...

Zachary James Watkins (Black Spirituals) and Ross Peacock (Mwahaha) conjure a new possibility of tone together. Influenced by dub and krautrock, and molded by experimental masters that came before the...

Last year, Istanbul-based beatmaker Grup Ses returned with their first fully instrumental work since 2011's much-coveted 'Beats and Pieces from Turkish Psychedelia'. In 'Beats From the Vaults (2008-20...

Britain's 'reggae maestro' Dennis Bovell earned his reputation over four decades ago as one of the genre's boldest pioneers. The Barbados-born musician and producer moved to the UK at twelve, where he...

Farmer, boxer, community leader, musician - it’s easier to name what Otim Alpha hasn’t done. However, when it comes to his role as a pioneer of Acholitronix, wedding ceremony leader in Gul...

Heralded by The New York Times as 'one of the strongest avant-garde bands in New York', Zs is an ever-shifting experimental cluster. They have been incarnated as everything from a sextet to a duo, and...

Amsterdam-based indie rock crusaders Personal Trainer are stuck in adolescent wonder. They have found a way to retain the excitement often only found in a band's first show, and it is brimming with th...

As Bong-Ra, Jason Kohnen fuses monolith sub-frequencies, jazz percussion, wailing saxophones, and ritualistic chants. All of these can be heard on his second Tartarus Records release, this year's 'Med...

Named after a mysterious spiritual realm in ancient Himalayan myths, Olmo Lungring is the solo side-project of Russian artist Dimitry el Demerdashi. Starting in 2006, Olmo Lungring gradually evolved f...

Known for the whisper-like tenderness of her music, Scottish songwriter Joanne Robertson has cemented her place in the femme-folk tradition with a series of solo records - the most recent of which bei...

Late last year, Dutch four-piece band PNEM unveiled the first chapter of a two-part homage to the systems that keep our day-night cycles in check, 'Circadian Rhythms'. This spring, the part krautrock,...

DJ Diaki is Diaki Kone, radio animator and DJ in Sanakoroba, Mali. He is also one of the main figures behind Malian phenomenon 'Balani Show'. This high-energy genre of electronic music emerged in the...

In the spring of 2010, DJ, producer, and Moombahton originator Dave Nada received a mysterious handful of tracks from a kid in the Netherlands. That kid was a then-unknown Munchi, a big-haired, wide-e...

Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau and Carlos Niño have been playing and recording together extensively as a trio for the last year. Niño’s ‘Extra Presence’ record was re...

Leading the Latinx-infused club music coming out of the UK is Marissa Malik, best known by her stage name Manuka Honey. The boisterous London DJ has been showcasing her brand of beautiful chaos all ov...

In partnership with Space21Hardi Kurda, a sound artist and curator of Kurdistan-Iraq’s first experimental festival, Space21, takes us on a listening journey to the city of Slemani and its cultur...

In partnership with Coquetel MolotovRecife’s Coquetel Molotov teamed up with music producer Benke Ferraz (Boogarins) and launched a musical incubator for artists outside Pernambuco’s capit...

During Le Guess Who?, Stranded FM will be hosting radioshows by renowned festival artists and gems from the Utrecht scene alike from their studio. Situated in print-studio Kapitaal, this com...

Right nextdoor to the chaos of Utrecht Central station is Perron West, an old train car revamped to serve as a get-together. Party by day in the Stiltecoupé; a channel serving silent disco by l...

This event will hit you just as hard in the face as the rest of our program. No, you don’t have to step into the ring yourself, but you will be able to marvel at several intense boxing-matches a...

Born Ana Lucia in Mexico, Coco María grew up surrounded by music. She soon set out on a mission to share it with others - which she continues to do on 'Club Coco', her show at WorldwideFM, and...

In San Farafina's mixes, future bass, garage, afro-house, reggaeton, and many more genres cohabit, giving way to an ethereal fusion inspired by her eclectic upbringing. Based in Montreal, the DJ combi...

In partnership with Coquetel MolotovRecife’s Coquetel Molotov teamed up with music producer Benke Ferraz (Boogarins) and launched a musical incubator for artists outside Pernambuco’s capit...

In partnership with Space21Hardi Kurda, a sound artist and curator of Kurdistan-Iraq’s first experimental festival, Space21, takes us on a listening journey to the city of Slemani and its cultur...

Cirkel om de Haard is an initiative started by Avan Omar, Ali Authman and a group of Kurdish musicians – most of whom live in Overvecht. At this concert Ali Authman plays the violin and the viol...

Discover what De Voorkamer is all about: come along and take part in all kinds of creative 'mini' activities. These activities will give you a good impression of everything that takes place at De Voor...

Luke Cohlen is a DJ and programmer whose sounds tread a variegated landscape, from quiet introspection to trippy and rhythmic club-terrains. Through an inherent drive to spotlight music and artists wo...

Amara Diabate, who lives in Zuilen, is a master drummer and kora player. He is hosting a djembe workshop where all those present can feel everything the drums produce and what it awakens. Diabate guid...

This event will hit you just as hard in the face as our music and arts program. No, you don’t have to step into the ring yourself, but you will be marveled at several intense matches. Various ty...

Go on a 2-hour meaningful walking Migrantour through the Lombok district of Utrecht. The tour is co-created and taught by Migrantourguides with a first or second migration background. With the Mi...

Deeply embedded in the Utrecht music scene, Luke Cohlen tries to celebrate all things that spring from his city via his involvement in Stranded FM and with his own Cultfarm events. A DJ himself as wel...

Staatseinde is a Dutch EBM-synth duo from Utrecht. Their music, which they describe as 'Neue Niederländische Welle', became more and more electronic over the years. In 2010 their Dutch song &lsqu...

At times fragile, at others outrageously explosive, Delwood takes listeners on a cinematic voyage where organic and electronic components merge. Undoubtedly, their music will remind you of Tortoise, D...

An instrumental post-rock project by English musician Pete Barnes. Having toyed with the idea of writing atmospheric instrumental music for a while, Barnes was left bedridden following a serious cycli...

Finnish experimental metal band Dark Buddha Rising combines ghostly drone music, sinister guitar currents and shamanistic singing to startling effect. A constantly evolving beast, Dark Buddha Rising d...

Having been raised in a religious household, you might not expect Klein's career path started by making droned-out versions of Carly Rae Jepsen songs at open mic nights. It typifies her music though,...

Hailing from the small town of Como, Mississippi, this vocal trinity of gospel singers perform their spirituals together with musicians from the Daptone family. Each heartwarming voice has its own set...

Ekin Fil's ambient compositions sound like eerie, disintegrated remnants of a Cocteau Twins tune. Istanbul-based musician and composer Ekin Üzeltüzenci happily chooses full-on abstraction ov...

British composer Tom Rogerson’s wizardry skills as a pianist has been on full display with experimental rockers Three Trapped Tigers. His debut solo LP 'Failing Shore' - which finds him collabor...

Best known for his famous four-part masterwork ‘The Disintegration Loops’, William Basinski has been a vital figurehead in the New York art scene for over three decades. Starting his music...

It’s obvious why Caila Thompson-Hannant chose the moniker Mozart's Sister. Like that ersatz sibling, the Montreal musician has a swift ear for bubbly, uplifting melodies. In hyperkinetic and gle...

The duo endeavors of Marcia Bassett (guitars) and Samara Lubelski (violin) originated in 2009, creating alternate musical scores to existing films. It became a neat starting point to create original m...

Liu Fang is known for her virtuosic and expressive interpretation of traditional pipa and guzheng music from China’s classical and folkloric traditions. Celebrated as being one of the greatest v...

The music of improvisational collective Oiseaux-Tempete is bred from places in turmoil, be it Greece, Turkey or Lebanon. Oiseaux-Tempete embraces the freedom of improvisation, as well as the communal...

Pharoah Sanders isn't just one of the biggest jazz icons to ever set foot on a stage. In many ways, he transcends jazz music's conventions like few others. His employment of the tenor sax is unequaled...

‘Concrete Desert’ is a colossal masterpiece created by The Bug (Kevin Martin) and Earth's Dylan Carlson. On this tandem project, Carlson and Martin plunge into deep sonic abysses, with dro...

Born and bred in the isolated, outstretched emptiness that's the Mojave desert, The Soft Moon’s Luis Vasquez projects equally desolate imagery to voice his darkest fears. Each album peels away a...

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...

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...

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...

Libya’s Ahmed Fakroun is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and pioneer in modern Arabic music. As a rhymist (based on a form of Algerian folk music dating back to the 1920s), he is one of the...

If you were to compare the world of noise music to our physical world, Prurient occupies the very bottom; the deepest and darkest dwellings in our oceans. Sound artist Dominick Fernow's output of obli...

Electronic explorer James Holden is not only a musician, he’s also a producer, remixer, and the founder of the Border Community label, where he releases the music of equally genre bending electr...

‘The Invaders’ talks about a generation of civil rights activists who originated from Memphis in 1967, consisting of students, Vietnam veterans, musicians and intellectuals who were inspir...

Julianna Barwick’s neoclassical/ambient compositions revel in the art of reverb, a crystalline pollination of tiny sonic particles into soothing bundles that fill up entire rooms. Having such a...

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...

You could describe Detroit’s Protomartyr as a post-punk outfit, but then again, the foursome could probably care less about what genre you stick to it. ‘A flaying intensity’ might be...

Matthew Benn and Christopher Duffin have cut their teeth with psych trailblazers Hookworms and dream pop authors Deadwall respectively. As XAM Duo, they've blossomed into an ethereal electronic jazz o...

Gonjasufi established himself as a mainstay in the Warp Records-family with druidic masterpiece 'A Sufi And A Killer', effectively patching together psychedelic music, drones, electronic music, sampli...

Lost Horizons is a new collaborative dream-pop project formed by Simon Raymonde of Cocteau Twins and Richard Thomas of instrumental quartet Dif Juz. The duo's upcoming album 'Ojalá', released o...

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Steve Beresford applies his impressive background in free-improv and jazz with witty intellect. Whether he uses toy instruments to create soundscapes, scores TV prog...

Nora Mulder is a renowned Dutch pianist. California-born, Amsterdam-based multi-instrumentalist Mary Oliver performs the violin, viola and Hardanger fiddle in free-spirited fashion as member of Nieuw...

Jerusalem In My Heart has shared ‘Wa Ta’atalat Loughat Al Kalam Pt III + IV’ from the forthcoming album ‘Daqa’iq Tudaiq’. For this track, Jerusalem In My Heart asse...

Jerusalem In My Heart is an audio-visual happening with roots in both Montréal and Beirut, combining the best of both worlds. Figurehead Radwan Ghazi Moumneh has been nursing the craft of...

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...

Jerusalem In My Heart, the project of Lebanon-born and Montréal-based artist Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, announces its new album. Entitled 'Daqa'iq Tudaiq', the record will appear on 5 Octo...

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...

Le Guess Who? & de Volkskrant bring you video portraits of artists performing at Le Guess Who? 2017. Jerusalem In My Heart is the main project of Lebanon-born, Montreal-based artist and producer...

Lebanese legend Abdel Karim Shaar performed live at Le Guess Who? 2017 for his 2nd show outside his home country, curated by Jerusalem In My Heart. We've captured the full performance on video, which...

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...

Le Guess Who? presents ‘The Big Playback’, a conversational, in-depth podcast about all things music. In the second episode of ‘The Big Playback’, host Margaret Munchheimer talks to four different musicians about the shifting relationship between Art and Identity and who in some way explore the self as a mediu...

Expressive jazz singer Linda Sharrock performed live at Le Guess Who? 2017, as part of the program curated by Jerusalem In My Heart. Now, The Quietus premieres the recordings of the performance, featu...

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 &...

Turkey's Bant Mag is one of our media partners, and they're preparing a magnificent, in-depth special on the festival which will be updated weekly. Read in full here.  The first featur...

(English version below) Voor de komende editie van Le Guess Who? (8 t/m 11 november in de gehele binnenstad van Utrecht, werkt de organisatie samen met VluchtelingenWerk, dat maatschappelijk par...

Le Guess Who? presents ‘The Big Playback’, a conversational, in-depth podcast about all things music. In the second episode of ‘The Big Playback’, host Margaret Munchheimer talks to four different musicians about the shifting relationship between Art and Identity and who in some way explore the self as a medium, through persona and performance. 

In the first part of episode 2, called 'What's Behind The Mask?', we spoke to four musicians about how identity and persona play a role in their work, whether through legit alter-ego’s or just digging into the self as a raw material. We heard about different experiences from Cindy Lee, the drag-chanson project of Patrick Flegel; a series of music/performance art hybrids from Natalie Sharp aka Lone Taxidermist; anonymous Swedish collective Goat; and Jerusalem In My Heart, a film and music happening by Radwan Gazi Moumneh and Erin Weisgerber, which attempts to project Arabic musical references for reception into a western context.

Just like the masterful Egyptian songwriter Umm Kulthum, Abdel Karim Shaar is linked to the concept of 'Tarab': a musical form that expresses a state of emotional transition. Shaar is a legendary sing...

COSMOS is Le Guess Who?’s hybrid platform with both live and on-demand exclusive content. Beyond music, beyond film, and beyond borders, COSMOS translates the festival’s mission to the online environment. From 10-15 May, 2022, the 2nd edition of COSMOS will be freely available for worldwide streaming via cosmos.leguesswho.com....

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-...

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...

Philly-based noise artist, activist and wordsmith Moor Mother (Camae Ayewa) returns to Le Guess Who? for the third consecutive year. After being curated by Jerusalem In My Heart (2017), and being a festival curator herself (2018), she now teams up with ZONAL, the project of Justin Broadrick (Jesu, Goldflesh, Napalm Death) and Kevin M...

Le Guess Who? & de Volkskrant bring you video portraits of artists performing at Le Guess Who? 2017. We meet Sudan Archives in Los Angeles just before she leaves for her first ever European tour....

FACT interviews Klein for their new series 'FACT Rated'. The London singer and producer performs at Le Guess Who? as part of the program curated by Jerusalem In My Heart.  "Her records might be...

Hailed as 'The Mother of All Maqam', Farida Mohammed Ali gave an immersive performance at Le Guess Who? 2017 together with the Iraqi Maqam Ensemble. This performance was curated by Jerusalem In My Hea...

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...

Continuing the legacy of her father, the legendary Ravi Shankar, Anoushka Shankar is considered to be one of the world’s most renowned sitar players. In a recent interview with The Spinoff, Shan...

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...

Born in Alabama, baptized in Aleppo and raised in Indiana, K Á R Y Y N’s early life was divided between the USA and Syria, her identity composed of both Middle-eastern and Western culture...

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...

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...

(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...

In a new episode of Red Bull Radio's Open End, sitar player Anoushka Shankar traces an arc of Indian classical music, from lesser-known recordings by her father Ravi to modern works. Equally, in...

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...

Last weekend, Farida Mohammed Ali performed on Dutch national television during Vrije Geluiden. The Iraqi singer is dubbed 'The Mother of All Maqam', as she's a master in 'Maqam al Iraqi': a...

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...

Oiseaux-Tempête is the project of French multi-instrumentalists Fréderic D. Oberland and Stéphane Pigneul. In October, the group will release their new album 'From Somewhere Invisible': a collaboration with former Le Guess Who? artists Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Jerusalem In My Heart, also LGW17 curator)...

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...

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...

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...

Together with three powerful Maghreb voices, the ultra-low TR-808 bass and potent beats, Tunisian producer Sofyann Ben Youssef, a.k.a AMMAR 808, takes you into the dark realms of North African futuris...

Hailing from Jogjakarta, Senyawa pushes traditional Indonesian music and experimental music far, far beyond their accustomed boundaries, resulting in a thrilling blend of their cultural heritage,...

"I consume more music backstage on tour than at any other time. It’s essential for me as a ritual to have sounds blaring in the green room from load-in to load-out. Partially I think this is so...

Gonjasufi has just released his new remix album 'Mandela Effect', and gathers an impressive list of collaborators for the album. The album was released on Warp and features a.o. Le Guess Who? artists...

Enter the dark, mythical world of minimalist composer and acclaimed lute-player Jozef van Wissem. Accompanied by his baroque instrument, Van Wissem creates highly distinctive sonic soundscapes by blen...

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...

"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...

Liars' Angus Andrew has shared an exclusive track that was made available for Thirty Days of Yes, appearing on a subscription mixtape that will release a song a day over 30 days. Listen to&n...

Czech's Full Moon Magazine, one of our long-time mediapartners, have put together a playlist previewing Le Guess Who? 2017 with some of their favorite selections. It includes key tracks from Grouper,...

K Á R Y Y N is a producer, composer and vocalist who makes textured and emotional music, counting Björk among her admirers. Now, she shares the third installment of her 'QUANA'-series: a t...

Leading up to his performance & curation at Le Guess Who? 2017, FACT publishes a career-spanning conversation with electronic explorer James Holden, highlighting several of his key tracks & th...

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...

As we wrote in The Soft Moon's bio for their performance at this year's Le Guess Who?: 'Each album peels away another layer to reveal more brutal truths behind Vasquez’s industrial/postwave lean...

Mark Kozelek aka Sun Kil Moon will perform on the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2017. Apparently, one of Kozelek's dreams involves touring with the late, great Elliott Smith, which he talks about in...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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&...

After the release of their album 'Twenty-Two Strings' last year, UK-based musical collective Ex-Easter Island Head now share the video for the title song of the album, filled with abstract images and...

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...

On her new track 'Hardware', Moor Mother works together with Philadelphia noise producer Mental Jewelry. Last year, Moor Mothers album ‘Fetish Bones’ garnered acclaim for masterfully reima...

After touring with BEAK>, Bosnian accordion master Mario Batkovic was signed up to Geoff Barrow’s Invada Records, leading to the release of his latest, self titled record. You can stream the...

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...

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-...

Ahead of his performance at Le Guess Who?, shamanic painter Joe Coleman gives us a glimpse into his immersive work process. “Computers are very odd to me,” Brooklyn-based painter and perf...

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...

Ahead of her performance at Le Guess Who?, we catch up with Tunisian singer, musician & artist Emel Mathlouthi while on her way to a performance in Washington DC. It became a talk about being challenged by collaborators, the Arab Spring and the role of social media, being categorized by singing in Arabic, and the importance of being t...

On her debut EP ‘Kisswell’, Zimbabwe-born, UK-based musician/poet Farai joins forces with producer Basil Anthony Harewood, aka TØNE. The results are a visionary and self-possessed e...

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...

Ever since their performance at Le Guess Who? 2018 has been confirmed, Alabaster DePlume's latest record 'The Corner of a Sphere' has been on high rotation in our office. We'd now like to introduce yo...

In an interview with LGW partners Pan African Music (PAM), Pa Salieu, a Coventry-based rapper and the king of UK-rap talks about his debut album, the history of Coventry, initial and current inspirations, and more. At just 24 years old, Pa has successfully collaborated with big names like Jorja Smith and FKA Twigs. He also dippe...

Kevin Morby's latest albums 'Singing Saw' and 'City Music' were two companion pieces. Now, the songwriter releases two versions of his new song 'Baltimore'. 'Baltimore (Sky At Night)' was written...

As the boundary-breaking serpentwithfeet, New York producer and songwriter Josiah White bridges the gap between the sensual and the spiritual with a blend of experimental R&B,...

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...

FACT Magazine recently caught up with Colombian experimental producer & composer Lucrecia Dalt to talk about her sixth studio album 'Anticlines': an unnerving, atmospheric album on which...

For the sixth consecutive year, Le Guess Who? and Basilica Hudson present the all-encompassing and immersive 24-HOUR DRONE: EXPERIMENTS IN SOUND & MUSIC in Hudson, NY, taking place Saturday, April 25 - Sunday, April 26, 2020. Tickets are available now.  An experimental music and sound program, 24-HOUR DRONE featur...

Today, we announce three final line-up additions for Le Guess Who? 2018, including a performance by British electronic musician/producer Blanck Mass. We are also sharing some venue hosts during the festival; find their descriptions below & see when/where they are hosting in our downloadable time schedules.  Blanck Mass Sin...

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...

Besides the artwork and typography done yearly by Loudmouth Utrecht, Le Guess Who? each year invites a different illustrator to design the main festival images, which evolves during multiple line-up a...

“Performing is a part of my identity”, says the Dutch Surinamese vocalist and producer Pink Oculus. Two years of not being able to do what she loves the most led to a brand new sound, and new music too: her forthcoming album, ‘Before Wisdom’, is expected in 2022. At Le Guess Who?, she will premiere these songs thro...

Mount Eerie has released his new live album '(after)', which was recorded in full at Le Guess Who? 2017. The performance was curated by Perfume Genius for the festival, and took place at the Jaco...

Mount Eerie has announced the release of '(after)', a new live album recorded live at Le Guess Who? 2017. The performance was curated by Perfume Genius for the festival, and took place at the Jacobike...

Duma's Martin Khanja (aka Lord Spike Heart) and Sam Karugo are figureheads of the flourishing Nairobi underground metal scene. After releasing an overwhelming debut album last year through Uganda's Nyege Nyege Tapes, the duo now return with new single 'Cannis/Mbukinya' for Sub Pop's Singles Club. Listen to both songs via the emb...

StayOkay Utrecht Centrum is a recommended pick if you're looking for accommodation during Le Guess Who? 2018. Located ideally at Neude Square, StayOkay is positioned in the heart of Utrecht city cente...

Multi-nationality Anatolian rock outfit Derya Yıldırım & Grup Simsek offers a metropolitan take on Turkish psych rock traditionals. Their EP consists of four heart rendering songs, available to st...

Fhloston Paradigm aka King Britt: "My parents were collectors and my mother was exposing me to more spiritual jazz as a kid. I heard music he did with Don Cherry & Sun Ra first. Opened up sonic p...

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...

Each year, Le Guess Who? cooperates with a different illustrator to design the festival's main graphics and images (the layout and typography are done each year by Loudmouth). In 2016, the festival il...

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'...

Fatoumata Diawara’s take on Pan-African folk is simply unmistakable: graceful, enchanting and effortlessly vibrant. Meanwhile, her Wassoulou roots continue to snake off into the vast realms of Afropop, jazz, R&B, and blues. In an interview with OkayAfrica, the Malian Grammy-nominated musician and actress talks about her la...

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...

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...

Dive deep into the mystical trails and the long, weary road that made Vashti Bunyan's career even more mythical. After a hiatus lasting over thirty years, her musical career finally got back on t...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Every week, we’ll bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. This week, it's one of the projects of jazz superforce & festival curator Shabaka Hutchings, who released t...

Last year, Circuit des Yeux released her fifth studio album 'Reaching For Indigo'; a deeply personal record and probably Haley Fohr's most fulfilled full-length to date. Now, Circuit des Yeux has...

Aldous Harding offers us some more isnight into het new album 'Party' to be released in May via 4AD. Watch her new video for 'Imagining My Man' via the link below. Harding is curated by Perfume Geniu...

Today, ambient composer Sarah Davachi unveils her new album All My Circles Run. Check it out below. "Like Brian Eno at his solo best, it's the sort of ambience that doesn't flood, that hovers precari...

As part of the soul duo Charles & Eddie, Eddie Chacon experienced proper fame in the nineties. After two decades of silence, he returned to the spotlight in 2020, releasing ‘Pleasure, Joy and Happiness’, the collaborative album he recorded with Solange and Frank Ocean collaborator John Carroll Kirby. In November, they...

Jenny Hval’s first novel 'Paradise Rot', which was released in Norway in 2009, has recently been translated into English by publishing company Verso Books. In an interview with Huck Magazine, she explains that the book is "an opportunity to understand my lyrics in a different way, and my music in a context where words have a higher...

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...

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...

Soul maverick Swamp Dogg has released his new album ‘Love, Loss and Auto-Tune’ via Joyful Noise Recordings. Although Jerry Williams Jr. said goodbye to the life of a conventional...

Following his recent collaboration with slowthai called 'Glidin', Gambia-born, Coventry-based rapper and BBC Sound of 2021 winner Pa Salieu is back with a new, three-song EP titled 'Afrikan Rebel'. This latest EP features guest appearances from Nigerian artists Tay Iwar, Zlatan and Obongjayar. Listen to 'Afrikan Rebel' below. The Face al...

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...

Through her roots in hardcore-punk, and her activities as a writer and journalist, Meredith Graves (Perfect Pussy) is known to pose the most sincere, complex and impassioned of questions. i-D talked w...

Every week, we’ll bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. This week, it's a synth-driven song by singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart, with nonchalant nods to disco. ...

The famous Bulgarian women's choir Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares ('Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices') is comprised of 22 members, all dressed in traditional national costumes. The varying voices...

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...

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...

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...

Two weeks ago, serpentwithfeet released his first full-length 'soil'; an accomplished exploration of the r&b, gospel, and pop trinity. Now, La Blogothèque has released a stri...

Tunisian-Belgian musician, poet, writer, actress and visual artist Ghalia Benali is known for engaging in various musical genres and has been acclaimed for defining contemporary Arab music. In November, she will present 'Hadret Ishq', her most recent musical project that she developed during the confinement. In an intervie...

This year, Le Guess Who? will feature three new venues for the official music program: WAS., BASIS, and Poema. All of them are part of Utrecht’s buzzing nightlife and are among the most prominent clubs in town. This time, we introduce you to BASIS: an Utrechtian sanctuary for house and techno lovers. "BASIS is located at a unique v...

Chanting songs and playing hypnotic polyrhythms, Egyptian ensemble Mazaher gave a rare performance at Le Guess Who? 2021. It was their first European show in over 15 years. Mazaher is an Egyptian ensemble, a small group of mostly women musicians and singers who play Zãr music: a combination of chanted songs and hypnotic polyrhythm...

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...

FACT Magazine have just premiered a playlist personally put together by The Bug for his curation at Le Guess Who? 2019, featuring a.o. King Midas Sound’s gloom-ridden dub, spoken word and ambient; juggernaut industrial/metal outfit Godflesh; Jah Shaka, an essential figure within the British dancehall and dub scenes of the 70s;...

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...

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...

Having performed the song live for some time, Kelly Lee Owens now shares the full studio version of her cover of Aaliyah's 'More Than A Woman'. The single also features her own remix of the...

Every week, we’ll bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. First up is a current LGW office favorite, from the British-Ghanaian poet-turned-rapper who is already being ha...

Today, New York-based artist Josiah Wise, a.k.a. Serpentwithfeet, releases his long-awaited debut album 'soil' via Secretly Canadian/Tri Angle Records. His first full-length is an accomplished ex...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

If you are looking for accommodation during Le Guess Who? 2019, Stayokay Utrecht City Center is a recommended pick. Located ideally at Neude Square, it is positioned in the heart of Utrecht city center and within walking distance from TivoliVredenburg and many other festival venues. For visitors of Le Guess Who? 2019, Stayokay now offers...

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...

On Thursday, 8 November (the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2018), French experimental orchestra ONCEIM will perform twice in Utrecht’s iconic Dom church; a collaboration between Le Guess Who? a...

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...

With a wonderful blend of African folk, flamenco, bossa nova and jazz, Sibusile Xaba is slowly conquering the hearts of audiences outside of his home country South-Africa. His sound - both playful and...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Ahead of the release of her new album ‘Broken Politics’ this Friday, Pitchfork has interviewed Neneh Cherry, stating that “even by pop vanguard standards, it’s fair to say Nene...

Singer-songwriter and producer Emel Mathlouthi gained global recognition as a protest singer when her recording 'Kelmti Horra (My Word Is Free)' became an anthem of the Arab Spring. But, in a recent i...

Every week, we bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. This time, we highlight a bubbly, crisp pop tune by American singer-songwriter Madeline Kenney. 'Cut Me Off' is taken f...

US-born, Stockholm-based minimalist artist and apprenticing organ tuner Kali Malone gave a special organ performance in TivoliVredenburg's Grote Zaal as opening of Le Guess Who? 2019. The performance was part of The Bug's curated program for the festival.  We can now share two exceptionally beautiful pieces from the performance: 'Sa...

"It feels like signing with Impulse has given validity to the way I've perceived my music act. It is a legitimate part of the jazz canon" We meet up with jazz superforce Shabaka Hutchings in Utrecht...

Tunisian singer-songwriter and producer Emel Mathlouthi combines the vibrant sounds of psychedelic folk with heavy electronics and atmospheric melodies. Following the release of her album 'Ensen' last...

In an interview with Paddy Steer, The Quietus talk to the musical maverick about making your own costumes, designing the arse-controlled wah wah pedal, and much more. Read the full interview...

The Line Of Best Fit interview Jesca Hoop, on 3 albums she would be crate-digging for at the World's Biggest Record Fair, happening in Utrecht during Le Guess Who? 2017. Read in fu...

The Line Of Best Fit interview Tune-Yards' Merrill Garbus, on 3 albums she would be crate-digging for at the World's Biggest Record Fair, happening in Utrecht during Le Guess Who? 2017....

The Line Of Best Fit interview Meredith Graves (Perfect Pussy), on 3 albums she would be crate-digging for at the World's Biggest Record Fair, happening in Utrecht during Le Guess Who?...

In a recent feature on Shannon Lay, i-D introduces you to the former guitarist of L.A. garage foursome Feels. In her solo work, Lay creates intriguing, deeply personal and tender folk songs that...

Last week, the mastermind behind Death in Vegas Richard Fearless returned to the NTS studio to deliver a relaxing live set filled with dub, reggae and roots. Listen to the one-hour set below...

Kojey Radical is at it again. The hyper-productive rapper, dancer, model, illustrator and video artist recently released a hauntingly beautiful video for 'Soak It Up': his collaboration with UK produc...

"I call free jazz a liberation technology, and it’s very essential to anything that I make. It has to have that conductor running through my music for it to be successful, or for me to get acros...

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...

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...

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...

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...

For a very special, one-time performance at Le Guess Who? 2018, Circuit des Yeux's Haley Fohr enlisted an eight-piece ensemble featuring members of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. With this performance, Fohr further expanded the captivating compositions of her latest, acclaimed album ‘Reaching for Indigo’, which c...

Over the past two decades, Rizan Said has made a name for himself as composer for all kinds of Syrian artists, as well collaborating extensively with Omar Souleyman. In the process, his distinctively...

In a short documentary, The Avant/Garde Diaries introduces you to the renowned Queen of Bounce Katey Red. As a transgender, Red was one of the first openly gay artist within the masculine bounce...

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...

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'...

Today, Lauren Laverne on BBC6 Music premiered Liars' new track 'Cred Woes'. The song is taken from their new album 'TFCF', which will be released 25th August on Mute. Listen below.&nbsp...

"I used to get chills listening to Elvis Presley, but on Sundays, secular sounds took a back seat. My grandfather was a big churchgoer, and on Sunday morning the radio was on the gospel station." So...

After releasing two singles 'Horizon' and 'Imagining My Man' (featuring Perfume Genius), Aldous Harding's new album 'Party' is out today via 4AD. Stream it in full below.  Aldous Harding will pe...

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...

After receiving the NME Award for Best Producer earlier this year, and being featured as "the red-hot jungle producer taking over the UK's dancefloors", prodigious UK raver Nia Archives is back with new single 'Baianá'. Watch the video for 'Baianá' below. The samples the traditional Brazilian choir Barbatuques, Nia Archives...

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...

Ever since they started working together in the mid-eighties, Czech artists Irena & Vojtěch Havlovi have traveled far and wide, crossing continents, cultures and mediums with styles of European classical music ranging from the Renaissance to contemporary. In the process, the duo made fans which include Sufjan Stevens, The National's...

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...

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...

Neo-soul sensation, singer and producer KeiyaA stars in Solange's Saint Heron's 'Passage', a short film created in collaboration with avant-garde collective Standing on the Corner. The short was recorded to celebrate the 2021 International Woolmark Prize, an award that honors fashion talents from around the world who showcase th...

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...

Unfortunately, Midori Takada won’t be able to make it to Le Guess Who? 2021 due to ongoing Covid restrictions. But she will be with us in Sound & Spirit.  "I really wanted to be here with you. Instead I fly my spirit to you and wrap you up in the warm vibrations of the music" - Midori Takada On Friday and Saturday, we p...

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...

Ahead of his one-off, improvised, and non-rehearsed performance with King Britt at Le Guess Who?, Drowned in Sound interviewed musician, poet, actor and screenwriter Saul Williams about what we c...

New Age & Folk Jazz pioneer Beverly Glenn-Copeland gave a rare performance on the closing day of Le Guess Who? 2018 together with five-piece ensemble Indigo Rising. The performance was curated by both Devendra Banhart and Moor Mother. Now, Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Transgressive Records have officially released the full recording of...

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...

Greg Fox: "I got to know Pharoah Sanders music at first mostly from listening to John and Alice Coltrane recordings. his playing on 'Journey in Sitchananda' is especially influential for me, the way...

In a recent interview with Metro Times, no wave-icon and third-wave feminist Lydia Lunch talks about America as patriarchy, her lifelong battle against censorship, and many more. In the...

French sound sculptor Félicia Atkinson will release her new album 'The Flower And The Vessel' early next month. The record was was crafted while pregnant on tour, "in impersonal hotel rooms in foreign cities", and is partly influenced by the French classical pieces that shaped her childhood (Maurice Ravel's 'L'enfant et les so...

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...

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 migrants i...

Madeline Kenney has released her new album ‘Perfect Shapes’. It was recorded in the woods outside of Durham, North Caroline, where she explored new methods in writing, recording,...

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...

The 2022 edition of the Polaris Music Prize, an organization that "annually honours and rewards artists who produce Canadian music albums of distinction", has declared Pierre Kwenders’ latest album ‘José Louis and the Paradox of Love’ to be Canada’s album of the year. Pierre Kwenders, the stage name of Jos&...

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...

Recently, we revealed 46 new program additions for Le Guess Who? 2021, including Faust IV Live! as part of John Dwyer's curation at the festival. Now, we're sharing the video conversation that journalist and filmmaker Julian Brimmers had with Faust's Jean-Hervé Peron last November for our online TV channel LGW ON.  In th...

After an absence of 4 years, Neneh Cherry made a phenomenal comeback by with the single 'Kong' earlier this year. Following up with two more breathing tracks, she now releases her fifth solo album 'Broken Politics'. Produced by Four Tet, Neneh Cherry expands her ever-widening sonic palette on a political-charged record that...

The Line Of Best Fit interview Kane Strang, on 3 albums he would be crate-digging for at the World's Biggest Record Fair, happening in Utrecht during Le Guess Who? 2017. Read in fu...

Willis Earl Beal releases his first record under his new moniker Nobody, entitled 'Turn': listen in full below. In a recent interview with Far Out Magazine he said: "On the street, I am known as...

The Fader recently interviewed the Dutch/Iranian Sevdaliza about Teheran, Rotterdam, her new album, and being a plant collector. Listen to her new album 'Ison' while you dive into the interview here.&...

Japanese musician and sound artist Haco has released a new collaborative ambient piece with Japanese composer and musician Takako Minekawa, former Ponytail guitarist Dustin Wong and the Czech experimental artist Tarnovski. The track, entitled 'Kannazuki', is a live recording of the collaborative, one-off improvisational show of...

UK hybrid pop and stripped-down techno artist Lolina (aka Inga Copeland) has released a new album called 'Who is experimental music?' It features six new tracks of warped grooves and vocal loops and is the follow-up to Lolina's live album 'Live In Geneva', that was released in February. 'Who Is Experimental Music?' both embodies and...

The FADER presents ‘Right Here Is Home’, a new documentary about rapper and producer JPEGMAFIA. The documentary displays JPEGMAFIA visiting the Bell Foundry in Baltimore, which was one of the first places where he connected with a creative community. He also explains how the city’s collective fight against police b...

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...

There aren't many interviews with Grouper's Liz Harris around, but now, she's spoken with Love Lion about her dreams, adventures and the things she likes doing the most. Read the full interview here....

Perfume Genius curates his very own program at Le Guess Who? 2017, featuring a.o. Bulgarian women's choir Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, Mount Eerie, Aldous Harding, Weyes Blood, and Pharma...

Le Guess Who? 2019 curator Salvador Breed has personally put together a playlist for the program he curates together with Iris van Herpen at the festival. The playlist features their favorite tracks from each artist they have invited to Le Guess Who?.  About:Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen is widely recognized as one of...

Combine Moor Mother's everlasting, raging voice with DJ Haram’s dissonant Middle Eastern melodies and hard hitting club beats, and the result is the noise-infested yet cleansing sound of Philly...

Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter SASAMI has released her new song ‘Not The Time’, the follow-up to her debut track ‘Callous’, released earlier this year. ‘Not The Time...

Today, Shelter Press just releases Félicia Atkinson's new album 'The Flower And The Vessel'. The French experimental composer and poet was partly influenced by the French classical pieces that shaped her childhood, including Maurice Ravel's 'L'enfant et les sortilèges', Debussy's 'La Mer', and Erik Satie's 'Gymnop&...

Norwegian singer, producer, novel writer and Le Guess Who? 2019 curator Jenny Hval has released a new song called 'High Alice'. It is taken from her upcoming album 'The Practice of Love', which will be released in September. In a statement accompanying the release of the song, Hval says that 'High Alice' felt like the narra...

The Wire Magazine shares an exclusive collaborative track from Le Guess Who? curator Kevin Richard Martin (The Bug) and Japanese voice artist Hatis Noit, entitled 'After The Storm'. Listen to the track and read a statement about the duo's collaborative project here on The Wire's website. To receive a free download of t...

This year, Kapitaal returns as the official Le Guess Who? 2021 Hangout. Utrecht's beloved independent print workshop collaborates with Kickstarter and Stranded FM to bring you a program with radio and DJ sets, interviews, live sessions, art exhibitions, film screenings, and all things print & sound from Friday 12 November till Sunday...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Each year Le Guess Who? works with a big team of volunteers, consisting of enthusiastic, new music-loving friends from all over the world. The festival offers a place to connect with new people, to gain working experience and to discover new and inspiring music.  To give you an impression of what it is like to volunteer at Le Guess...

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...

Jenny Hval’s output has been consistently evolving throughout the years. In her music, moments of melodic beauty light up like quivering candles within a pitch black solitude of sonic abstraction. Hval's new album, 'The Practice of Love', is no less ambitious and proves a thrilling exploration of Hval’s unique examination of t...

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...

Three of the Le Guess Who? 2019 curators have just announced new albums and released new music to go along with it: Jenny Hval Norwegian avant-pop artist Jenny Hval will release her new album 'The Practice of Love' on 13 September via Sacred Bones. At Le Guess Who?, she will present her new performance baring the same title as the album...

Manchester experimental synth pop duo Virginia Wing have unveiled the video for ‘Eight Hours Don't Make A Day’. The video was shot by Virginia Wing's Sam Pillay, who states that, while the...

MusicMap.Global is a site dedicated to celebrating the global underground. Leading up to Le Guess Who? 2018, they interview some of the artists playing the festival. First up is Brazil's Negro Leo, ak...

Songsmith Jessica Pratt’s captivating, wistful coo evokes a mirage-like warmth, seducing the listener into a state between dream and real time. Now, she announces her new album 'Quiet Signs'; the follow-up to 2015's 'On Your Own Love Again' will appear in February 2019 via Mexican Summer and City Slang.  Jessica Pratt now also...

On her latest LP, the 80s Goth disco-inspired ‘Rebound’, Eleanor Friedberger creates a cinematic and eccentric dimension by adding layers of repetitive drums, sweltering synths, muted...

Every week, we’ll bring you a must-hear track from the Le Guess Who? 2018 line-up. This week, we offer you an extraordinary mix of bossa nova, flamenco, jazz and prog folk, courtesy of&nbsp...

As a part of their video series 'toco toco', Japanese content platform Archipel made a short documentary about ambient musician, sound artist, mastering engineer and record label founder Chihei Hatake...

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...

Welsh musician, composer, producer and author Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) was one of the artists to give a surprise performance at Le Guess Who? 2017. It was an an intimate solo show which t...

Some of our volunteers (aka the Superheroes of Le Guess Who?) decided to make a festival zine, to share their experiences while working at the festival last November, and witnessing the likes of Perfu...

Following this year's highly acclaimed and healing album AFTER..., Fhloston Paradigm aka King Britt gave us this unreleased track before his live solo set at Le Guess Who? 2017. '...THE MOON' feature...

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...

Following the release of first two tracks 'Pass Through The Fire' and 'Each Moment Like the First', electronic explorer James Holden now shares the video for the title track of his new album 'The Anim...

Bandcamp Daily interviews Shabazz Palaces’ Ishmael Butler about his ambitious body of work; "how he blends the concrete sensibilities of hip-hop with the outermost regions of space, and why...

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...

The Line Of Best Fit interview Avey Tare, on 3 albums he would be crate-digging for at the World's Biggest Record Fair, happening in Utrecht during Le Guess Who? 2017. Featuring Ge...

The Line Of Best Fit interview Jane Weaver, on 3 albums she would be crate-digging for at the World's Biggest Record Fair, happening in Utrecht during Le Guess Who? 2017. Featuring...

The Line Of Best Fit interview Liars' Angus Andrew, on 3 albums he'll be crate-digging at the World's Biggest Record Fair, happening in Utrecht during Le Guess Who? 2017. Featuring...

Coby Sey is a long time collaborator of Mica Levi and Tirzah, who now forges his own path as producer. Three months ago, Sey released a 5-track record on Young Turks' sub-label Whities. Now, Boil...

Having just released his fourth album ‘No Shape’, The Guardian interviews Perfume Genius with a stunning and incredibly honest talk as result. As soul-baring and emotional as his album is....

Le Guess Who? 2019 curator Jenny Hval's multi-disciplinary work aims to break beyond the confining zones of a certain genre or discipline to form a deeper connection with her audiences. Now, the Norwegian avant-pop artist announces her new album 'The Practice of Love' (out 13 September 13 via Sacred Bones), and shares its first singl...

(Nederlandse tekst hieronder) Le Guess Who? exists to bring people together through art and music. In 2021, the international festival for boundary-crossing music and culture makes a new addition to the upcoming festival edition: U?, a new, participative and freely accessible day program created for and with the city of Utrecht.  L...

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…

Forget Detroit, Chicago, and Berlin for a minute. Some of the most exciting electronic music records are being cut in the capital of Uganda, Kampala, and many are coming out of label Nyege Nyege Tapes. The collective is committed to shedding light on some of the best outsider music made in Kampala and all around East Africa. This Novembe...

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 performance scholar decolonizing sound archives; a journalist turned label founder offering alternative histories of the global South; and a producer/dj using archival material as a springboard for musical collaborations in the here and now.

For the Dutch text, please scroll down. Le Guess Who? is inviting artists to present their work in the public space of Utrecht in the weeks before and during the festival weekend, November 11-14, 2021.  In collaboration with creative agency Triomf we welcome artists from various disciplines and offer the opportunity to present exis...

On November 9, 2019, the Greek polyphonic vocal ensemble Isokratisses gave a rare performance at the Jacobikerk during Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Founded by Anna Katsi, the group dedicates itself to the polyphonic singing of Poliçan, an ethnic Greek village in southern Albania. All the members are...

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...

Thursday 8 November, on the opening night of this year’s festival, we present two performances by ONCEIM in the Utrecht Dom Church, in collaboration with contemporary music organization Gaudeamus. ONCEIM, short for ‘Orchestre de Nouvelles Créations, Expérimentations et Improvisations Musicales’, is a French...

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 performance scholar decolonizing sound archives; a journalist turned label founder offering alternative histories of the global South; and a producer/dj using archival material as a springboard for musical collaborations in the here and now.

(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...

This year, Le Guess Who? will feature three new venues for the official music program: WAS., BASIS, and Poema. All of them are part of Utrecht’s buzzing nightlife and are among the most prominent clubs in town. This time, we introduce you to Poema: a fixture in the life of every student in Utrecht. Did you know Utrecht is one of th...

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 performance scholar decolonizing sound archives; a journalist turned label founder offering alternative histories of the global South; and a producer/dj using archival material as a springboard for musical collaborations in the here and now.

Etran de L'Aïr, which translates to the Stars of the Aïr, is a music group based in Agadez, Northern Niger. Agadez is famous for its music production as well as the one-of-a-kind "desert blues." The group, founded in 1995, is regarded as one of the longest-running and best-performing bands in Agadez. Today, September 3rd, you'l...

Following the launch of LGW ON, our very own online TV channel which streamed mid-November 2020, we are now sharing a lot of programs and video content that premiered on the channel via our YouTube account. We've published the videos as part of our new Reports from Other Continents project; all episodes of our alternative travel sho...

24-HOUR DRONE is an immersive, all-encompassing event featuring an international roster of musicians and sound artists collaborating and working in experimental, classical, non-western/traditional, durational and other genres incorporating drone to create a full 24 hours of unbroken sound. Multidisciplinary arts center Basilica Hudson an...

Le Guess Who? 2021 will see the festival joining forces with the esteemed Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1945. It's not the first time we're collaborating though: in 2017, the orchestra performed Lili Boulanger's towering 'Du Fond De L'Abîme' at our festival. This year, the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra will honor...

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...

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...

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 performance scholar decolonizing sound archives; a journalist turned label founder offering alternative histories of the global South; and a producer/dj using archival material as a springboard for musical collaborations in the here and now.

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 are taking part in the U? program. Aside from the city center, Lombok, 2e Daalsebuurt, Werkspoorkwartier, Transwijk and Cartesius, U? will expand to Overvecht and Wittevrouwen. The programs are made with, or even entirely by, Utrecht residents, local initiatives, entrepreneurs, social institutions and neighborhood centers. Residents and local initiatives were invited to participate by means of an open call, which resulted in a large amount of diverse and exciting submissions.

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...

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...

From 11-14 November, we'll celebrate the 14th edition of Le Guess Who? and we can't describe how excited we are to finally welcome you to Utrecht after two years. But first, there are a couple of things we’d like to draw your attention to. It won't surprise you that things will be a little different than usual this year. Please rea...

Stichting Le Guess Who organiseert elk jaar in november het vierdaagse festival Le Guess Who? Het Utrechtse festival staat in het teken van grensverleggende en avontuurlijke muziek van over de hele wereld  en presenteert muziek die op andere plekken weinig of niet te horen is, maar die juist aandacht verdient. Door de jaren heen is...

Eleanor Friedberger has released a new video for ‘It’s Hard’, taken from her fourth solo album ‘Rebound’, released earlier this year. The video, in which Friedberger is p...

As a sci-fi obsessed woman living in near isolation, musician Beverly Glenn-Copeland wrote and self-released 'Keyboard Fantasies' in rural Ontario in 1986. Recorded on an Atari-powered home-studio, th...

Juana Molina's music is an inviting and mysterious blend of folk, layered vocals and playful minimalism. Recorded in Long Beach, CA, Molina performed 'Cosoco' live in session for Jam In...

(artwork by Emma Fischer) At a very young age, Han Bennink started drumming for his grandparents on pans and cookie cans, and with curtain rods as sticks. All over the world, Bennink is celebrat...

(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...

The genre-bending Zeal & Ardor share the video for 'Blood In The River', taken from their debut album 'Devil is Fine'. The track was recorded live in the Off The Road Studios. Watch below.&nb...

Pinkstermaandag 5 juni in LE:EN, Utrecht, met: Six Organs of Admittance, Baby Dee en Faarjam.

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...

(scroll naar beneden voor de Nederlandse tekst) U? is the participatory & freely accessible day program of Le Guess Who?, which returns 10-13 November to Utrecht. It hosts a multitude of events and activities which are created for and with local citizens, initiatives, entrepreneurs, social institutions and community centers. U? featu...

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...