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Le Guess Who? Festival Announces Initial Lineup with 87 Artists

LE GUESS WHO 2019 BANNER

Granted, not everything here really applies, but between the extensive curated programs and the general lineup of 87 frickin’ artists, if you can’t find something to dig, I dare say that’s on you and not Le Guess Who? Festival, the 2019 edition of which will take place Nov. 7-10 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The lines of genre very clearly mean nothing here, and I respect the hell out of that, but I can’t help it if my eyes are immediately drawn to the lines of Träden, Godflesh, Prana Crafter, Mythic Sunship, Earth and other familiar entities. Still, this is the kind of thing where, if you go, you obviously go ready to be surprised and willing to be wowed by the experience.

And if you’re fortunate enough to go, you should know that this is the initial lineup of 87 artists, which means that, yes, there’s more to come. Sounds overwhelming in the best sense of the word.

Dig in:

le guess who question mark

Le Guess Who? reveals initial line-up for 2019 edition

First 87 acts announced, including very rare performances by Asha Puthli, Ustad Saami, and Ayalew Mesfin & Debo Band, as well as first names for curated programs

Le Guess Who? is a festival that is dedicated to boundary-crossing music from all over the world. In 2019, the festival takes place from 7-10 November in Utrecht, The Netherlands, and celebrates curated programs by Jenny Hval; The Bug; Patrick Higgins; Moon Duo; Fatoumata Diawara; and Iris van Herpen & Salvador Breed. Now, Le Guess Who? presents the first of these curated programs as well as several special performances, and the initial artists for the general line-up of the festival.

Special performances

Pakistan’s Ustad Saami is the last living khayál master, a precursor of the ancient, Islamic devotional music of qawwali. Even under threat of Islamic fundamentalists, the 75-year old master has spent his life as a dedicated practitioner of a vanishing art–one that has been passed on from generation to generation since the 13th century. Saami will give a very rare live performance at Le Guess Who? 2019.

From award-winning avant-garde jazz vocalist to international pop star to space disco icon, Asha Puthli is one of the first recording artists to successfully merge traditional Indian influences with Western pop. Puthli’s sultry voice adorned Ornette Coleman’s avant-jazz masterpiece Science Fiction, her songs have been sampled by a.o. Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z, and her early admirers include Andy Warhol, Diana Vreeland and Salvador Dali.

Ayalew Mesfin is a quintessential Ethio-groove performer, but like many of his contemporaries, he struggled against obscurity amidst political turmoil in his home country. Distributing 4000 cassettes for free in the 1970s–later becoming collector’s items– led to several months in jail for Mesfin. Last year, the compilation album Hasabe (My Worries) was released, leading to renewed recognition of the artist. Le Guess Who? celebrates this legendary artist with an exclusive European performance featuring the Debo Band, who formed in 2006 to keep the spirit and craft of Ethiopia’s golden age of pop alive.

Curated programs
Each of the curators of Le Guess Who? 2019 will present their own program, featuring a range of inspirations and like-minded artists, including both established performers and new, up and coming acts.

Psychedelic/kraut mystics Moon Duo invite a.o. Nivhek, the new project of Grouper’s Liz Harris; Swedish prog/psych/counterculture trailblazers Träd, Gräs och Stenar (Träden); the dreamlike, cinematic nocturnes of sound artist Michele Mercure; and cosmic jazz travelers Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids.

Shape-shifting electronic producer The Bug brings us King Midas Sound’s gloom-ridden dub, spoken word and ambient; juggernaut industrial/metal outfit Godflesh; the world premiere of a collaboration between Kevin Richard Martin and Japanese artist Hatis Noit; Jah Shaka, an essential figure within the British dancehall and dub scenes of the 70s; and the transformative experience of ZONAL featuring Moor Mother.

Norwegian multi-disciplinary artist Jenny Hval hosts Lolina, the project of Alina Astrova (Inga Copeland, Hype Williams); Sarah Davachi performing live with church organ and electronics; French sound sculptor Félicia Atkinson; and Oslo-based collective DNA? AND?, where children with special needs play improvised music with professional musicians, creating some of the most original, carefree and unfiltered music ever produced. Jenny Hval herself will present the new performance ‘The Practice of Love’ together with a multi-national ensemble including experimental musicians, vocalists, dancers and video artists.

New York avant-garde composer Patrick Higgins curates composer and electronic innovator Tyondai Braxton (formerly of Battles); pianist Conrad Tao, hailed by New York Magazine as “the kind of musician who is shaping the future of classical music”; Miranda Cuckson, with her dexterous mastery of the violin and the viola; and piano virtuoso Vicky Chow, who has reinvigorated pieces by Steve Reich, John Cage, and Bryce Dessner.

The curated programs of Fatoumata Diawara and Iris van Herpen & Salvador Breed will be announced at a later date.

General line-up

Le Guess Who? also announces the first performing artists within the general line-up of the festival: Atlanta art-punks Deerhunter; Makaya McCraven, regarded as one of Chicago’s most versatile and in-demand drummers, moving between genres like jazz, hip-hop and funk at lightning speed; The Raincoats, one of the most inventive bands spawned by the late 70’s punk explosion; nurse-turned-musician Doug Hream Blunt whose lo-fi brand of soul, funk and R&B was rediscovered by David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label; Dur-Dur Band with vibrant Somali funk music; fabled Japanese collective Acid Mothers Temple and their deep devotion to improvised music; from the outskirts of the small Mexican town of Texcoco, the fantastical and healing music of La Bruja de Texcoco; the playful lyricism and inventive pop melodies of Welsh avant-pop songwriter Cate Le Bon; the 10-piece big band Minyo Crusaders, who infectiously rework traditional Japanese folk with Latin, African and Caribbean rhythms; and the oracle that is Angel Bat Dawid, with her futuristic and spiritual jazz vision.

The full outline of confirmed artists can be found below.

Tickets

Day tickets for Le Guess Who? are on sale now. Tickets for the Thursday program are €43; tickets for Friday, Saturday and Sunday are €48. 4-Day Festival Passes are available for €148. All prices include service costs.

Le Guess Who? cooperates with The Dutch Council for Refugees for the ‘Grant an Entry’ initiative, which gives visitors the option to buy an additional day ticket for a refugee residing in The Netherlands who would like to visit Le Guess Who? but does not have the financial means to do so.

More info via www.leguesswho.com.

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Initial line-up for Le Guess Who? 2019:

curated by Moon Duo
Bbymutha
Bridget Hayden
Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids
Mary Lattimore
Michele Mercure
Moon Duo
Nivhek
Prana Crafter
Sonic Boom
TENGGER
Träd, Gräs och Stenar (Träden)

curated by The Bug
Caspar Brötzmann Massaker
Drew McDowall’s Time Machines
Earth
Godflesh
Jah Shaka Sound System
JK Flesh & Goth-Trad
Kevin Richard Martin & Hatis Noit
King Midas Sound
LOTTO
Mala
Mark Ernestus’ Ndagga Rhythm Force
Rabih Beaini
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
Slikback
ZONAL feat. Moor Mother

curated by Jenny Hval
DNA? AND?
Felicia Atkinson
Haco
Jenny Hval’s The Practice Of Love
Lasse Marhaug
Lolina
Lone Taxidermist presents BodyVice
Moon Relay
Oorutaichi
Richard Youngs
Sarah Davachi
Sofia Jernberg
Vilde Tuv
Vivian Wang
Zia Anger’s My First Film

curated by Patrick Higgins
Conrad Tao
Leila Bordreuil
LEYA
Mariel Roberts
Miranda Cuckson
Stine Janvin
Tyondai Braxton
Vicky Chow

General line-up
Acid Mothers Temple
Angel Bat Dawid
Arp Frique presents IMPROVISED SUITES FOR ANALOG MACHINES
Asha Puthli
Ayalew Mesfin & Debo Band
Cate Le Bon
Deerhunter
DJINN
Doug Hream Blunt
Dur-Dur Band
Eiko Ishibashi
Faten Kanaan
Föllakzoid
Gruff Rhys
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley & His Sekondi Band
Joseph Shabason
Khana Bierbood
La Bruja de Texcoco
Lakha Khan
Lalalar
Los Pirañas
Makaya McCraven
Melissa Laveaux
Minyo Crusaders
Mohamed Lamouri
Mythic Sunship
Negativland
Nídia
Oiseaux-Tempête & Friends
Petbrick
Prison Religion
Surfbort
The Raincoats
Ustad Saami
Visible Cloaks, Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano
Y?N Y?N
Yves Jarvis

More artists to be announced.

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A Taste of Le Guess Who? 2018

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