Category Archives: Blog

Le Guess Who?’s Who 2022: Flash Amazonas

31 October 2022

There’s just over a week to go before Le Guess Who? takes over Utrecht. With over 150 artists set to perform, how do we make sense of such a monumental line-up? We made a list of the artists we’re most excited to see and asked them for their recommendations.

 

Flash Amazonas

Bandcamp

Performing Saturday 12th November at LE:EN (part of DJ Fitz presents)

Photo: Sunao Maruyama

Colombian musician Julián Mayorga and Japanese producer/multi-instrumentalist Ryota Miyake hit it off when they met in 2015 at an artistic residency in Montreal. Quickly churning out countless musical ideas, the pair decided to start Flash Amazonas. A perfect pairing, they are not afraid to take risks and embrace daring compositional choices, taking in disparate influences including DIY punk bolero, Latin American music, Japanese new wave and synth pop, spiced up by a tongue-in-cheek approach. They have just released their second album last week, uva uva, an exuberant and exhilarating 11-track feast capturing the work of two multi-talented artists at the top of their game. We can’t wait to see them performing it live at Le Guess Who? and today they tell us which three bands they’re most excited to see at the festival. Read on to find out.

 

Romperayo

Website

Performing Saturday 12th November at EKKO (part of Coco María presents Club Coco)

“One of the most exciting and innovative projects in new Latin American music! Pedro Ojeda’s approach to percussion is unique and so beautiful and inspiring!”

 

Masayoshi Fujita

Website

Performing Saturday 12th November at Janskerk
“Ryota played at the same event with him once in Tokyo – it’s great to see him performing abroad.”

 

Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul

Website

Performing Saturday 12th November at TivoliVredenburg

“Kakkoii! <3 HAHA”

 

Le Guess Who? will take place 10-13 November. For the full line-up, tickets and more info visit leguesswho.com. And take a look at other artists we’re excited about picking their own Le Guess Who?’s Who.

Bandler Ching set to release debut album in January, listen to first single ‘Awpril’

28 October 2022

Back in 2020, Brussels based quartet Bandler Ching baited us with Sub Surface, a thrilling and groovy EP blending contemporary jazz, electronics, hip-hop, noise and global beats. Following a period of exploration, the band have finally announced the release of their debut album. Entitled Coaxial, the record will see the light of day on January 27th through Sdban Ultra. Speaking about it, the band’s composer and saxophonist Ambroos De Schepper had this say:

“We start from Jazz and we give it our own attitude with improvisation and a lot of freedom and eventually mix it with influences such as electronics, beats, hip-hop etc”

Alongside the news, Bandler Ching have today shared the visualiser for ‘Awpril’, the first intoxicating single lifted from Coaxial. Take a listen now.

Le Guess Who?’s Who 2022: Masayoshi Fujita

28 October 2022

There’s less than two weeks to go before Le Guess Who? takes over Utrecht. With over 150 artists set to perform, how do we make sense of such a monumental line-up? We made a list of the artists we’re most excited to see and asked them for their recommendations.

 

Masayoshi Fujita

Website

Performing Saturday 12th November at Janskerk

It’s no secret we love vibraphone wizard, multi-percussionist, and composer Masayoshi Fujita. As well as honing in on his own solo work, Fujita’s sonic explorations include forays in a myriad of styles, projects and collaborations, such as his electronic dub releases as El Fog, or his experimental improvisations with the likes of Jan Jelinek. Last year he released one of the most beautiful and beguiling albums of 2021, Bird Ambience, a record that saw him merge influences he’d keept separate, and turning the spotlight on the marimba alongside drums, percussion, synths, effects and tape recorder. Obviously we can’t wait to see Fujita perform at Le Guess Who? and we asked him which artists he’s most looking forward to! Find out his recommendations below, with a few words from him.

 

Marina Herlop

Bandcamp

Performing Sunday 13th November at TivoliVredenburg (curated by Animal Collective)

“I really love her style of mixture of modern electronic and Indian music. So sad that I will miss her show as I’ll be leaving on that day but can’t help mentioning her name here.”

 

Astrid Sonne

Bandcamp

Performing Friday 11th November at Stadsschouwburg (curated by CURL)
” I’ve been listening her music since a while. Her works are pretty diverse and I’m curious what she’ll play live this time.”

 

Hatis Noit

Website

Performing Friday 11th November at Jacobikerk (part of Uncloud presents)

“I chose her not because we’re label mate and friends, but her performance is one of a kind and beautiful.”

 

Le Guess Who? will take place 10-13 November. For the full line-up, tickets and more info visit leguesswho.com. And take a look at other artists we’re excited about picking their own Le Guess Who?’s Who.

Nico Paulo announces self-titled debut album and shares first single ‘Now or Never’

27 October 2022

There’s already releases slated for 2023 that are seducing our ears. One of them is the debut album from Portuguese singer songwriter Nico Paulo, who now calls St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador home. A self-titled album, it is set for release next Spring through Forward Music Group. It seems a long way away but we can already wrap our ears around the enchanting and bewildering first single ‘Now or Never’. Of the track, Nico comments:

“In an effort to fully understand how things end and why, Now or Never looks to unpack what happens when you stay empathetic through heartbreak. The lyric “kiss me now or never, hold me close or let me go,” is one of the first lines I wrote and it has stayed relevant to my experiences ever since. This line has haunted me for almost a decade and recent experiences of loss and reconstructing of the self helped me to finally transform it into a song.”

‘Now or Never’ comes with a gorgeous accompanying video directed by Sarah Kierstead and you can watch it below.

Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids celebrate 50th anniversary with two special releases and string of live shows

25 October 2022

In celebration of Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids‘ epic 50th anniversary, Strut Records has two special releases in store. On November 4th the label is releasing Idrissa’s Dream, a double 12″ LP with Ackamoor’s debut avant-garde / Afro-jazz recordings with The Collective. A live concert, it is the only professional recording of The Collective from a performance in Ohio in 1971 .

The second release is The Complete 1970s Recordings, a boxset featuring the Afrofuturistic jazz mavericks’ three seminal 1970s albums. The boxset comes in vinyl format with 3 discs which are also available separately.

For a sublime and supreme taster, listen to first ‘Black Queen’, lifted from Idrissa’s Dream.

In other good news, longtime fans or new converts in The Netherlands, Germany and Italy will get the chance to experience Idris Ackamoor & the Pyramids’ intergalactic performance this November. The run of dates includes a performance and residency at Le Guess Who? festival, which we wouldn’t miss for the world.

Angélica Salvi announces new album, Habitat, and shares lead single ‘Crina’

24 October 2022

Photo: Dinis Santos

Earlier this month Porto-based Spanish harpist Angélica Salvi announced the release of her new full-length album. Entitled Habitat, it follows to her 2019 debut album Phantone and it arrives on November 4th through Lovers & Lollypops. Her own habitat and her relation to it is what informs and influences the album. “Each of the songs is a sensory memory that can be relived over and over again, with changing nuances and subtleties”, describes the press release. “Memories captured and reproduced infinitely through labyrinthine patterns and sound textures, ambiguous melodies and flourishing harmonies that fluctuate, coexist and interact with other beings or elements in their universe of minimal language”.

Ahead of the album’s release, Salvi has shared the enchanting and beautiuful ‘Crina’, which translates from Portuguese as mane or horsehair and she describes the track as “the feeling of riding a horse… A journey into the unknown.” ‘Crina’ is offered with a video directed by filmmaker André Gil Mata. “He said he really enjoys to look at my hands when I play. He says it is like a dance,” Salvi said speaking about it. “He imagined my hands mimetized with a natural habitat. I told him I was imagining a mimetic atmosphere in the whole album: with water, plants, sand… so he chose plants, moss and water.”

Watch the video for ‘Crina’ now.