Le Guess Who? unveils new hybrid event ON/OFF

12 October 2020

Following the postponement of Le Guess Who?’s 14th edition to 2021, the festival has reshaped itself within the current pandemic boundaries. The organizers unveiled last week a new hybrid event called ON/OFF, taking place from 13-15 November.

Next month, Le Guess Who?’s 14th edition would have taken place, and as we’ve personally experienced in the last 3 years, Utrecht would undoubtedly become the most wondrous place on earth. Every year, around 200 diverse and cutting-edge artists from across the globe, spanning genres and generations, grace one of the many stages in venues scattered throughout Utrecht, gifting audiences with mesmerizing experiences and unforgettable memories. The global pandemic has prevented the festival from happening in its regular format this year, but the organizers channelled their adventurous and bold musical and artistic vision into a new event called ON/OFF. A 2-part program, ON/OFF has a plethora of treats in store to be enjoyed both online and offline.

LGW ON will offer a rich variety of programming initiatives through a freely accessible online TV channel, broadcasting 13-15 November via leguesswho.com. Matana Roberts, John Dwyer (Thee Oh Sees), Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie), Lucrecia Dalt and The Bug, who have all performed in past editions, will co-curate LGW ON, hand-picking their favourite videos, films and documentaries for the channel. LGW ON will also be streaming for the first time live recordings of unique performances by Mary Margaret O’Hara, Sons of Kemet XL and Circuit des Yeux Ensemble, as well as live sessions with Dutch artists, Zoom interviews, a documentary about Le Guess Who? and highlights from last year’s edition. An alternative way to continue being a vital avenue of cultural discovery, LGW ON will present ‘Reports from Other Continents’, a specially commissioned program where people from all over the world will share video reports introducing audiences to the art, culture and music of their homelands. ‘Reports from Other Continents’ will feature video reports from countries like Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, India, Iraq, Mexico, Nepal, South Africa, Tanzania, Turkey, and Venezuela.

LGW OFF will take place on 14 and 15 November in both new and familiar venues throughout Utrecht, presenting a 100% Dutch program, featuring over 50 artists “with a strong urge to innovate”. The full program is yet to be announced and tickets for each show will be available then.

Whilst we’re obviously extremely sad not to be heading to Utrecht next month for a weekend of discoveries and delights, we are also very excited with the online extravanga Le Guess Who? has cooked up for us. We’re sure we won’t be alone devouring it from the comfort of our homes.

To get you in the mood, here’s the trailer for Le Guess Who? presents ON/OFF.

The Notwist share new song ‘Oh Sweet Fire’ feat. Ben LaMar Gay

11 October 2020

The Notwist returned this summer with an EP, Ship, marking their first new music since 2014’s album Close To The Glass. Now the German indie band are working on a full-length album, and ahead of it, they have shared a brand new song, ‘Oh Sweet Fire’. It features guest vocals by American multi-instrumentalist Ben LaMar Gay, who also coined the lyrics for the song. Take a listen below.

Bandler Ching set to release debut EP Sub Surface later this month

05 October 2020

With a superb jazz scene flourishing in Belgium in recent years, the emergence of Brussels quartet Bandler Ching comes as no surprise. Led by composer and saxophonist Ambroos De Schepper, Bandler Ching sweep the listener away with thrilling compositions blending an array of genres, from contemporary jazz, electronics and hip-hop to noise and global beats, while remaining free of stylistic constraints. Their first offering comes in the form of an EP entitled Sub Surface and will be released on October 23rd through Sdban Ultra. In advance of the release, Bandler Ching are giving us an incredible taster of what to expect with the first single ‘Pousmousse’. They comment:

“’Pousmousse’ originated from the need for space in music. The title has the same name as a laundromat in Saint-Josse (Brussels). The name is pleasant yet uncomfortable at the same time. Likewise, the song flirts with consonance and dissonance.”

‘Pousmousse’ comes with an accompanying video. Check it out below.


Keeley Forsyth announces Photograph EP and shares title track

01 October 2020

2020 kicked off with Debris, the phenomenal debut album from English actress and musician Keeley Forsyth. As we approach the tail end of the year, she is back to dazzle us again with a follow-up EP entitled Photograph. With a striking vocal delivery, Forsyth’s powerful an otherworldly baritone voice remains centre stage, supported again by label mate and composer Matthew Bourne. She has also recruited the help of Trestle Records’ Ross Downes to bring the EP to life.

Photograph EP is set for release on November 20th through The Leaf Label and ahead of it Forsyth has shared the beautiful, haunting and poignant title track. It comes with an accompanying video directed by Ross Downes, with whom she collaborated closely. She commented:

“We discussed the absurdism of Samuel Beckett,Eugène Ionescu and Antonin Artaud and the movements of the Tanztheater tradition, all of which has influenced the music I’ve been writing. We were working towards a place where archetypes, expectations and behaviour are unclear – a woman feeds her family with soil while digging her grave”.

Watch the video for ‘Photograph’ below.


Juana Molina’s first live album, ANRMAL, arrives next month

29 September 2020

The wonderful multi-talented and multi-faceted artist Juana Molina is releasing ANRMAL, her first-ever live album. Just before lockdown, when much like everything else her European tour was cancelled, Molina performed at Mexico’s NRMAL Festival in early March. Luckily for us, that performance was recorded and arrives as a live album on October 23rd through Crammed Discs. ANRMAL features rearranged renditions of tracks from Molina’s previous albums, Halo, Wed 21 and Un día as well as from the Forfun EP. A staggering live version of ‘Eras’, lifted from 2013’s Wed 21, is now streaming. If you haven’t had a chance to see her live, this song will give an idea of what you’re missing out. Watch the accompanying live video made by Rarara below.


Dex Wolfe shares first track from upcoming Lightness EP

23 September 2020

Photo: Leeya Rose Jackson

Dex Wolfe has revealed details of his first solo release under his own name. The Minnesota songwriter and producer will release his debut EP, Lightness, on October 23rd. While Wolfe hasn’t released any solo music, he has been active in the Minneapolis music scene for over a decade now as a bandmate, engineer and sideman.
In the works for three years, the upcoming Lightness EP saw Wolfe revisit some of the songs he’d written in the past while also crafting new compositions. Initiated by darker times, and mirrorring the state of the world today, the EP is also something to celebrate, being described as “a tenebrous maze that exits into a graceful clearing”. The EP title is inspired by the cycles of light and dark, and as Wolfe explained, it refers to the “process of being in a dark part of the cycle, but being rebirthed in light like we are every day.” Featuring four tracks, Lightness is an impressive showcase of his songwriting and multi-instrumental talents, drawing from post rock, jazz, and folk music. Ahead of the EP release, we can already hear the gorgeous and compelling first single ‘Lightning’. He commented on the song:

“I wrote Lightning while sitting on a bridge in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I was awestruck by a massive golden lightning storm that intricately painted the entire horizon in the distance. As I sat in the light drizzle, I watched tens of passers-by walk with their faces angled downwards toward their phones, paying this incredible beauty of nature no mind or reverence. The juxtaposition of these two events felt so acute, as if being offered up as an archetype of western civilization in the 21st century.”

Take a listen to ‘Lightning’ below.