Le Guess Who?

 Met als ondertitel “A Celebration of Sound” wordt Le Guess Who? beschouwd als een van de meest vooruitstrevende festivals ter wereld. Le Guess Who? staat in het teken van grensverleggende geluiden die je op andere plekken niet of nauwelijks te horen krijgt, maar die nieuwe perspectieven bieden op wat mogelijk is binnen de muziek.

Le Guess Who? keert van 9-12 november 2023 terug naar Utrecht voor de zestiende festivaleditie. Vier dagen lang neemt Le Guess Who? de stad over met shows van meer dan 150 artiesten die optreden in popzalen, theaters, kerken, werfkelders en clubs.

Op vrijdag 10 november vind je in De Helling Wolf Eyes, Holy Tongue, FACTS en Sereias.

Wolf Eyes:

There aren’t many music performances that can be described as frightening, but Wolf Eyes‘ intense and bizarre live shows have garnered the band a truly creepy reputation. Formed in Michigan in 1998, the nowadays-duo is formed by Nate Young and John Olson (who might be known by some for helming the music meme Instagram account inzane_johnny). Wolf Eyes have been unnerving audiences for over two decades, many thanks to their sinister music. This year, they are appending to their long and chilling discography a new LP, ‘Dreams in Splattered Lines’,  arriving via Warp imprint Disciples, as they celebrate 25 years as a group.

Holy Tongue

Drummer, composer, and percussionist Valentina Magaletti (of Vanishing Twin) emerges on this year’s Le Guess Who?’s line-up thrice, further establishing her versatility. As Holy Tongue, she creates alongside producer Al Wootton (or Deadboy, also the operator of UK label TRULE) an irresistible dub, as heard on their debut LP, ‘Deliverance And Spiritual Warfare’, released this April. On the heels of a trilogy of critically acclaimed EPs, the sleek duo’s newest release (‘their most focused work yet’, they claim) sees them transition into a full band, as Magaletti and Wootton are joined by Susumu Mukai on bass, guitar, and percussion.

FACS

Chicago trio FACS makes pensive art rock under the guise of the thought that impermanence prevails. Via their music, which feels at once heavy and delicate, they continuously provide the listener with their carefully crafted brand of catharsis, which they have perfected over the course of five ever-evolving albums. FACS burst onto the scene with 2017’s ‘Negative Houses’.. Their latest release, this spring’s ‘Still Life In Decay’, presses forward the ideas presented in their 2021 landmark album ‘Present Tense’, which saw the band step into the black hole. Now, they are fully in it, assembling once more to craft a new handful of songs – a self-described ‘post-event review’.

Sereias

‘A vital and urgent impulse’ wrote Portuguese rock icon Adolfo Luxúria Canibal of Sereias, one of Porto-based label Lovers & Lollipops’ most recent acquisitions. Upon hearing their 2022 self-titled album, it becomes evident their bet bore fruit. The António Pedro Ribeiro septet makes guitar-driven music reminiscent of krautrock and post-rock and other styles capable of hosting the band’s tribal, yet brainy, impulses. All of this is directed by Ribeiro’s voice, over which he has the control of a stage actor; sometimes he murmurs, sometimes he screams, but, at all times, he commands the song entirely, and infuses his eccentric lyrics with meaning.