Le Guess Who?: 5 Key Performances

Our top 5 picks from key acts performing at Le Guess Who? 2019 in Utrecht

Uvika Wahi
Nov 2 · 4 min read

Each year, Le Guess Who? commissions a select few curators to co-create an immaculate program that displays thoughtfulness and a desire to be truly genre-bending.

Le Guess Who? 2019 full line-up

Between curators Fatoumata Diawara, Iris van Herpen & Salvaor Breed, Jennu Hval, Moon Duo, Patrick Higgings, and The Bug, 2019 edition of Le Guess Who? promises to outdo its own previous rave reviews.

When the programme is as expansive and diverse as Le Guess Who?’s, it can be a bit tricky to whittle down choices to a mere 5 — a number infinitely arbitrary and unfair. We take on the impossible below anyway, highlighting 5 acts that demand to be witnessed, while explaining why:

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Lakha Khan

Amarrass Records has been instrumental in bringing traditional Rajasthani folk and Sufi sounds to Indian contemporary culture. Consequently, the Indian electronic underground is becoming hip to it, slowly redescovering its riveting poeticism and musicality.

A master storyteller, Lakha Khan retells local history and Manganiyar traditions in a mighty voice that accompanies his instrument of choice: the immensely complex 27-string sindhi sarangi, of which he is perhaps the last remaining master.

Lakha Khan plays on November 9, 2019 at 6.45pm.

We recently reviewed a recent Amarrass release Dubfounded here.

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Sarah Davachi

Consumate experimentalist Sarah Davachi has raked in incredible praise in response to both her previous and most current efforts, offering a novel shift in her own approach each time to facilitate a puissant new journey for all listeners alike.

It would be interesting to compare her fantastic on-album harmonic sensibilities to live performance to get a real sense of the almost ecclesiastical sound on ‘Pale Bloom’, and one would assume perhaps no better pulpit for it than the one at Le Guess Who?

Sarah plays on Friday November 8, 2019 at 9.35pm.

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Jenny Hval

Jenny Hval has propitiously blurred the line between the very unlikely soundscapes of avant garde and pop, churning out paeans both simultaneously ruminative and celebratory.

This Le Guess Who curator’s ‘The Practice of Love’ warrants mandatory attendance, as she produces a multi-disciplinary performance alongwith a multi-national ensemble of musicians, vocalists, dancers, and visual artists.

Jenny performs on Saturday, November 9, 2019 at 8.40pm.

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Slikback

This past year has been fantastic for the Sugandan groove and Slikback — through Nyege Nyege tapes and Hakuna Kulala — has been central to this movement. His set at Nyege Nyege fest from 2018 resurfaced earlier this year to make compelling waves, and his rise has been accelerating since, and rightfully so.

Understanding all the rules of techno and creating resolute contrapuntal musical moments is a thing that most electronic musicians aspire to, but Slikback has already aced.

Slikback performs on Friday, November 8, 2019 at 2am.

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Ayalew Mesfin & Debo Band

Mesfin’s re-emergence on the modern contemporary arts map is a moment in history not to be missed, especially not his first European performance ever.

He will be collabrating with Debo Band — an ensemble that formed with the specific credo to revive Ethiopian pop’s global presence — on this occasion, meaning that this will truly be a studied exercise in celebrating recent Ethiopian music history.

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Ayalew Mesfin & Debo Band perform on Friday, November 8, 2019 at 10.30pm.

If you have been straggling, perhaps now is the best time to hotfoot it and secure the tickets here.

Uvika Wahi

Written by

skrrrrrt vonnegut uvika@yahoo.in

lankystrum

music, art, and critical thinking //

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