Le Guess Who? 2024 returns on November 7-10 2024 for its 17th edition in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The festival now reveals the guest curators and their full programs, as well as the first artists for the general festival program. Curated by Arooj Aftab, Bo Ningen, Crystallmess, DARKSIDE, Mabe Fratti and Touching Bass

For Arooj Aftab curation, she presents a.o. surrealist blues poet aja monet, whose poems are centered around themes of Black resistance, love and the inexhaustible quest for joy; Egyptian singer, composer, and music producer Dina El Wedidi; acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and neo-soul movement igniter Meshell Ndegeocello; and a special filmed performance of the sober, serene singing of meaningful love poetry by her father, Aftab Sr., captured at his home in Lahore, Pakistan.

Japanese psych-rock band Bo Ningen’s curation is dedicated to “representing the Bo Ningen community, with lots of collaborative projects and with a strong focus on audiovisual performances.” The band itself presents their own alternate live score to Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1973 magnum opus The Holy Mountain. GAISTER, is crossover between soprano vocalist Olivia Salvadori (Tutto Questo Sentire), drummer and percussionist Akihide Monna (Bo Ningen), and songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Coby Sey; an audio visual collaboration by musicians and composers Klara Lewis and Nik Colk Void, along with visual artist Pedro Maia; and Still House Plants, a British group that bridges elements of sampling, slow core and repetition to create fractious and sharp music with a melting pop heart.

Artist and producer/DJ Crystallmess combines elements of film, music, performance and visual art in her radically interdisciplinary work. In doing so, she addresses themes of alienation and the deliberate erasure of narratives outside the dominant canon of African diaspora youth cultures. In addition to her own live set, Crystallmess curates a.o. performances by American singer, bassist and composer Kim Gordon, whose career is characterized by her boundary-pushing approach to music; HiTech, the Detroit-bred collaboration between rappers King Milo, Milf Melly and DJ/producer 47Chops; RP Boo, one of the originators of Footwork; and English experimental musician, rapper and choreographer Blackhaine.

Ever since the release of their debut album Psychic, DARKSIDE have been celebrated for the fascinating ways they blend electronic music with disco, prog rock, psychedelic pop, and funk in a way that is both experimental and organic. Founded by multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington and electronic producer Nicolás Jaar, DARKSIDE performs with its newest member, drummer Tlacael Esparza.

DARKSIDE’s curated program features a.o. trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, creative composer/performer and author Wadada Leo Smith; Iranian artist Cinna Peyghamy, who creates encounters between the tombak (a traditional Persian instrument) and the modular synthesizer; critically acclaimed transdisciplinary scholar, vocalist, word-craftswoman, jalatarangam (a traditional Indian percussion instrument) artist, and double-bassist ganavya; and Phantom Orchard, the duo project of composer, harpist,
and multi-instrumentalist Zeena Parkins and electronic music composer and drummer Ikue Mori.

With her hypnotic pieces, experimental cellist and composer Mabe Fratti combines contemporary genres such as shoegaze and dreampop with ancestral influences from Gregorian chants to Sephardic music. Transforming these ingredients into a powerful whole, Mabe Fratti has become a fixture in Mexico’s thriving experimental music scene.
Mabe Fratti presents some very special Mexican and South American acts that have influenced her personal development, such as the “father of Mexican experimental music” Germán Bringas; the quintessential ambassadors of Colombian folk music Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, who have continuously pushed Latin American music traditions like Gaita and Cumbia towards new eras since the 1940s; and Blanco Teta, a band from the burgeoning queer Latinx scene, who add unlikely yet irresistible processed cello to the hallmarks of their punk forebears.

Touching Bass is a London-based musical movement founded by Errol and Alex Rita. A community-come-club night, award- nominated record label, staple NTS Radio show, concert series and curatorial studio, it has steadily established itself as one of London’s most important musical incubators, gaining cult status for its community spirit, musical eclecticism and intentional approach. At Le Guess Who?, Touching Bass will organize two evenings: Calm Roots, set in a church, is focused on the meditative power of music featuring a.o. Wadada Leo Smith, together with his grandson Lamar Smith; emerging Cameroonian-born and Paris- based artist Astrønne; and a DJ set by curator Alex Rita with live poetry by Rohan Ayinde. The second night, entitled INNA, is an in-the-round dancefloor of inclusion, celebrating the Jamaican roots of soundsystem culture. It features Jamaican dub master King Jammy, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of his music career; legendary sound system and dub producer Aba Shanti-I; and the custom, hand-built KrackFree Soundsystem from Eindhoven, The Netherlands. General Program

Initial line-up for Le Guess Who? 2024

curated by Arooj Aftab
Aftab Sr.
aja monet
Arooj Aftab
Bedouin Burger
Dina El Wedidi
DJ Lynnée Denise
Jaffar Hussain Randhawa
Kalia Vandever
Meshell Ndegeocello
Nooriyah
Noura Mint Seymali
Sheherazaad
Zsela

curated by Bo Ningen
CHELA
GAISTER
Gorgonn & Utku Önal present Six Paths
Helen Papaioannou & Noriko Okaku
Ill Japonia & Masumi Saito
Klara Lewis & Yuki Tsujii
Lunch Money Life
Nik Colk Void & Klara Lewis + Pedro Maia (live A/V)
Rebecca Salvadori presents MESSENGERS
Still House Plants
The Holy Mountain Live Score – Written and Performed by Bo Ningen
The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis
食品まつり a.k.a. Foodman

curated by Crystallmess
Blackhaine
Cõvco
Crystallmess
HiTech
Kim Gordon
Lafawndah
LustSickPuppy
Nazar
RP Boo

curated by DARKSIDE
Cinna Peyghamy
DARKSIDE
DINfidel
Eli Keszler
Eli Wewentxu
Eucademix (a.k.a. Yuka C. Honda)
ganavya
Hizbut Jámm
Maya Al Khaldi & Sarouna feat. Dina Mimi
Patrick Shiroishi
Phantom Orchard (Zeena Parkins & Ikue Mori)
Wadada Leo Smith
White Boy Scream

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