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Sven Schlijper-Karssenberg

Sets his ear to places he does not yet know in today's sound. Writes the catalogue raisonné of Swedish artist Leif Elggren's oeuvre, is a board member of Unsounds and programmes music at GOGBOT Festival. His essays on sound art have appeared on releases by Pietro Riparbelli, Michael Esposito, Niels Lyhnne Løkkegaard and John Duncan.

(Farida & The Iraqi Maqam Ensemble - Photo: Melanie Marsman)

5 Reasons why Le Guess Who? is the best festival in the whole world

During the 11th edition of Utrecht's Le Guess Who? (LGW) festival, more than 150 acts from 34 countries found a home in the city of Dom in a long weekend. Fraternisation in listening manages LGW that may definitely go into the books as the best festival in the whole world. And for these five reasons. 1. The whole world comes... 

9 (Un)heard records not to miss this autumn

9 Plates full of extraordinary sound that won't go unnoticed and unsung. Fatima Al Qadiri - Shaneera (Hyperdub) Durban taxi techno and Arab queer culture come together on this pumping EP. For, on this record, you hear how bare, cold drums chug outrageously under microtonal or game-like synth melody. Heavy in the bass and loose in the underbelly, Al Qadiri breaks gender pigeonholes.... 

Han Bennink (75) on LGW: "Working hard and hoping the highlight is still to come."

World-renowned Dutch drummer Han Bennink celebrates his 75th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his ICP Orchestra at Utrecht's Le Guess Who? Festival (LGW). Time for a conversation with a diligent worker. All over the world, Han Bennink is famous. And for him, that whole world is his playground, literally. Bennink started drumming at an early age. Pots... 

5 Bargains the cockerels left behind at major auction houses

It was ball again just before summer at Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips and Bonhams. Contemporary art auctions are the showpieces of see-and-be-seen. And the place to throw loads of money. For the happy few, in other words. Or better: a pissing contest for men (mostly - really - men) who get the measure of hedge funds and mega-corporations. Score-driving, in other words;... 

Dit is de plaat van nu en de rest van het jaar

Het lijkt linke soep om na een maand of zes een album tot Plaat van het Jaar uit te roepen. Felicia Atkinson’s ‘Hand in Hand’ is echter minimaal hét album van de afgelopen maanden en van dit moment. En het leukste is: je bent er bovendien moeiteloos de rest van het jaar zoet mee. Fluisteren ‘Plaat van het Jaar’ is… 

Mantra (I): Pushing for Jussen brothers swaying Stockhausen #HF17

Lucas and Arthur Jussen are 'hot'. You could call the young piano brothers the headliner of this Holland Festival Proms. Well before the start of their concert, visitors are therefore already gathering in the corridors around the main hall of the Concertgebouw. Everyone is out for a good seat. To sit, because standing, as we know it from... 

Franui: Consolation and cheers band from Tyrol surprises with true-life songs #HF17

Florian Boesch is at the front of the stage, around him are his bandmates. On big screen behind the band, a chair slowly melts away. Boesch has hands casually in his pockets. With a smile, the violinist initiates a horlepie-like tune. Wie leiblich und frölich, Zu schweben, zu singen, Von glänzender Höhe, Zur Erde zu blicken! By the clutches... 

New single: Queens of the Stone Age sticky with sexy sweat

In the Netherlands, this Thursday afternoon is sunny. Clothes stick to bodies. Hotpants everywhere. Boys take off their shirts in parks. This afternoon, Queens of the Stone Age's new single plops onto YouTube. The Way You Used to Do is sweaty and hot. Pleasure settled Queens of the Stone Age don't surprise. There's no need to. The band is grand... 

Mouse on Mars kit everything up with botox muzak. #HF17

The Shadow of Ideas (De Umbris Idearum ... The Acousmatic Memory Palace) is the title of one of the pieces played by electronica duo Mouse on Mars with Ensemble Musikfabrik. The shadows are indeed shooting against the scrap of the Muziekgebouw. Ideas, however, have not yet formed. Nudges to do so roar loosely through the space. Transported elsewhere Akoesmatic music... 

Composer George Crumb gives like button a break #HF17

The doors are closing and the society of spectacle, as described by Guy Debord, remains outside. George Crumb (1929) - in focus at this year's Holland Festival - unpacks contemporary man with his Metamorphoses, Book I (which has its European premiere Friday night). Gone, then, goes the shell of the ongoing pandemonium in which a diarrhoea of word, image and sound meet... 

Order, peace and disorder in the Orphanage #HF17

Roaring programmers announce new compositions: "World premiere!" jubilate the posters. Superb, but in contemporary music practice, that primal performance is often immediately the last. The score goes into an archive folder. The notes fall silent; the roar falls silent. The Orphanage takes care of those forgotten works. Context David Dramm snatches such pieces from oblivion and presents them with context at the Orphanage 

(Un)heard Spring: 'Waking up again, Xenakis is nothing like it.'

Each month, in the (Un)heard series, I present extraordinary sounds that do not go unnoticed and unsung. In this episode: Plan Kruutntoone, Horse Lords, Luc Ferrari, Anemone Tube, Jaap Vink and Kraftwerk in 3D. Plan Kruutntoone - What Do the Hands (LP on esc.rec.) "woke up again. xenakis is nothing like it. shoving myself and stuff in search of safety. how... 

Why we're losing more and more music thanks to 'digital' #HF17

For new music, the primal performance is often also immediately the last time a piece is played. The scores await the archive or dusty drawer; recordings are nowhere to be found. David Dramm searches for these gems of stilted notes. He presents them in the Holland Festival's Orphanage: three evenings of forgotten compositions from the rich... 

In Memoriam Mika Vainio 1963-2017: Electronic music loses pioneer in animated ultra-minimalsime

On Tuesday 12 April 2017, Finnish pioneer of avant-garde electronic music Mika Vainio passed away. He was 53 years old. According to Finnish media, Vainio died in an accident while on holiday in France. Shock Mika Vainio is considered a shining example and inspiration. Many artists from the electronic music world are therefore stunned and reacted on social media in disbelief.... 

Three kilos of Raster-Noton over then, with three options in advance for tomorrow

Het Duitse platenlabel Raster-Noton bestaat twintig jaar. De verjaardag wordt gevierd met showcases op meerdere festivals en met een drie kilo zware catalogus. Plaatjes voor bij de plaatjes dus en géén boxset met de muzikale hoogtepunten. Een bijzondere aanpak, van een hoogst bijzonder label. Geluid én beeld Een label dat een forse catalogus uitbrengt, dat is geen alledaags verschijnsel. Een… 

Rewire 2017 in 10 shots: Festival for radicalism with a smile

Do it. Make it. Don't care about others. Don't think about the consequences. Then sit on the blisters for a while, they will heal again. Starving for a while for art is not bad either. So choose your own path and enjoy every step. Above all: live in the here and now, all the time. History becomes... 

Avontuur in Den Haag: 5 redenen om naar Rewire te gaan (zwoele gekkigheid is er 1 van)

Rewire staat weer voor de deur. Van 31 maart tot en met 2 april speelt het festival zich af in de binnenstad van Den Haag. Het jonge festival doet dat met een keur aan kleuren en smaken, (net) buiten de mainstream. Dus: daar waar avontuur en het grote ongewisse juist pré’s vormen – diametraal tegenover Guus Meeuwis op het hoofdpodium.… 

Bruce Nauman on vinyl: like being hit in the neck with a baseball bat

Bruce Nauman is considered one of the most influential artists of the moment. He creates work that crosses genre boundaries - as well as breaking down with them - in an exploration of body, language and performance that has now spanned 50 years. Nauman expresses his often provocative and invariably innovative ideas in a multitude of media and materials. As a result, his work is... 

(Un)heard in December: So close the hammers hit your forehead

Each month, in the (Un)heard series, I present extraordinary sound that does not go unnoticed and unsung. In this December edition: Brume, Cinema Perdu, Emanuele de Raymondi, Mark Fell, Zeno van den Broek and James O'Callaghan. Like a vise around the neck Brume - Mother Blast (LP, Grautag) Nicolas Moulin's Grautag label guarantees dystopian soundscapes. Those landscapes the label presents... 

Concert Jarre was everything but unforgettable. And that's a compliment.

Jean-Michel Jarre was visiting the Netherlands. At the Heineken Music Hall, old and new fans could enjoy his hypnotic work. I went there to listen, but of course also to watch. Forty years ago, Jean-Michel Jarre, pioneer in synthesiser music, released Oxygène. Anno 2016, we are 12 million copies sold. On that massive scale, the Frenchman produces... 

(On)gehoord in November: ‘A doubled-headed debut dildo’

In de serie (On)gehoord presenteer ik elke maand buitengewoon geluid dat niet onopgemerkt en onbesproken blijft. In deze November-editie: Jacob Kirkegaard, Oren Ambarchi, Glice en N.M.O. Jacob Kirkegaard – Munk (Cassette, Phinery Tapes) De Deense geluidkunstenaar Jacob Kirkegaard onderzoekt de impact van geluidsresonantie op onze oren én de rest van het lichaam. In Kirkegaard’s werk staat direct, intiem contact via… 

LGW, which is listening in total, focused fraternisation

It is around 11 o'clock on Sunday evening. Jlin taps a rattling beat in the air with her index fingers. When the relentlessly sucking bass kicks in, she accompanies it with an elbow down. Her grin from ear to ear is met with cheers from the audience. Le Guess Who? 2016 (hereafter LGW) is coming to an end, but that's what these... 

The family vibe of 'Le Guess Who?': Like having an older cousin in tow

Festival Le Guess Who? in Utrecht is on the eve of its tenth edition. From 10 to 13 November, more than a hundred artists will take possession of every conceivable place in the city of Dom where you can perform with good grace. They come from far and wide, just like the visitors. Expect the unexpected, with the whole family? Is that... 

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