The Hague’s Rewire Festival has one of the most exploratory musical selections we’ve seen.
If you’re into the far reaches of the avant garde you should be well taken care of, not only have the Rewire crew been able to score a rare collaboration between Austrian noise pioneer Fennesz and Norwegian jazzers Food, but they’ve got legendary Swede CM von Hausswolff to set up an installation to run alongside the whole fest.
Even if you don’t have a taste for the weird and the exploratory, there’s plenty of good old fashioned electronic music on the bill from dBridge, Lone, Baths, Kelpe, Nathan Fake and more. It’s the kind of festival that would probably benefit from a few pointers or two, so we’ve put together a list of ten acts that you absolutely shouldn’t miss.
If you still need more information or need to snap up some late tickets, head here.
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BATHS
Saturday November 9
Will “Baths” Wiesenfeld continues to tour in support of Obsidian (one of our best-reviewed albums of the year), bringing his experimental pop to life with the help of Morgan Greenwood, a multi-instrumentalist whose band Azeda Booth inspired Baths’ recent work.
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SPACE DIMENSION CONTROLLER
Saturday November 9
Belfast producer Jack Hamill welcomes you to Mikrosector-50 for an “unapologetically retro blend of analogue techno and gooey-eyed boogiefunk” that takes the phrase “out of this world” to its logical conclusion.
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TAPE
Saturday November 9
Swedish twinklers Tape have been at it for years now, and there was those of us who thought the pastoral trio had disappeared into the ether. Thankfully there’s new material due, and for anyone that has heard their elegiac fusion of delicately plucked instrumentation and fizzing electronic sounds before, that’s very, very good news. Seeing the trio live is like being invited into their living room for tea, crumpets and, er, meatballs?
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RICARDO VILLALOBOS & MAX LODERBAUER
Friday November 8
2011’s Re:ECM project found techno don Ricardo Villalobos and Sun Electric’s Max Loderbauer wrapping their fingers around the expansive catalogue of legendary avant jazz label ECM, and it was almost predictably engrossing. Now the duo are set to perform the material live, and dissect Manfred Eicher’s estimable catalogue on the fly.
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STELLAR OM SOURCE
Friday November 8
Christelle Gualdi’s Joy One Mile is one of FACT’s favourite records this year. Who else expected an album of top notch Detroit-influenced retro techno from the previous astral traveling synth fetishist? This is one for those of you who, like us, find ourselves listening to More Songs About Food and Revolutionary Art and wishing fifteen years hadn’t passed.
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CM VON HAUSSWOLFF
Throughout
Carl Michael von Hausswolff is a veritable Swedish institution, and the always-reliable artist has created a special installation piece entitled Red Empty just for Rewire. We won’t spoil too much, but make sure you follow the red light – in the Netherlands we’re guessing that could lead to some interesting encounters.
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LONE
Saturday November 9
The Manchester-based producer has a fantastic track record when it comes to crafting technicolor rave fare: ‘Airglow Fires’ is one of our favorite tracks of the year.
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FOOD & FENNESZ
Friday November 8
Ian Bellamy and Thomas Strønen’s unpredictable jazz experimentations are so well regarded that even Austrian experimental bod Christian Fennesz is getting involved. He’s played with the band on numerous occasions, and his crashing, noise-drenched waves of guitar are perfect foil for Bellamy and Strønen’s peculiar northern avant jazz.
Listen here.
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JULIA HOLTER
Saturday November 9
Earlier this year, Los Angeles experimenter Julia Holter continued her run of near-universal critical acclaim with the Gigi-inspired Loud City Song, and her immaculate chamber pop will be a treat.
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HOLLY HERNDON
Friday November 8
RVNG INTL’s resident academic continues to find new ways to cross-pollinate her voice and her laptop, and whether she’s mixing, performing live, or doing something completely different, she pushes boundaries.
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