From 10 through 13 November 2022, Le Guess Who?, seen as one of the world’s most progressive festivals, will return to Utrecht for their 15th-anniversary edition. For this edition, the festival will be inviting several Japanese artists to perform on stage. Time to find out who they are.
Get to know: Dos Monos
Dos City, the debut album by the quirky Tokyo-based hip-hop ensemble Dos Monos, capitalised on the buzz that the group’s live performances in Europe and Japan had already generated. Balancing ‘uncool’ jazz and hyperactive verse spitting, the 34-minute record, was released via off-centre hip-hop staple label Deathbomb Arc. It just serves as an introduction to the group’s fierce, uncompromising sound and hints of more wholly creative chaos to come.
Get to know: OKI
Oki Kano’s identity, as a part of Japan’s northernmost indigenous people, is central to his person and his art – As Oki Kano states: “I might travel on a Japanese passport, but I am Ainu.” His music, as heard on this year’s Tonkori in the moonlight, celebrates Ainu folk – while blending it with reggae, dub, throat singing, and Irish, African, and Central Asian tradition. Naturally, as The Wire put it, it is ‘like something you’ve never heard before’. The sound may be minimalist, but the design is unmistakably maximalist.
Get to know: Keiji Haino
Those who have seen Keiji Haino’s powerful performances won’t be surprised to learn that the Japanese underground icon got his start in the theatre. The majority of this improviser, noisemaker, guitarist, jazz musician, lyricist, and vocalist’s long career has been marked by a propensity for excess. He has played at Le Guess Who? a number of occasions, and according to the organisation, each time he does so, he provides his audience with something fresh. This year’s performance, which focused on voices and electronics, appears to be no exception.
Get to know: KUUNATIC
In June, the group finished a promotional tour of Europe in support of their most recent album, Gate of Klüna; they will be back at Le Guess Who? 2022 in November. The members of the Tokyo-based band come from quite distinct musical and cultural backgrounds. They combine several musical genres to convey their bizarre universe, including dub music, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, traditional Japanese music, Latin music, and music from horror films. They transport listeners to their ceremonial otherworldly planet with the help of three female vocalists. KUUNATIC’s show is one of the three shows in the Netherlands that they have announced, as part of their second European tour of this year.
Get to know: Hatis Noit
After performing at Le Guess Who? there in 2019, Hatis Noit will be returning for another performance. She is a vocal performer from distant Shiretoko in Hokkaido who now resides in London. The name Hatis Noit, which means the stem of the lotus flower, is derived from Japanese folklore. The musician is self-taught and draws inspiration from a variety of musical styles, including avant-garde, pop, Bulgarian, and Gregorian chanting. As the organisation behind Le Guess Who? states: Her 2022 debut, Aura, is a brooding rumination on the emotional capability of music.
Get to know: Hinako Omori
Hinako Omori’s solo work is more like an immersive map of the mind in the ambient style than a simple recording because it uses therapeutic frequencies, woodland bathing, and binaural sound. The most recent work by this Yokohama-born, London-based artist, a journey…, released in March, reflects this. It feels more like a stream of thought that goes for far longer than the last note sung than a typical tracklist. The ambient artist Omori is currently a member of this long heritage of musicians searching for the therapeutic benefits of sound, as seen on Omori’s latest release. Her show at Le Guess Who is part of a small tour that she has planned this autumn.
Get to know: WaqWaq Kingdom
Japanese tribal bass duo WaqWaq Kingdom (Kiki Hitomi and Shigeru Ishihara) and Berlin-based audiovisual artist Kalma will be doing a crossover with each other for their performance at Le Guess Who? 2022. Together, the three creatives give themselves into an emotional and transcendental dance on the stage, informing and reordering each move into further chaos. Sculpted through the ritualistic dialogue between music, video, and performance, they speak in glitch, generating meaning through destruction.
Get to know: Masayoshi Fujita
Masayoshi Fujita trained extensively on the vibraphone before seeking out novel possibilities for it. The instrument was reimagined by the Japanese composer from Hyogo, who embellished it with beads, foil, and other materials. The sonic quotient is a brand-new sound as vivid as a picture. His tenth release, last year’s Bird Ambience, combines his past projects, including his solo acoustic work and the electronic dub he did under the moniker El Fog, into one in which the marimba dominates together with drums, percussion, synths, effectors, and tape recorder.
About Le Guess Who?
Le Guess Who?’s goal of bringing people together has not changed in recent times, and neither has its international focus: the organisation is currently working hard to bring as many different sounds and voices to Le Guess Who? as possible. Throughout the years Le Guess Who? has involved guest curators to invite their inspirations and like-minded artists to perform at the festival. The full line-up for Le Guess Who? 2022 can be found on the website of the festival.
