Ahead of this November’s Le Guess Who? festival in Utrecht, we are presenting a series of previews centred around the coinciding Mega Record & CD Fair, and artists playing at the festival.
Last month, Black Country, New Road’s Lewis Evans gave us some klezmer recommendations, while Phil Elverum discussed Japanese Gagaku music. This week, Matana Roberts, who is one of this year’s guest curators, steps up to tell us what records she might look out for if she has a chance to check out the record fair while she’s in Utrecht, and also lets us in on some of the people with whom she has worked having owned a record by them when she was younger. Read on below for her insights.
Le Guess Who? will this year welcome the likes of William Basinski, faUSt, Pa Salieu, Ana Roxanne, Vladislav Delay, Jesu and Vanishing Twin, as well as guest curation from Lucrecia Dalt, Midori Takada, John Dwyer, Phil Elverum and Roberts. The Mega Record & CD Fair, the biggest of its kind in Europe, will run alongside it in Utrecht. You can find more information about the fair here.
Le Guess Who? will take place from November 11 to 14, 2021. Find more information here.
Which three records would you be on the hunt for at the Mega Record & CD Fair?
Matana Roberts: Loraine James, Thumbscrew, Damon Locks and the Black Monument Ensemble.
When / how did you get to know these records, and why are they special to you?
MR: I know the previous records of these musicians and am interested in these because I have not heard their new releases. If I were looking for vintage stuff, my picks would be first edition Sun Ra pressings and any of the old Alan Lomax recordings.
What album have you listened to the most over the last year?
MR: Tristan Murail’s Terre d’ombre, Chika’s Industry Games, and loads of Nigerian pop and ’80s house music compilations.
Have you ever collaborated with someone that you owned a record by when you were younger?
MR: Yes, in performance: Meshell N’degeocello, Fred Anderson, Peter Brotzman and Joe Maneri.
