The Paléo Is Back
At last – after its two-year exile in the virtual world, the Glastonbury of Switzerland is back. Blessed with an idyllic location in the beautiful green fields near Lake Geneva, anyone who has ever been to the Paléo Festival will want to return again and again. An adventurous programming policy that takes in anything from experimental jazz via pop and folktronica to bluegrass and desert blues, guarantees plenty of musical discoveries. A colourful selection of surreal DIY palazzos and more than two hundred food, merchandise and art stalls serve up a feast for the eyes, too. 230’000 music fans came together for the last analogue edition in 2019, enjoying 300+ performances on seven stages. The atmosphere during the six days and six nights of this year’s return-to-earth edition will undoubtedly be electric.
Of course, all of us at Swiss Music Export love the Paléo, and not just because it’s practically happening in the garden of our French Swiss office in Nyon. This year, we won’t be organising any showcase performances. However, all accredited business professionals (access category H) are cordially invited to our daily “Pitchéros” at the Cosmo. Presented in cooperation with Fondation CMA, these apéros offer a perfect opportunity for professionals to touch base and exchange ideas and addresses, and to hear and perhaps meet the Swiss acts playing at the festival on that day. Additionally, at each Pitchéro one or two representatives from various other European festivals will be present to answer questions. Representatives of the following festivals have confirmed their presence: Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival (FR), MaMA Paris (FR), The Great Escape Festival (GB), Dionysiac tour (FR), Festival Francofaune (BE), Opération Iceberg (CH/FR), les Eurockéennes (FR), La Rodia (FR), l’ABE (CA).
Les Pitchéros at Cosmo
Tuesday – Friday: 16:00 / Saturday and Sunday: 15:30
Entry to the Pitchéros is free for accredited business professionals (access category H). There is no need to register in advance.
Please note: The SME team cannot grant special access to Cosmo.
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SWISS ACTS PERFORMING AT THE PALÉO
*** TUESDAY, 19 JULY
Broken Bridge
Club Tent – 16:30
Three boys who look like butter couldn’t melt in their mouth, producing a mighty racket of snotty, punk-infused garage rock.
Silver Dust
Club Tent – 19:00
Fronted by a singer who calls himself Lord Campbell, Silver Dust have earned themselves a strong pan-European following thanks to a super-theatrical blend of Goth, steam punk and dramatic excess.
*** WEDNESDAY, 20 JULY
Marius Bear
Club Tent – 16:30
Blessed with a booming and yet flexible voice distantly related to Rag’n’Bone Man, Bear is a fan of classic pop as well as classic pop emotions – love found, lost, broken and longed for.
Psycho Weazel
Belleville – 17:00
Warmth, humour, chansonesque melodies and a soft spot for italo-disco are the main ingredients of producers Ivo Roxo’s and Léo Besso’s alluringly louche music.
Laolu
Belleville – 19:30
Born and raised in Nigeria where his parents ran a jazz club, producer and DJ Laolu creates a warm and atmospheric brand of afro-inspired techno and house grooves.
*** THURSDAY, 21 JULY
Ramin & Reda
Belleville – 17:00
The DJ duo from Geneva uses samples from the Middle East and Bollywood to create a rootsy blend of post-techno.
Flèche Love
Club Tent – 19:30
Once a member of the post-Balkan techno crew Kadebostany, Flèche Love aka Amina Cadelli, has since dived deep into her own world of hallucinogenic trip-hop.
*** FRIDAY, 22 JULY
Barrio Colette
Club Tent – 16:30
A Genevan supergroup of sorts, Anissa Cadelli (also in Bandit Voyage), comedian/actress/singer Noémie Griess, and Nicolas Scolari (SPA Massage etc.) serve up pleasingly sleazy semi-electronic garage-chansons noirs.
Mara
Belleville – 17:30
A witty and laconic delivery combined with minimalistically dynamic trap/hip-hop/garage beats have earned the Genevan singer, DJ and producer seven-figure click-numbers for tracks like “Point Cue” and “Foufoune”.
Baron.e
Véga, 17:45
A class act, Faustine Pochon and Arnaud Rolle are purveyors of elegantly atmospheric French electro pop.
Arma Jackson
Club Tent – 20:00
The Genevan singer likes his R&B melodic and laidback.
Amami
Club Tent – 22:45
With links to the Imperial Tiger Orchestra, Raphael Anker, Gabriel Ghebrezghi and Inès Mouzoune are a marvellous bundle of style- and continent-embracing joy.
*** SATURDAY, 23 JULY
Les Fils du Facteur
Club Tent – 16:30
Recently returned from a Canada tour, the quartet describe their music as “French Chansons, but Swiss”.
Ozadya
Belleville – 17:30
A Geneva-based collective creating a subtle version of trap- and hip-hop-infused Baile-funk.
Kingzer
Club Tent – 01:30
The rapper from Lausanne combines dark and minimalist beats with an easy flow of sharp lyrics.
*** SUNDAY, 24 JULY
Kety Fusco
Belleville – 16:00
A trained classical harpist, Kety Fusco has thrown off the shackles of that world to explore the manifold possibilities of her instrument in a dreamily ambient trip-hop environment.
Arthur Hnatek
Belleville – 19:00
Percussionist extraordinaire, combines experimental risk with solid dance floor nourishment.
L’Eclair
Club Tent – 21:30
Formed around the nucleus of keyboarder Sebastien Bui and guitarist Stefan Lilov, their all-instrumental sound draws from sources as disparate as 60s blaxploitation cool, Bert Kaempfert, Sun Ra and Liquid Liquid.
