Christmas time is Trans Musicales time – at least in Rennes! The last festival of the year is also one of the year’s most interesting, charming and entertaining. Almost as old as Christmas itself, Les Rencontres Trans Musicales were launched in 1979 and have been a much-loved yearly event ever since. One of the features all of us at Swiss Music Export enjoy most is the festival’s unwavering commitment to offering a stage to emerging artists, and to support originality and experimentation.  

A Taste of Swiss Music
16:30-19:45
L’Ubu
1 Rue Saint-Hélier, Rennes

Once again, Swiss Music Export will be hosting a reception with drinks for friends old, new and prospective. You can RSVP here: https://9di5a07l3az.typeform.com/to/JUSRlFIR. Three super exciting acts from Switzerland are part of this year’s festival programme on 9 December 2022:

Omni Selassi
Friday 9 December 2022
19:00 – 19:45
L’Ubu

Combining a Dadaist sense of humour with an extensive range of interests that include Krautrock, dub reggae, musique concrete, Pascal Comelade, Tav Falvo and Pere Ubu, the Bernese trio Omni Selassi featuring singer and guitarist Rea Dubach together with the two drummers, Mirko Schwab and Lukas Rutzen, will present themselves in resolutely strange and captivating top form, having recently completed an extensive tour of Italy, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia, Slovenia, and Switzerland.

Kush K
Friday, 9 December 2022
16:30 – 17:15
L’Ubu

Fronted by the singer, Catia Lanfranchi, and drawing on a large reservoir of instruments that includes organ, flugelhorn and synth, Kush K weaves a beguiling post-chamber-rock tapestry of subtly textured melodies, underpinned by rhythms that are never quite as straight-forward as they might seem.

Baby Volcano
Friday, 9 December 2022
17:45 – 18.30
L’Ubu

Created by the Swiss-Guatemalan performer and singer Lorena Stadelmann, Baby Volcano’s beguilingly spooky music isn’t hip-hop in the same way Massive Attack aren’t hip-hop. Taking the staple ingredients beats and rap, she subverts the genre with an eerie sense of melody and deconstructed rhythm. Speak-singing in French and Spanish, the closest comparison this writer can think of is the New York/Georgian outfit Post-Industrial Boys.