Swiss Music Export rocks Eurosonic! 17 – 20 January 2018, Groningen NL
Hot on the heels of the big bang that is Silvester – aka New Year’s Eve – follows an even bigger one, namely the Eurosonic music fest in Groningen, Netherlands. With the total number of visitors breaking the 40’000 barrier last year, and 4200 conference visitors from 42 nationalities as well as nearly 400 live acts, Eurosonic offers a great early opportunity to form an impression of what the new year will bring.
Swiss Music Export has always been a great fan of Eurosonic, a fact which is reflected once again in the appearance of no fewer than eight acts from Switzerland during the four-day programme. These are Blind Butcher, Melissa Kassab, One Sentence. Supervisor, Peter Kernel, Sandor, Schnellertollermeier, Seven, and Zeal & Ardor.
The German, French and Italian wings of the national Swiss radio station have each nominated one act to represent them at Groningen: Sandor was chosen by Couleur 3, Peter Kernel by Rete Tre, and Seven by SRF 3.
Amongst a number of other initiatives launched by Eurosonic, perhaps the most important is the European Talent Exchange Programme (ETEP). Designed to facilitate communication about fresh acts in each territory, ETEP is facilitating several hundred shows each year with artists from thirty countries across the whole continent. This year, Switzerland is represented at ETEP by Zürich Openair, Winterthurer Musikfestwochen, Paléo Festival, Gurtenfestival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Openair St. Gallen, Greenfield Festival, Bad Bonn Kilbi, and Zermatt Unplugged.
Here’s the dates, times and venues for Swiss Music Export acts appearing at Eurosonic – do not miss any of them!
BLIND BUTCHER
Blind Butcher are an archetypal Voodoo Rhythm band: a mad, bad rush of adrenaline and wit that is utterly impossible to resist. The guitar/drums/pedals duo of Christian Aregger and Roland Bucher is described in their own press blurb as “irritating post punk new wave kraut disco”, and who are we to argue!
Thursday 18 January – 22:50 – 23:35 – News Cafe
Friday 19 January – 23:35 – 00:15 – Vrijdag Basement
*****
MELISSA KASSAB
Having travelled the world with only her guitar for company, Geneva-based singer/songwriter Melissa Kassab recorded her beguiling debut album in two days in the basement of a factory. Blessed with a voice that effortlessly glides across the scales and words, Kassab sounds a bit like Alela Diane and a bit like Agnes Obel.
Thursday 18 January – 20:15 – 20:55 – Doopsgezinde Kerk
*****
ONE SENTENCE. SUPERVISOR
The winners of the Swiss “Indie Album of the Year 2016” award have been touring solidly ever since and, as a result, have developed into a mightily tight psychedelic dream machine. These magicians of psychedelic trance are sure to unleash a kaleidoscope of hitherto unknown colours on Groningen.https://www.eurosonic-noorderslag.nl/en/festival/line-up/act/one-sentence-supervisor/
Thursday 18 January – 22:00 – 22:40 – Heerenhuis
Friday 19 January – 21:30 – 22:15 – Lola
*****
PETER KERNEL
Far from being the melancholy singer/songwriter their name might suggest, Peter Kernel are a band in the great tradition of adventurous post-Radiohead grooves. Led by Aris Bassetti and Barbara Lehnhoff (aka Camilla Sparksss), they combine a fine ear for unusual turns of melody with a great awareness of the dynamics of a song.
Thursday 18 January – 20:45 – 21:30 – Vera
*****
SANDOR
Lausanne-based Sandor’s supple and subtle take on synth pop is melodically steeped in the French chanson tradition. Her soft singing style might well disguise a few dark secrets.
Friday 19 January – 20:45 – 21:25 – Grand Theatre Up
*****
SCHNELLERTOLLERMEIER
With their latest album, “Rights”, released on Cuneiform Records, Schnellertollermeier already have a sizeable international following. Founded on a bed of rock, the bass/guitar/drums trio ignore all genre boundaries to explore the deeper waters of modern composition, minimal music and improv.
Friday 19 January – 23:00 – 23:45 – Der Aa-Theater
*****
SEVEN
In the best tradition of James Brown, Seven is a workaholic, and a successful one to boot. Eight of his eleven album so far have reached the Swiss top 10, with his 2015 release “BackFunkLoveSoul” hitting the top spot. Needless to say that his live band is a devilishly well-drilled unit that oozes funk from every pore.
Friday 19 January – 21:25 – 22:10 – Stadsschouwburg
*****
ZEAL & ARDOR
Zeal & Ardor’s artistic progress has been unstoppable in the last twelve months. The band formed to turn multi-instrumentalist and singer Manuel Gagneux’s vision into reality, combines the euphoric sound of African-American gospel with the blues of chain-gang songs and a dark wall of death metal guitar to devastating effect.
Wednesday 17 January – 01:15 – 02:00 – Huize Maas (main)
Thursday 18 January – 01:15 – 02:00 – Vera
*****
Blind Butcher
Melissa Kassab
One Sentence. Supervisor
Peter Kernel
Sandor
Schnellertollermeier
Seven
Zeal & Ardor
Eurosonic
European Talent Exchange Programme (ETEP)
Couleur 3
Rete Tre
SRF 3
