The young Buenos Aires-based producer Ailin Grad had been self-releasing music under the Aylu pseudonym for several years before being picked up by Orange Milk and Sun Ark Records. Her work spans genres and aesthetics, going from electrifying footwork and hallucinogenic juke to sophisticated electroacoustic compositions of mind-bending quality. 

A motley crew of Brussels trouble-makers: one half of Lemones combine forces with Christophe Clébard and Carrageenan to churn out untamed trash punk of the lowest order. Their first rotten 7” is in the making!

Classic guitar riffs encounter bizarre compositional devices and come together in Gaute Granli’s left-field guitar exotica, which has already drawn comparisons to Jandek and other outsider legends whose strangeness is a crucial element of their appeal.

With a background in punk, improv and electronic music, Guilhem All uses prepared plastic turntables and other appliances to create unique compositions from interwoven sounds and textures. Underlying drones and intermingling sine waves are the solid foundations for his sonic concoctions.

French/Argentinean producer Luna Cedron has been making the rounds in Brussels and beyond with her particular blending of cold wave beats and melancholic Spanish lyrics. Her debut 7” on Lexi Disques came out late 2019 and is a shining testament to her synth-based pop aesthetics. 

An underground all-star band of sorts! Fuji is a psychedelic improv group formed by Warre Fungus, Bart Sloow and Louis Frères. For their show at the festival, they will be joined once more by demented Japanese guitarist Junzo Suzuki and living legend Mik Quantius. Krautnoise jams punctuated by spaced out jazz interludes result in a raw cosmic experience full of energy and swagger.

Visual artist and red-faced outsider Stijn Wybouw uses a disparate assortment of sound implements to crank out free-form noise experiments that are always unexpected and invariably loud. We’ll be releasing a cassette of his latest ritualistic machinations in September.

Jonna Karanka has been an integral part of the Finnish underground for the past 15 years through her output with bands like Olimpia Splendid as well as her Kuupuu alias for which she produces warped electronic loops and dreamy melodies. Her latest self-released effort Plz Tell Me will feature heavily in her upcoming KRAAK LP this year.

Christina Cusimano aka Maria Violenza makes dirty electronica with arab influences, a punk attitude and psych rock guitar violence. She shares the kind of aesthetic that has swept over the darker sides of the underground, with the likes of Christophe Clébard and ASS/Ventre De Biche running amok. Sonic nihilism of the new millennium!

Ecuadorian composer Mesias Maiguashca began his trajectory as a pupil of Alberto Ginastera and spent some time working alongside Karlheinz Stockhausen. In 1996 he co-founded the K.O Studio Freiburg as an initiative for the practice of experimental music. His electroacoustic compositions are described as organized improvisations with a strong naturistic audiovisual bent that come to life in installations such as Holz Arbeteit II, which will be performed at this festival.

Eva Vandeuren is a prolific Antwerp-based artist who has been making music under the Orphan Fairytale moniker for well over a decade. Her harp compositions brim with a disarming innocence which is as haunting as it is entrancing, and which will feature heavily in her upcoming LP on our label.

The artistic entanglement of Siet Raeymaekers and Tomas Dittborn, also co-founders of the Nonlocal Research record label. Through Quanta Qualia, an experiential environment mixing sound, performance, and installation comes alive, where the duo act as guides through a universe made up of reconfigured plastic structures and atemporal computer sounds. Along with Lizzy Vandierendonk they will also be curating this year’s visual atmosphere.

These men from Wales are as legendary as they are underrated. With more than 90 (!!!) releases to their name, they have been bringing a strange mix of rock, electronics, shreds of cabaret and half-insane nonsense since 1980. This band is one of a very special breed, equal parts wild and genius. They will have two special releases just for the festival YES!

Hailing from Oaxaca, the multidisciplinary artist and Villa Arson alum Vica Pacheco uses field recordings and manipulated vocals to weave imaginative sound tapestries reminiscent of science fictional worlds and alternative mythologies. She will release her debut LP on KRAAK later this year.

An improv group (don’t let the “trio” part fool you) formed by stray members of Metabolismus and other musicians from the Stuttgart scene. Like a German outtake of Nihilist Spasm Band, YKT use makeshift and modified instruments to launch into dissonant jams that veer into atemporal zones of freedom.

One of the founders of Metabolismus, shredder majorus of Cluster Bomb Unit, and part of Yurgen Kärle Trio, DJ Werner will seal the night with one of his legendary sets: eclectic, entrancing, and ecstatic vibes guaranteed! You can be sure that this friendly giant will bring our communal hang to a joyous finale.

A recent graduate of KASK in Ghent, artist and happening queen Lizzy Vandierendonk will be spinning her usual mix of dance hits and whimsical sound bites to close down the first night of the festival.