Festival Focus

Motel MozaÏque

Whether you’re seeking out a weekend-wide blast of exciting new music and excellent live performances, some passionate art, experimental theatre, guided tours, or just looking to explore the secretly-welcoming heart of Rotterdam and its many hidden treasures – preferably all of the above – Motel Mozaïque is an inspiring urban experience.

 

4-5 April – Rotterdam

 

EAGULLS
soundcloud.com/eagulls

 

This Leeds melodic punk band serves up one howling and heavy hitting track after another, and their new debut album is well worth sinking your teeth into.

 

//www.youtube.com/embed/fVcGkU2b5Ak

 
 

KURT VILE
kurtvile.com

Philly’s resident childish prodigy is gifted at acoustic-driven psych folk, and the jams on his latest opus, Walking on a Pretty Daze, are ingeniously breezy and laid back.

 

//www.youtube.com/embed/yq5sb6_W4LU

 
 

OMAR SOULEYMAN
soundcloud.com/omar-souleyman

This Syrian wedding singer-cum-synth pop wizard’s extremely energetic take on traditional dabke music has taken him from wedding halls to the world stage.

 

//www.youtube.com/embed/lVlgMEFu1PI

 
 

QUILT
quilt.bandcamp.com

 

On their new material, these ’60s-loving sonic seamsters stitch together a patchwork of suddenly shifting tempos and moods into a varied but cohesive whole.

 

//www.youtube.com/embed/X6JMWuFj_Xk

 
 

TEMPLES
soundcloud.com/templesofficial

England’s Temples build songs out of cavernous drums and soaring guitars in which they faithfully worship the spirits of psychedelic bands past.

 

//www.youtube.com/embed/F3FUJkxCK7g

 
 

WILD BEASTS
wild-beasts.co.uk

 

While these English indie rockers have reigned in the much-loved vocal melodrama of their early work, their subtler but sharper edged new approach is ultimately more powerful.

 

//www.youtube.com/embed/9IIbbFIQTKI

 
 

ANGEL OLSEN
angelolsen.com

Angel Olsen channels Loretta Lynn and Roy Orbison through a medium of ghostly alt-country, and her new album Burn Your Fire For No Witness has set critics’ hearts aflame.

 

//www.youtube.com/embed/PinTAGbIsV4

 
 

JONATHAN WILSON
soundcloud.com/jonathanwilson

A key figure in an LA music scene cohabitated by bands like Wilco and Father John Misty, this musician/producer has a soft spot for late ’70s soft rock.

 

//www.youtube.com/embed/tawWSAgLd_M

 

LARRY GUS
soundcloud.com/larrygus

One of the best live surprises we’ve seen in a long time, when this Greek DFA signee performs it recalls Panda Bear if he had 10 cups of coffee and ants in his pants.

 

//www.youtube.com/embed/CfmA6tNGUqI

 

NICK WATERHOUSE
soundcloud.com/nick-waterhouse

San Francisco musician, crate digger, and producer Nick Waterhouse looks like Buddy Holly and makes lively, tightly executed retro rock ’n’ roll and soul. 

//www.youtube.com/embed/5THw4SZCXEE

 

Motel Mozaïque’s two-day Rotterdam slumber party kicks off on Friday, 4 April and continues onto Saturday, 5 April. Don’t forget to join us at our free for all Day Pary at Schouwburgplein from 15.00 on on the Friday. For more information visit MotelMozaique.nl.