Remy van Kesteren: on tour in The Netherlands & Belgium

photo: Nick Helderman

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren has one show left to play in the Summer. He will back on the road in The Netherlands and Belgium in the Fall.

Live dates:

• 07/03 Wonderfeel 2026, 's-Graveland, Netherlands
• 10/07 Theater aan de Slinger, Houten, Netherlands
• 10/21 The New Church, Den Haag, Netherlands
• 10/23 Muziekcentrum Enschede, Enschede, Netherlands
• 10/24 Chassé Theater & Cinema Breda, Breda, Netherlands
• 10/30 Concertgebouw de Vereeniging, Nijmegen, Netherlands
• 11/04 Parkstad Limburg Theaters, Heerlen, Netherlands
• 11/06 The Storm, Winterswijk, Netherlands
• 11/07 Cultuurcentrum Strombeek Grimbergen, Grimbergen, Belgium
• 11/20 Flint Amersfoort,Amersfoort, Netherlands
• 11/21 CC De Warandepoort, Tervuren, Belgium
• 11/28 Theater De Landing, Amstelveen, Netherlands
• 12/01 Schouwburg Tilburg, Tilburg, Netherlands
• 12/04 Posthuis Theater, Heerenveen, Netherlands
• 12/05 Theater Sneek (Noorderkerkzaal), Sneek, Netherlands
• 12/11 PHIL Haarlem, Haarlem, Netherlands
• 12/17 Theater de Meervaart, Amsterdam, Netherlands

» remyvankesteren.com

HCTF review of Live at Concertlab (Unplugged)

John Cale: on working with Charli xcx

John Cale said some nice things on working with Charli xcx in an interview with Rolling Stone:

Energy and vivacity mixed with a real knowledge of music, far different from her own. An awareness of cultural shifts on the precipice — how to harness it all whilst not losing her own identity. She’s smart, fun, a bit of a whirlwind, and always curious. Yeah, it’s her laser-focused desire to absorb all that life offers — and try it on for size!

Dez Dare: "You Woke Up On My Side Of Time" video

Dez Dare opted for a bunch of lovable puppets for the video for You Woke Up On My Side Of Time, a pastoral folk track from his These Days Are Wild & Blind album: "Darren Smallman keeps it a bit closer to home and more personal on (...) the latest album by his one-man trash punk band Dez Dare. That doesn't mean that he is no longer shouting at the heavens (and for good reason), but a bit of introspection has found its way into his music - some of it is even played on acoustic instruments."

» dezdare.com

HCTF review of These Days Are Wild & Blind

Quintana Dead Blues eXperience: Ashes

photo: Jesica Calvo

French garage grunge act Quintana Dead Blues eXperience is a force of nature. Singer and guitarist Piero Quintana and drummer Adrien Schiavone needed only three days to lay down the tracks for Ashes, not giving a fuck about leakage and VU-meters being in the red prettty much all of time. They barrel through nine originals and a sweaty cover of Nirvana's School, eager to captrue the moments of intense urgency that makes rock 'n' roll such a great genre of music.

Ashes is an album like a freight train without breaks. Songs like the title track, Still Haunted and It's Nothing come crashing down upon the listener. Things could have gone South pretty much easily, but the rapport between Quintana and Schiavone - and good ears of producer Martín Guevara - kept the songs from spiralling into a muddy mess.

Opus Kink: Will It Come For You?

Brighton based sextet Opus Kink sing about something nasty lurking in the shadows on their new single Will It Come For You?. As per usual they mixed up genre-wise, with a New Wave bass, Tex-Mex guitar, a jazzy conversation between saxophone and trumpet, plus dark folk vocals.

Suffice to say that is pretty captivating stuff. The lure of the dark side is always way more fun than playing it straight. Recommended if you like The Bullfight. The video was made by Kyle McCarthy and Reuben Davies Lindley.