Radio Kurtodrome 26
Sometimes we're just not that smart: why dedicate this edition to Rock Herk (we'll be there) and Cactus Festival when the Dour Festival starts one day earlier? So, one change of plans later, welcome to the 26th edition, the one where we'll focus on the Dour Festival. Dour is situated in the French-speaking part of Belgium and is held on the same weekend as its Flemish counterparts (Cactus and Rock Herk), which explains why some bands appear on two Belgian festivals in one weekend. Artists appearing on the fields of Cactus or Rock Herk will be featured in ten days. So no Black Heart Procession, Fireside, Enon, Woven Hand, Twinemen and Jaga Jazzist in this edition, but they'll be around in ten days. Right now though the first part of our Dour Special.

Yes, part one. You see, it's fair to compare Dour to Pukkelpop: both festivals run for several days, have more stages than you can name in a minute and both have eclectic tastes (Dour even more than Pukkelpop). Dour kicks off on Thursday 10 (July of course) at 16.00, only to end on Sunday night around 3am. In those four days you're invited so as much of the Last Arena, Popbitch Zone, La Petite Maison dans la Prairie, Canibal (sic) Blue Stage, Red Frequency Stage and The Magic Tent as possible. Already have a headache after the lineup of the stages? Then look away now as we guide you through all the artists on those stages. First we wanted to mention all the bands on the festival, but that seemed a bit impossible given the number of artists, so if you'd like to look at the lineup, you'd better do that here (or here if you want the Dutch version). See, that's a lot of names, not? So that's why we'll just have a look at the artists with (D)ownloadable MP3s or streams on their site. Let's start with Day 1 and Day 2 in this edition. The next edition will be online IN FIVE DAYS and will feature Saturday's and Sunday's bands. It's a little confusing, but then again, it's never easy to wade through four days of bands.

Thursday 10

DAS POP - Blue For You (D)
It's not easy to find an MP3 of this band, but luckily they gave a song to the 3voor12 compilation we discussed in earlier editions. Not their best song, we think, but just the thought of finally getting Das Pop in Radio Kurtodrome is pleasure enough. Das Pop will hit the Red Frequency Stage around 1am. Other bands on that stage that day are Mirrorball, Vincent Venet, Vive La F�te, Dionysos, Venus and Soulfly.

ELLEN ALLIEN - KOAX remix (D)
For those of you who thought we just copied a few links from the Dour website: you're wrong. You can't find this track on their website, we found it on Ellen Allien's site. Ellen Allien is a DJ from Berlin (no surprise there), a party organizer and the owner of the Bpitchcontrol label. Earlier this year she gave some of her work to other artists and this is one of the results. Nice. You'll find Ellen Allien on the Canibal Blue Stage at 21:45.

MISS KITTIN AND THE HACKER - Records
A little parlando just to tell you that both Miss Kittin and the Hacker will be at Dour, though not at the same time. Miss Kittin will DJ at midnight in the Canibal Blue whereas The Hacker will turn the same tables at 02:30. Which left the Dour people just enough space to fit in another act...

TOK TOK VS. SOFFY O. - Day of Mine
Just every now and then we play a song even though it feels the need to tell you every minute that "this stream is brought to you by Eastwest Records". Thanks, but would you mind my listening to the song instead? Tok Tok are German techno wizards Nerk and Fabian Feyerabendt (let's hope those are nicknames) who, with the help from Swedish-born Soffy O, make very listenable, poppy music. Check it out. We told you Soffy O is Swedish, but can you guess where she moved to? The smartasses that guessed Berlin should verify this at 01:30.

JIMI TENOR BIG BAND - Black Hole (D)
Jimi Tenor's real name Lassi Lehto, but the Finnish artist named himself after his idol Jimmy Osmond and his favourite instrument. The electro artist reinvented himself earlier this year by releasing an album with a big band. Will he bring the brass to the Popbitch Zone? Go there around 20:15 and find out for yourself. As Tenor leaves the stage, Wolfgang Schl�gl will take over. We paid some attention to the man in edition 23 as this Sofa Surfer is also known as I-Wolf.

THE HERBALISER - Something Wicked (D)
I'll be honest with you: "The Blend" intrigued me more than "Something Wicked", but there's no denying that The Herbaliser know how to make a good tune. If you don't believe our every word, you should check them out yourself at the Popbitch Zone at 00:30. By the way, another Ninja Tune artist is around that day: DJ Vadim will entertain the masses from 22:30. More dance music in The Magic Tent and especially La Petite Maison Dans La Prairie which will boasts a solo set by Alec Empire. He'll appear when the clock strikes ten.

Friday 11

FONDA 500 - Robotic Samba (D)
Because we don't know that much about Fonda 500 (Popbitch Zone, 13:20), we'll just tell you that the Zone will also allow you to enjoy a.o. Daniel Johnston, The Black Heart Procession, Depeche Mode's Andy Fletcher and Client. Fonda 500 claim that "Robotic Samba" is a full track, so we'll just believe them, eh? More electronic stuff? Go to La Petite Maison (to hear people like Mad Professor) or dwell in the retroness of new wave in The Magic Tent where you'll meet The Neon Judgement and Luc Van Acker.

PRONG - Whose Fist Is This Anyway? (D)
Well, it's not easy to make this sort of Radio Kurtodrome and try to find an acceptable melange between all the artists we can feature and the genres they play. Prong (The Last Arena, 19:20) are from New York and play something between metal and electro. Just what we needed.

NASHVILLE PUSSY - Say Something Nasty (D)
Imagine: you partied till 5 o'clock in the morning and around noon you're woken up by the metal sounds from The Last Arena. And good morning to you, Sir! Several hours later (17:40-18:40) Nashville Pussy will make obscene noise and gestures. One of their tracks is called "Say Something Nasty". Okay, 'bum'. Other nasty words include Biohazard and King Crimson, two bands who'll be on the same stage on that same day.

ROGER MIRET AND THE DISASTERS - Give 'em the boot (D)
Punk and hardcore are on the menu of the Canibal Blue Stage. Throwdown and UK Subs are just some of the acts that'll defrost the blue stage. By the time Roger Miret hits the stage (22:10), we should be close to the cooking temperature, which may help Roger Miret to express his socio-political ideas better. Together with The Disasters he'll show you that punk can be an ideal sauce to vent your opinions.

NADA SURF - The Way You Move Your Head (D)
Oh, how we hated this song when it first came out. But times and opinions change, so here's a track from Nada Surf's album Let Go. You may cling to them on the Red Frequency Stage at ten point ten p.m. And do stick around for next band Jaga Jazzist, will you? We found it odd that these bands are on that stage, especially if you know that for the rest of the day, the Red Frequency will host bands like Babylon Circus.

BABYLON CIRCUS - Casse La Fatigue (D)
Time for eight clowns from Lyon who're just one of the many ska bands on Friday's Red Frequency Stage. Fishbone is another one: let's hope they're still as energetic as fifteen years ago when we discovered them.

That's it for this edition. The 27th edition will be with you in a few days and will pay tribute to artists appearing at Dour on Saturday and Sunday. We hope you enjoyed the music and hope you'll enjoy yourselves. Take care!

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