De Nachten 2004

Long live the grid. Don't look for lines, but nodes. A node so big that it allows literature and music to converse with performance, film and art. Encounters, experiments and meeting points. En masse on large stages, spread around the corridors, intimate in dark rooms. Preferably to be entered with the senses open. Ready for the mental and literary massage given by Hanneke Paauwe, musical readings from Erik Satie and the feats of Ontroerend Goed. At the same time De Nachten are brimming with respect and admiration for the unremitting Belgian musical boom. Come and taste this fine Belgian crème brûlée in combination with the living legend Alex Chilton. A child of the renowned Memphis Tennessee, birthplace of The King and the perfect humus for the immortal music of Big Star. In the meantime a fleet of dragon boats ties up: the Vikings are coming! DeSingel is plundered to the sound of a well-intentioned growl. All this while Flip Kowlier, Thou and Mauro and the Grooms serve up an exclusive preview of their latest work. The list of toppers also includes Sandy Dillon, Mu & Maurice Fulton, DJ Vadim, and Styrofoam vs. Five Deez. The Compost DJs pay tribute to the seventy-five-year-old music machine Ennio Morricone. Poets, new faces and masters have the floor. Firsts? Tom Lanoye enters virtual battle with life and work. The writings of the foul-mouthed Bukowski resound to Bach's three-dimensional virtuosity. Ramsey Nasr turns his night-glasses on the life and work of Shostakovich, the great master of a moribund soviet republic. And then? After that? Incidents. Hesitant but determined new faces from Kunstbende, the Inktaap and Feel Estate. All by way of a diversion and certainly to be learnt from. And what else? What comes next? There's no end to it: competitions in messaging poetry and a design battle where Flanders' finest in the design field cross mouse and screen for an utterly unique visual rap…