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Nov 25, 2013 By Laura Studarus Yo La Tengo

The sixth annual Le Guess Who? festival kicks off November 28 in Utrecht, Netherlands. With shows scattered in venues around the city, it’s an ideal way to take in the Netherlands while experiencing music from across the world and genre spectrum. (Sweaty festival tents—who needs ‘em?)

Although Le Guess Who?, like many likeminded events, creates a crisis for music lovers: the dreaded set overlap. While we’re likely to take to the streets of Utrecht in a panic as we run from venue to venue (that is, unless cloning technology is perfected in the next week), here’s five sets we wouldn’t dare miss.

If you’re planning on joining us at Le Guess Who?, you can work out your schedule here.

Yo La Tengo (Sunday, December 1, 10pm at Trivoli Oude-Gracht)

I’ll be honest; this pick is driven by equal part sentimentality and fact. The sentimental side: I was a wee thing in my first year of college when saying yes to a Yo La Tengo concert radically changed the way I looked at music. A few years later, I would see Garden State and realized that, yes, Yo La Tengo is my Shins. (And no, I am not—nor will I ever be—a manic pixie dream girl.) The factual side: Even when you know what they’re about, the New Jersey trio are arresting performers. Acid jazz! Random acts of improvisation! “Butchering” of cover songs! Excessive use of exclamation points by excited writers that may in fact indicate more sentimentality!!!!!!!!

DIANA (Thursday, November 28, 9:30pm at Ekko)

Former “Pleased to Meet You” artists DIANA have AM Gold running through their veins. A kissing cousin to Destroyer (the bands are joined at the hip by touring saxophonist Joseph Shabason), expect lots of disco/pop haze laced goodness.

Emily Wells (Saturday, November 30, 11pm at Gallerie Jaap Sleper)

Emily Wells, walking and chewing gum is probably child’s play. The violinist’s shows are an impressive exercise in looping, genre blending, and multi-tasking. If you like hip-hop, jazz, pop, toy instruments, or are just impressed by people who have significantly more manual dexterity than the average human being, this show is for you.

Destroyer (Sunday, December 1, 6:30 at Leeuw-Enbergh)

Make sure you have a drink in hand—the Destroyer frontman/poet laureate/smoothest man in indie rock is here to make you feel feelings. Nine albums and a handful of EPs into his musical career, he combines some of the least cool aspects of folk, 1970s-style soft rock, and (in the case of his most recently release Kaputt) good ol’ fashioned lounge music into a disarmingly slick blend. Not that it really matters if we enjoy it or not. “I write poetry for myself,” he reminds us Kaputt track, “Blue Eyes.”

Neko Case (Thursday, November 28, 10pm at Tivoli De Helling)

Let’s be honest. You’re an intelligent, living, breathing human being, right? Do we really need to convince you that you need to go and have your heart broken by the folk goddess of our generation? The answer (should be) no. That is crazy talk.

(www.facebook.com/leguesswho)

(www.leguesswho.com)