Pitchfork

For eight days, over the span of a whole city, over 200 artists will wreak their particular havoc in a rock'n'roll style. Nah, it ain't SXSW; it's ZXZW, the cheekily-titled annual "independent culture" festival, packing 'em in September 16-23 all across Tilburg, Netherlands.

The everpresent threat of carpal tunnel prevents us from sticking the whole lineup here, but Psychic TV, the Locust, Rhys Chatham, Supersilent, Psychic Ills, Pantha du Prince, Niobe, Meneguar, Negativland, and Crippled Black Phoenix stand out in the hodgepodge. And since no festival is complete without a nod to the old school, ZXZW's rounded up a classic: Clarence "Blowfly" Reid, creator of the 1965 track "Rap Dirty"-- often cited as the first hip-hop cut ever-- will also perform.