Curator Statement

INTERFACING SOUND

MUTEK in collaboration with ISEA2004: Canadian Electronic Music at the Baltic Sea

On the ISEA2004 cruise (August 15th-17th) on the Silja Opera ferry Akufen, Deadbeat, Dr P®axil, DJ Neurom perform sounds that have not sailed the Baltic waters before. The MUTEK/ISEA2004 collaboration begins at the Koneisto festival on August 14th, with live performances by MUTEK artists Crackhaus and Akufen. On August 19th the in the TALLINN ISEA2004 CLUB MUTEK presents Fliiux, an audiovisual diptyche by Skoltz_Kolgen. The MUTEK line up in ISEA2004 is curated by canadian promoter Eric Mattson.

MUTEK is a Montreal-based organisation and festival dedicated to digital culture and audio/visual creation. This august MUTEK does a unique collaboration with ISEA2004 and the Koneisto electronic music festival. The frantic and fantastic line-up presented by MUTEK during ISEA2004 is the focal point of the ISEA2004 Interfacing Sound theme; a remix of media art and research, of experimental and popular music genres and audiences.

Akufen
Akufen, also being the phonetically spelled French word for tinnitus, is becoming even better known to electronic music lovers rather as the Canadian sound artist Marc Leclair than the literal meaning of the word. Worldwide, he is found on DJ top ten charts, bewildering and inspiring the techno and house community. During the ISEA2004 Interfacing sound cruise, Akufen will play Music for Pregnancy – a work inspired by several of his female friends becoming pregnant roughly the same time. It is originally a nine-piece composition that will be released this summer on the Canadian label Oral. Akufen is known by his characteristic, neo-environmentalistic “microsampling” sound. He recycles samples from anything on the radio; fragments of talk shows, advertisements, static and music blend into an intriguing minimalist 4/4 house beat. Including Oral, his 12″ releases can be found on Germany’s leading dance labels Perlon, Trapez, Background, and Traum. His full length debut My Way is released by Force Inc.. Akufen has worked closely with numerous important artists, including Herbert and Crackhaus.

Monteith: Interfacing Sound
Crackhaus, the musical kindred spirit of Akufen, are Scott Monteith (also known as Deadbeat) and Steven Beaupre. The duo has released their unconventional and playful rhythm compositions on labels such as Risque, Musique Risquee, Mutek_ Rec Records, Force Inc., Music Works and (hitch Crackhaus’s distinguishable hopped and sliced funk-house beats, perpetually cycling bass lines and unrelenting, slapstick live performances are recognised worldwide. In ISEA2004, a full Crackhaus experience is guaranteed despite the appearance of only half of the duo, Scott Monteith. Scott Monteith has been releasing his own special blend of dub laden minimal electronics since 1998 under the name of Deadbeat for labels such as Cynosure, Force Inc, intr_version, Revolver, and Scape. Having worked with creating sound technologies, he is now making his music with a passion for the development of new creative interfaces, and a strong grasp of some the most cutting edge technology in the industry.

MUTEK is a non-profit organization based in Montreal, Canada that is dedicated to digital culture and contemporary audio and visual creation. MUTEK was first launched in 2000 as a yearly festival and celebrated its fifth edition in May 2004. Since inception, the festival has increasingly attracted international support from the media and public, as well as artists and professionals in the domain. From being uniquely a festival, MUTEK has progressively grown into a multifaceted organization that operates both locally and internationally. In addition
to the five-day-tong annual festival and MICRO_MUTEK events across the globe, MUTEK also boasts a record label, an active virtual presence, and an upcoming biannual in Chile.

• AKUFEN (CA)
• DEADBEAT (CA)
• DR P®AXIL (CA)
• DJ NEURON (CA)
• CRACKHAUS (CA)
• SKOLTZ_KOLGEN (CA)
• Eric Mattson (CA) Curator

Full document (PDF) p. 148