Re: [microsound] Mutek

[obscure@xxxxxxxxxx]

>i was hoping for a more audio/visual, artistic aesthetic sort of
>event.. which last year seemed to do quite well... despite my lesser
>enthusiasm this year, i had a great time.. and, as always, the
>promoters and organization was top notch.. super friendly and very
>professional... since i knew ahead of time i would be missing a lot
>of the music i wanted to hear much of the purpose of my visit was to
>meet people i've been wanting to meet.. to see old friends, and to
>just hang out in montreal... and ultimately those were the highlights
>of the trip for me (and of course the impromptu mixing in the
>Goem-Roem's mobile studio)...
>
>cheers
>taylor.


I'd have to agree with Taylor here... having attended the bulk of the
festival (missing the Matmos night) I really felt that the merging of
audio+visual work was a bit lacking. Budgetary concerns aside, the venue
(SAT) was equipped with screens and they had the gear to project onto these
screens, but it just wasn't played up. It wasn't curated to include people
who are working from the perspective of merging video with sound (Neil W.
may have hit it with the conflict with the FCMM events), the bulk of the
imagery hitting the screens was just an interpliced, angular shot of the
stage setup/performer and the mixing desk. So basically, you could choose
to a) watch it live, or b) watch it 'memorex' on a screen by tilting your
head slightly to the left or right of the stage setup (where the screens
were positioned). This set-up was the unfortunate default through a
majority of the fest!

Despite this lack, the festival for me was quite exciting. I live in
Windsor (the Canadian city geographically connected to Detroit) and so DEMF
had occurred (it was free and local and so pretty painless to attend) just
the week before Mutek. It was really interesting to compare the 2 fest in
terms of scale, audience, interest, intent. While many might feel Mutek was
a bit more 'mainstream' this year because of its emphasis on 4/4, it was
still a totally different thing than the over-the-top 'stadium techno' that
DEMF aspires to. It was still much more of a listening experience... and
having said that, my favorite moments to listen to were probably the contac
mic-based Kapotte Muziek set and the soft-spoken Process set, as well the
Gustavo Lamas set (quite rhythmic as one might imagine, but also nicely
textural). And, of course, the whole experience of travelling to Montreal
was great on it's own... the Musee D'Art Contemporain had a great show
called 'Metamorphosis and Cloning', visiting the Silophone was an 'event'
in a certain kind of way (from navigating the construction going on around
it to the rush of cold air that hits you while you stand in front of the
gated access window that you stand in front of to listen in on the thing),
and of course the food and the restaurants! I'll have to remember to visit
the city more often!

All in all, I think as far as 'music' festivals go, Mutek rates pretty high
on my list. As an 'art/new media' festival, I've been to better...


Mark Laliberte



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