Artwork: Gabriel Coutu-Dumont
Since the turn of the millennium Guillaume Coutu-Dumont has established himself as a near Svengaliesque character within the group of musicians associated with the Montreal’s Mutek festival. Though the festival’s influence has spawned countless creative collaborations, none of the other players, save for perhaps the group’s creative spearhead Marc Leclair aka Akufen, have made their own voice heard so clearly amongst the comedic madness said collaborations have so often produced. Whether working alongside Julien Roy as Egg, David Fafard as Luci, Ernesto Ferrerya as Chic Miniature, or under Guillaume & the Coutu Dumonts moniker, a distinctive blend of classic house sensibilities and crystal clear digital production techniques have always revealed his unmistakable creative influence. Though classically trained as a percussionist, his productions to date have seemed to draw greater influence from his academic research in electroacoustics then any long forgotten rhythmic tradition. As is often the case, however, some of life’s most profound experiences take years to make there true impact felt. In searching for the inspiration for his debut Album, Face à l’est, Guillaume Coutu Dumont has had the good fortune of having just such an epiphany. In 2001, Coutu Dumont spent several months in Senegal, living with a family of musicians and traveling around the country with a jazz ensemble. It was during this trip that he became “deeply impressed by the relation between music and movement”. It is this exact relationship which clearly leads the way through Face à l’est’s various rhythmic excursions. Whether drawing inspiration from field recordings made of the morning Salaat in Sael Desert, or simply the happy nights spent Dakar, the impossibly hot Harmattan winds of the amongst friends which never seem to end before sun up back home in Montreal, Guillaume Coutu Dumont weaves a rich tapestry of organic percussion and futuristic textures into an inescapably funky rhythmic whole. A debut album not to be missed.
Tracklist