Kodek, or Raivo Vainovskis, is the embodiment of the Latvian underground electronic scene and is today giving a presentation at the Mutek festival in Montreal about the music scene of his hometown Madona. His presentation takes place within the framework of the ICAS (International Cities of Advanced Sound) symposium at Mutek and is a result of the international co-operation network of the festival Skaņu Mežs.
Composer Santa Ratniece participated in a similar event in December at the contemporary music festival Soco in Montevideo, Uruguay. Collaborating with soloists from the Montevideo Conservatory she presented two of her pieces in Teatro Solis, the oldest theatre in Latin America. Both artists’ performances are supported by Latvijas Valts kultūrkapitāla fonds (the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia) and the European Comission’s Culture Programme 2007 – 2013.
Mutek is the largest and most noteworthy electronic music festival in North America, comparable to Sonar in Barcelona. The festival’s prestige guarantees international recognition for many of the participating musicians. The symposium, which Kodek’s presentation is a part of, is called Vanishing Boundaries and New Beginnings. Its focus is on interdisciplinary and innovational subcultures.
Just before his presentation in Montreal, Kodek played and was very well received at the Blip festival in the Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan, New York. The Blip festival is the most prestigious “chip music” festival in the world and aside from New York also takes place in both Tokyo and Melbourne. Chip music is music created and inspired by classic computer hardware and video game consoles. Kodek’s music is very well received and appreciated within this genre.
In the past few years the small but important underground electronic group in Madona has possibly been the source of the most original experimental dance music in Latvia. Each year this group also organises radical avant-garde underground music mini-festivals in Madona. Creating sounds which can not be ascribed to any known genre, Kodek brings a uniqueness to his music. He invariably surprises with his attitude towards accepted norms often provoking listeners to re-evaluate what they perceive as “normal” during his performances. With a stage presence more typically associated with punk musicians and extravagant and unusual musical instruments (amongst others Game Boy consoles), Kodek breaks down the harmony of melodies and rhythm.
Links:
Mutek symposium – http://www.mutek.org/en/festival/2012/events/718
Blip festival – http://blipfestival.org/2012/
Kodek in New York – http://www.flickr.com/photos/m_becker/7273477836/in/set-72157629901852022/
