Leafcutter John is the performing name of John Burton, a London-based electronic musician from the United Kingdom. He debuts on Planet Mu in 2000 and is closely associated with processed instrumental music and field recordings.

His third album, The Housebound Spirit, appears on Planet Mu in 2003 and receives one of the honorary mentions at Prix Ars Electronica 2004. The record also places in Wire’s 2003 Rewind top 50 albums chart.

Burton writes his own music software and gives talks and software demonstrations across Europe, including at the ICA. He also appears as a regular guest speaker at the London College of Communication, and he holds a teaching post at DIEM, the Danish Institute of Electronic Music, in Aarhus in 2005.

He is active in contemporary art contexts as well as music. At the Serpentine Gallery, invited by artist Tomoko Takahashi and the Serpentine, he creates a live show based on Takahashi’s solo exhibition. The project, My Play-station, is performed throughout the gallery, turning the installation into a sound source with three live sound collectors and audience participation.

Leafcutter John plays live at festivals and one-off events across Europe, with an emphasis on audience interaction. He shares bills with Matmos, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Yo La Tengo, Otomo Yoshihide, Aki Onda, Philip Jeck, Janek Schaefer and Tujiko Noriko, among others. He also performs with Polar Bear.