The world is filled with instrumental alt-rock acts, most of which fall into distinct categories. Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky have that cinematic thing down to a science (hence their inclusion in numerous movies and television shows). Groups like Pelican and Belong trod a more metallic path. Then there’s the textural Tortoise and their various off-shoots.
Matmos, an electronic duo formed in San Francisco and based in Baltimore, sounds nothing like any of these outfits. That’s because they have little interest in traditional instrumentation, and Supreme Balloon (Matador, 2008), their eighth album, builds on their reputation for experimentation–it’s no wonder they’ve collaborated with the endlessly iconoclastic Björk.
As an example of their ingenuity, on 2001’s A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure, they incorporate the sounds of liposuction and on 2006’s The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast, they turn to a cow’s reproductive tract.
This all-synthesizer, no-contact microphone release brings back the halcyon days of Perrey-Kingsley (best known for “Flight of the Bumblebee”), Wendy Carlos (the composer behind the futuristic score for A Clockwork Orange), and other synth stylists. Parallels abound with a few retro-minded modern-day artists, too, like Stereolab and Cornelius (sans the vocals).
According to the press notes, this seven-song set employs “the classic ’60s/’70s/’80s consumer electronic rigs of Arp, Korg, Roland, Waldorf, and Moog, and modular systems from Electro-Comp, Doepfer, and Akai.” Martin C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel, an English professor at Johns Hopkins, also call on outside instrumental experts, like Jon Leidecker, Jay Lesser, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Sarah Cahill, and Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arkestra, who plays the Electronic Voice Instrument (EVI) on “Mister Mouth.”
Except for the 24-minute title track, none of the selections tops four minutes, but no one would confuse them for pop singles. Standouts include the ever-changing “Supreme Balloon” and Couperin’s “Les Folies Françaises,” which recalls the score for Barry Lyndon. (Let’s face it: Kubrick’s films are one of the least acknowledged influences on modern music.) In addition, legendary minimalist Terry Riley appears on one of three bonus LP tracks.
Live Dates
7.7.08 Seattle, WA - Triple Door
7.9.08 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
7.12.08 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
7.13.08 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
7.15.08 Boulder, CO - Boulder Theatre
7.18.08 New York, NY - (le) poisson rouge
7.19.08 New York, NY - (le) poisson rouge
7.21.08 Toronto, ONT - The Music Gallery
7.23.08 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center
7.24.08 Detroit, MI - Detroit Institute of Arts
7.25.08 Pittsburgh, PA - Andy Warhol Museum
7.27.08 Chicago, IL - Lakeshore Theater