CD Reviews

Matmos

Supreme Balloon | Matador

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | April 8, 2008

4.0 Stars

Heads up, Matmos fans: this new offering from M.C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel comes bundled with all sorts of caveats: no conceptual/philosophical underpinnings, no amplified crayfish nerve tissue, no recordings of liposuction procedures, and, the biggest surprise, no microphones at all. Given the degree of subtraction being levied upon their usual steez, you might wonder what’s left. After a few listens, the entirely synthetic remainder that is Supreme Balloon is not merely a relief but a delight. If anything, the limitation of having no limitations has revealed Matmos as more skilled, stylish, and sculptural here than on any of their past releases — not to mention versatile. “Mister Mouth” and the amorphous “Exciter Lamp” stay close to Matmos’s legacy of finely tuned and meticulously assembled digital clusterfuckery, but the rest of the album is a gallery of departures. “Les Folies Françaises” is an oddly enchanting Wendy-Carlosization of Couperin’s beguiling Baroque chamber work, “Rainbow Flag” eventually morphs itself into a busted mambo of sorts, and the title track is a sprawling 24-minute analog raga, complete with Taal Mala electronic tablas. If past outings have given all the attention to your brain, this one is a special dedication to your ears.

Topics: CD Reviews , Drew Daniel

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