The approach developed by Drew Daniel and Martin Schmidt
as part of Matmos is truly unique. Not content of working
with found sounds, the pair have made a habit of creating
the backdrop for their compositions by recording anything
and everything from liposuction sessions to rats, arranging
them into often disconcerting and absurd electronic
tracks. While their last widely available album, The
Civil War, saw them experimenting with real
instruments, they return to their strange collection
of sounds with this new opus, their eighth altogether.
The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast
acts as a sort of memorial to a handful of people Matmos
admire, from Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein
and American writer William S. Burroughs to sixties
British record producer Joe Meek and American feminist
writer Valerie Solanas. Daniel and Schmidt gathered
objects that were important to these people, or related
in some way to them, to create a series of disparate
and intricate soundscapes arranged into tracks ranging
from robotic disco (Stream & Sequins For Larry
Levan) and sleazy future-jazz (Snails &
Lasers For Patricia Highsmith) to abstract collages
(Roses & Teeth For Ludwig Wittgenstein,
Tract For Valerie Solanas) and psychedelic Arabic ragtime
(Rag For William S. Burroughs). This results
in The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast
being one of Matmos’s most varied and disjointed
collections, yet it actually works surprisingly well
overall, with each composition bringing a new layer
of grit and substance to the piece.
Always rubbing their audience against the grain, Matmos
clearly aren’t in the business of creating pretty
music for the sake of it, and their chosen method of
working often generate stomach-churning moments. With
A Chance To Cut Is A
Chance To Cure, they brought the sounds and
noises of operating theatres to the masses. This new
album begins with Roses & Teeth For Ludwig Wittgenstein,
which features one of the philosopher’s text read
by Laetitia Sonami, with additional contributions from
Werner Schmidt (Martin’s brother), Marcus Schmickler,
Zum Zoom, Björk
and Rose McKereghan. The musical background was assembled
from various recordings made in a Californian farm,
from cows eating to roses being covered with manure,
while the rhythmic section is formed around sounds of
dried roses being crushed. Other tracks feature vocal
cameos from the likes of Antony, here without his Johnsons,
and Maja Ratkje, anything
from typewriters to Schmidt shaving his head, Daniel
crying in pain or snails crossing the path of a laser
beam aimed at a light-sensitive Theremin for sonic diet.
As they continue to develop a radical approach to music
and art, Matmos remain totally and utterly unpredictable.
If this can sometimes leave their audience a tad puzzled
by their various steps, it has become part and parcel
of their work, and this album will not disappoint on
this level. The sonic collages found on this new album
are arguably not as tight and successful as those found
on A Time To Cut Is A
Time To Cure, but Matmos still manage to pull
this off rather well and create another sense-stimulating
soundtrack.
4.1/5 |
