The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
CD Reviews  |  Classical  |  Live Reviews  |  Music Features
TheBest2011-1000x50

Matmos

Supreme Balloon | Matador
By MICHAEL BRODEUR  |  April 8, 2008
4.0 4.0 Stars
matmosinside
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
| More
Add Comment
HTML Prohibited

 Friends' Activity   Popular   Most Viewed 
[ 01/27 ]   Found Footage Film Festival  @ Brattle Theatre
[ 01/27 ]   "Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958-1968"  @ Tufts University Art Gallery- Aidekman Arts Center
ARTICLES BY MICHAEL BRODEUR
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   FOLK ACT  |  June 26, 2010
    Vikesh Kapoor
  •   BOSTON PRIDE WEEK: OFF THE MAP  |  June 07, 2010
    We may seem a little cranky, but us local gayfolk just love a parade, and we’re actually heartened by this annual influx of brothers and sisters from every state of New England and every letter of our ever-expanding acronym.  
  •   THE NEW GAY BARS  |  June 02, 2010
    If I may channel the late, great Estelle Getty for a moment: picture it, Provincetown, 2009, a dashing young man with no discernible tan and an iffy T-Mobile signal languishes bored upon the sprawling patio of the Boatslip Resort.
  •   ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI | BEFORE TODAY  |  June 01, 2010
    If the gradual polishing of Ariel Pink’s sound — and it’s not all that much more polished — puts his loyalists at odds with his albums, I count that as good news.
  •   MORE THAN HUMAN  |  May 26, 2010
    It’s hard to talk about Janelle Monáe when your jaw’s fallen off.

 See all articles by: MICHAEL BRODEUR

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2011 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group