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Matmos

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Matmos is an American electronic duo, formed in San Francisco and now based in Baltimore. The core consists of M. C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel, who are also a couple. The name comes from the science fiction film Barbarella (1968), in which Matmos is a lake of malevolent slime. The duo often works with guest musicians and released records on Matador and later on Thrill Jockey.

Music and breakthrough

Matmos makes music from unusual sound sources. On the first album, Matmos (1997), you can hear, among other things, freshly cut hair and the amplified nerve activity of crayfish. For A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure (2001) the duo recorded sounds from surgical operations and reworked them into melodic pieces of experimental techno. Other albums are The Civil War (2003), The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast (2006), Plastic Anniversary (2019) and Metallic Life Review (2025). Return to Archive (2023) they made for the 75th anniversary of the archive Smithsonian Folkways, with reworked field recordings from that collection.

Influence

For pop history Matmos matters above all because of the collaboration with Björk. The duo remixed her single Alarm Call in 1998, then contributed to the albums Vespertine (2001) and Medúlla (2004) and played on her tours. On Vespertine small, crackling sounds are the building blocks of the beats. Who exactly made what later became a matter of dispute: Björk said that she had made most of the beats herself, but that the credit often went to Matmos.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen in Hidden Place by Björk, from the album Vespertine, to the beat: no drum kit, but small ticks, rustling and crackling sounds. Notice how the choir and the strings float above it, while the rhythm stays small and close.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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See also

Categories: Artists