Gary Steel
HUGELY INFLUENTIAL ELECTRONIC duo Matmos will play their first ever New Zealand dates next month.
Matmos (Drew Daniel and MC Schmidt) will bring their signature blend of mutant electronica and audio-visual extravagance to audiences around the country.
Known for their visually dazzling live performances as well as their novel concepts and musical innovation, Matmos manage to hit the sweet spot between super-fun and finely honed, beat-driven electronic concoctions.
With surgical precision, Matmos assemble intricate sound worlds from the most unlikely sources, including amplified crayfish nerve tissue, the pages of Bibles turning, rat cages, human skulls, a cow uterus, and much more – turning these samples into eminently danceable and conceptually mesmerising sonic voyages.
The duo has made nine albums, including the classic A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure (Matador), and their most recent long player, The Marriage Of True Minds (Thrill Jockey), an investigation into Ghostbusters-style psychic experimentation.
Matmos has also collaborated with the likes of Bjork (on Vespertine and Medulla), The Melvins, Herbert and Dan Deacon.
One of the most critically revered of experimental electronic bands, it seems sensible to quote some of their good press.
The Quietus wrote that “It takes a group like Matmos to pull off such serious music with such a sense of fun”, while Pitchfork noted that they’re “well-known for nestling their own raunchy universe of found sounds into glitched-out disco-bounce and, some say, saving musique concrete from the dustbin of electronic music history.”
More apt given that they’re here to perform “live”, is Resident Advisor’s advice: “While Matmos is often described in terms of conceptual frameworks and inspired sampling, the experimental duo’s dialogue of ideas, and the playfulness with which they perform live, is what has kept them relevant.”
The Matmos NZ tour comprises:
Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Tuesday 21 January (with Ladder Is Part Of The Pit)
Dux Live Christchurch, Wednesday 22 January
Mighty Mighty Wellington, Thursday 23 January
Cassette Number Nine Auckland, Friday 24 January (with Race Banyan)
Note: The above may contain excerpts from the official Matmos press release. We don’t apologise.
Matmos – Very Large Green Triangles from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.
