Monthly Archives: December 2010

There isn’t much to say about a minimalist band like Matmos, an electronica duo who paved their way to stardom partly by working on Bjork’s Alarm Call, Vespertine and Medulla albums. Their contributions may have been mostly of the remix sort, along with assisting in the production process now and then, but the influence of the Icelandic singer seems to have had more of an effect on their musical direction than anyone else.

There’s a few exceptions, with most of them being outside the realm of other singers and musicians. Even if you’re a strictly Top 40 kind of person, chances are you’ll appreciate — even be amused — by their most bizarre, David-Lynchian art-noise. They’re an ingenuitive electronic music duo, sampling crayfish, haircuts…and everything in between… even what sound like noise effects from old Atari video games and static you’d see on your television set at 3 in the morning. But if it’s music, it’s the most minimalist, bare-bones kind I might have ever heard.

And perhaps that’s the best way to describe their music, which isn’t so much melody as it is a conglomeration of Krautrock, 1960′s Beat poetry and sparse noises like the ones mentioned above. Perhaps it’s their artiness which has attracted the likes of sax player Marshall Allen and Bjork herself, who narrates one of Matmos’ own songs. The bizarre is as appealing as it is mystifying. Red Bull Music Academy Radio makes a little more Matmos noise; head on over for more.