Let me present you with an album that takes the term experimentation to the whole other level. Actually, this is not the first album of its kind. If you ever wanted to hear how the medical procedures such as liposuction or plastic surgery sound like, there is a band who sampled them. Meet Matmos, the experimental electronic duo who stepped forward at the dawn of 21st century with the album A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure. The album introduced the world with the mentioned samples and it marked the musique concrete phase of the band’s work. The guys never stopped experimenting.
Duo was formed by Dew Daniel and Martin Schmidt in San Francisco, although they currently reside in Baltimore. The name of the band refers to the lake from the movie Barbarella, the sci-fi cult starring Jane Fonda. Matmos often collaborate with other artists, and they might be the most famous for their work with Bjork on Medulla and Vespertine. Their primary focus is music, but they also occasionally participate in art events.
A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure was their breaking point. Having recorded the snips, clicks, snaps, and squelches of various surgical procedures, then nipped and tucked them into seven remarkably accessible, melodic pieces of experimental techno, the duo practically originated musique concrete. Musique concrete continued to be omnipresent on their following albums as well. Ultimate Care II, their latest effort, was not an exception, as all of the experimental sounds were generated through the Whirpool Ultimate Care II dishwasher the band has used in their basement.
The dishwasher-produced sounds were later on manipulated through samplers, production software and special effects without the usage of synths or rhythm machines. Another milestone is that this is the first Matmos album where the tracks are not separate, rather stream of songs of the same name with serial numbers. Everything for the concept, right? You get it now that this is a challenging, unique and progressive album. It is not only one of the most important works of these two lovers from Baltimore, but it is also a big step forward for experimental electronic music. It is far from ambient easy listening album. Ultimate Care II requires your whole attention.
