A Closer Listen
Those of us who are musically inclined find it hard to resist tapping on an empty pipe or an exposed bell, just to hear the sound. Matmos (Drew Daniel and M.C. Schmidt) have been doing such things for years and recording the results, from the pots and pans of their childhood to “the metallic gates around a tomb in an underground crypt.” Over time, these artists have amassed a vast library of sounds; including one set comprised of washing machine sounds (Ultimate Care II) and one of plastic (Plastic Anniversary). The new set is metal-based, and looks back on their lives while acknowledging their mortality. To our delight, their initial pot and pan joy has survived intact.
Metallic Life Review is also an album of distinct sides: the first was meticulously created, while the second is performed live. On Side A, one can hear the duo’s precision, on Side B their spontaneity. “Norway Doorway” begins with a gong, which is soon joined by a cemetery gate, a foreboding entrance. But soon there is a pulse, the hammering of bells and ringing of chimes. The whole thing breaks down at the end with a series of clanks. One thinks of Harry Bertoia and his barns of homemade metallic sculpture, and of last year’s Material Prosody from mHz, whose “Copper” (by Matmos) serves as a precedent for the new collection; one even wonders if they are using the same gong.
Jack Colbert’s video for “The Rust Belt” honors the pleasures of collecting metal objects: keys and coins, pendants and tags, locks and rings, all lovingly displayed. The percussion and silence are mirrored by the changing images, which take on lives of their own, sometimes fleeing the frame, other times organizing themselves into phylums. When the music turns three-dimensional, the video follows suit. Björk sang of throwing “car parts, bottles and cutlery” off a cliff; Colbert does the opposite, hoarding bottle caps, crosses and forks, which in one scene take on human form.
“Changing States” (the album’s first single) is similarly percussive, albeit less industrial, its edges softened by Owen Gardner’s glockenspiel. Other guests include Susan Alcorn (pedal steel), Thor Harris (drums) and Jason Willet (guitar), while Jeff Carey’s melted aluminum cans also make an appearance, although it’s impossible to identify where. “Steel Tongues” is as sweet as a lullaby, its innocent sheen only temporarily ruffled by distant motors and slightly dissonant yet exuberant clashes. Amazingly, anything on the first side could be an effective single; “The Chrome Reflects Our Image” is inherently calm, Alcorn contributing the timbres of a Morricone film, conjuring images of a lone peddler on the road, saddlebags filled with metal objects that clink and clang about as the wooden tires struggle with the grooves of the road.
In the 20-minute title track, one simply gets to hear Matmos having fun. The improvisations are hallmarks of their live show, recorded here in a studio, yielding the same sense of collaborative wonder. In this piece, they take inventory of their lives in light of recent personal losses, which sadly include Alcorn. How many more years will Matmos have? Their self-titled debut landed in 1997, and they have already outlasted many of their contemporaries. Metallic Life Review includes samples collected over the course of their career, but it’s not a farewell set; it’s an acknowledgment that time is limited, and unpredictable. To hear them on this title piece is to realize how instinctive their collaboration has become, with each reacting to the other in fluid fashion, creating a living, breathing, metallic machine. Matmos occupies a distinct niche in experimental music, so we’re hoping for many more years. (Richard Allen)
Wed Jun 18 00:01:27 GMT 2025