Park Foundation Music App

Home > Artists

Matmos

Matmos is an American experimental electronic duo of [a31065] and [a=Drew Daniel] active since the mid-1990s and based in Baltimore, Maryland. The band is named after a "seething lake of evil slime" from the '68 cult sci-fi film [r=1632360]. Matmos gained prominence for its postmodernist approach and the ability to create "listenable" music from various bizarre objects. On most releases, Matmos scrupulously list all samples and sources, ranging from amplified crayfish nerve tissue, cow uterus, snails and contact microphones on human hair to life support systems, inflatable blankets, solid gold coins, and plastic riot police shield. Daniel and Schmidt create "concept albums," taking turns to decide on the next record's topic. Matmos has explored various diverse concepts: "surgical procedures" on 2001 [i][m=17057][/i], a "Western/country" genre ('99 [i][m=17044][/i]) and "Medieval music" (2003 [i][m=17073][/i]), "various types of plastics" ([i][m=1510156][/i] in 2019), "Whirlpool washing machine" ([i][m=958262][/i] from 2016), "Ganzfeld experiment & parapsychology" ([i][m=521821][/i] in 2013). Martin Schmidt met Drew Daniel in San Francisco in the early 1990s, and they soon began making music together, self-releasing an 8-bit mono "mixtape/demo" cassette [i][r=4314385][/i] circa 1993. Schmidt and Daniel were also members of a glitch project [a=Disc] with [a=Miguel Depedro] in 1997-98, and played in occult-avantgarde band [a=IAO Core], appearing on '98 [i][r=975281][/i] album. Between 1999 and 2008, Matmos were signed to the [l=Matador] label. The duo joined [l=Thrill Jockey Records] in October 2012 and released its 12th studio album, [i][m=2637398][/i], in May 2022. Matmos also runs [b][l=Vague Terrain][/b] private imprint and has published over dozen of collaborative albums and EPs on other prominent international labels, including [l12114], [l264], [l13047], [l552], [l130482], [l25455] and [l2507]. Matmos developed a rotating cast of guest musicians throughout the career, regularly working with [a=Lesser], [a=Jon Leidecker] ([a=Wobbly]), [a76860], [a=Keith Fullerton Whitman], [a7495395], [a=Dan Deacon], [a=Jason Willett], [a=Owen Gardner] and other members of [a=Horse Lords], [a=People Like Us], and [a=Matthew Herbert]. In 1998, an Icelandic superstar [a=Björk] invited Matmos to remix her [i][m=34355][/i] single. The duo further collaborated on her 2001 [i][m=37082][/i] album and toured internationally as core members of Bjork's live band on [i]Vespertine[/i] (August–December 2001) and [i]Greatest Hits[/i] (May–September 2003) world tours. From 2011 to 2013, Matmos played in the stage ensemble for [a290134]'s production [i]The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic[/i] with [a333056] (guitar, clarinet), [a1239196] (piano) and [a268659] (guitar, bass). The band contributed music to a few soundtracks, including Daria Martin's "Minotaur" film and works of Berlin-based choreographer [a=Ayman Harper]. Drew and Martin also made music for hardcore gay fetish porn, with selected tracks released on 2002 [i][r=60953][/i] CD-R. They recorded a song with [a=David Grubbs] for [i][r=624804][/i], a 2012 documentary about elderly French gays and lesbians, and appeared on [i][r15990805][/i] video game soundtrack.