Album Reviews

If R2D2, Luke Skywalker's and C3PO's trusty sidekick from Star Wars, made a techno record for toddlers, it would most definitely resemble Matmos's Supreme Balloon. This record sounds like an Atari video game that's overdosed on a corrosive concoction of crack, blips, beeps, bells, whistles and the kitchen sink. You name the noise, and chances are, Matmos have inserted it into their quirky, sometimes unlistenable mix.

Supreme Balloon is a platter-piled high with experimental glitch hop, and it's made by real-life gay couple MC Schmidt and Drew Daniel, who spin an alternate universe with their studio tools. There's nothing organic about this release, giving it a bit of a cold, somewhat sterile vibe. However, the pair, who've been known to record everything from the reproductive tract of a cow to the pages of the Bible turning and then employ them in their kooky sonic stew, makes a concerted and valiant effort to keep some of the songs upbeat, infusing a child-like wonder and lightness to opener "Rainbow Flag" and its successor, "Polychords." Supreme Balloon is prescribed for the artsy music fan who is looking for something that hangs out so far in left field that it's practically out of the ballpark.

— Amy Sciarretto
05.12.08