Matmos have always pushed sound design and the idea of concept albums to new and unimaginable heights. Computer technology and sampling has allowed them to make whole albums out of the strangest of sources.

On their latest “Plastic Anniversary”, Every sound created on the album is made with plastic. Just like their other work they take this idea and push it to its limits. A highlight for me being the lead melody for the track “Fanfare for Polyethylene Waste Containers”. The monolithic almost brass like sound in the lower notes sounds closer to woodwind as it rises in octaves. It really stood out to me as a great piece of sound design, especially with the knowledge of its source.

Matmos continue to surprise and delight with their music. They never seem constricted by the limitations they set on themselves. Instead, it results in new creative music that keeps their style fresh from album to album:

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Ultimate Care II is a really interesting album. A single piece of music made from the recordings of a washing machine. This may seem a little avant-garde for most people but trust me they manage to pull of the miraculous and make something so unique also highly assessable.

Although one long track, the album is split into excerpts and ends on a powerful high with Excerpt Nine my track of the week. Sounds from this washing machine are expertly cut and moulded to make brilliantly well structured persuasive sections that are constantly evolving and jumping around the stereo field with a real drive. Matmos turn these unique samples into great modern dance music because of skilled design. You won’t hear percussion programmed so well on many modern dance music and its this programming prowess that makes the album as catchy as it is:

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