Matmos And So Percussion: Hot Wet Euromerican Summer

Like the Transatlantic migratory runaround of ocean dwelling eels, the Matmos trajectory can be a slippery thing, but you can bet that the coming of summer means that cases get packed in preparation to slither over to take part in a few European festivals. As if our sparsely placed and comfortably paced continental shenanigans weren’t cushy enough, we end the summer squarely in Yankee territory with a righteous double header. Matmos has the distinct honor of being So Percussion’s guests for two nights at Lincoln Center in New York City. For these two nights we will also be joined by Dave Douglas (on the 20th) and Zeena Parkins (on the 21st), so . . . you will need to come to both nights, secretly record them, and then collage them together in order to fashion an accurate treasure map. Many members of Drew’s extended family will be making the journey from Alabama to celebrate this particularly grand feather in the Matmos cap, so please don’t pelt the stage with rocks and garbage.

June 23 2007 10:30 PM
MATMOS with So Percussion perform ‘DISSOTERRARE AIDA’
Piazza Bra’, in front of the Arena, Palazzo della Gran Guardia
Verona, Italy

This will be a special concert commissioned by the Arena di Verona; new sound and video work based (loosely) on Verdi’s ‘Aida’. The full lineup will be M. C. Schmidt, Drew Daniel, Nate Boyce, Jason Treuting, Josh Quillen and Adam Sliwinksi. You can expect cut-ups of Ethiopian bagangas, Egyptian masmoudi rhythms, and no discernible relation to Elton John.

We’re also going to play some European and American concerts this summer. Check it out:

June 26 2007 8 PM
MATMOS with So Percussion
Museum della Ceramica
Faenza, Italy

July 1 2007 8:00 PM
CORNELIUS and MATMOS
Queen Elizabeth Hall
London, UK

July 4 2007 6:00 PM
MATMOS with DJ Diabless
Piscine du Carrousel
Dijon, France

July 5 2007 8:00 PM
MATMOS at Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival City, Denmark

July 6 2007 8:00 PM
MATMOS (M.C. Schmidt, Drew Daniel, Nate Boyce)
Santarcangelo dei Teatri
Santarcangelo, Italy

July 7 2007 8:00 PM
MATMOS
Venezia Campi Magnetici
Venice, Italy

July 12 2007 8:00 PM
MATMOS
Cartier Foundation
Paris, France

July 20 & July 21 2007
SO PERCUSSION & MATMOS with Dave Douglas and Zeena Parkins
Lincoln Center
New York, New York

In conjunction with this tour, we have created a limited edition, tour only CD release entitled ‘A Paradise of Dainty Devices: interludes, micromedia & sound edits’. This CD is a kind of homage to sadly defunct OS 9 software program Sound Edit 16 and features many unreleased oddities and some edit-intensive excerpts from the very first Matmos release, ‘Matmos in Lo-Fidelity’, our 1994 noise cassette debut. Each copy comes in a cardstock envelope with a handmade collaged cover created by our crack team of scissor wielding fine artists (M.C. Schmidt, Drew Daniel, Chris Miller, Jamie Burkhart). There will only be 100 of these and when they are gone, they are gone daddy gone, so plan accordingly.

THE MATMOS SIGNAL PHASES FROM WEST COAST TO EAST COAST

Though rumors and mutterings have been circulating on discussion boards and such, it’s time to come clean on the official Matmos site about an earth-shattering switcheroo: as of August, we are moving from San Francisco, California to Baltimore, Maryland. That’s right, we’re leaving our hearts in The City By The Bay and trucking our enormous mountain of moldering possessions to, er, another city by a Bay.

In his essay ‘Baltimore, Maryland: The Hairdo Capital of the World’, John Waters memorably refers to our new home as ‘Trashtown, U.S.A., the Sleaziest City on Earth’; but it’s fitting that Baltimore, which may be more familiar to some of you as Charm City, U.S.A. is also known as The City That Reads, because this transformation is motivated by the noble cause of literature. To wit, Drew Daniel has completed his PhD at the University of California at Berkeley, where he was hooded by his advisor Professor Janet Adelman, and has now become Dr. Drew Daniel, PhD. Dissertation in hand, the Doctor has found gainful employment as an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Johns Hopkins University.

This means that we will no longer be receiving Matmos mail at the old 800 Hampshire Street address; as of August 1st, please address all Matmos mail to:

Matmos
SEE CONTACT SECTION

We are really excited about this, and looking forward to living in Charm City, smashing crustaceans with wooden mallets, spotting filmcrews for The WIRE, having candlelight vigils at the grave of Edgar Allen Poe, teaching Renaissance literature and (hopefully) making friends with our fellow Baltimoreans. Matmos activities will continue, as we are still in the throes of creating the next Matmos album. From West Coast to East Coast, it’s all love.

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