Up, Up And Away In Our Beautiful New Album “Supreme Balloon”

We are pleased to announce that on May 6th 2008 Matador Records will release the new Matmos album “Supreme Balloon” as a compact disc, two vinyl long playing records, and as a gallimaufry of digital files through iTunes and other online retailers of note.

The album is a pretty wild departure from classical Matmos working methods: no kooky or abject objects were played percussively, no conceptual rubrics or philosophical syllabi are appended, and, hell, no microphones were used at any point in the creation of the record. Instead, “Supreme Balloon” is an ALL SYNTHESIZER ALBUM. Old synths, new synths, MAX patches, one-of-a-kind modular rigs, decrepit consumer electronics of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, boutique effects pedals, tabla drum machines from India: it’s all there.

Drew and Safety Scissors work hard on the Electro Comp 100.
Supreme Balloon, indeed.

A number of close Matmos pals and some musical idols of ours came along for the ride this time: many of the songs are built of cut-up and manipulated synth solos played by Jay Lesser, Matthew “Safety Scissors” Curry, and Jon Leidecker (aka “Wobbly”). The album also features a guest appearance by Bay Area classical pianist Sarah Cahill, who tickles the plastic on our “cover” of French baroque composer Francois Couperin’s “Les Folies Francaises” and a face-melting solo on the E.V.I. (Electronic Voice Instrument) from a living treasure of American jazz, Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arkestra.

M.C. also working hard.
With the Coupigny Synth at the INA/GRM at RadioFrance.

For those of you completists who seek out bonus tracks, we would also like to point out that the vinyl and digital editions of the album include a bonus track featuring an ARP 2600 solo played by none other than Terry Riley. The album has some really sweet original artwork by Robert Syrett which was made in collaboration with the number-crunching wizards at The Echo Nest, and the whole package is lovingly layed out by Rex Ray.

You can now hear the album’s first song “Rainbow Flag” on Matador’s Matmos microsite. We will have lots more to say about the album once it is released, and we’re currently planning European and American tours in which only traditional synthetic cuisine of the highest quality will be served.

posted by mcess at 4:44pm| No Comments »