Matmos

2025-10-23T18:02:25Z

2001:5A8:40C2:9B00:6C64:8665:90C3:AD05: /* Hit 'em */

{{short description|American electronic music duo}}
{{for-multi|the fictional entity|Mathmos (fictional entity)|the album|Matmos (album){{!}}''Matmos'' (album)}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2012}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Matmos
| image = File:Matmos.jpg
| caption = M. C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel at the 2006 [[Pitchfork Music Festival]] in Chicago
| image_size =
| background = group_or_band
| alias =
| origin = [[San Francisco]], U.S.
| instrument =
| genre = {{flatlist|
* [[Electronic music|Electronic]]
* [[experimental music|experimental]]
* [[Glitch (music)|glitch]]
* [[ambient techno]]
* [[Intelligent dance music|IDM]]
* [[Post-industrial (music)|post-industrial]]
}}
| occupation =
| years_active = 1995–present
| label = {{flatlist|
* [[Matador Records|Matador]]
* [[Thrill Jockey]]
* [[Smithsonian Folkways]]
}}
| associated_acts = {{flatlist|
* [[Björk]]
* [[The Soft Pink Truth]]
* [[Disc (band)|Disc]]
}}
| website = [http://vague-terrain.com Official Site]
| current_members = M.C. Schmidt<br/>Drew Daniel
| past_members =
}}

'''Matmos''' is an experimental [[electronic music]] duo formed in [[San Francisco]] and based in [[Baltimore]]. '''M. C. (Martin) Schmidt''' and '''Drew Daniel''' are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their performances notably including [[J Lesser]]. Apart from releasing twelve full-length studio albums and numerous collaborative works, Matmos is also well known for their collaboration with Icelandic singer and musician [[Björk]], both on studio recordings and live tours. After being signed to [[Matador Records]] for nine years, Matmos signed with [[Thrill Jockey]] in 2012.<ref>[http://vague-terrain.com/2012/matmos-plays-shows-changes-teams/ announcement] on the official website (July 20, 2012)</ref> The name ''Matmos'' refers to the seething lake of evil slime beneath the city Sogo in the 1968 film ''[[Barbarella (film)|Barbarella]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-10-11|title=Album: Matmos|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-matmos-87610.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-matmos-87610.html |archive-date=2022-05-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2021-10-17|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref>

==Notable work==
In 1998, Matmos remixed the [[Björk]] single "[[Alarm Call]]". Then the duo worked with Björk on her albums ''[[Vespertine]]'' (2001) and ''[[Medúlla]]'' (2004), as well as the ''Vespertine'' and ''Greatest Hits'' tours. In November 2004, Matmos spent 97 hours in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts as artists-in-residence'','' performing music with friends, musical guests and onlookers. The live album ''Work, Work, Work'', essentially a "best of" collection of the session, was released as a free download on their website.

Matmos gained notoriety for their use of unconventional samples including "freshly cut hair" and "the amplified neural activity of crayfish" on their first album<ref>Cooper, Sean (2008). [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p224164/biography|pure_url=yes}} "Matmos"], AllMusicGuide.com</ref> and "recorded the snips, clicks, snaps, and squelches of various surgical procedures, then nipped and tucked them into seven remarkably accessible, melodic pieces of experimental techno" for their album ''A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure''.<ref>Phares, Heather (2008). [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r523131|pure_url=yes}} "A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure"], AllMusicGuide.com.</ref> In 2011, Matmos participated in a programmed evening of events with the visual arts organisation [[Auto Italia South East]]. The event was produced in collaboration with record label [http://www.upsettherhythm.co.uk/ Upset The Rhythm] and included contributions from experimental electronic musicians Jon Wiese and Birds of Delay. Matmos have since collaborated with a large number of visual artists and arts organisations, including [[Cafe Oto]] and [http://www.metalculture.com/ Metal].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thewire.co.uk/video/matmos-live-at-auto-italia|title=Matmos Live At Auto Italia - The Wire|first=Nathan|last=Budzinski|website=The Wire Magazine - Adventures In Modern Music|access-date=18 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/16/digital-park-netpark-southend|title=Digital park delivers talking trees and a fishy monster in the pond|first=Nicola|last=Davis|newspaper=The Observer |date=16 June 2015|via=www.theguardian.com|access-date=18 August 2015}}</ref>

In 2015, Matmos appeared in ''[[Soundhunters]],'' a documentary directed by Beryl Koltz and broadcast on the Franco-German channel [[arte]] as well as on many channels abroad.<ref>{{Citation|title=Soundhunters|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4458220/|access-date=2019-07-17}}</ref> In September 2023, the duo announced their album ''[[Return to Archive]]'' would be released marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of the [[Smithsonian Folkways]] label, with a three-hour free concert at the [[Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden|Hirshhorn Museum]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] in which they remixed [[field recording]]s from the label's catalogue in [[octophonic sound]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Matmos Plays the Sounds of Folkways Records |url=https://hirshhorn.si.edu/event/matmos-plays-the-sounds-of-folkways-records/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden {{!}} Smithsonian |language=en}}</ref>

===Hit em===
{{Tweet
| name = DREW DANIEL
| username = DDDrewDaniel
| replyto =
| text = had a dream I was at a rave talking to a girl and she told me about a genre called “hit em” that is in 5/4 time at 212 bpm with super crunched out sounds thank you dream girl
| date = Jul 29, 2024
| ID = 1817910903557570569
}}
In 2024, Daniel [[Tweet (social media)|tweeted]] about a new musical genre called "Hit Em" which he claims to have learned about during a [[dream]] while he was asleep; in the tweet he described the genre to be fixed at 212 [[Beats per minute|BPM]] and {{music|time|5|4}} [[time signature]].<ref name="Fader HitEm">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefader.com/2024/08/01/hit-em-crunchy-new-genre-sound|title=Hit 'em is the summer's crunchiest and most unlikely new genre|website=The FADER}}</ref><ref name="Guardian HitEm">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/aug/02/hit-em-matmos-drew-daniel-dreamed-the-summer-weirdest-club-sound|title=Hit em: how a dream about raves, graves and slime led Matmos's Drew Daniel to a new music genre|first=Daniel Dylan|last=Wray|date=August 2, 2024|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref name="Musicradar HitEm">{{Cite web|url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/hit-em-viral-tweet-genre|title="It's in 5/4 time at 212 bpm with super crunched out sounds": Producers respond with real tracks following viral tweet about made-up genre discovered in dream|first=Matt|last=Mullenpublished|date=July 31, 2024|website=MusicRadar}}</ref> The post went viral, with electronic music producers attempting to create examples of the fictional genre.<ref name="Fader HitEm"/><ref name="Guardian HitEm"/><ref name="Musicradar HitEm"/>

==Personal lives==
Schmidt and Daniel are a couple.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://buttmagazine.com/interviews/matmos/|title=Matmos|website=Butt}}</ref> Daniel received a Ph.D. in [[English studies|English]] from the [[University of California, Berkeley]] with a dissertation on the literary cult of [[Depression (mood)|melancholy]] directed by Janet Adelman. He is an associate professor in the English department at [[Johns Hopkins University]] in [[Baltimore]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://english.jhu.edu/directory/drew-daniel/ |title=Drew Daniel |website=English, Johns Hopkins University|date=3 August 2015 }}</ref> That had the band moving from San Francisco to Baltimore in August 2007. Daniel also has a personal dance music project, [[the Soft Pink Truth]]. He is a contributing writer to ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'', an online magazine, and he wrote the ''[[33⅓|33 1/3]]'' book about [[Throbbing Gristle]]'s 1979 album ''[[20 Jazz Funk Greats]]'' in addition to two books of literary criticism.<ref name=":0" />

Schmidt formerly worked as a teacher in the New Genres Department at the [[San Francisco Art Institute]], and is a professor of music technology at Johns Hopkins University's [[Peabody Institute]] and the president of the High Zero Foundation, which organizes Baltimore's annual [[High Zero]] festival of improvised music.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Faculty: Martin Schmidt |url=https://peabody.jhu.edu/faculty/martin-schmidt/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=[[Peabody Institute]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Both Schmidt and Daniel appeared in the [[Carl Sagan]] music [[Short film|short]] ''Unseen Forces'' by Ryan Junell.

==Discography==

===Albums===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:left;"
|+ Matmos albums
! scope="col"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:400px"| Album details
|-
! scope="row"| 1997
| ''[[Matmos (album)|Matmos]]''
*Released: 1997
*Label: Vague Terrain
|-
! scope="row"| 1998
| ''[[Quasi-Objects]]''
*Released: June 16, 1998
*Label: Vague Terrain
|-
! scope="row"| 1999
| ''[[The West (album)|The West]]''
*Released: 1999
*Label: Deluxe
|-
! scope="row"| 2001
| ''[[A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure]]''<ref name="matmos25" />
*Released: March 13, 2001
*Label: [[Matador Records|Matador]]
|-
! scope="row"| 2003
| ''[[The Civil War (album)|The Civil War]]''<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/matmos-civil-war |title=Music Review: Matmos - The Civil War |website=Tiny Mix Tapes |language=en |access-date=2019-03-15}}</ref>
*Released: September 23, 2003
*Label: Matador
|-
! scope="row"| 2006
| ''[[The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast]]''<ref name="matmos25" />
*Released: May 9, 2006
*Label: Matador
|-
! scope="row"| 2008
| ''[[Supreme Balloon]]''
*Released: May 6, 2008
*Label: Matador
|-
! scope="row"| 2010
| ''[[Treasure State (album)|Treasure State]]''<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-03-22/how-matmos-and-s-percussion-compose-cacti |title=How Matmos and Sō Percussion compose with cacti |website=Public Radio International |date=22 March 2018 |language=en |access-date=2019-03-15}}</ref> (with [[So Percussion]])
*Released: July 13, 2010
*Label: [[Cantaloupe Music]]
|-
! scope="row"| 2013
| ''[[The Marriage of True Minds]]''<ref name="matmos25">{{Cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/matmos-25-anniversary-interview-2631329048.html |title=Matmos Celebrate Their 25th Anniversary: An Interview with Drew Daniel |date=2019-03-14 |website=PopMatters |language=en |access-date=2019-03-15}}</ref>
*Released: February 19, 2013
*Label: [[Thrill Jockey]]
|-
! scope="row"| 2016
| ''[[Ultimate Care II]]''
*Released: February 19, 2016
*Label: Thrill Jockey
|-
! scope="row"| 2019
| ''[[Plastic Anniversary]]''<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://exclaim.ca/music/article/matmos-plastic_anniversary |title=Matmos Plastic Anniversary |website=exclaim.ca |access-date=2019-03-15}}</ref>
*Released: March 15, 2019
*Label: Thrill Jockey
|-
! scope="row"| 2020
| ''[[The Consuming Flame|The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises in Group Form]]''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/matmos-announce-new-album-the-consuming-flame-open-exercises-in-group-form/ |title=Matmos Announce New Album The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises in Group Form |work=Pitchfork |date=July 7, 2020 |access-date=August 18, 2020 |author=Torres, Eric}}</ref>
*Released: August 21, 2020
*Label: Thrill Jockey
|-
! scope="row"| 2022
| ''[[Regards/Ukłony dla Bogusław Schaeffer]]''
*Released: May 20, 2022
*Label: Thrill Jockey
|-
! scope="row" | 2023
| ''[[Return to Archive]]''
*Released: November 3, 2023<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 6, 2023 |title='Return to Archive' Marks Legendary Electronic Music Duo Matmos's Entry Into the Folkways Catalog |url=https://folkways.si.edu/news-and-press/return-to-archive |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=Smithsonian Folkways Recordings |language=en-US}}</ref>
*Label: [[Smithsonian Folkways]]
|-
! scope="row" | 2025
| ''[[Metallic Life Review]]''
*Released: June 20, 2025<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Monroe |first1=Jazz |title=Matmos Compose Album Entirely From Metal Objects, Share Tour Dates and New Song |work=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=2025-04-17 |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/matmos-compose-album-entirely-from-metal-objects-share-tour-dates-and-new-song-listen/ |language=en-US |access-date=2025-04-20 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
*Label: Thrill Jockey
|}

===EPs===
* ''[[Full On Night]]'' Split Disc with [[Rachel's]] (2000, Quarterstick)
* ''[[California Rhinoplasty]]'' (2001 Feb 12, OLE-501)
* ''Rat Relocation Program'' (2004)
* ''For Alan Turing'' (2006)
* ''The Ganzfeld EP'' (2012, on [[Thrill Jockey]] 315)<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://vimeo.com/51230173|title=Matmos - Very Large Green Triangles|work=Thrill Jockey Records|date=11 October 2012|via=Vimeo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://boingboing.net/2012/11/05/matmoss-ganzfeld-ep-electro.html |title=Matmos's Ganzfeld EP: electronica meets ESP |website=Boing Boing |date=5 November 2012 |language=en-US |access-date=2019-03-15}}</ref>

===Limited edition===
* ''Matmos Live with J Lesser'' (2002)
* ''A Viable Alternative to Actual Sexual Contact'', as Vague Terrain Recordings (2002, Piehead Records)
* "A Paradise of Dainty Devices: interludes, micromedia & sound edits" (limited edition of 100, for their "Wet Hot EuroAmerican Summer Tour", 2007)
* ''Polychords'' : Promo Single released on Matador
* ''[[I Want Candy#Parodies|I Want Snowden/Sheremetyevo Breakdown Blues]]'', split single with the Disco Yahtzee Empire (2013)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.metason.net/artistinfo?name=Matmos|title=Matmos|last=Metason|website=ArtistInfo}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Matmos-The-Disco-Yahtzee-Empire-I-Want-Snowden-Sheremetyevo-Breakdown-Blues/release/5264240|title=Matmos & The Disco Yahtzee Empire - I Want Snowden / Sheremetyevo Breakdown Blues|website=Discogs|date=July 2013 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==

{{refbegin}}

* {{Cite web |last1=Doyle |first1=Tom |title=Matmos: The Art of Cut & Paste |work=[[Sound on Sound]] |date=May 2004 |url=https://www.soundonsound.com/people/matmos |language=en |access-date=2024-11-10 |df=mdy-all }}

{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{official website}}
*[http://www.matadorrecords.com/matmos/ Matmos page at Matador Records]
*[http://www.myspace.com/matmos1 Matmos at Myspace]
*[http://www.furious.com/perfect/matmos.html Matmos at furious.com]

{{Matmos|state=expanded}}
{{The Soft Pink Truth}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Electronic music groups from California]]
[[Category:American intelligent dance musicians]]
[[Category:American electronic music duos]]
[[Category:American male musical duos]]
[[Category:LGBTQ-themed musical groups]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ musicians]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1995]]
[[Category:1995 establishments in California]]
[[Category:Thrill Jockey artists]]
[[Category:Matador Records artists]]
[[Category:Locust Music artists]]
[[Category:Electronic music groups from Maryland]]

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Matmos