Matmos – Supreme Balloon
Supreme Balloon – Matmos
By Aidan Roberts
If you can imagine a giant musical robot made entirely of vintage Korg and Yamaha synthesizers, vomiting patch-leads onto a technicoloured digital mixing console, then perhaps that circumstance may sound a little like this record. Matmos recorded this album entirely with synthesizers and sequencers, specifically avoiding the use of microphones or human noise. The result is an astonishingly clean sound-scape – layers of blurping, spitting synths with an absolute silence threshold rarely heard in recorded music. A noble concept, and as with most self-enforced limitations it makes the music more interesting; there are moments here where the listener is transported to David Riley or Jean-Michel Jarre. But the concept can only reach so far without becoming token; and unfortunately after a while it all comes across a bit silly. The title track, the staggeringly long Supreme Balloon works best with its minimalist drones and slowly escalating arpeggios. But amid the babble of squeaking and squawking cartoon electronics, there’s a lot less intrigue than I might have hoped.
**1/2
