Review: Matmos - The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast (2006)

I was walking across the Chicago-Halsted aqueduct yesterday when i was overwhelmed with the smell of vomit. It seems unlikely that it was emanating from the Chicago Tribune distribution center that was just upwind of me, but there it was, the acrid, vile waft of puke. On the other hand, it didn't totally conflict with the music i was listening to: the end of track three ("Tract for Valerie Solanas") of Matmos's most recent release, which has a coda of stomach-flipping farting sounds, run through the deft computers of Matmos.

In fact, it's quite likely that these sounds were produced by genuine spinchters of some kind, as Matmos use many unconventional sound sources that have some kind of thematic connections to the songs on this album, each of which is named for a homosexual historical figure. This runs the gamut from King Ludwig II of Bavaria to (my personal favorite) William Burroughs.

I don't want to say too much about the sound sources, because i think this album is a lot more fun if discovered organically. Especially in light of it's terrific packaging, which includes a portrait and notes, printed on heavy-duty card stock, for each song. In many cases, the sources aren't particularly recognizable, but it seems that the point isn't just that you might recognize the sounds as somehow connected to the subject, but that the use of certain objects was part of the process of inspiration that allowed for the creation of the album. Inspiration, after all, is probably what Matmos are drawing from each of the subjects.

The link between the music and each figure is pretty loose, the Darby Crash song, for example, doesn't sound anything like a punk song. In general, the album seems to hew pretty close to the Matmos sound (though i'm not very familiar with just what that is) house-y beats layered with strange noises and samples cut up to form interesting rhythms.

What i liked most about this album is the way it flows together. I initially listened to it as mp3s which were arranged alphabetically, so i can atest to how well sequenced the album proper is. Each track builds on the next, creating a kind of aural space for you to explore, each change in tone and every new alien sound leading you into the unexpected.

I really dig this album, and my interest in some of the people that Matmos have written for only adds to my enjoyment. Worth checking out, and probably worth buying, given the sweet presentation.