Episode 25: IRREGARDS - with Matmos

The long-running electronic duo Matmos have just released a gorgeous new LP, Regards / Ukłony dla Bogusław Schaeffer. Whereas their previous album, 2020’s The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises in Group Form, saw the couple collaging contributions from 99 friends recorded at 99 bpm, their latest is dedicated to the work of just one person: Polish polymath Bogusław Schaeffer (1929-2019). In this episode, we discuss how their reputation for conceptualism has often served to obscure the formal characteristics of their work. Can an object be a concept? Is “washing machine” or “plastic” a concept? With their signature blend of serious humor, the pair reflect on touring with a washing machine, the practicalities of licensing music, and the complexities of working with Schaeffer’s archive. Interview recorded between Baltimore and Montreal, April 2022 Produced and mixed in New York, May 2022 TRACKLIST ARTIST – “TITLE” (ALBUM, LABEL, YEAR) Matmos - “Anti-Antiphon(Absolute Decomposition) / Anty-Antyfona (Dekonstrukcja_na_całego)” [excerpt]  (Regards / Ukłony dla Bogusław Schaeffer, Thrill Jockey, 2022) Matmos intro collage + Barbarella Matmos clip (1968) Matmos - “Anti-Antiphon” [excerpt] (Regards, Thrill Jockey, 2022) Matmos - “A DOUGHNUT IN THE SKY” (The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises in Group Form, Thrill Jockey, 2020) Matmos - “Flight to Sodom / Lot do Salo” (Regards Thrill Jockey, 2022) Song that my Whirlpool stackable washing machine plays Matmos - [opening excerpt] (Ultimate Care II, Thrill Jockey, 2016) Matmos – “Always Three Words” (quasi-objects, vague terrain, 1998) Matmos - “Memento Mori” (A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure, Matador, 2001) Matmos clip from Top Gear: Series 5, Episode 9, Ariel Atom 46:09 – 46:40 (2004) Matmos – “Plastic Minor” (Matmos, Vague Terrain, 1997) Matmos ‎– “You (Rrose Mix)” (The Ganzfeld EP, Thrill Jockey, 2012) Matmos - “Cobra Wages Shuffle / Off! Schable w gurę!”  (Regards, Thrill Jockey, 2022) Matmos - “In Search Of A Lost Faculty” (The Marriage Of True Minds, Thrill Jockey, 2013) Joseph Sannicandro - Improv with Matmos' Bogusław Schaeffer Ableton sample kit Bogusław Schaeffer - “Berlin 80 II” (Inventionen: Berlin 80 II / Fabulas II / Inventio, Edition RZ, 1985) Matmos - [late excerpt] (Ultimate Care II, Thrill Jockey, 2016) Matthew Herbert - “August 2010” (ONE PIG, Accidental, 2011) Matmos - “Extending The Plastisphere To GJ237b (Plastic Anniversary, Thrill Jockey, 2019) Jennifer Veillerobe – “B3” (Luftlöcher, Senufo, 2013) Run The Jewels - “Creown (Alchemist Remix)” (Meow The Jewels, Mass Appeal, 2015) Terry Fox - “The Labyrinth Scored for the Purrs of 11 Different Cats” [excerpt] (Tellus #21, Tellus, 1988) Alvin Curran - [Side A, opening excerpt] (Fiori Chiari, Fiori Oscuri, Ananda, 1978) Count Dooku clips from Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) Matmos - “Part VII. The Backyard” (ROBERT ASHLEY’s Perfect Lives: Baltimore, 3/28/17) Pierluigi Billone - “excerpt” (1 + 1 = 1, Kairos, 2006) Ivan Catteneo - "Kiss me I'm italian" (Urlo, CGD, 1980) Matmos - “The Little People ..." (Matmos and Michael Brown)” (Work Work Work, Vague Terrain, 2006) M.C. Schmidt - “Lowland Side” (Batu Malablab, Megaphone / Knock’em Dead, 2015) The Soft Pink Truth - “Space Formerly Occupied ...” (Am I Free To Go?, self-released, 2020) Joseph Sannicandro - Sample kit Improv (2022) - Sound Propositions is written, recorded, mixed, and produced by Joseph Sannicandro.