Matmos - A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure
(Matador)
San Francisco's Matmos have created an electronic music album that centers around the sounds of the medical profession. Removed from their context, the sounds are unidentifiable, but a quick perusal of the (brilliantly designed) liner notes reveals the fascinating sources.
The most successful moment of A Chance to Cut is "For Felix (and All the Rats)," an airy requiem for their deceased pet lab rat. His cage is the only source material, plucked and bowed (and certainly laden with many effects); the sound is absolutely beautiful--more shimmery than the finest guitar-generated ambience and actually a bit sad. The plucking section is well-amplified, turning into a rat gamelan before searing into a noisy explosion. This is experimental music at its finest.
The rest of the album is far more beat-oriented; the duo's skill at computer editing is unmatched, merging human skull fragments with goat spine (on "Memento Mori") and blending plastic surgery samples into an Autechre-esque collage on "California Rhinoplasty"). The latter ends in a dreamy collage of white noise (probably someone getting a chin implant or something) before sharply cutting off and ending the album, as if life support was pulled.
Matmos fall into somewhat cliché dance rhythms at times, which is the album's only weakness. The opening track and especially the cute-but-no-thanks "Spondee" are almost too accessible. These tracks utilize actual instruments a lot, which is fine, except
the liposuction sounds carelessly pasted-in. "Spondee"'s only claim to medical fame is in the words to a hearing test. The track is fun, but a bit cheap.
Still, most of A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure is quite fascinating. Dance-oriented or not, it gives me a weird, uneasy chill from listening, especially on "L.A.S.I.K." (a Merzbow-esque recording of laser eye surgery that is implanted with a tricky rhythm). I assume (from the liner notes) that the operation was a success, but I'll certainly keep my eyeglasses.
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