Name: Return to Archive
Brand: Matmos

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

SFW40261LP

Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2024-05-03

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Proper

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

93074026113

Total Cap

9999

Black LP

SFW40261

093074026120

Artist

Matmos

Genre GB

Electronic

Label GB

Smithsonian Folkways

Matmos is an American experimental electronic duo active since the mid-1990s and based in Baltimore, Maryland. Named after a "seething lake of evil slime" from the cult sci-fi film Barbarella, Matmos gained prominence for their postmodernist approach and ability to create "listenable" music from bizarre objects. Their releases feature samples and sources ranging from amplified crayfish nerve tissue to solid gold coins and plastic riot police shields.

Daniel and Schmidt, the members of Matmos, create concept albums with diverse themes such as surgical procedures, Western/country genres, medieval music, various types of plastics, whirlpool washing machines, and ganzfeld experiments & parapsychology. They have been signed to labels like Matador Records and Thrill Jockey Records.

Throughout their career, Matmos has collaborated with guest musicians including Lesser, Jon Leidecker (Wobbly), Keith Fullerton Whitman, Dan Deacon, Jason Willett, Owen Gardner and members of Horse Lords, People Like Us, Matthew Herbert. They have also worked extensively with Björk on remixes as well as her albums Vespertine and Greatest Hits.

In 1987, following the death of Moses Asch, the Smithsonian Institution acquired from his estate the rights, papers, and masters for Folkways Records. This was done with the Smithsonian's promise to keep all of the 2168 Folkways titles in print, which they continue to do to this day under the *Smithsonian Folkways* banner.

Under their ownership, *Smithsonian Folkways* has become a renowned label in the music industry. With a commitment to preserving and promoting traditional folk music from around the world, they have curated an extensive collection of albums that showcase diverse cultural expressions.

As one of the leading authorities on folk music, *Smithsonian Folkways* offers a wide range of genres including blues, country, gospel, jazz, and world music. Their catalog features legendary artists such as Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie as well as lesser-known but equally talented performers who have made significant contributions to their respective musical traditions.

In 1948, Moses Asch founded Folkways Records with a self-proclaimed mandate to record the sounds of the entire world. From the 'Sounds of North American Frogs' to 'Speech After the Removal of the Larynx', Folkways documented the audible nooks and crannies of existence on hundreds of LPs produced by field recordists, scientists, and experimentalists probing the margins of the human soundscape. Seventy-five years later, electronic music duo Matmos have diced, looped, stretched, and recontextualized these recordings on their new album 'Return to Archive', which was assembled entirely from the so-called non-musical sounds released on Folkways. On just the album's first track, dolphins, beetles, telephones, humans stretching the limits of their vocal cords, a shortwave radio, and metal balers co-mingle in a fantasia of sound both everyday and extraordinary. Each track on Return to Archive morphs its source material into something completely unexpected, honoring and expanding on Folkways' legacy of sonic exploration. Featuring Evicshen and Aaron Dilloway.

Return to Archive

Music GB

Discover Return to Archive by Matmos. An extraordinary album that recontextualizes non-musical sounds from Folkways Records. Featuring Evicshen and Aaron Dilloway.