The West (Reissue)

Autofact is pleased to announce a reissue of The West -- a five song album by the Baltimore electronic duo, Matmos -- in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the album's original recording, released on Deluxe Records in 1999. On this, their third release, Matmos collaborate with an all-star selection of friends to create an unusual hybrid of digitally-constructed acoustic music. Imitating but transforming rock, country, and folk gestures, The West reaches territory similar to work by John Fahey or Gastr del Sol from a perversely opposite end of the spectrum: instead of making organic music that draws upon electronic texture, this is electronic music that feels organic -- both in its sound sources and in its construction. Instead of the bizarre sound sources that Matmos have used in the past (amplified crayfish nerve tissue, rubber clothing, hair), the musique concrète elements on The West have an everyday quality: a phone rings, a car starts, the pages of a book are turned, water drips, a cigarette is smoked. Very quiet, familiar sounds are amplified into strange new shapes.