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Supreme Balloon
by Matmos
The seventh album for the experimental band is promised to include many kinds of synthesizers.
| LABEL: |
Matador |
| RELEASE DATE: |
06 May 2008 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Electronic, Experimental |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
The Phoenix
After a few listens, the entirely synthetic remainder that is Supreme Balloon is not merely a relief but a delight. If anything, the limitation of having no limitations has revealed Matmos as more skilled, stylish, and sculptural here than on any of their past releases--not to mention versatile.
90
Tiny Mix Tapes
In synthesizers, Matmos have found their hearts; through old Cluster records, they’ve created one of the most pleasant surprises of the year.
80
All Music Guide
While The Supreme Balloon's nostalgic synthetic playground is a smaller statement than some of Matmos' other albums, it's still a strong one.
80
PopMatters
I am generally for shorter albums, so it’s to Daniels and Schmidt’s credit that I actually wish the brief (47-minute) Supreme Balloon was a double album.
80
Dusted Magazine
Ultimately, it underscores everything that’s right with Supreme Balloon--in the absence of any larger narrative structure, the group’s latest album afford them the chance not to be modern theoreticians par excellence, but rather a couple of earnest music fans that convey their own passion through the sounds they create.
80
The New York Times
The old gizmos and low-res sounds bring out Matmos’s sense of humor in cartoony tracks that go blipping and snorting along in bouncy 4/4, coming up with a new sonic rib-tickler every few bars.
80
Uncut
Supreme Balloon adds up to the duo's most consistently enjoyable albums yet. [June 2008, p.98]
80
Mojo
Supreme Balloon is an airy sphere of joyful electronic possibility. [June 2008, p.103]
80
Prefix Magazine
This application of the synthesizer’s capabilities across styles and time periods allows Matmos to explore their music through a more purely compositional aesthetic -- and, with any luck, they’ll be remembered for this just as much as for their experimental leanings.
80
Under The Radar
It’s an incredibly warm and playful new record that pays homage to Vangelis, Wendy Carlos, Perrey & Kingsley, and a host of other synth pioneers with Moog, ARP, Korg, and Roland-driven pieces. [Summer 2008]
80
Magnet
Daniel and Schmidt have created a peculiar album that reminds us of the majesty contained in vintage machinery.
75
Pitchfork
In the end, those appearances [by Keith Fullerton Whitman, Jay Lesser, and Sun Ra Arkestra's Marshall Allen] point to the album's only downside, which is the nagging sense that there's too much straight homage/pastiche and not enough of Matmos' considerable cleverness on display. Ultimately, though, it's a minor quibble.
72
Filter
Supreme Balloon is homage to a certain tendency in electronic music practically dating back to its inception--one which Matmos most proudly, and justly, belong. [Spring 2008, p.97]
70
Spin
Although they're purely instrumentalists, Matmos can too, with a charm that sets the laptop duo apart from lesser lights for whom chilly beats and icy synths are ends in themselves.
70
Lost At Sea
Supreme Balloon's vintage synthesizers and basic drumbeats make for the least sonically varied of Matmos' recent albums.
70
The Wire
Getting the full measure of this quickly hermetic collection depends considerably on how you shuffle and deal formats. [May 2008, p.57]
60
NOW Magazine
Much of their bubbly futuristic synth music goes no deeper than what you’d hear in old TV Ontario science shows. Cute but disposable.
60
Q Magazine
The results remain defiantly out of the ordinary. [June 208, p.145]
58
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The songs are generally jubilant, as signaled by the whirring synth giggles and quasi-Cuban bassline in 'Rainbow Flag,' but also slight in a way that suggests much of Supreme Balloon would have been a lot more fun to make than it is to listen to.
56
cokemachineglow
Inoffensive, largely listenable, and accessible, the album is still stunted, and so never reaches the peaks of "The Civil War," still their best and most fully formed effort.
The average user rating for this album is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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