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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Uncut

Supreme Balloon adds up to the duo's most consistently enjoyable albums yet. [June 2008, p.98]

Mojo

Supreme Balloon is an airy sphere of joyful electronic possibility. [June 2008, p.103]

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.

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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]

Magnet

Daniel and Schmidt have created a peculiar album that reminds us of the majesty contained in vintage machinery.

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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.

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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]

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.

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Lost At Sea

Supreme Balloon's vintage synthesizers and basic drumbeats make for the least sonically varied of Matmos' recent albums.

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The Wire

Getting the full measure of this quickly hermetic collection depends considerably on how you shuffle and deal formats. [May 2008, p.57]

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.

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Q Magazine

The results remain defiantly out of the ordinary. [June 208, p.145]

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.

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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.

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What Our Users Said

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.

Felipe P. gave it a10:
Fantastic and hypnotic sound!

Elliott gave it a10:
Love it, especially "Polychords" and the 24-minute title track.

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Supreme Balloon

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