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- Summary: The latest full-length release from electronic duo Matmos features music created from the archive of field recordings from the Smithsonian Folkways label.
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- Record Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
- Genre(s): Electronic, Electronica, Techno, Pop/Rock, Experimental Techno, Ambient Techno
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Score distribution:
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Positive: 6 out of 7
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Mixed: 1 out of 7
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Negative: 0 out of 7
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Nov 7, 2023At times, Return to Archive rivals Ultimate Care II when it comes to the more challenging, cerebral side of Matmos' music, but its fascinating reflections on how we build on and reframe the past make for a hip, thoughtful celebration of Smithsonian Folkways' forward-thinking legacy.
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The WireNov 7, 2023With Return To Archive, the balance is just right – this gets nearer to sound art. [Nov 2023, p.52]
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MojoNov 15, 2023Unlikely to soundtrack your next dinner party, but it's hard not to marvel at Matmos's cut-and-paste mastery. [Jan 2023, p.93]
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Nov 9, 2023Return to Archive is the motley, riotous result, a suitably retrofuturistic collage incorporating over two dozen records ranging from Sounds of Animals to Sounds of Medicine, International Morse Code to End the Cigarette Habit Through Self Hypnosis.
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UncutNov 13, 2023The pair's keen rhythmic sense makes even the unusual palatable. [Review of the Year 2023, p.30]
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Nov 7, 2023Return to Archive is a funny and unsettling trip through the past, to a time before we felt like we’d heard everything. But its greatest power is in forcing us to question what we should archive, given that any noise can capture the world it came from.
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Nov 7, 2023The results are compelling, though a few cuts are more sound collage than song.