Title: The West Artist: Matmos Release Date: 1999 Label: Autofact, Deluxe UPCs: 823566666004, 0832566666006, 714288050724 Genre: Electronica Styles: Post-Rock/Experimental, Ambient Techno, Electronica, Experimental Techno Moods: Fractured, Intense, Cerebral, Clinical, Complex, Detached, Playful, Quirky, Trippy, Volatile, Whimsical, Hypnotic, Literate, Eerie Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 0 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 1

1. Last Delicious Cigarette
2. Action at a Distance
3. Sun on 5 at 152
4. The West
5. Tonight, the End

Year Type Label Catalog # 2008 CD Autofact 06 2008 CD Autofact 6 ------ CD Deluxe 212

No other editions were found for this album.

More of a free-form compositional whole than a collection of songs, The West finds the Matmos duo inviting over friends of all persuasions for a freewheeling acoustics and electronics jamboree. Drew Daniel and M.C. Schmidt are intrigued by the twisted sound sources of various generations of music, and in so doing incorporate chamber-quartet violin and cello, genuinely down-home jew's harp and slide guitar, and electric and tremolo guitar as well as next-step digital editing/sequencing. The highlight is the extended jam that takes up tracks three and four, beginning with Steve Goodfriend behind a shuffling drum kit while Acetone's Mark Lightcap does his best Delta impression on slide guitar. You can almost see Matmos out on the front porch, heads down in front of their laptops, mixing the material even while they're adding their own twisted effects -- including a plucked banjo and later, down-tempo electro-funk. It's seriously done but really playful, groovy even while it's slightly academic sounding, and experimental but undeniably entertaining. It's a delightful listen for those into skewed music from a variety of sources, from Marc Ribot to Cul de Sac to Kid 606. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide

Name Credits Chris Guttmacher Drums David Pajo Guitar Drew Daniel Group Member, Sampling, Digital Editing, Sample Loops, Turntables, ?, Sequencing Jackie Gratz Cello Jim Putnam Trumpet Katharina Von Ledersteger Spoken Word Kris Force Violin, Viola Lesser Electronics Mark Lightcap Guitar, Horn, Slide Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Tuba, Jew's-Harp Martin C. Schmidt Mixing, SH-101, Guitar (Electric), Sequencing, Group Member, Banjo Matmos Main Performer Michael Brown Multi Instruments Mike Martinez Guitar Rex Ray Design Rick Brown Drums, Percussion Robert Waller Telephone Samples, Telephone Voice Steve Goodfriend Spoken Word, Drums Wiebke Ratzeburg Spoken Word