Matmos concert at La Becque

Based in Baltimore, Maryland, Matmos is known for its use of unusual samples. Since the 1990s, the duo, consisting of M.C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel, has been using all sorts of objects, sources, and sound materials, from the sound of pages of the Bible turning over to that of a police riot shield, to create conceptual and playful electronic productions that straddle the line between musique concrète, electroacoustics and dance music.

In the course of its career, the band has collaborated with many artists from different backgrounds, including The Kronos Quartet, Terry Riley, Marshall Allan (Sun Ra Arkestra), So Percussion, Yo La Tengo, Oneohtrix Point Never, Jefferson Friedman, David Tibet, Mouse on Mars, and Björk, with whom Matmos has worked on two albums and several world tours.

After using nothing but sounds generated by a washing machine on Ultimate Care II in 2016, recording Plastic Anniversary in a plastic recycling plant in Montana (in 2019) or collaborating with 99 musicians on The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises in Group Form (2020), the American duo have released their latest opus Return to Archive (2023), in which they seize and transform the vast archives of the Folkways Records label, which features recordings from all over the world: from folk and protest music to indigenous music and jazz, as well as the sounds of dolphins, beetles and telephones.