New Music Friday - Week Ending Friday June 20, 2025
This week I highlight a couple of genre-defying albums, one from Baltimore-based duo Matmos, the other from Manchester trio Gogo Penguin. Enjoy!
“Metallic Life Review” - Matmos
Released June 20, 2025 through Thrill Jockey.
File under: alternative instrumental
Metallic Life Review is the 15th studio album by Baltimore-based duo Matmos (Drew Daniel and M.C. Schmidt). Known for their experimental soundscapes, syncopated rhythms, and obscure sampling, this album is no different in that aspect. (Their previous 2023 album Return to Archive was created entirely from samples from the Smithsonian archives sound collection). What sets it apart from previous work is that every sound in this album, from the shorter initial 5 tracks to the 20 minute title track, is created using metallic objects, creating a world where a creak of a gate becomes a saxophone replacement, or where a tin glockenspiel becomes the entire melody. Culminating in the 20 minute title track, replete with bells, tin pots, gongs and tubular bells, one is transported through the wardrobe to another place entirely.
At times reminiscent of Autechre’s Tri Repetae, and Aphex Twin’s Bucephalus Bouncing Ball, at other times harkening to the original score for David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, Metallic Life Review is like a journey through the back rooms of an antique store, where each object has a story to tell through sound. Yet again, Matmos have defied the pigeonholing of genre, creating something entirely their own.
Listen to “Metallic Life Review” on:
Apple Music }|{ Spotify }|{ Tidal
“Necessary Fictions” - Gogo Penguin
Released June 20, 2025 through XXIM.
File under: electronic jazz/instrumental
Fancy some jazz that tastes like electronica? Well look no further than Manchester trio Gogo Penguin’s seventh studio album Necessary Fictions. Metronomic drum beats, suave keys, and jazzy bass lines, occasional gentle vocals and driving beats, this surely is an album with some chops.
An obviously crafted personal project, Gogo Penguin have given a glimpse into some of the forces and influences that drive their music. Of Necessary Fictions their label XXIM Records says: “The record represents a deep dive into identity, authenticity, and transformation.” This is another genre defying album, where experimental electronica sounds brush up against live instrumentation, creating a lush album of varied and emotive sonic journeys.
Listen to “Necessary Fictions” on:
Apple Music }|{ Spotify }|{ Tidal
This GoGo Penguin release is awesome! Thanks for the recommendation 🙏🏼🙏🏼