Track Listing

1. Roses and Teeth for Ludwig Wittgenstein
2. Steam and Sequins for Larry Levan
3. Tract for Valerie Solanas
4. Public Sex for Boyd McDonald
5. Semen Song for James Bidgood
6. Snails and Lasers for Patricia Highsmith
7. Germs Burn for Darby Crash
8. Solo Buttons for Joe Meek
9. Rag for William S. Burroughs
10. Banquet for King Ludwig II of Bavaria

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #133543 in Music
• Released on: 2006-05-09
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
The latest from hyper-innovative SF-based duo Matmos consists of ten aural and visual portraits of famous people such as Valerie Solanas (shot Andy Warhol), Larry Levan ('80s NYC dance DJ), Darby Crash (singer of punk group The Germs), King Ludwig II (mad, last ruler of Bavaria), James Bidgood ('60s gay porn director), William S. Burroughs (beat author), and many more. Accompanying each musical portrait is a visual one, commissioned by the band, by artists ranging from Dan Clowes to Adam Ansell to Jason Mecier. The ten portraits are printed on cardstock and arranged in a die-cut digipak with a front window. On the back of each card is detailed recording information. Various accompanists include Antony of Antony & The Johnsons, The Kronos Quartet, Bjork, Jay Lesser, and more.

Customer Reviews

gross
I bought this with my only reference point being their work with bjork. That stuff is magical. This stuff is beyond pretentious. Unappealing sound clips, mismatched ideas and uncomfortable fashionista beats. Its not like this release is beyond me, I like a challenging listen. But this just sucks. I don't relate to it. All the snot-nosed attitude of IDM without the appealing soundscapes. Or the forethought.

Portraits of insanity
After making an album based around the sounds of plastic surgery ("A Chance To Cut is a Chance To Cure") and a lavish period piece inspired by the English, American, and Russian civil wars ("The Civil War"), the San Francisco electronic duo Matmos return with yet another elaborate concept album.

"The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast" takes its name from the writings of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of many literary, historical, and underground figures that Matmos pay tribute to on the album. However, you wouldn't find most of the subjects chosen in your typical history book. These ten "audio portraits" are filled with murder, sex, and insanity, much as the lives of the subjects were. These sordid details aren't the only reason to buy this album, however, as the music is fantastic.

In "Tract for Valerie Solanas," a very androgynous-sounding speaker reads a passage from Solanas' "S.C.U.M. Manifesto" over frantic beats and cacophonic, disturbing noises. There is something deliciously subversive about using someone with an unidentifiable gender to narrate a radical feminist tract, and the song succeeds at sounding both snotty and clever. "Public Sex for Boyd McDonald," a pulsing and somewhat menacing tribute to the 1970's gay club scene, does a good job bringing to mind the dark side of the era (being as it was a sort of "last party" before the AIDS epidemic hit). On the other hand, "Steam and Sequins for Larry Levan" skips the darkness and focuses on the fun with a rollicking disco flashback.

Elsewhere, "Banquet for King Ludwig II of Bavaria" pays tribute to the mad monarch with a track that begins calmly but soon moves into screaming opera and the sound of breaking glass. The track ends with rushing water, alluding to King Ludwig's suspicious death by drowning. Insanity is also explored in "Solo Buttons for Joe Meek," an audio biography of the neurotic sound engineer turned murderer.

Matmos seldom disappoint, and "The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast" is no exception. It may leave you feeling dazed, but that's just part of the charm.

Wow this is the best, I'm in Matmos Heaven!
While I'm all about new cool Warp releases, Matmos has once again reinvented the idea of conceptual dance music / fun / weirdness/ experimentalism- This album is Great!!!

A Rose has teeth in the Mouth of a Beast has all the elements people love about Matmos.
Lush sound samples, groovy dance beats, dense textures of sampled sounds- and that special touch of magic. It seems like other `star idm'rs' try so damn hard to show us that they are the kings of this music, to the expense of the music at times, but although sonically vast- this album makes no effort to force sounds down your ears. This is one of the best things these guys have done....since the last album.

Take a brake from IDM snobbery and enjoy this music!! O, Matador records has a free download for the title track for listening too; have a listen.