Drew Daniel and M.C. Schmidt subscribe to John Cage's belief that, once you accept the notion that music can be defined as organised sound, any object has audio potential.
Working as Matmos, the duo are musicians and concept artists well known for creating music from unlikely, and occasionally messy, sources.
They once 'played' the uterus and reproductive tract of a cow at the San Francisco Art Institute and the tracks on A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure (2001) featured samples of medical procedures involved in cosmetic surgery.
Ultimate Care II could therefore be viewed as their way of quite literally cleaning up their act since it consists entirely of samples taken from the cycle of a washing machine.
It is divided in nine excerpts but is essentially one complete 38 minute cycle in which the machine's bumps, grinds and splashes all go into the mix.
Assistance is provided by Dan Deacon, Duncan Moore (Needle Gun), Jason Willett (Half Japanese) and members of Horse Lords: Max Ellbecher & Sam Heberman. On the tour to promote the album, they promise that a Whirlpool Ultimate Care II washing machine will join them on stage!
As the track (programme?) progresses, it is easy to forget the banality of the source and the thrilling drum beats of the finale (Excerpt 9) are guaranteed to make you see your own humble household machine in a new light. Domesticity never sounded so cool!
