OK, I am aware that Track Of The Day is meant for newly released music, and yet I’m featuring something that was released at the tail end of last year. Have we run out of new things to include? Don’t be stupid! We have LOADS of excellent new sounds lined up, but to ignore this excellent new video from analogue electro wizards Metamono would be insanity. After a series of mightily impressive EPs, the London based three piece released their magnificent debut ‘With The Compliments Of Nuclear Physics’ In late 2013, prompting a great deal of praise from those lucky enough to hear it. Metamono create music using only old analogue instruments, and have completely abolished digital recording and production as a rule. In fact they work around an innovative manifesto, which can be seen HERE at their website. From it, the stunning ‘Construct’ is a floating, ticking space ballad, eerie yet harmoniously graceful and in places reminiscent of Bowie‘s ‘Low’.
The trio feature Irmin Schmidt (Can) collaborator Jono Podmore, who has also released some fantastic records as Kumo. God Is In The TV spoke exclusively to Jono about the video and the superb track it accompanies. “This is video is put together from footage of the launch party for our album ‘With the Compliments of Nuclear Physics’ released October 2013 (buy a copy HERE). We held the party in Bambino – a vintage emporium in London’s Crystal Palace which we transform in to a venue once in a while to create special metamono events. Always sold out and always on the verge of hysteria this party was no exception. Film maker Noreen Meehan is making a documentary about metamono and brought in a proper film crew to record this event from the bleary eyed morning to the dilated pupils of the night. The footage is of such high quality I was able to simply layer up 3 nice shots, stretch them to the length of the track and blend them in different ways to follow the music. As is so often the case in music and film, when the basic material is of high quality, the edits and mix are easy, once you have the idea.”
“The music itself is a track from the album, one of only 2 tracks that have videos, the other being ‘Tripnotism’ by Kate Shipp (watch HERE). ‘Construc’t appears on side 2 of the album, and as each of the 4 sides has a distinct character this is one of our more down tempo, gentle, ruminative tracks. As stipulated by the metamono manifesto (HERE) we compose and mix simultaneously, and the final version of this track is edited together from a 20 min live recording exploring all the material in the basic sequence. Technically, it’s quite unique in our output in that it involves some unsequenced live tuning of the oscillators on the Arp 2600 to create new harmonies and melodies on the fly. Not something to be attempted live and risky even in the confines of your own home….”
Thanks to Jono for taking time out to talk. Our review of ‘With the Compliments of Nuclear Physics’ can be seen HERE, where you can also stream the LP. Recently the group have been performing their live score for ‘Secrets of Nature’, described as “an exhilarating collage presenting ground-breaking British films from the silent era. Set to specially composed new music, Metamono reignite the sense of wonder in nature that these films first elicited when shown to cinema going audiences on the silver screen.” Go to their website (link below) to find out when their next gigs will be taking place…
