Samples & Contrasts

Regards (Alku) is fourteen brief tracks on a 3″ CDR, each track constructed from myriad little samples. Wobbly consistently plays off odd contrasts, like a smattering of looped laughter that follows a CD-skipping segment, only to be joined by a lockstep drum beat. Despite the collagist style, these pieces all maintain the sort of pop sensibility — beats that make you smile, sounds that stick in your head — that distinguished Matmos’s music from the start. The short track “old dirty” is rapidfire snippets, assumedly lifted from rapper Old Dirty Bastard, whereas “Glad Ledley” is awash chopstick and typewriter percussion and watery sound effects. All in all, an admirable balance of goofy and smart.