The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast

Last updated
The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast
Matmos RoseHasTeeth AlbumCover.jpg
Studio album by
Matmos
ReleasedMay 9, 2006 (2006-05-09)
Genre
Length61:28
Label Matador Records
Producer Drew Daniel, Martin Schmidt
Matmos chronology
The Civil War
(2003)		The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast
(2006)		 Supreme Balloon
(2008)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 81/100 [2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [3]
The A.V. Club A [4]
Drowned in Sound 8/10 [5]
Pitchfork 8.0/10 [6]
PopMatters 7/10 [7]
Slant Magazine Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Stylus Magazine B+ [9]

The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast is the sixth studio album by Matmos. Each of the album's songs is dedicated to a notable gay or lesbian person who has influenced the duo, [8] and this influence is reflected in the songs themselves. For examples, "Rag for William S. Burroughs" features the clatter of a type writer and a gunshot, representing the William Tell incident, and "Tract for Valerie Solanas" contains excerpts from the SCUM Manifesto .

Contents

As with earlier releases, the duo make use of field recordings in the music, recordings that range from ordinary things to more absurd sounds, such as a recording of a bovine uterus. [10] The album's title is taken from a line in Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations. [8]

Critical reception

The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast received positive reviews from music critics. Review aggregator website Metacritic gives it a score of 81 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [2] Brandon Stosuy, writing for Pitchfork , wrote in a positive review that "there are a few moments when the concept's cooler than the result, but in general The Rose Has Teeth's experiments result in frenetic dance tracks doubling as reading lists." [6]

Jonathan Keefe, writing for Slant Magazine , called the album "endlessly fascinating" but concluded that "even armed with a cheat sheet from Wikipedia and a desire to figure out the significance of every last hair clipper and gunshot, the album never engages as anything more than an academic exercise." [8]

Pitchfork placed it at number 47 on the "Top 50 Albums of 2006" list. [11]

Track listing

No.TitleNotesLength
1."Roses and Teeth for Ludwig Wittgenstein"
Credits: [12]
3:24
2."Steam and Sequins for Larry Levan"
Credits: [12]
    • Drums – Steve Goodfriend
    • Guitar [electric guitar], Horns [peck horn], Trumpet – Mark Lightcap
    • Performer [electronics] – John Talaga
    • Performer [steam, sewing machine, sequins, Arp 2600, sampling, sequencing, digital editing] – Drew Daniel
    • Performer [V-synth, tambourine, shaker, saucepan], Mixed By – M.C. Schmidt
    • Synthesizer [Arp 2600] – Matthew Curry
    • Voice – Kalonica McQuesten
5:20
3."Tract for Valerie Solanas"
Credits: [12]
    • Performer [cow uterus, reproductive tract, vagina, vacuum cleaner, plastic gloves], Mixed By – M.C. Schmidt
    • Performer [sampling, sequencing, digital editing, machete, scissors, knives, paper, Personal alarms (rape alarms)] – Drew Daniel
    • Voice [excerpts from Valerie Solanas' The SCUM Manifesto read by] – Barbara Golden, Yalie Kumara
5:07
4."Public Sex for Boyd McDonald"
Credits: [12]
    • Drums – Steve Goodfriend
    • Guitar [electric guitar], Trumpet – Mark Lightcap
    • Performer [pen, paper, typewriter, videotape, sampling, sequencing, digital editing, Arp 2600] – Drew Daniel
    • Saxophone – Stephen Thrower
    • Synthesizer [Arp 2600, Sh 101, V-synth, Juno 6], Performer [Videotape], Mixed By – M.C. Schmidt
5:52
5."Semen Song for James Bidgood"
Credits: [12]
    • Arranged By [String Arrangement] – Jefferson Friedman
    • Cello – Clarice Jensen
    • Harp – Zeena Parkins
    • Keyboards [V-synth, piano], Performer [sampling, sequencing], Mixed By – M.C. Schmidt
    • Performer [file transfers, effects] – Jon Leidecker
    • Performer [sampling, sequencing, digital editing, toilet paper roll panflute, paper, semen] – Drew Daniel
    • Piano – Matthew Fuerst
    • Strings – American Contemporary Music Ensemble
    • Viola – Bridget Fitzgerald
    • Violin – Erik Carlson, Miranda Cuckson
    • Voice – Anohni Hegarty
5:02
6."Snails and Lasers for Patricia Highsmith"
Credits: [12]
    • Double bass – Brian O'Reilly
    • Drums – Steve Goodfriend
    • French horn – Amy Vaillancourt
    • Performer [sampling, sequencing, digital editing] – Drew Daniel
    • Performer [sequencing, V-synth, Ms2000, books, brushes, live garden snails, glass cylinder, Light-sensitive theremin], Mixed By – M.C. Schmidt
5:52
7."Germs Burn for Darby Crash"
Credits: [12]
    • Performer [Arp 2600, Wahl hair clipper, hair] – M.C. Schmidt
    • Performer [lighter, cigarette] – Don Bolles
    • Performer [sampling, sequencing, digital editing, burnt flesh, cry of pain] – Drew Daniel
4:10
8."Solo Buttons for Joe Meek"
Credits: [12]
3:33
9."Rag for William S. Burroughs"
Credits: [12]
    • Goblet Drum [darbuka] – Darcy Bartoletti
    • Performer [amateur piano, sampling, V-synth, sequencing, tape recorder, typewriter, vacuum cleaner tube, horn] – M.C. Schmidt
    • Performer [Burroughs adding machines, film projectors] – Michael Brown
    • Performer [electronics] – Jay Lesser
    • Performer [Heidelberg windmill, Chandler And Price printing presses] – Leif Fairfield
    • Performer [sampling, sequencing, digital editing, bombard, tape recorder, shortwave radio, marbles, keys, Efx] – Drew Daniel
    • Trumpet – Mark Lightcap
    • Violin – Blevin Blectum
13:52
10."Banquet for King Ludwig II of Bavaria"
Credits: [12]
    • Drums, Percussion [sleighbells] – Steve Goodfriend
    • French horn – Amy Vaillancourt
    • Performer [glassware, dishes, coconuts, sampling, sequencing, V-synth] – M.C. Schmidt
    • Performer [glassware, dishes, sampling, sequencing, digital editing] – Drew Daniel
    • Tuba, Horns [peck horn], Performer [plastic tube] – Mark Lightcap
    • Voice – Maja S. K. Ratkje
3:23
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Kendo for Yukio Mishima"5:54

Charts

ChartPeak
position
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard) [13] 21

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References

  1. ↑ Flavorwire Staff (February 12, 2009). "Exclusive: Pics and Buzz from Big Ears Fest". Flavorwire. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  2. 1 2 The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast, by Matmos Metacritic. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  3. ↑ Heather Phares, The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast review AllMusic . Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  4. ↑ Andy Battaglia, The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast review The A.V. Club , May 17, 2006. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  5. ↑ Rachel Cawley, The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast review Archived 2017-03-15 at the Wayback Machine Drowned in Sound , May 13, 2006. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  6. 1 2 Brandon Stosuy, The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast review PItchfork , May 9, 2006. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  7. ↑ Kevin Jagernauth, The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast review PopMatters , May 22, 2006. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Jonathan Keefe, The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast review Slant Magazine , May 19, 2006. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  9. ↑ Scott McKeating, The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast review Stylus Magazine , May 9, 2006. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Matmos at Matador Records".
  11. ↑ "Top 50 Albums of 2006 (1/5)". Pitchfork . December 19, 2006. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Album credits, Discogs.com. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Matmos Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
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