A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure
Studio album by
Matmos
ReleasedMarch 13, 2001 (2001-03-13)
Genre
Length46:17
LabelMatador
Matmos chronology
The West
(1999)		 A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure
(2001)		 The Civil War
(2003)

A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure is the fourth studio album by American electronic music duo Matmos, released in 2001. The album consists primarily of samples of medical procedures, including plastic surgeries, liposuctions, hearing tests and bonesaws. The album maintains a sense of humour in contrast with the serious nature of the audio being sampled. The exception to the medical samples is the song "For Felix (And All the Rats)", a piece dedicated to their deceased pet rat Felix, performed entirely on his cage.

The two members of Matmos, Drew Daniel and Martin Schmidt, both had doctors as parents, a fact that likely influenced them in the album's creation.[2] The album is sometimes considered a concept album within the glitch or musique concrète genre.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Alternative Press4/5[4]
The Guardian[5]
Muzik4/5[6]
NME8/10[7]
Pitchfork8.8/10[8]
Q[9]
Spin8/10[10]
Stylus MagazineA−[11]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure received an average score of 80 based on 13 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3] Heather Phares of AllMusic described the album as "seven remarkably accessible, melodic pieces of experimental techno."[2] Simon Reynolds of Spin said, "Matmos have captured with discomforting vividness the sheer surrealism of the modern vanity industry, the medieval tortures people gladly endure in pursuit of physical perfection."[10]

In 2017, Pitchfork placed A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure at number 19 on its list of "The 50 Best IDM Albums of All Time".[1]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Lipostudio...And So On"5:35
2."L.A.S.I.K."3:57
3."Spondee"6:15
4."Ur Tchun Tan Tse Qi"5:05
5."For Felix (And All the Rats)"7:52
6."Memento Mori"7:32
7."California Rhinoplasty"10:00
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
8."Cymbals & Aspirin (A Breakthrough in Pain Relief)"9:02

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Matmos

  • M. C. Schmidt – straw and water (1), acoustic guitar (1), electric guitar (1, 3), voice (1, 3), test tones (3), synthesizer (3), acupuncture point detector (4), skin (4), plucked and bowed rat cage (5), sequencing (5, 7), human skull (6), goat spine (6), teeth (6), flute (7), computer (7), mixing
  • Drew Daniel – voice (1), electric guitar (1, 3), sound effects (3), digital editing, sequencing, sampling, editing, mixing, recording

Additional musicians

  • Katie Williams – voice (1)
  • J Lesser – voice (1)
  • Blevin Blectum – voice (1)
  • Felix Kubin – voice (1)
  • Hrvatski – voice (1)
  • Miguel De Pedro – voice (1)
  • Stefanie Ressin – voice (1)
  • Richard Von Der Schulenburg – voice (1)
  • Katerina Von Ledersteger-Goodfriend – voice (1)
  • Kevin Ambrosini – voice (1)
  • Ethel Chang – voice (1)
  • Joanne Feinstein – voice (1)
  • Quang Hong – voice (1)
  • David Hornung – voice (1)
  • Emily Hsu – voice (1)
  • Matt Kaufman – voice (1)
  • Daisy Kent – voice (1)
  • Blake Linney – voice (1)
  • Junn-Francis Masongsong – voice (1)
  • Lee Medoff – voice (1)
  • Jerome Narvaez – voice (1)
  • Ryan Petersen – voice (1)
  • Brian Schultz – voice (1)
  • Cody Shedd – voice (1)
  • Robert Sproul – voice (1)
  • Jennifer Tom – voice (1)
  • Nicole Williamson – voice (1)
  • Stephen Thrower – clarinet (1)
  • Steve Goodfriend – drums (1)
  • Mark Lightcap – electric guitar (1), ukulele (3)
  • Rebecca Highlander – voice (3)

References

  1. 1 2 "The 50 Best IDM Albums of All Time". Pitchfork. 24 January 2017. p. 3. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Phares, Heather. "A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure – Matmos". AllMusic. Retrieved May 11, 2007.
  3. 1 2 "Reviews for A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure by Matmos". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Matmos: A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure". Alternative Press (154): 76. May 2001.
  5. ↑ Lester, Paul (March 9, 2001). "Matmos: A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure (Matador)". The Guardian. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  6. ↑ Bell, Duncan (March 2001). "Matmos: A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure (Matador)". Muzik (70): 93.
  7. ↑ Segal, Victoria (February 10, 2001). "Matmos: A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure". NME: 34. Archived from the original on February 13, 2001. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  8. ↑ San, Mark-Richard (March 31, 2001). "Matmos: A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Matmos: A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure". Q (176): 114. May 2001.
  10. 1 2 Reynolds, Simon (May 2001). "Matmos: A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure". Spin. 17 (5): 145. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  11. ↑ Martin, Tyler (September 1, 2003). "Matmos – A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on March 31, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
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