- You know when people say "I'll have what he's having?" Well, count me out on having even a drop of what's in Madteo's cup—sounds like a pretty intense trip, bro—but I'll certainly keep listening to Matteo Ruzzon's transmissions from his excellently weird headspace. Like house music stoned out of its gourd, everything feels familiar but totally warped: tempos drag, transients plop rather than pound, and most of his sonic elements seem to wander into the arrangement like sullen teenagers missing their curfew, with very little to report other than that they were "out." After a substantial profile boost in 2010 following a hookup with Workshop, Madteo returns to Meakusma with five more seriously altered tunes in the form of Timesmithing, leaving one with the sense this buzz isn't going to wear off anytime soon.
Beginning with "Miss Terry Flavor," featuring dialog ripped from the George Clooney-directed head trip Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, our producer sounds almost lucid. But things get weird pretty quick. On his latest collaboration with rapper Sensational, who has been warped beyond intelligibility here, Madteo places live drums and guitars in front of a wall of woozy pads. It's as close to a party as we get, and the B-side soundtracks the ensuing hangover. "Use It, Lose It, Music" features a driving beat that nevertheless can't stop tripping over itself; for added emphasis, "Do the Wright Thing" throbs like an insurmountable headache, and "Falcao" has a serious case of the shakes. It's hardly straightforward, and it's certainly not a club record, but Timesmithing is more than stoned blather: it's intelligent, and it might just freak you out a little.
Tracklist A1 Miss Tery Flavor
A2 Bangin on the Ceiling
B1 Use It, Lose It, Music
B2 Do the Wright Thing
B3 Falcao