Matthew J. Saunders (born 5 January 1972) is an English composer, mastering engineer, and visual designer. During the first decade of the 21st century he was signed to

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...

Records — a British major independent label home to

The Pixies Pixies is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering ...

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...

, Scott Walker and many others. He records and performs as Magnétophone, The Assembled Minds, Rapid Eye Electronics Ltd. and also runs the record label Patterned Air Recordings. On 4AD, as one half of the art-rock electronic band Magnétophone, Saunders released two albums, three EPs and a 7" single. It was an unusual signing for

, Magnétophone's first album being almost all instrumental, and this departure piqued the interest of journalists and fans of the label and band equally. The band were the first signing after the corporate restructuring of 4AD when co-founder Ivo Watts-Russell departed and the album was seen as a signpost of where the newly reinvented label might be heading Before signing to 4AD, Saunders released records on several influential record labels including Static Caravan Recordings, Earworm Records, Spaceage Recordings and Ochre Records. He has recorded two Peel Sessions for

BBC Radio One BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

, two sessions for

's Rob da Bank, as well as sessions for

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

and

XFM Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 ...

. Saunders has collaborated on record with significant artists such as rock legends

Kim Deal Kimberley Ann Deal (born June 10, 1961) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She was the bassist and the co-vocalist in the alternative rock band Pixies, before forming the Breeders in 1989. Deal joined Pixies in January ...

and Kelley Deal, Scottish folk legend and Mercury Music Prize nominee

King Creosote Kenny Anderson (born January 1967), known primarily by his stage name King Creosote, is an independent singer-songwriter from Fife, Scotland. To date, Anderson has released over forty albums, with his latest full length, '' Astronaut Meets Apple ...

, infamous drone rock band Spacemen 3's Peter Kember (who also joined Magnétophone as a performing member and manager in 2006–2008), Scottish folk singer/songwriter

James Yorkston James Yorkston (born James Patrick Yorkston Wright; 21 December 1971) is a Scottish folk musician, singer-songwriter and author from the village of Kingsbarns, Fife. He has been releasing music since 2001. As well as recording as a solo artist, ...

and others — all tracks that appeared on Magnétophone's second

album, The Man Who Ate the Man or related 12" releases. He is known for his solo electronic recordings as The Assembled Minds, having released two albums and numerous singles and remixes on a variety of record labels, gaining critical acclaim from magazines such as '' The Wire'' and Self-Titled Magazine, from music author and journalist

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his professional career on the staff of ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He has since gone on to freelance and publish a number of full-length books on music ...

, and numerous national radio plays on stations such as BBC Radio 6 Saunders worked on the feature documentary film Valentino: The Last Emperor and is a credited composer on IMDb. He has also had music synced by

BBC World News BBC World News is an international English-language pay television network, operated under the ''BBC Global News Limited'' division of the BBC, which is a public corporation of the UK government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and S ...

in daily continuity pieces and Sky in cross-network adverts. According to the official website, he is currently composing music for media in addition to running mastering house 808 Hz, where he has mastered albums by artists such as

Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

front man Colin Newman,

Eva Bowan Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in ...

Malka Spigel Malka Spigel (Hebrew: מלכה שפיגל, born 19 July 1954) is a London-based Israeli musician and artist. She was founding member of the Israeli-Belgian rock band Minimal Compact. She has also worked as a solo musician and as a visual artist, ...

Anthony Reynolds Anthony Reynolds is a Welsh musician. He has worked as a solo artist, and in collaboration with others in his bands Jack and Jacques. Jack In 1993, Reynolds moved to London where he formed the group Jack, on lead vocals, signing a music publish ...

, and Jon Thorne In 2007 Saunders contributed a Magnétophone track to a prestigious arts project by New York publishing house Visionaire, a work called Visionaire No. 53: Sound, which saw him appear on record alongside artists such as

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

, Michael Stipe, U2,

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...

Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical elemen ...

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

, Ad-Rock, Courtney Love and others. Each artist was asked to provide a unique piece of music which was then pressed across five pieces of vinyl and a cd, was housed in a large dome receptical and supplied with a record player in the form of a battery powered car.

Discography

; Albums Magnétophone * (2000) ''I Guess Sometimes I Need to Be Reminded of How Much You Love Me'' (4AD) * (2005) '' The Man Who Ate the Man'' (4AD) * (2006) ''Promo Phone 1'' (Ensnare) Assembled Minds * (2011) ''Tomorrow Curves'', Assembled Minds (Patterned Air Recordings) * (2015) ''Creaking Haze and Other Rave Ghosts'', Assembled Minds (Patterned Air Recordings) ; Singles, EPs, and various Magnétophone * "You Should Write Music" (1998, 7" single, Earworm) * "Air Methods" (1998, 7" single, Static Caravan) * "Box Flow" (1999, 'Infrasonic Waves' compilation, 7",

Ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

) * "Lights in the Eye" (1999, 7" single, Active Suspension) * "Temporary Lid" EP (1999, 12" EP, Static Caravan) * "The Science Must Continue" (as Tape Recorder, 1999, 12" comp, Earworm) * "Lubeecha" Lathe Cut (2000, 7" single, Earworm) * "Eve Transmission" (2000, 'Interface' compilation, CD, Spaceage Recordings) * "Little Boy's Acorn" (2000, '4WD Motion' compilation, CD, 4AD) * "Come on the 'Phone" EP (2000, 12" and CD EP, 4AD) * "Relax, It's the End of Electronica" (2002, 7" single, Static Caravan) * "I Hear Blonde Falcons" (2002, '10p 1 Play' compilation CD, Robots and Electronic Brains Magazine) * "Kel's Vintage Thought" (2004, 12" EP, 4AD) * "...And May Your Last Words Be a Chance to Make Things Better" (2005, 7" single, 4AD) * "...And May Your Last Words Be a Chance to Make Things Better" (2006, CD compilation, Sunday Best) * "Systems Thinking Business Modelling Consultant" (2006 compilation, Magazine/CD, Esopus Magazine (Spring)) * "22 Calibre Family" (2006 compilation, 'A Mind Expansion Compilation', CD, Mind Expansion) * "Much Less Than A Day" (2007, '

Binary Oppositions A binary opposition (also binary system) is a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning. Binary opposition is the system of language and/or thought by which two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one ...

' CD compilation, Static Caravan) * "Much Less Than A Day: Edit" (2008, ' Visionaire 53' 12" and CD compilation, Visionaire) * "The Old Silver In and Out" (2008, '

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

Tribute', online compilation, Topher) ; Remixes of Matthew J Saunders / Magnétophone * "Kel's Vintage Thought Outhud Remix" (2004, 4AD) * "MNPLIE4AD Lost in Edit by JM Lapham" ( The Earlies) Remix (2005, 4AD) * "Benny's Trip Sonic Boom Remix" (2006, 4AD) ; Remixes by Matthew J Saunders / Magnétophone * "Run From Safety" (2007 Octoberman Run From Safety LP, White Whale) * "Antiphon" (2004,

Charles Atlas Charles Atlas (born Angelo Siciliano; October 30, 1892 – December 24, 1972) was an Italian-born American bodybuilder best remembered as the developer of a bodybuilding method and its associated exercise program which spawned a landmark advert ...

Remix compilation, Audraglint) ; DJ mixes of Matthew J Saunders / Magnétophone * "Kel's Vintage Thought Outhud Remix" (2005 Glimmers DJ Kicks, !K7)

Radio sessions

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

Session, Maida Vale Studio (2000) * BBC Radio 1 John Peel Session, Live in Birmingham (2000) *

John Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

Session, Live in London (2001) *

Mixing It Session, Live in London (2001) * BBC Radio 1 Rob da Bank Session, Maida Vale Studio (2005) * BBC Radio 1 ''Blue Room'' Session, The Earlies' Studio / Echo Gate Studio (2005)

Film

* Valentino: The Last Emperor — Acolyte Films/StudioCanal (2008)

References

External links

4ad.com/magntophone
Magnétophone at 4AD * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Matthew J. English electronic musicians Intelligent dance musicians 4AD artists Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands 1972 births Living people