Biography
Matt Elliott, operating as the Third Eye Foundation, layers droning noise alongside clattering drums and unsettling samples to create unsettling yet gripping portrayals of existence marked by dread and despair. Hailing from Bristol, England, Elliott absorbed elements from the locale’s space rock, drum’n’bass, and trip-hop communities. He frequently pairs ultra-rapid, shredded breakbeats with percussion or samples that have been drastically decelerated or elongated, yielding a profoundly disorienting result. After an intense period of productivity that yielded multiple well-received albums, singles, and remixes spanning 1996 into the early 2000s, Elliott paused the project to concentrate on somber, experimental folk-tinged material issued under his own name, though he has reactivated the alias from time to time.
In the early ’90s Elliott performed with the Secret Garden alongside Richard Walker, who departed in 1992 to establish the experimental outfit Amp. Elliott appeared on initial recordings by both Amp and Flying Saucer Attack—Bristol acts known for fusing abrasive noise with atmospheric textures and frequently grouped under the space-rock banner. The Third Eye Foundation’s first album, Semtex, surfaced on Linda’s Strange Vacation in 1996 and intensified those sonic traits, submerging vocals and guitars from Debbie Parsons (aka Foehn) beneath a torrent of heavily distorted, pounding drums. Three additional singles emerged that same year, among them a separate Domino EP also titled Semtex that showcased aggressively overdriven breakbeats akin to Alec Empire’s contemporaneous productions. In Version collected reinterpretations of pieces by Amp, Flying Saucer Attack, and Crescent.
During 1997 the project shared a split 12" with V/Vm that inaugurated FatCat Records’ split series. While remaining on Domino in the U.K., Elliott signed with Merge in the United States for the second album Ghost, which arrived in 1997 together with the Sound of Violence EP. Pan Odyssey, a joint EP with Bump & Grind, came out via Sub Rosa in 1998. Shortly after the Fear of a Wack Planet single, the full-length You Guys Kill Me was issued before year’s end. Little Lost Soul, a comparatively measured album, followed in 2000, and 3EF’s remixes for artists such as Yann Tiersen, Tarwater, and Blonde Redhead were compiled on 2001’s I Poo Poo on Your Juju.
In 2003 Elliott began issuing material under his own name, shifting away from electronics toward shadowy, oneiric experimental indie folk. He also relocated to France and started recording for the Ici d’Ailleurs imprint. Although a 2004 mix CD titled OuMuPo 1 was attributed to the Third Eye Foundation, the project lay dormant until the politically charged album The Dark appeared in 2010. After three further releases credited solely to Matt Elliott, the Third Eye Foundation resurfaced in 2018 with the dub-inflected album Wake the Dead.
In the early ’90s Elliott performed with the Secret Garden alongside Richard Walker, who departed in 1992 to establish the experimental outfit Amp. Elliott appeared on initial recordings by both Amp and Flying Saucer Attack—Bristol acts known for fusing abrasive noise with atmospheric textures and frequently grouped under the space-rock banner. The Third Eye Foundation’s first album, Semtex, surfaced on Linda’s Strange Vacation in 1996 and intensified those sonic traits, submerging vocals and guitars from Debbie Parsons (aka Foehn) beneath a torrent of heavily distorted, pounding drums. Three additional singles emerged that same year, among them a separate Domino EP also titled Semtex that showcased aggressively overdriven breakbeats akin to Alec Empire’s contemporaneous productions. In Version collected reinterpretations of pieces by Amp, Flying Saucer Attack, and Crescent.
During 1997 the project shared a split 12" with V/Vm that inaugurated FatCat Records’ split series. While remaining on Domino in the U.K., Elliott signed with Merge in the United States for the second album Ghost, which arrived in 1997 together with the Sound of Violence EP. Pan Odyssey, a joint EP with Bump & Grind, came out via Sub Rosa in 1998. Shortly after the Fear of a Wack Planet single, the full-length You Guys Kill Me was issued before year’s end. Little Lost Soul, a comparatively measured album, followed in 2000, and 3EF’s remixes for artists such as Yann Tiersen, Tarwater, and Blonde Redhead were compiled on 2001’s I Poo Poo on Your Juju.
In 2003 Elliott began issuing material under his own name, shifting away from electronics toward shadowy, oneiric experimental indie folk. He also relocated to France and started recording for the Ici d’Ailleurs imprint. Although a 2004 mix CD titled OuMuPo 1 was attributed to the Third Eye Foundation, the project lay dormant until the politically charged album The Dark appeared in 2010. After three further releases credited solely to Matt Elliott, the Third Eye Foundation resurfaced in 2018 with the dub-inflected album Wake the Dead.
Albums
