The ten tracks on offer aren’t just mere extrapolations of glitch, instead, they bend and contort with the skill and finesse of Autechrean-inspired grooves.
[Release page] Flying unusually under-the-radar for the past half-year, Maschine’s latest self-titled affair jumps straight to the top of our pile and maintains solid footing. From the cover-arts blurred oscillation and integrated insignia, Eoin Coughlan remains as the leading electronic manipulator (Aza Hand and Eoin Coghlan transformed music together from 1997 through 2006).
The ten tracks on offer aren’t just mere extrapolations of glitch, instead, they bend and contort with the skill and finesse of Autechrean-inspired grooves. This comparison, however simplified it might be, points to the fact that Maschine’s resulting auditory displays are choke full of perfected snips, snaps and elongated melodies that simply fail to age. Have a listen to the closing “Marbley” as a prime example of extraterrestrial sonic warfare, its rhythmic discharge stands as a punctuation of pure electronic elegance. Elsewhere, as featured on “FRaXeyeNEss,” time shifts through multidimensional branches. Veering from dubstep-infused plateaus, this track eventually explodes into percussive frenzy as its soothing melody swells in the foreground. “Cordmash” and “Linre,” reminiscent of Brothomstates’ early works, pushes new ground as maneuvered blips’n clicks expand and shrink alongside disjointed bass lines. But just as you begin to assimilate the trajectory, an Amon Tobin-influenced piece slides across in the form of “Ebsolute.” This charming instrumental clip-hop flavored track flows in orchestral fashion yet manages to pace itself among its neighboring exp-electronic siblings.
Definitely worth the time and effort to digest, Maschine’s self-titled album sparks mid-90’s era IDM with hints of downbeat, electro, drum’n bass, dubstep, ambient and funk all rolled-up into one colorful blanket of sound.
Maschine is out now on Psychonavigation. [Release page]
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