Album Reviews

Album Review: The Machine – RedHead (Rekids)

By | Published on Thursday 18 November 2010

Matt Edwards

Matt Edwards from Radio Slave goes off centre with this ‘art project’, delivered on his own label and combining his music with images and film. He’ll be promoting the release by touring galleries with a short film by Japanese collective Jigoku and photography from Australian pop artist Misha Holenbach. But all the trimmings aside – what are the six tracks like sonically? Well, it’s a mixed bag, to be honest. What do you want first, the bad or the good?

Let’s get the bad out of the way. ‘Leopard Skin’ is probably the biggest miss, a warped tribal flavoured loop and then an overdose of bass, not good. ‘Spellbound’, meanwhile, doesn’t amount to much either, despite its hectic jazz backing. And, while closer ‘Root People’ does come with some interesting handclaps and chants, at sixteen minutes it meanders far too much.

On the good side, ‘Opening Ceremony’ is the best track, taking us to the dancefloor with a punchy dubby bassline. Samples, from tribal chanting to opera, also work well. ‘Talking Dolls’, with a trace of Charleston in the loop, is alright, while opener ‘Continental Drift’ is passable ambient.

Perhaps it all works well when put in the context of the moving and still pictures, but as a standalone album it’s overly experimental, a little overindulgent and definitely not accessible. I can’t see this LP flying off the shelves. PV

Physical release: 15 Nov
Press contact: Darling Dept

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