New Secret Machines

As for the "prog" bit, you're right, the structure isn't prog, but it seems to find inspiration, in part, from the sound of 70s prog rock. Without, you know, trying to start a thread about what's prog or not, I am referring specifically to Yes and late 70s Rush. It doesn't have the intricacy of those records, but it has the sort of spacious and spacey feeling that they managed to create. at least to me,

http://www.citypaper.com/current/trax2.html

I give this album a huge thumbs up.

It is overly serious, I'll give ya that. They don't use hand puppets or dress like fuckin' plushies like the Flamign Lips....which I think is considerably to their credit.

here's that song i love so much

i hear the floyd reference, but not too much.
but, the slow songs draaaaaag.

I just saw them open up for Interpol yesterday, and the differences between the band couldn't have been much starker. Secret Machines were pretty no nonsense (you have to be, as an opener) but also pretty uncompromising. No banter. No space between songs. It also showed how nuanced the album is, since hearing them live you'd never guess there were melodies. All in all pretty cool, and the crowd seemed to dig it. At least, they were standing there paying attention, since there was little space in the music to cheer. One guy was giving the permanent thumbs down, though.

Interpol ... boy. I like them a a lot, even if I never listen to them. I had to leave their set early (read: wanted to, 'cause I was getting a headache), but it's been a while since I saw so many in the audience going nuts. Not as in "let's hit each other" nuts, but pulling each other up on one another's shoulders to shout the lyrics back at the band while pumping their fist nuts. You'd think if someone took the time to memorize Interpol lyrics they'd realize they suck, and certainly aren't worth shouting back at the band, but these dudes (mostly) were every bit as intent and intense at the crowd at Morrissey a couple of days earlier. Go figure.

Did you just revive this thread to try and cheer me up?

I'm going to see their Marfa film on Saturday. I'm quite excited.

x-post FFS get one clue

I liked their cover of "de luxe" by harmonia. they should do a whole album of big streamlined rock versions of krautrock classics!

Track 6 ... Faded Lines? That's one of my favourite songs on the album, I love the "Uh-huh, uh-huh" vocal riff that runs through it, it reminds me of Polara.

Has anyone else heard the "funky" alternate mix of "Daddy's In The Doldrums"? I think it turned up as a b-side. That's utterly amazing kraut-jam spacerock epic.

I always think I don't like the song AJ&S, because the beginning of it is a bit... meh. But then I forget that it explodes into this psychedelic epic with these amazing bendy guitar bits whipping around my head in stereo. And that's great.

xpost

Funky alternative DITD? I'm intrigued...it had better keep that climactic riff though.

And how did I manage to get through this thread without once mentioning my giant clit-on for Benjamin's guitar pedals? Strange times.

Is anyone else going to see their Marfa film at the Tate this weekend or next?

You can vote for a vinyl reissue here http://runoutgroovevinyl.com/now-here-is-nowhere-2lp.html

Expanded reissue of Ten Silver Drops on the way - https://shop.runoutgroovevinyl.com/ten-silver-drops-expanded-edition-1.html

God I loved that album. Tracks 1 through 3 are a hell of a run. They were great on the tour, as I recall.

A few years back I took a hiatus from reading about music and didn't read the news about Benjamin Curtis until a year after he died. Very sad.

i love ten silver drops so much

its closing track is secretly one of the best coldplayish ballads of the 00s

I'll have to listen again, because I haven't heard it since the week it came out and remembering thinking it a big step down from Now Here is Nowhere, which is not only a monster of an album but one of the best album *titles* of all time

the biggest secret machines secret is that the s/t album, made without benjamin curtis, is actually quite good

otm. they nail the motorik on a few of the debut's epics

That last s/t one had some great moments. It felt like they were transitioning into a different kind of band. Would have been interesting to see where they took it. Still, it’s my least favorite of theirs.

Now Here is Nowhere is the best overall album, but some of their best songs are on Ten Silver Drops, especially the aforementioned tracks 1-3 and final track. And then thebEP has the glorious “Marconi’s Radio”.

Looking back on the 00s it just seems like this band doesn’t fall nearly into the narrative of that decade, that they’re in danger of being overlooked in the long run.

Weren’t they overlooked at the time too? Idk.

Yeah, maybe so.

i love ten silver drops so much

― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, September 11, 2018 6:39 AM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

https://i.imgur.com/lKxKA7P.png

Not sure if it's mentioned upthread, but some members were in UFOFU & that record is a lot of 90s hooky rock fun, too.

New live record out now, from 2006. Glad I saw them on that tour...what a great band they were.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bQOdHcobMs

what

whut!?!

huh!

Awake in the Brain Chamber is an excellent title

From AVClub, where it premiered:

It’s been far too long since we’ve heard from Secret Machines. After three excellent albums that blended haunting shoegaze, driving krautrock, and arena-ready anthemic bombast, the group quietly went its separate ways in 2010 without any formal announcement that it was taking a break. But throughout the previous decade, founding member Brandon Curtis was working on material that would eventually become Awake In The Brain Chamber, the group’s latest album and its first new music in ten years. That music begins seeing the light of day as of now, with the record’s first single, “Talos’ Corpse,” available to hear below, exclusively at The A.V. Club.

The first single finds the band employing its signature stately rhythms in service of a bright arrangement of synth and warm backing vocal patterns. “This song, for me, has the sonic vibe of Tubeway Army meeting up with John Bonham in a dark alley in the late ’70s, after seeing a Bowie concert in Paris,” says Machines’ drummer, Josh Garza. The refrain echoes an encouraging plea, alternating “I want to give, give up” with its immediate retort of “but don’t give, give up,” an inspired couplet from singer Brandon Curtis, whose distinctive baritone rasp has always anchored the group’s sound, here getting even lower in his register than usual during the verses. “I am hopeful,” he tells The A.V. Club about the song. “Ultimately, that is how I would like to describe the song. I think there are obvious influences, and we can quibble about this or that. But the vibe is hope.”

The upcoming record, composed and reworked obsessively over the past decade, bears all the classic influences of the band, including the input of Benjamin Curtis, Brandon’s brother and the band’s original guitarist, who passed away from cancer in 2013. Curtis and Garza both took pains to retain Benjamin’s influence on the final versions of the tracks, as a “sort of living tribute” to their beloved former bandmate. “I have been living with some of these songs for a long time,” Brandon says of the album. “They have witnessed a bunch of stuff that has happened in my life, the world, and so on. I feel like they are the better for it. To me the songs represent a time before, during, and after. I guess I am excited to watch these songs go out into the world and blend with other peoples’ lives. To let them be a part of some new stories.”

Ten years is a long time to work on a collection of songs, and Curtis acknowledges that he can be a bit of a perfectionist, yet also knows eventually it’s time to let go. “Ever since quarantine I’ve been cooking a lot, and I’ve found that I’m the kind of person who will play with a recipe forever. You know, sometimes things are done when the dish tastes right, and sometimes it’s just time to eat.” Listeners can feast on the sounds of Awake In The Brain Chamber when it’s released on August 21. The record is available for pre-order now.

doesn't have their usual pep but as with the previous album, hopefully there are a few tracks good enough to justify it

It's out! https://secretmachines.bandcamp.com/album/awake-in-the-brain-chamber-2

Downloading now!

I promised Brandon I would keep my excitement about his new project going for at least two years, but that was in about 2015. Will this be psychedelic enough to stop me listening to the Shamen? Let's find out when the download finishes.

New one hits the spot.

It's a pleasant little album with some lovely, wistful tunes, but it doesn't have even a vestige of the ambition or the prog heroics that they brought before, which were a big part of why I liked them (obviously). I guess it serves its function nicely though and it's good to have them back; obviously they've been through some shit.

Yeah, I'm just glad to have new music that is not bad.

At least this way their s/t album really will be the ignored, underrated ugly duckling of their discography (while also having some really great stuff on it)

It's a pleasant little album with some lovely, wistful tunes, but it doesn't have even a vestige of the ambition or the prog heroics that they brought before, which were a big part of why I liked them (obviously). I guess it serves its function nicely though and it's good to have them back; obviously they've been through some shit.

― imago, Monday, August 24, 2020 bookmarkflaglink

Sums up my reaction. First track had some real promise--sort of reminded me of more recent Ride (which is not a bad thing imo). Subsequent few tracks were good, not great, and nowhere near now here is nowhere. (say that last part five times fast) I didn't have a chance to hear the last few tracks yet.

I think it will take some time, and some more attention (while my attention is, at the moment, definitely elsewhere) because I was very underwhelmed by the S/T when I first listened, but in time grew to love its subtleties. So I am definitely expecting this one to grow on me, too.

A few weeks later, I can totally confirm that this album is very definitely a grower and is revealing more and more, each time I listen.

...aaaand back on tour - which I'll inevitably skip as all the dates are openers for Metric.

i love ten silver drops so much

― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, September 11, 2018 6:39 AM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

― princess of hell (BradNelson), Saturday, October 13, 2018 12:11 PM (four years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Huh, they had a new one out earlier this year, completely missed that.

Reading now that it was apparently the results of what was originally shelved back in 2010.

Much like a frantic movie about “unfinished business” or “the one that got away,” Secret Machines spent the past few years finally putting the finishing touches on what should have been their fourth LP. Long regarded as a lost album, The Moth, The Lizard and the Secret Machines was actually put on pause in 2010 and massaged in the aftermath of 2020’s return-to-form record Awake in the Brain Chamber.

This essentially makes it the missing link between that effort’s brash pop songs and 2008’s sorely overlooked self-titled LP. (The latter receives a long overdue digital reissue this fall — one that features a far more fitting tracklisting and robust final master from Slowdive drummer/like-minded solo musician Simon Scott).

never spent much time with the s/t and it's incredible???? obv there are posts in this thread recognizing how incredible it is

have been waiting for you to say this

'last believer, drop dead' such a sick deep cut from their catalogue. and that closer!