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THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN – Asphodel THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN – Asphodel (CD 2002) (Middle Pillar/Audioglobe / www.middlepillar.com )
As always, the cover artwork is really beautiful, but did anyone exspect anything else? Some things in the music have changed a bit, a little bit less ethereal, a bit more gothic, but still full of atmosphere. All in all the music is a bit darker, and that´s the reason, why I really like this album and think, it is one of the band´s best releases. The CD opens with the Gothic(-Rock) song „Masks“, which is very enjoyable, followed by „Outside“ in the same musical vein, but a bit darker. Then comes „Time“, a very good and rhythmic song with tribal drumming. Track 4 „Wonderland“ turns into some kind of melancholic Wave-Pop, the melody reminds me a bit on Soft Cell´s „Heat“ (if I remember right). „Icarus“ is more minimalistic, as is „Ghost“, which reminds me a bit on the Polish band Fading Colours. “Open“ has a heavy US-Gothic influence and sounds a bit like Faith And The Muse, very cool with great guitars, so the song is one of my favourites on „Asphodel“. „Dawn“ is a melancholic piano ballad, which could have been a Gitane Demone song, too. Then „Echo“, more Dark-Wave, very electronic, possibly the right song for the Clubs. Next comes „Cry“, a fine Neo-Folk song, even with some medieval tunes. „Seek“ is by far the most technoid song on this album, very dancable with good Gothic guitars again. „One“ is possibly the song, which reminds mostly on the older albums of THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN, because of its melancholic, minimalistic and ethereal atmosphere. The album then ends with a big surprise, a cover of Depeche Mode´s „Photographic, which sounds of course very different to the original. Again I feel remembered on Fading Colours. So, what else to say about this album? I think all fans of the band will love it, but it has also the substance to convince new people of THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN. I close this review, as I opened it: wonderful! (A.P.) THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN - Out Of The Mists (CD 2000) (Middle Pillar, www.middlepillar.com)
The CD contains a CD-Rom Videotrack of the title "The Unaware", but unfortunatly, it does not run on my old PC. Anyway, I like this CD very much like nearly all releases from this great US-Label. Try it out, if you didn´t yet and visit their homepage with many interesting informations and a huge mailorder section of Gothic, Neo Folk, Neo Classic and other interesting stuff. (A.P.) THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN - One Winter´s Night... (CD) (Middle Pillar, P.O.Box 555, New York NY10009, USA)
If you see the cover and listen to the music the first time, you certainly feel remembered on a Projekt release, because "One Winter´s night..." has the same aesthetic. The music is mostly based on electronic sounds, but still has a Gothic-feeling. Add the very many-sided voice of singer SUMMER BOWMAN and you will surely understand, why I actually like this CD so much. Beside very ambient trance-tracks, you´ll also find more rocky, danceable tracks for the clubs ("Control"), but most of this work is more calm and seems to be produced for listening at home. This CD makes me curious on the earlier releases of this band and I think, we will interview the band in the future. (A.P.) THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN – Veils & Shadows (CD-EP 1993) (Industrial Isolation Music)
The CD-EP is rare, but try out www.middlepillar.com or the official website of THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN www.tmitg.com . (A.P.) |
Wonderful,
THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN present their fourth full length album and it is a
great one again!
Finally a new release by the beautiful US-band THE MACHINE IN THE
GARDEN, and it is a really great one again! The cover is, like all Middle Pillar releases,
wonderfully designed. The music is again composed of aetherial, calm sounds and a little
bit of American Gothic. The nice voice of singer Summer Bowman leads the listener into a
peaceful dreamworld. We get Neo-Romantic sounds to hear, Neo-Classic, monumental
Instrumentals, demanding Dark Wave and much more, but all in all, it is THE MACHINE IN THE
GARDEN-Music:
This is the new release of the US-band
THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN, a very great one, indeed!
I
really like all the releases of THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN on the Middle
Pillar label in the last years, but wasn´t aware, that the band is around
under this name since the very early 90s. Their first release was the EP
„Veils And Sahdows“, which is sounding very different to the today´s style
of the band. They played nearly a pure Gothic-Rock style with a lot of New
Wave influences and didn´t sound very „American“ at all. These four songs
could even have been released in the early 80s in England. All four („Cry
Gods“, „A Touch Of Heaven“, „Dark Splintered Heart“ and „Heavenly Air“) are
real hits and could lead the crowds to the dancefloors in the clubs, if any
brave DJ would play the stuff.