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DARK TO DARK / DARK TOO |
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DARK TO DARK: Moonrise (2:53)
Flying Needles (7:47) |
"Better to bless the darkness than to light a candle." No hype. Concept: nocturnes. Two disk set, single disk price.
"The instrumentation is mostly electronic but guitars and, possibly, camouflaged voices and tapes are present too. Exclude headphones: I had started to listen that way, soon realizing that this stuff needs a room to better express its potential, particularly because Northern Machine utilize loads of superimposed chords and swarms of drones, thus eliciting dissonant refraction and beating frequencies as pouring rain. A significant portion of these tracks sounds like poisoned yet tasty butter... The most intriguing aspect of these guys’ work is an absolute non-dependence from clichés, a rarity in this field today. Pretence-less and genuine, this album is almost perfect at comfortable volume, a mysterious background soundtrack to whatever you’re doing with life at that moment. You’ll be forced to interrupt your activity and pay attention several times, though. Can you spell “active hypnosis”?"
"Long, swirling tracks of tightly knitted waves of modular synthesizer sounds, in an endless freefall from the sky. Put on and let go. Together this is a nice bunch of music, progressing strongly from the previous release. Well worth checking out by anyone who likes dark and atmospheric music." |
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STAALHERTZ |
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Staalhertz (4:14) |
"STAALHERTZ by Northern Machine, shows a lot of promise.
Each of the compositions are varied, densely layered and use enough loops to hold
each piece together. Lots of more IDM-ish blips and bloops are combined with guitar
riffs and manipulated sounds to create some hybrid of IDM and atmospheric electronica.
It's not quite trip-hop and it's not quite ambient, but it is good. Combine a
less circuit-bending Not Breathing with a more recent artist like Monstrum Sepsis and you
can get an idea...." Brian Clarkson, Industrial Nation
"Harsh electronics and mechanical rhythms are integral to Northern Machine's sound. Even the more ambient tracks display a subliminal hostility that keeps the audience on edge with a sense of repressed tension ready to explode without warning" Matt Howarth, 'Sonic Curiosity' http://www.soniccuriosity.com/sc130.htm "NORTHERN MACHINE's compositions rarely fit into any sort of pre-determined genre or place. 'Blare' is a breathtaking...composition... simply a joy to behold. 'Finding The One' is an electro-tribal cut..." Todd Zachritz, GODSEND http://www.prongs.org/godsend/reviewN.html  |
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| THE LOST SIGNAL (HC3NMCd5) First Release September 2000 |
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 Radio 408 (5:15) |
The Lost Signal finds Northern Machine journeying into isolated realms, to deeper, darker places than before. Analogue electronics, percussion and singing metals serve as conduits to strange cold beings, red-hot baelfyres and the void. Turn in, drop down, tune on. "Having known this duo from their past cassette releases, it was a pleasure to find that they are still producing wonderously adventurous electronic sounds. This 5-track, 68 minute CD (which was recorded, amazingly, all the way back in 1995 - 1996) begins the journey with the spacey 'Radio 408', and proceeds to the 19-minute 'No Sides', which brings in bowls, gongs and flangers to create an eerie and ritualistic drone, anchored by a subtle electronic rhythm in the background. The percussive 'Heathen' also conjures an exotic, tribal, almost middle-eastern vibe that brings to mind the incredible LIFE GARDEN or maybe MUZLIMGAUZE--some impressive company, indeed! 'Welter' brings the disc to a close with 26 minutes of slowy-morphing semi-ambient sounds, layered with subtle and atmospheric guitarwork, bird sounds, and distant reverberations. Melodies float in and out, and a sense of tension--even menace--lies just below the surface. NORTHERN MACHINE's imaginative and filmic sound work is more than deserving of your attention, and 'The LOST SIGNAL' is a timeless piece of work." Todd Zachritz, GODSEND http://www.prongs.org/godsend/reviewN.html
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| SURGE ZONE (HC3NMCd4) First Release February 1995 |
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 Crack
Side Out (3:12) |
"You can always count on Northern Machine to deliver very high
quality sounds that burst with analogue synth punch. Surge Zone is
a diverse mix of industrial-bent tracks with bristling beats and grooves that come up from
behind you, and atmospheric, ambient tracks that calm after the storm. Analogue
synth hounds will love this one" Bryan Baker, Gajoob Online
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| A BROKEN MOLD (HC3NMCd1) First Release April 1992 |
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 Temporal Arrythmia (4:55) |
"There still are people out there who are creating new/experimental
things with keyboards, synths, etc.. Northern Machine is a perfect example of this.
These eight instrumentals (with names like 'Wasteland', 'Voltage and Flux' and
'Temporal Arrhythmia') are great moodsetters for those nights when you need something to
induce sleep or deep thought. My favorite is the seven minute epic, 'In The Tall
Dust Weeds'". Doug Chapel, Spun Magazine "A crispy atmosphere of delays with synths and other sounds. A pleasant journey of sounds and excursions for filmic rainy days." Daniel Plunkett, ND Magazine
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| THE SLEEPER
DISLODGED (HC3NMCd2) First Release March 1989 |
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 Leatherface
(5:04)
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"The Sleeper Dislodged is a varied (and extremely
listenable) collection whose various pieces suggest a number of other artists -- from
Esplendor Geometrico and Cabaret Voltaire to Jon Hassell and 'Seventeen Seconds'-era Cure.
Just a couple of the many highlights: the strong feeling of motion conveyed
by 'Soul Fibrillation' as some huge vehicle whips by, causing a windstorm that brushes you
aside like an insignificant bit of fluff, and 'Drip Tube Siphon', where electronic
percussion bounces from ear to ear over a wistful synth line. Northern Machine have
produced a collection that's both eclectic and enjoyable." File 13 "P. Gillis and friends have created dreams of extreme fear and audio hallucinations. One should probably NOT listen to this alone in a big house while ingesting any mind altering substances; noises would creep from the walls, monsters will come out of the basement and the utter madness of isolation would spook even the hardiest of souls...a nightmare vision of terror soundscapes and oddities...Like a good book you can savor, multilayered and can be perceived on many different dimensions with each listen. With the experimental zeal of Dada, "found sound" is manipulated into recognizable interpretations accessible to brave minds." Kim Traub, Industrial Nation
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FIRST TRANSMISSION
(HC3NMCa1)
First Release February 1988
 Fragments
Translated (6:12) |
"Moody space music, vaguely reminiscent of the eerier parts of 2001
and devoid of any trace of New Age pap. Waves of synthesized sound with ominous
climaxes bring the listener to a high key of fearful paranoia." Fact Sheet
Five "Varies from dark, haunting melodicism to rhythmic pieces reminiscent of the early wave of 'industrial' merchants. A good listen and deserving of attention." Todd Zachritz, Godsend http://www.prongs.org/godsend/reviewN.html "Large music, large and epic and very tasty. You will hear a wild assortment of alien noises set to subterranean rhythms. You will hear treated wood block percussion, earthy synthesizer drones, superb use of echoing loops and distant effects. You will hear electronic music rich with sonic tension. Do I have time to tell everybody how this music cured my brain tumor, huh?" Matt Howarth http://www.soniccuriosity.com/ Audion Magazine
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