Machinery

Machinery

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Sixth release from France's finest metal exports No Return. They have toured extensively throughout Europe with metal heavyweights such as Motorhead, Sepultura, Napalm Death, Sacred Reich and many others. 2002. Nuclear Blast.

Tracks:

Old World
The Secret Fluid Of Dusk
Blind Paper Dragon
Dionysus
Daisy Bell
Drawing Lessons
The Book
Dead Season
Black Thursday
The Tailor's Dummies
Dionysus II
The Land Of Perpetual Sleep
Janissary Band
The Comet
Intractable

Album Description

With The Sad Machinery of Spring, the acclaimed band of genre-leaping musical adventurers known as Tin Hat begins a new chapter in their remarkable decade-long career. Dropping "trio" from their name, Tin Hat continues to move effortlessly between styles, creating a new kind of acoustic chamber music that melds elements of jazz, folk, classical, and various forms of American and World roots music.

Customer Reviews:

A surpise and a delight........2007-03-15

I heard a track off this played on BBC Radio 3's Late Junction show, and immediately tracked it down. Hmmm, Turtle Island meets Penguin Cafe meets Kronos, directed by Kurt Weill?

Great stuff.

I am Glad about "Sad".......2007-02-23

Tin Hat is one of the precious few groups occupy a space that is uniquely their own.
Formerly known as Tin Hat Trio, multi-instrumentalists Carla Kihlstedt and Mark Orton used fellow founding-member Rob Burger's departure as the impetus to expand the group and shorten the name. Recruiting fellow multi-instrumentalist Ara Anderson, clarinetist Ben Goldberg and harpist Zeena Parkins, the quintet's new CD "The Sad Machinery of Spring" finds a freshly invigorated band artfully exploring and further embellishing the multi-stylistic forays which were synonymous with THT.
Utilizing an assortment of almost two-dozen instruments, the group continues to blend and bend classical, folk, blues, bluegrass, jazz, and world music into a wholly original aural hybrid. Steeped in virtuosity, tempered with understatement and imbued with a hint of irreverence and avant-garde attitude, the fifteen tunes on the new CD are evocative miniatures, wonderfully varied except for their ability to engage and intrigue.
It takes less than three minutes for TH to cast its spell as the haunting familiarity of "Old World" offers up a charming welcome. With Orton's gentle acoustic guitar shaping the backdrop, Goldberg sets the theme afloat before Kihlstedt's violin emerges to gently tuck it in.
"Blind Paper Dragon" finds Anderson's trumpet gliding over the percussive gallop of acoustic guitar, accented with flourishes of both harp and violin. Goldberg's solo sings of Bourbon St. while a moment later his playing takes on an edge as he and Anderson mix it up.
"The Land of Perpetual Sleep" is every bit as spooky one would imagine the place to be. The toy-piano driven march of "Janissary Band" features an array of storybook sounds along with Goldberg's deep-voiced contra-alto clarinet trading fours with correspondingly thick low-end piano.
The esoteric harp interlude "Black Thursday" and Kihlstedt's whispy vocals on "Daisy Bell," ("You'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two") represent the full-range of "Machinery's" musical swath.
"Dionysus" receives two divergent readings, the first of which captures the Gershwinesque Americana that colors many TH tunes. This mood is similarly captured by the shades of the Wild-West that flavor "The Tailor's Dummies" and Orton's stellar dobro work on "The Comet."
Tin Hat creates music that is both otherworldly and essential. With interesting tonal and stylistic juxtapositions helping to define a compositional flair which is cinematic and timeless, surprise lurks around every corner.
"The Sad Machinery of Spring" is a great place to meet this truly one-of-a-kind band.

The devil's in the details . . ........2007-02-21

. . . as always.

And this genre-bending band, perhaps more than any other, has those details absolutely nailed.

It was a brilliant move expanding this minimalist group from a trio to a quintet, adding, it must be said, such monster Downtown players as Zeena Parkins (harp) and Ben Goldberg (various clarinets). For me, this move morphs the band from a quirky, generally interesting although somewhat static outfit, into a killer ensemble of absolute spot-on chamber-jazzish players. Still anchored by the heartbreakingly beautiful violin and various exotic string instruments of the inimitable Carla Kihlstedt and the Kevin Breit/Ry Cooderish guitar of Mark Orton, the band has brilliantly expanded its musical palette to include a greater diversity of sounds and moods than ever before, without compromising--indeed, almost magically augmenting--its signature aesthetic.

Throughout the disc emerge spellbinding moments of musical magic: the deft interplay of trumpet, clarinet, guitar, and violin on "Blind Paper Dragon"; the chthonic mysteries of "Dionysus," mesmerically conveyed through the violin/guitar/piano magic of Kihlstedt/Orton/Anderson; the adroit instrumental interweavings of "Drawing Lessons"--almost every tune has its special pleasures. What seems to have been not entirely lacking but insufficiently on display on previous discs--but here in spades--is a kind of rigor and spine that lifts the proceedings from mere prettiness into realms of sheer gloriousness.

This is a band that has grown into one of the most important instrumental ensembles currently on the jazz/New Music scene. Highest recommendation.

Bravo Tin Hat.......2007-02-06

Once again, Tin Hat delievers just what I've been waiting for. The music has a very free flowing feel to it, mainly because the songs are structured without actually sounding like they're structured. Rather than focusing on countless chord changes, the backing rhythm(often a guitar) tends to deviate very little throughout the songs, giving the other instruments room to breathe and explore the possible note combinations without feeling rushed. Because each instrument has the potential to shift the overall tone of a song back and forth, the music often sounds epic. Yet, because average song length is around 3:30, the epic quality of the music is concisely packaged , never sounding empty, but instead rich and fulfilling(imagine a musical cheese cake).

Average customer rating:

some great stuff here, but you have to listen to it...
rocket fuel tank buried in my head
I only give it 4 stars,
End of something wonderful

Mr. Machinery Operator
fIREHOSE
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Post-Punk | New Wave & Post-Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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ASIN: B0000028VW
Release Date: 1993-02-23

Tracks:

Formal Introduction
Blaze
Herded Into Pools
Witness
Number Seven
Powerful Hankerin'
Rocket Sled/Fuel Tank
Quicksand
Disciples Of The 3-Way
More Famous Quotes
Sincerely
Hell-Hole
4. 29. 92
The Cliffs Thrown Down

Customer Reviews:

some great stuff here, but you have to listen to it..........2006-06-21

Gosh, when this album dropped it got so unfairly ROASTED in the press by the snobby "alternative" music mags of the day. Did they honestly listen to it? In the era it almost seemed "trendy" in music circles to slam fIREHOSE in favor of the Minutemen. Maybe it's the "Oh yeah, well I was there first" schtik of the fickle punk scene littered with lemmings and bitter elitists unable to accept progression. Again, did they LISTEN to fIREHOSE's records? -- they are absolutely totally f-ing amazing.

10 years+ later I still enjoy this album. There are a couple slow points where the ride lags a bit... but the hills are tremendously higher than the valleys on Machinery Operator. The whole album is woven tight with phenominal loopy, pluck / slap melodic bass lines to kill for. Ed's guitar howls and screeches, now with a pinch of fuzz and buzz. Kira just WAILS on "Hell Hole", a song with a funky rhythm section to rival the Chili Peppers. "Blaze" is a peppery addition to any mix tape / list.

There's great stuff here, but you have to listen to it.

rocket fuel tank buried in my head.......2005-11-05

This album, I feel, is much maligned. Sure, the band broke up after this one. Sure Mike Watt sings some songs that Ed Crawford usually sang.

Production by J Mascis adds some extra squall and grit that I really like. For once Crawford's guitar has balls to match its agility.

What really can't be discounted though is the songs. These songs are miles beyond "Flyin' the Flannel." They careen and ricochet, erupting into clouds of feedback and just as suddenly floating gently down like the shards of exploded lightbulbs. There is an intensity to "Sincerely" and "Witness" that just isn't present on the previous album. The anger is palpable in "Hell-hole," and one of the reasons behind that anger boils over the edges of "4.29.92."

I only give it 4 stars,.......2005-04-09

'cause it's the only fIREHOSE album that i have a few songs that i dislike somewhat, but i love 1, 4, 5 and 6.

End of something wonderful.......2004-01-09

Mr. Machinery Operator shouldn't have been fIREHOSE's last album. I love fIREHOSE to death, and in my opinion, they can do no wrong, this album's problem was the producer... J Mascis, of Dinosaur Jr. fame. He turned wonderful songs into his own sheperd's pie. J threw in his own fuzz and feedback. There are some great high points, Blaze, Witness, and any song that Ed Crawford sings. Mike Watt should have left most of the singing duty to Ed on this disc. In all honesty, Ed was the catylst that made all fIREHOSE songs beautiful. Mike and George gave the backbone. Out of all the fIREHOSE albums, this one is my least favorite, but still is leaps and bounds ahead of all the post punk garbage out there.

Average customer rating:

Restless Machinery

Manufacturer: Pumpkin
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Release Date: 2003-12-09

Average customer rating:

Flying Sparks & Heavy Machinery
Annie Gosfield
Manufacturer: Tzadik
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

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17 Punk Revival songs!

Easy Instructions for Complex Machinery
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Customer Reviews:

17 Punk Revival songs!.......2004-11-20

1. Cindy
2. Misguided Memories
3. Little Red Riding Hood
4. Jerk Lessons
5. Smoker's Cough
6. Not My Kind Of Guy
7. Be Alright
8. Butter On The Rim
9. Dean Is A Punk
10. Kicking My Head In
11. Gay Parade
12. Sixteen
13. Sorry 'Bout The Mess
14. Sorry
15. Space Glaze
16. So Emotional
17. Hate Is Such A Strong Word

Average customer rating:

Machinery of Oblivion

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Tear It Down
Machinery Hall
Manufacturer: The Orchard
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Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00005KATD
Release Date: 2001-06-05

Tracks:

Wearily
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Silent Weapons for Silent Wars
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Year Zero

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A find at most any price.

Machinery Hill
Flour
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Release Date: 1994-08-31

Tracks:

Horseflesh
Tools
Fingerpainting
Stockings Torn
Candyland
Machinery Hill
Sometimes
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Beer Belly Polka

Customer Reviews:

A find at most any price........1999-10-06

This is a quirky, catchy, harder rock album. The melodies are on the simplistic side, but that could be good or bad. They stand out lyrically, in a bizarre way that is. This album has a story to tell; I can't imagine what it might be, though. I adore the little humorous touches like the closing polka. Buy this one to round out a wide alternative collection, and keep an open mind.