Search - Macha :: Forget Tomorrow

Drastic.

jasonnn | kansas | 01/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Four years is a long time. Six years is an even longer time. I would venture as to guess that most bands don't live to see their four-year anniversary let alone their sixth. Athens, Georgia natives and not-quite-dance-rockers Macha released their full length "Forget Tomorrow" after a taking a six year [from their last full length release] break giving their contemporaries plenty of time to die out in the mean time. The album is full of the band's semi-signature non-western instrumental style and laced with a newly synth undertone. This record seems to remind me of an acid trip I took back in `63 that started off in a Las Vegas night club and ended naked, vulnerable, and surprisingly tranquil on my parents' couch. Yes, it's drastic.

Think pressing your fingers on a squeaky-clean table and slowly dragging them across it. That is the closest thing to the sound that starts of the album and the title track. Fear not, though, the song quickly bursts into the funk layered hook that seems to prevail throughout the first half of this album. Bouncing rhythms and quirky guitar riffs blend together with equally unusual samples in songs like "(Do The) Inevitable" and its seeming epilogue "D-D-D." Without a doubt, this is the more light-hearted side of Macha and, at least in my observation, the initial draw of the album.

The latter half of this album, I found myself feeling like I was walking down some hall looking for the first half of the album and with each door I tried I awkwardly stumbled in on an artist frantically sloshing paint on a canvas. Point in case; "Now Disappearing." The track is layered with subtly phased high-hat taps, awkwardly arpeggiated acoustic guitar-like sounds (no doubt, from some eastern stringed instrument) and shy samples of a little girl babbling in a foreign language. Some songs sound and feel more like a slow ride on the Metro. The aptly named "Calming Passengers" has a sort of stop-and-go aura to it that seems to add another sonic passenger with each beeping stop until the end of the line where everyone calmly departs. On the "Sub II" the record even ventures a bit into the post-rock ballpark with a highly syncopated drum beat and even a cameo by the vibraphone.

All in all, this album seems like a new album every time you listen to it. Each play lets you discover more of its intricacies as well as admire the old hooks. Basically, it ought to tide you over for the next six years or so.



8.9/10

-jasonnn"

Gamelans!

A. Liebling | Long Island City, NY United States | 08/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've heard a lot about Macha, but this album - their first in 4-5 years - is my introduction. They're considered indie, but they sound awfully like all those 80s dance-goth bands I dig, like Joy Division, Dead Can Dance, Gene Loves Jezebel, etc. It's their dark, synth-heavy sound and death-disco electro bass and percussion, and even though everyone talks about their "unique" use of Eastern rhythms and instruments, it's really old hat in the early goth and industrial scenes, and the rhythms and sounds fit in perfectly fine now as they did then. Even better - their use of the instruments sounds more modern and creepy than the 80s synth stuff, which aged into cheese. Especially check out "D-D-D" - they rock the Indonesian gamelan like it's their job. Now, this album isn't for everybody - there are a number of lulls and irritating soundscape-type stuff that even I have to skip over. But the dance-electro-80s-goth thing is just great to hear again, especially when done really well... and with Indonesian gamelans."

How soon is yesterday?

alexander laurence | Los Angeles, CA | 09/21/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Macha has always been an interesting band. They have done collaborations and played interesting music that was influential. They are talented musicians. They sound both like newer bands like The Faint and Calla. That is because they bring techno music and krautrock influences into their musical palette. "Forget Tomorrow" is a cool dance hit. They mix up exotic sounds with new wave influences. "Smash & Grab" is a trance techno sounding song. Macha has a few instrumental and experimental tracks. This is a great record. This record needs to be heard in its entirety. It sounds like a record people will be listening to in years to come. More range from Athens, Georgia. This is the future. Buy the album today."