Thursday, August 1, 2019

FRANKIE MACHINA'S PSYCHOPOMP: INTRINSIC, CIRCUITED COMMAND


I received a transmission from the entity, Frankie Machina (pronounced Ma-Sheen-a). He claims he’s a cyborg, part man/part machine, some portions assembled in America, others in France. He asked if I might do him a favor and share reflections on his music before he's deemed obsolete. After listening to his album, Psychopomp, I couldn't wait to oblige.  


For the record, there's no way Machina and his creations could ever turn obsolete.  Psychopomp's electronic pageantry proves this, expanding with vast, empathetic impact: 


The compilation's most pop-pierced selections are "Molotov Cocktease" (which feels like that old, Gershon Kingsley composition, "Popcorn", though with reinvented austerity) and the lovely "Shit Mom", a sample so cool and high that it rumbles with gaseous glee (though I suspect it entails regret and desperation above all: the need to fix something that's gone awry, before dear Ma asks why). 


Naturally, such fanciful tension can't help but spur further psychosis, which denotes the lamenting combination of "Autoburn", "Bipolar" and "Animal Bitrate" (the latter featured on Modwump's flavorful album of the same name). However, Machina's anxiety hits its summit through the high-strung "Occupied", which ushers the moment when one really has to go, only to find someone seated inside. 


To offset these examples of agitation, sexual tension waltzes in. Not only is it represented by the aforementioned "...Cocktease", but in "Vegas in Furs", which mingles the garish delights of the Marquis de Sade and Eric Stanton with a "Funkytown" beat. (Listen closely and one will hear those hip whips crackin'.)  In turn, "Vegas..." is complemented by "I Want It", a sad spiral into unrequited lust that echoes "Frankie Goes to Dollywood", a golden-maned promise of big-breasted fun, but will it ever pay off?


Just when all seems set to implode, Machina concludes his anomalous ensemble with the recharging "Knees Up Mothership": a holy vow culled from a "League of Morons" upcoming release, where the parabolic escape of "CE3K" awaits, brushed by an epic, mechanical ascent, sprinkled with ethereal adieu. 


Indeed, Machina's alternative work pumps and pounds, prods and uplifts. Though intricately wired, it's unmistakable flesh and blood. The results are pretty impressive for this cyborg, but then it takes both sides of the coin to balance life's swings. Machina's Psychopomp understands it all with intrinsic, circuited command.  

At present, Machina's efforts are documented and stored at Black Box Recordings. Plug in at...
https://blackboxrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/psychopomp-bbr-pitch-collection-13.

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