Peter Baumann was a member of Tangerine Dream in the mid-1970s, and ‘Machines Of Desire’ owes a lot to their sound. Devotees will know this means some very intriguing sound pictures, both at the front and back of the expansive overall texture, and some harmonic material that owes a bit to classical minimalism but ventures forward in its own interesting style. There are dark elements on the outskirts of this album though, and the ticking mechanism on ‘Dust To Dust’ or even the edginess of ‘The Blue Dream’ are distinctly creepy. Although essentially an ambient album these darker elements reflect driven human desires, and because of that Baumann seems to be restlessly searching for a perfection that can’t be achieved. This gets reflected in some of the incomplete riffs or lovely cameo moments on the album that don’t always broaden out into big statements. If all that makes sense, you’ll know it’s a restless but effective set of pieces for machines on a human theme – and one well worth hearing.
4 out of 5
Reviewed by Ben Hogwood
