Andy Meecham’s Emperor Machine has upped the funk considerably on this, his third album to date. He’s also gone for an approach of more stylistic variety, though has kept some most appealing analogue sounds to give the music a weathered feel that works really well. So we have a funkier approach at times – that sends up ‘The Frontist’ or the faster ‘You Clapper’ to good effect – or occasionally Meecham opts for a rockier approach, turning up the guitars on the brilliantly named ‘Hairy Knuckle’. The approach is still largely instrumental, but when vocals are used, as in ‘Space Age Pop’, they slot in easily, so that may be a direction to explore further. In the meantime we have a set of excellent, low-slung instrumental grooves, woven together to make a really appealing album.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Ben Hogwood
