music review:

Machine Translations ::: "abstract poverty "

psychedelic-folk-pop

This charming album consists of 12 tracks spread over 60 minutes. Psychedelic folk is the closest thing I can think of to describe it. It's quite unusual. It has a very acoustic, yet somewhat clankety-mechanical, soulful blues-grassy Australian (inner city) feel to it; quirky rhythms, raw acoustic percussion, acoustic guitars, banjos, slide guitars, droning violins, weary telephoneish vocals.

The closest comparison I can think of is late 60s/early 70s Pink Floyd when they were doing mellow acoustic stuff like "Meddle" and "Atom Heart Mother". But this is several shades more exotic. The master mind of this is Canberra's Jeff Walker. I've briefly heard the follow up album called "Halo" which is certainly worth getting too. It features some further experimentation with non-western rhythms and melodies.

Contact: Way Over There Records - PO Box 116 Fitzroy 3065 Australia.