Background
The M Machine, formerly Pance Party, are an electronic duo (used to be trio) based in San Fransisco, California. They made their name known when their debut EP "Promise Me A Rose Garden/Glow" was released on OWSLA, and remained #2 on Beatport for an entire week. A teaser for their "Metropolis EP," now split into two parts, went viral. The first part, "Metropolis, Pt. I" released in April 2012, with the second installment releasing almost a year later. "Metropolis" as a whole is based on the sci-fi film "Metropolis" and tells the story of the dystopian city of Metropolis. On The M Machine's website is an illustrated story that goes along with the EP, the first part of which lines up with the first part of the EP and can be found here.
Review
Listen to "Metropolis, Pt. I"
The first part of this EP starts off with "Immigrants," which begins with a driving drum beat with fluttering hi-hats, but then continues into a mish-mash of sidechained sawtooths. The second and third drop explore the saw melody a bit more. In addition to the title, "Deep Search" actually sounds like an exploration into a cave, with water drops, heavy reverb, and other assorted cave-y sound effects. There's a cool synthbrass fanfare in the middle, like the discovery at the end of the journey, but we're thrown right back into the cave as "Deep Search" closes out. "A King Alone" sounds rather upbeat at first, but the lyrics are rather sad ("Look at me, look at all that I control / Everything that I need when I'm alone"). The song drives itself along nicely, with the lyrics supporting the happy house feel and overdriven synth lead. "Faces" is next and rather short, and features unaccredited vocals. The main focus of the track is the synth arpeggio over a slower house beat, and the arp features some crazy harmonies. A machine boots up in "Black" with an intro more suited to a soundtrack than a dance floor. However, as a deep voice says the title, we're treated to the electro that we all know and love as a deep synth crunch drives syncopation into our ears. The breakdown screams cinematic with strings abound and chimes ringing across the vast soundscape, but the foreboding voice one more brings back the rhythmic bass to close out the song. The first part of the EP ends with "Shadow In The Rose Garden," which starts off with chanting vocals as the drums build up to the heavily dissonant electro chords balancing on top of sawtooth basses that make up the rest of the song, bar the filtered outro.
As far as electronic music goes, The M Machine have always been at the forefront of creativity, in my opinion, at least. It's easy to label the overarching genre of this two-part EP as electro house, but there's nothing else out there quite like the imaginative forefront of creativity that The M Machine have been exploring on this EP. Their unique take on a genre so quick to become stale makes "Metropolis" a fantastic experience. The only problem with this EP was the year long wait until the second half came out. 9/10
Notable Remixes
The M Machine | Metropolis Remixed
Interested in a whole bunch of awesome remixes from Metropolis, both parts one and two? You're in luck, there's a whole album of them picked by The M Machine themselves, so you know they're quality. Check out my review of the remixes (linked above)!
Sources
Wikipedia | The M Machine
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