I find it hard not to compare Machine Drum with Prefuse 73. Both artists’ debut albums were released more or less concurrently in 2001, and upon first hearing the two, I had the same initial impression: the music was a sort of odd but addictive combination of chopped-up hip-hop fused with an IDM aesthetic. Machine Drum’s debut, Now You Know, was by definition “experimental”: the solo project of Travis Stewart; created as a genre-bending fusion of hip-hop and glitch which, in and of itself, was a sort of experiment, as it seemed to be designed to appeal to fans of-- for example, both DJ Krush and Aphex Twin. While not quite as heavily hip-hop-based as Prefuse’s debut album, Machine Drum’s music incorporated hard hitting hip hot beats with manipulated samples, glitches, and a sort of ambient trippiness that lent itself to late-night headphone listening. But the most important distinction one could make between Machine Drum or Prefuse 73 and reasonably similar artists such as Boards of Canada or Arovane is the adherence to hip-hop as a base around which the music is constructed. In a genre with so many similar-sounding artists, Machine Drum and Prefuse 73 most certainly stood out as pioneers willing to take interesting risks with the genre, by fusing IDM with other, more urban genres like R&B and hip-hop.
Urban Biology is a fitting sophomore release for Machine Drum. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased to hear Stewart remaining firmly dedicated to the formula he created on Now You Know. Urban Biology does, however, push the formula to a more challenging level, without ever seeming gratuitous or pretentious. Machine Drum’s new record is arguably a better album than Now You Know, and while maybe not, upon first listen, as original as Stewart’s debut album, Urban Biology is unquestionably more demanding on the listener, and ultimately satisfying. Headphone music of the highest order, it is just unbelievable how much is going on in this music. Tracks like “Icya” and “Uptown” feature some magnificent programming that would make Richard D. James proud.
There are moments on the album, in fact, that recall Aphex Twin’s bizarre, yet incredibly engaging take on R&B, “Windowlicker.” By the middle of the album, Urban Biology starts to lean, musically, toward drill & bass (particularly with the lengthy, Aphex-esque “Floss”) while, at the same time, never really deviating from Machine Drum’s formula. “Realization” begins with Machine Drum’s distinctive processed chimes, and a beat that’s harder than Chinese algebra, until it metamorphoses into a super fast drill & bass cacophony, and then finally into chilled-out ambience. “Jigga Why?” starts out with what sounds like cut-up Japanese rap vocals, until the disturbing, dissonant keyboards overtake the music, carrying the track in an odd direction, and then ultimately returning it back to where it started.
Urban Biology is an extremely cohesive album, overall. The record begins with the deceptively ambient “Cream Soda Part One,” which then leads into the gorgeous, upbeat “Cream Soda Part Two.” Every track on the album leads into the next, and although Urban Biology is primarily a beat-heavy album, it is punctuated by a few mostly ambient tracks, such as the title track, which is reminiscent of Vangelis’ Blade Runner score, and a series of short ambient pieces, like “Dog Day” and “Jack,” which serve as segues into the longer, more upbeat tracks.
I cannot imagine how much work must have gone into the creation of this record. The drum programming on several of the tracks rivals that of Aphex Twin’s Richard D. James Album, and utilizes the most intriguing elements of IDM to give Urban Biology a uniquely creative twist on hip-hop. It’s an album which alternately makes you nod your head and puts you into a trance: absolutely gorgeous music that helps to put a little life into the slowly dying genre of IDM. 1. Cream Soda Part 1
2. Cream Soda Part 2
3. Icya
4. Countchocula
5. Urban Biology
6. Def in It
7. Berim
8. Dog Day
9. Nathea
10. Uptown
11. Floss
12. Jack
13. Realization
14. Jigga Why?
15. Kids World