Elegant Machinery -- "A Soft Exchange"

It took me longer than it should have to buy and review this latest CD by Elegant Machinery. The main problem was the very high import price, although I've seen it come down a bit recently. I knew I'd have to get it eventually, though, because I've been a big fan of E.M. since about 1999 when I bought their "Yesterday Man" album.

That CD remains as one of my all-time favorites--a CD that has no filler songs at all and several standout tracks. "A Soft Exchange" is right on par with "Yesterday Man," but the highlights are even better.

"A Soft Exchange" hasn't left our car stereo since it arrived from A Different Drum, and all my kids have made me put mp3 versions on their players (yes, all my kids are synthpop fans, in addition to liking less worthy music like country, American Idol fare, etc. that I wouldn't be caught dead listening to). "A Soft Exchange" joins Universal Poplab's "Seeds" and Midnight Resistance's "Remote" as my favorite albums right now.

Here's how I rate the songs:

5/5 stars: A Soft Exchange (This is my favorite song on the CD. It sounds a little like Anything Box when they were at their best, only better.), Do You Know, Move
4/5 stars: Feel the Silence, Bleeding Words, Firm, Is This the Way, With Grace,
3 and 1/2 stars: Hold On (A very slow but beautiful song)
3/5 stars: Path of Angle (Think of this song as the intermission. Instead of vocals it features an old Speak 'n Spell toy spelling out the name of the band. It's actually one of the few non-vocal songs that I own that I can stand listening to. It's pretty fun.)
2/5 stars: NONE
1/5 stars: NONE

Elmodic-- "Monoism"

My decision to buy this CD was based solely on its description on A Different Drum's website. Elmodic was compared to bands like Beborn Beton and De/Vision, and I like those two groups, so I bought Elmodic's CD.

It turned out to be a great purchase for me. Most of Elmodic's songs are upbeat and full of fun, interesting synth. But they're also not afraid to throw in some electric guitar. I usually prefer that my synthpop be "pure," without any guitar, but Elmodic pulls it off extremely well. Two of the best songs on the album feature electric guitar. The singer's voice is deep and sounds great, and I do hear similarities to Beborn Beton and De/Vision.

Here's my opinion of the songs:

5/5 stars: In Touch, C.A.W., Beyond the Horizon
4/5 stars: The Voice of Night, Platinum, Lost Inside, True Affection
3/5 stars: Solitude, Close to You, Shallow Man, Autumn Winds (These are really cool songs, but just a little too repetitive for me.)
2/5 stars: Sotoneu (I can't stand instrumentals)

Elmodic's "Monoism" is very listenable from first song to last (although I do just skip the instrumental Sotoneu). I recommend the album highly, especially to fans of German synthpop.