DREAM MACHINE – "TRILOGIA"

 

Former Ozric's, Damidge and Thunderdogs alumni back with a promising debut.

 

Dream Machine coalesced last year with a line-up oddly familiar to anyone who has followed the Ozric Tentacles over the years.

John 'Champignon' Egan, ex-front man for the Ozric's now lends his flute [and other woodwind] skills to this debut album along with another Ozric escapee, Seaweed on synths.

Starting the band off and filling out the line-up are Alex on guitars [ex-Damidge], Gabriele, Julian and Maurizio, all alumni from various psych outfits including Damidge and the Thunderdogs.

 

The album is basically a set of jams recorded in a short space of time with a bit more jamming dubbed over the top.

There are three tracks on the album, the last being a colossal 30 minutes in length.

 

Sound-wise, it's a lot like the Ozric's circa 1985 with lots of Hillage-influenced guitar textures

[the delay-drenched 'dots' of the opening track 'Invisible Maze' and lots of delayed-blues solos],

whooshing and burbling analogue synths providing mind-bending soundscapes and

John's inimitable woodwindery [thankfully present again after being woefully ignored in the Ozric's sound for about the last 10 years].

The rhythm section are also incredibly tight, harkening back to early Ozric's and "Radio Gnome" era Gong. Musically, the band are 'that' good.

 

Since the songs are more improvised than overall composed [I think it's fair to say!],

there is a slight tendency towards repetition, especially in some of the guitar solo parts, but that actually helps the album focus a little and gives you a few hooks to listen out for.

It's difficult to pick out a good track, per se, because the album just tends to flow as a whole, however, 'Invisible Maze' is possibly the most clearly structured.

 

Since the release of the album, Joie Hinton [ex-Ozric's and Eat Static] has started lending his considerable synth noodling skills to the project.

Summing up, this is a recommended, solid debut record and further releases have the potential of being mind-bogglingly good.

 

Fans of virtually any space rock should pick this up.

 

Dream Machine's Alex Pym:

"The recording was not intended to be for public release but we were so pleased with the results that Champignon and Seaweed added overdubs and 'Trilogia' was born.

The initial recording session was completed in 4 hours. 'Trilogia' is a unique recording.

Originally intended as a blueprint for a further studio recording we decided that there were

improvised moments on the album that could not be repeated in a recording studio environment”