“Pulverizing and fascinating” – San Francisco Bay Guardian
Kinder Machines is the third full-length album from SF/NYC/Melbourne quintet Beaten by Them. Formed in San Francisco in 2005, the band has since been quietly at work, creating original and enduring experimental and cinematic “post-rock” music. Though BBT's releases have often topped US college radio charts – including New York’s taste-making WNYU – the band is very much under appreciated. That could be about to change with Kinder Machines, which is more approachable but no less compelling than previous releases.
Recorded live to analog tape on a farm in the wine-producing region of Sonoma, California, the album is an invigorating collage of acoustic instruments and multi-layered rhythms that puts melody in the forefront.
Kinder Machines kicks off with the punchy, disco-infused "Last Train to Kingston." Barely cracking three minutes, the track gleefully romps through different stylistic influences, notably highlife and bluegrass. The second track, "Jet Age," starts with a canned bossa nova beat and is soon joined by minimalist piano before rapidly evolving into a powerful number that suggests both promise and risk. "Maps not Territories" is one of the few mind-bending moments on the album – a hypnotic, acoustic guitar and synthesizer-driven track that tips its hat to German experimental bands of the 1970s. Any lingering feelings of introspection are quickly dispelled by "Salvador Divinorum," an up-tempo, latin-inspired number which sees the band in full swing, replete with dense layers of afro-latin percussion and rough-hewn vocals reminiscent of Lou Reed. "Point Reyes" is a similarly fun track, sounding like an Appalachian porch-front jam – but one where the neighbors on the other side of the tracks were invited to join in. The title track, "Kinder Machines," starts slowly with a simply strummed acoustic guitar, building into an eight-and-a-half minute epic. Trumpet, cello and piano sweep in, leading to a final breakdown, dirge-like outro recalling the Beatles’ "Hey Jude."
MP3 : Beaten By Them - "Jet Age"
MP3 : Beaten By Them - "Salvador Divinorum"
Engineered and mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Oz Fritz, best known for his work on Mule Variations and other Tom Waits albums, the album describes itself as a “High dynamic range recording: tracked, mixed and mastered entirely in analog domain.” Kinder Machines sounds huge, and is presented in a unique limited edition, individually numbered hard-cover book CD package. A must-hear album from one of modern music’s most exciting, creative and surprising genre-twisting groups.
Beaten by Them are: Andrew Harris (acoustic guitar), Chief Boima (cello, ableton live), Jeff Ardziejewski (electronic and acoustic drums), Spencer Murray (electric bass guitar, bass synthesizer), Max McCormick (piano, synthesizer, pump organ, vocals).
With: Ricky Carter (percussion) and Mike Olmos (trumpet)
“Pulverizing and fascinating” – San Francisco Bay Guardian
“Slow-building grandeur with plenty of sudden left turns” – The Onion
“Remember how you thought apocalyptic post-rock had run its course and was no longer a viable genre? Well, I remember. I also remember taking it all back after hearing this band’s ominous debut…” – Stephen Duesner, Blurt
Kinder Machines is the third full-length album from SF/NYC/Melbourne quintet Beaten by Them. Formed in San Francisco in 2005, the band has since been quietly at work, creating original and enduring experimental and cinematic “post-rock” music. Though BBT's releases have often topped US college radio charts – including New York’s taste-making WNYU – the band is very much under appreciated. That could be about to change with Kinder Machines, which is more approachable but no less compelling than previous releases.
Recorded live to analog tape on a farm in the wine-producing region of Sonoma, California, the album is an invigorating collage of acoustic instruments and multi-layered rhythms that puts melody in the forefront.
Kinder Machines kicks off with the punchy, disco-infused "Last Train to Kingston." Barely cracking three minutes, the track gleefully romps through different stylistic influences, notably highlife and bluegrass. The second track, "Jet Age," starts with a canned bossa nova beat and is soon joined by minimalist piano before rapidly evolving into a powerful number that suggests both promise and risk. "Maps not Territories" is one of the few mind-bending moments on the album – a hypnotic, acoustic guitar and synthesizer-driven track that tips its hat to German experimental bands of the 1970s. Any lingering feelings of introspection are quickly dispelled by "Salvador Divinorum," an up-tempo, latin-inspired number which sees the band in full swing, replete with dense layers of afro-latin percussion and rough-hewn vocals reminiscent of Lou Reed. "Point Reyes" is a similarly fun track, sounding like an Appalachian porch-front jam – but one where the neighbors on the other side of the tracks were invited to join in. The title track, "Kinder Machines," starts slowly with a simply strummed acoustic guitar, building into an eight-and-a-half minute epic. Trumpet, cello and piano sweep in, leading to a final breakdown, dirge-like outro recalling the Beatles’ "Hey Jude."
MP3 : Beaten By Them - "Jet Age"
MP3 : Beaten By Them - "Salvador Divinorum"
Engineered and mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Oz Fritz, best known for his work on Mule Variations and other Tom Waits albums, the album describes itself as a “High dynamic range recording: tracked, mixed and mastered entirely in analog domain.” Kinder Machines sounds huge, and is presented in a unique limited edition, individually numbered hard-cover book CD package. A must-hear album from one of modern music’s most exciting, creative and surprising genre-twisting groups.
Beaten by Them are: Andrew Harris (acoustic guitar), Chief Boima (cello, ableton live), Jeff Ardziejewski (electronic and acoustic drums), Spencer Murray (electric bass guitar, bass synthesizer), Max McCormick (piano, synthesizer, pump organ, vocals).
With: Ricky Carter (percussion) and Mike Olmos (trumpet)
“Pulverizing and fascinating” – San Francisco Bay Guardian
“Slow-building grandeur with plenty of sudden left turns” – The Onion
“Remember how you thought apocalyptic post-rock had run its course and was no longer a viable genre? Well, I remember. I also remember taking it all back after hearing this band’s ominous debut…” – Stephen Duesner, Blurt
“...fearless guitar- and cello-driven sonic experiments that are by turns moody, majestic and chaotic.” – Isthmus: Madison, WI
Artist: Beaten By Them
Album: Kinder Machines
Label: Logicpole
Release date: October 16, 2012
Track Listing:
01. Last Train To Kingston
02. Jet Age
03. Follow The Leader
04. Maps Not Territories
05. Salvador Divinorum
06. Spring Bird
07. Point Reyes
08. Kinder Machines
09. City Of Joy
Album: Kinder Machines
Label: Logicpole
Release date: October 16, 2012
Track Listing:
01. Last Train To Kingston
02. Jet Age
03. Follow The Leader
04. Maps Not Territories
05. Salvador Divinorum
06. Spring Bird
07. Point Reyes
08. Kinder Machines
09. City Of Joy
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