7.5 out of 10The Delta Mirror are a new group out of Los Angeles that mix crunchy IDM beats with Shoegazey atmospheres, pretty piano melodies, and a few other "worth discovering sounds". "Machines That Listen" is their first official release, and to me is way ahead of it's time.. If you can imagine a cross between Port Royal, 65daysofstatic, Michael Andrews (Me And You And Everyone We Know), Spc-Eco, and Chroma Key you are on the right track..
"Machines That Listen" has more than enough attractive layers of stirring clamor to keep most listeners involved/happy with what they are hearing. Apparently the "theme" of the album is each song takes place/tells a story of a different room in a hospital. Maybe by "Machines That Listen" they are talking about the "machines" that keep us alive. MAYBE we should embrace technology sometimes, rather than be afraid of it, it has saved a few lives after all. Sometimes the very thing that destroys society keeps it together.. The vocals are unique (somewhat "Gothy") but not unbearable, in-fact quite opposite, they are incomparable. The lyrics are also unique and I'm not really a "lyric guy" either, but I like what they have to say. The idea of us all being connected through something as simple as hospital walls is a good one. The guitars aren't loud or really even the focus on most tracks, instead they are background filler noise that are more sporadic than they are present, sometimes with distortion, sometimes clean sounding. The uncomplicated piano melodies give the songs a "stronger" more intimate and "light-hearted"/lovely feeling, which is a nice thing with all of the other things going on. But the thing that really sticks out for me the most on this album (hands down) are the electronics, the clicks, bleeps, glitch, synths, and sampling are what gives this band it's "edge" above other Nu-Gazer's. The adequate amount of IDM sounds are blaringly present, yet somehow washed away underneath an ocean of gazey/triumphant euphoria. Nice package of noise if you ask me..
This was a surprise find for me, I didn't and still don't know too much about this project. What I can tell you is that this album knocked me off my feet from the very first listen. It will take more than a couple listen's to really "soak in" all the magical layers of post-modern bliss, but that's a good thing here. RECOMMENDED (most definitely).
Standout Tracks: I like em all, but I really like; Going To Town, He Was Worse Than The Needle He Gave You, Malpractice (put this song on repeat)
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