Augmented by the addition of the otherworldly talents of young maestro keyboardist,Antoine Guenet (The Wrong Object; Sh.TG.N; Univers Zero), fellow sonic adventurers — and Machine Mass founders — guitarist Michel Delville (The Wrong Object; douBt; Alex Maguire Sextet) and drummer Tony Bianco (douBt; Elton Dean; Dave Liebman) combine forces to steam through a set which provides a refreshing retake of some of the most influential psychedelic rock classics from the ’60’s that changed the face of music! While the songs reference frameworks familiar to most classic rock aficionados, the comparisons end there: the trio follows flight plans which are uniquely their own, achieving moments stunningly fresh, instinctive, profound and moving. The addition of piano and keyboards to the tracks provides a welcome approach, imploring reharmonizations as well as complete revisions many hipsters, both young and old, will revel in!
In typical Machine Mass fashion, the music thumbs its nose at convention and is unapologetically uninhibited in its delivery. The group pushes boundaries on all front, producing a record that is as fascinating from a tonal / textural perspective as it is from the ‘harmonic rethink’ and the mass of corporate liberties taken within the song structures, respectively.
Machine Mass’ “Plays Hendrix” is an engrossing, brilliantly conceived retake on some of rock’s most adventurous classic moments; a quintessential album for fans of rock, psychedelic and progressive, alike.