Dream Drops [Import]

Dream Drops [Import]

ASIN: B000056EU3

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
With Michel Graillier on Piano (Electric and Acoustic), Michel Petrucciani on Piano, Chet Baker on Trumpet, Jf Jenny Clark on Contrabass and Aldo Romano on Percussion.

Tracks:

Alone, Jealous, and Stoned
All At Once (It's Not Important)
Lightning Blue Eyes
Daddy's in the Doldrums
I Hate Pretending
Faded Lines
I Want To Know
1,000 Seconds

Amazon.com

As you might expect from a band whose primary interests include psychedelic space-rock jams and song titles like "It's A Bad Wind That Don't Blow Somebody Good," the Secret Machines are in no particular hurry. So don't be put off by the fact that the tracklist for the Texas-born, New York-based band's second full-length album only includes eight songs. Each one is epic (and not in the bad Creed "arms-spread-on-the-mountaintop" way): packing in more drama, billowing guitar solos and stealth pop hooks than the Strokes' entire back catalog. On Ten Silver Drops the hirsute trio seems to have discovered a sense of economy, particularly in toxic garage tracks like "Lightning Blue Eyes" and "Faded Lines," but there's no reason for concern. Unlike everything else the Secret Machines do, it's short-lived. The charmingly titled "Daddy's In The Doldrums" lingers for a full eight-minutes, making it worth at least three songs in one. --Aidin Vaziri

Album Description

Honed by the immediacy of playing an 18-month cross-country tour in support of their debut album, New York City-based Secret Machines blend songcraft and melody with their acclaimed power to sculpt epic, dreamy, neo-psychedelic soundscapes on their second full-length album, Ten Silver Drops. While still playing homage to experimentalist pop groups Kraftwerk, Neu and La Dusseldorf with effects laden, heavily processed guitars and primal, stomping drums, Secret Machines expand their universe to reveal both the icy peaks and murky depths of their musical machinations.

Album Details

When Secret Machines Cut their First Record September 2000, it Sounded Like it was Full of the Wide Open Spaces of the Texas They Grew Up In. After Relocating to New York City, and the Shared Confines of a Loft Apartment/Rehearsal Room, their Debut Album Proper Now Here is Nowhere (Released April2004) was Imbued with the Spirit and the Energy of the Big City, the Intensity of Close-quarter Living and Common Purpose Infused their Sound Making it Bolder and More Structured.

Customer Reviews:

Bang on the bass drum.......2007-06-01

You gotta hand to these guys. The lyrics are good innocent high school poetry, but they really work. The musicians have average talent, but with all the effects they use, still get the feeling across. It doesn't bother me at all. And of course the drummer is as solid as you could ever want in a drummer. The amazing thing about this band is the song writing and the styles they borrow and transform into their own special sound. They do alot with what they have. This album is more even than their first one. Not alot of hooks, but consistent. I prefer them live, when they have the freedom to drone on one drum beat as long as they want till you are hypnotized. I'd have to say that this one is not as good as the first one because they don't have anything that compares to "Now we're Nowhere Now". This is not a must have, but a worthy effort.

I never thought a moment spoke so well .......2007-01-30

It was sort of coincedence that I discovered this band. I think it had something to do with the persistant suggestion of Amazon's recommendations department combined with the fact that I saw it on the shelf at some music store (I want to sound cool. It was actually a Barnes & Noble), picked it up, bought it, took it home, and fell in love with the band. It just so happened, and I didn't discover this until much later, that one of the members of Secret Machines was in Tripping Daisy, a band I deeply mourn and often pine for.

Layered, dense and emotional. Medatative, and anything but rushed. The tracks on this album are long but don't meander much. They carry their somewhat ambivalent emotional weight (moreso than their previous efforts) without falling into sentimentalism. There's this seductive, almost trancey cohesion throughout the whole piece, and it really manages to pull the listener in.

What I don't get about this, what I don't get about most of popular music, in fact, is that very few people out there are listening to this music. Secret Machines are right there in major-label obscurity. What's up with that? I mean yeah, the songs are sort of long, but I never thought that was a good excuse for obscurity. They're way better than the mass of popular music. In fact, they're way better than the other similarly themed, slightly off-kilter acts you can catch on the more artsy radio stations out there. Plus, what with the power of the internet and all, why is good music like this still floating on the boundaries of the musical world?

Breaking Up is Hard to Do.......2007-01-24

The Secret Machines each had a romantic/personal difficulty in the period between the critical acclaim accorded "Now Here Is Nowhere" and the completion of "Ten Silver Drops." The result is a better album because of it. The droning jams that made up NHIN now have a bitter bite to them, making a song like "Daddy's In The Doldrums" (and Mama just wants to dance...) impossible to forget.

Eight songs and not one under five minutes in length. Secret Machines don't give a crap about pop conventions and are happy to let songs play out, bashing and weaving till you're hooked. Songs like the opener "Alone Jealous And Stoned" and "I Hate Pretending" - that's the song that gets all paranoid about "an undercover cop in the middle of the road" - make you wish radio would get a grip on what constitutes good rock in the new century and lay off bands that haven't recorded a note since 1988. There's no reason a song as powerful and hooky as "Lightening Blue Eyes" shouldn't be in a power rotation on somebody's playlist. It will make you miss old-fashioned (good) stoner rock.

"Ten Silver Drops" is Secret Machines forging an identity, which was something I thought NHIN was missing. They also have a knockout live show that will make you a convert if you get to see them. They're already playing like they belong in a stadium...you'll not believe three men can make this big a sound.

The journey to perfection continues..........2007-01-15

After repeating listens to this album, I'm still very torn. Is it infact better than their debut album, "Now Here is Nowhere"? I'm still not sure. I think the band direction is pretty much headed on the same path. Yes, there are some differences in the albums, epecially lyrically,but nothing drastic. They have the same sorta "spaced out" sound to certain tracks, like the slow album opener "Alone, Jealous, and Stoned". They have great a rhythmn section in drummer Josh Garza as shown on the great tune, "Daddy's in the Doldrums". There are up-tempo songs like "Lightning Blue Eyes" and "I Hate Pretending", and speaking of that track, you have to hear the drum solo at the end of that track!! The lyrical content seems to be bit more dark than here than on their debut. I also feel that the album is a bit top-heavy. To me, the first 5 songs are indeed the best tracks. The last three songs seem to kinda slow the album down a bit and I don't feel that it finishes strong. As with all their other work, I don't feel Brandon Curtis is the greatest vocalist in the world, but he does have an unique deliverly of lyrics and writes songs to match his vocal limitations. But all in all, the Ten Silver Drops is pretty much more of the same as their previous material. If you like "Now Here is Nowhere", there's no reason not to like "Ten Silver Drops". I definitely think that the sky's the limit for this band. If they continue to hone their craft, they may create some masterpieces in the future.

Key Tracks: "Alone, Jealous, and Stoned", "All At Once", "Daddy's in the Doldrums" and "I Hate Pretending"

Good Sophomore Effort.......2006-10-18

I would like to thank my older brother for getting me into the Secret Machines. They are one of the best bands I have ever heard and they constantly make good music. On "Ten Silver Drops" the band continues to define their music with great hooks and well timed and beatifully crafted choruses. The best songs on the album will get stuck in your head for weeks. The beating drum and echoing guitar in "I hate Pretending" is a good enough reason to buy the album. Songs like "All at Once (It's Not Important), "Lightinig Blue Eyes", an "Daddy's in the Doldrums will leave you satisfied. If you have not heard any of the Secret Machines music I highly suggest you buy this album and their first one "Now Here Is Nowhere" because these guys rock and make excellent songs.

Average customer rating:

Ten Silver Drops
Secret MacHines
Manufacturer: Wea/Warner
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Dream Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000GALBPW
Release Date: 2006-08-14

Tracks:

Alone, Jealous And Stoned
All That Once (It's Not Important)
Lighting Blue Eyes
Daddy's In The Doldrums
I Hate Pretending
Faded Lines
I Want To Know If It's Still Possible
1,000 Seconds
Daddy's In The Doldrums (So Where Were You?) (Bonus Track)

Average customer rating:

Dream Drops
Michel Graillier
Manufacturer: Universal
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000056EU3

Tracks:

Auroville
Keep On Kicking
Top Dance
Bill's Heart
Dream Drops
Little Song
L'Etranger
Nem Um Talves
Owl Blues

Album Details

With Michel Graillier on Piano (Electric and Acoustic), Michel Petrucciani on Piano, Chet Baker on Trumpet, Jf Jenny Clark on Contrabass and Aldo Romano on Percussion.

Average customer rating:

Certain Damage Volume 32
Blue Rodeo, Ride, Chagall Guevera, Godflesh, Outback Eleventh Dream Day , Material Issue, Havana 3AM, Scarlet Drops, Nova Mob, Inspiral Carpets, Mouth Music Throwing Muses , Hollow Men, Too Much Joy, chickasaw Mud Puppies Cocteau Twins , and Horse Something Brothers
Manufacturer: CMJ
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000N7MJK4

Product Description

Promotional CD

Average customer rating:

Dream Drops

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Compilations | Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00005UL7B
Release Date: 2004-03-23

Average customer rating:

Dream Drops
Michel Graillier
Manufacturer: Polygram
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00005HXUV
Release Date: 2001-04-25

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music