Machine Dreams

Little Dragon | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 3, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Peacefrog - EMI
• ASIN: B002G1X2Z6
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,380 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #21 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Electronic Pop

Editorial Reviews

Review

Having toured relentlessly since the last record, Little Dragon found themselves to be very popular in the US specifically on the West coast. After sessions on KCRW s popular Morning Becomes Eclectic show, their album became the most played on the station after Radiohead. No mean feat for the little dragons from Sweden, especially when they did not even have a US record label backing their forays. The track Twice even got played on hit US show Grey s Anatomy, and eventually the band were brought to the attention of David Sitek who became an instant fan (as did notorious basement dweller DJ Shadow) and asked them to support TV On The Radio on their US tour in May 2009. --Bio --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Product Description

Little Dragon return with a spectacular second album offering in August, a pulsating electro pop epic that Prince would be proud of (only fronted by a beautiful Swedish lady with a sultry voice). A bold and surprising side/two step onwards from their self titled debut, released two years ago to great acclaim especially among specialist circles. Machine Dreams, with its nagging hooks and gloriously infectious tunes, should finally see the band break out into the mainstream.

Recorded in their home city of Gothenburg, Machine Dreams is a gigantic leap on from previous material but still maintains a distinct sound that can only be Little Dragon. Be it Yukimi s warmly inviting vocals, Erik s dextrous drumming, the vast array of synths and bleeps created by Hakan or Frederik s bubbling bass lines, together they don t sound like anything else around right now. The move towards a more electronic sound was a conscious one, as Yukimi explains; The title Machine Dreams seems obvious. These days, humans seem more and more like machines, and as technology evolves, machines feel more human and it becomes fuzzy and beautiful and science fiction-ish. We feel dependent on our machines to create and live, and their sounds reflect us .

Album opener A New breaks us in gently with a single whirring note on the synthesiser, an almost alien sound that gradually morphs into a slow, thumping bassline. Yukimi s vocals flow alongside Hakan s assortment of sound effects interspersed with militaristic drums breaks. A magical opener that sets the scene and seems to sink into itself, taking us with it, until the pace is swiftly ratcheted skywards with Looking Glass , the massive snare, crisp driving beat and experimental synths revealing the band s current penchant for the 80 s. This influence continues apace into stand out track My Step . Utilising a solid drumbeat that nestles next to jagged and playful synthlines, the track breaks down into motorik propulsion with a scuzzy techno bassline that Yukimi works with ease.

Upcoming single Feather finds Yukimi s voice at its most detached and blaze, seemingly nonchalant yet magnificently seductive. Backed by Hakan s keyboard atmospherics, the song creates a soundscape reminiscent of Tears For Fears more reflective moods. Gradually layering more vocals, synths, echoes and reverb, it builds to a quietly psychedelic, dreamy cosmic swirl. Runabout brings forth a mini Airto style percussive breakdown at the tail end of yet another Little Dragon pop gem. Swimming bursts forth into vision with stabbing keys and reflective bass alongside yet another wonderful vocal performance from Yukimi who sings of young love and now so many years have past, my memories as clear as glass . The song is over as quickly as it started, flowing into the next miniature masterpiece in the form of Blinking Pigs

The album closes with the stunning track Fortune , which has already caught the attention of none other than DJ Shadow. It s no wonder really, as the textured melodies blend with the drifting percussion, creating a blissful sonic mood. With a smattering of drums and bass and the magic of Yukimi s voice and Hakan s electronic dynamics floating on top, it s the perfect track to end this fascinating journey through Little Dragon s brave new world.

With disparate influences from Depeche Mode to Prince, LCD Soundsystem to James Holden, Dancehall to R&B, Jazz and Soul, Little Dragon take their place among artists who straddle many genres, yet somehow create their own and in doing so create sounds that make time stop (Yukimi). Futuristic yet somehow retro, Machine Dreams sees Little Dragon achieve something timeless; that elusive pop classic. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best of 2009, December 2, 2009

By 

Tom Paine (Pangea) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Machine Dreams (MP3 Download)

Little Dragon is one of the best little bands around right now. Machine Dreams is more upbeat than the debut and reaches back to some of the best 80s sounds for inspiration, yet also feels futuristic and sci-fi, sounding like nothing else out there. Yukimi Nagano's soulful voice is the star here and she is ably assisted by three fine musicians. You must see this band's excellent live show to understand that as good as this album is, it is mostly an outline of the even more electrifying live versions of the tracks. I can't get enough of "Feather".

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clever and beautiful, it's a record you won't forget!, December 21, 2009

By 

Rafael Cova "Kid X" (Caracas, Venezuela) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Machine Dreams (Audio CD)

Little Dragon offers an interesting mix of electronic music that is supported with a dance beat but is still deeply rooted in pop structures. This combination is what makes this quartet from Gothenburg, Sweden stick out, as they present what seems like a complex sophomore outing in Machine Dreams, but in reality, it is a record that comes off very smooth. It is an easy and entertaining listen that has nice transitions from track to track and consistently will have you tapping your feet. At times, the female fronted band can be as poppy and beat heavy as Luscious Jackson but maintains a more atmospheric Sigur Rós vibe around every corner. Little Dragon is a group that needs repeat listens before you get the entire picture and Machine Dreams only perfects the sound they started on their debut and is well worth taking a listen.

The emphasis on atmosphere is made clear from the very start of Machine Dreams, as album opener "A New" begins and ends with electronic drones, as if to bracket the song in ellipses like an unfinished thought. The subsequent song, "Looking Glass", is firmer, more beat-driven, but as much as its groove is steady, as a whole it seems to wander. Motion and physicality is strongly implied by the rhythm, but the leisurely pace and subtly shifting keyboard tones indicate changes in setting, evoking a sense that we're stumbling around lost in some strange, beautiful city. This sets the tone for the rest of the album, which goes off on the tangents of different rhythms into other textural zones, but maintains a feeling of searching around for something, whether it is a person, a destination, a state of mind, or the right words to express some ineffable thought.

Little Dragon's palette is broad enough to lend the album a rich, luscious sound, but specific enough to ground the work in a particular time and place, though the definition of both terms is left to the listener's imagination. Some of the songs, like "Looking Glass" and "My Step", sound like a 1980s version of the future, and owe a debt to the keyboard aesthetics of freestyle and Prince circa Sign 'O' the Times. Others, like the gorgeous ballad "Feather" and the claustrophobic "Thunder Love", bring to mind the dystopian sexiness of Tricky's early classics on Maxinquaye and Pre-Millennium Tension. Yukimi Nagano, the band's charismatic Swedish-Japanese vocalist, has a smokey yet agile voice, and it serves as the anchor of each song. She avoids melisma, but her phrasing is in the general wheelhouse of modern R&B, particularly British iterations of the genre. As with every other element of their sound, Nagano's voice places Little Dragon's music in a lineage of recognizable influences under a vague "urban" umbrella, but it all comes out just a bit off, which is to say, unexpected and original.

Machine Dreams is at once familiar and slightly alien, and the emotional center is both intuitively obvious and intentionally vague. Nagano is the type of writer and singer who lets her words roughly sketch out a feeling that she embellishes with her voice. This approach puts more faith in the unique effects of music-- there is no sense in being direct and literal when singing can convey the sort of nuance that is almost impossible to express in other forms of communication. The album falters slightly when the music becomes more abstract and inscrutable, but on the whole it is not difficult to relate to Nagano or slip into the mood created by her bandmates. That mood is slippery and hard to define, but that's not so much a problem as it is part of the appeal, as the band navigate the strange spaces between big, easily identifiable emotions.
According to vocalist Yukimi Nagano, "these days, humans seem more and more like machines, and as technology evolves, machines feel more human and it becomes fuzzy and beautiful and science fiction-ish. We feel dependent on our machines to create and live, and their sounds reflect us". So we guess you can expect a movement towards a more electronic sound.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars, December 12, 2009

By 

Akua Grant "Akua Rising" (California.) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Machine Dreams [Vinyl] (Vinyl)

This is a must have. I love it. I've been loving Little Dragon for a while now. Their music is produced with so much emotion and integrity. This is a little more upbeat almost Nu Disco then the last release. That's fine because they do it well.