What does Postmodern Machine sound like?

A merger of classical music and machine-driven drum loops and sounds.

The review of ‘The End is a Beginning’ by Postmodern Machine

On his fifth album, ‘The End is a Beginning’, Toronto-based artist Postmodern Machine explores the idea of piano and machine working in harmony. This is the ultimate soundtrack to a rainy afternoon. Expressive piano, drum machines, modular synths, an occasional bass guitar and a vocal sample here and there. The album lays out each track like a motif of interconnected machines, and even the piano elements feel structured like loop samples at times. When I listen to this album, I have visions of someone pulling cranks and levers for each instrument in a magical world behind my speakers.

This idea kicks off with ‘Pomme Pomme’. It’s a downtempo, piano-forward track, with proper melodies and demure noodling of the keys. Other synths drift in and out as drum machines crank out warm rhythms. Things sound glassy, and a nod towards lo-fi beats is ever-present throughout the album. It’s propulsive and sets up an even groovier and chunkier drum loop for ‘Satin Antelope’ that follows. This track is dreamier, with Boards of Canada Moogy synths and a dewy production on every sound. The pianos switch on and off different octaves as they move like fabric in the wind, and instruments fade in and out like a swirling cloud. It’s seven minutes of Canadian winter forest ambience on a sunny morning, and I love it.

Postmodern Machine – The End is a Beginning cover

Whilst the opening duo of tracks have a majesty in their slower, note-noodles, the title track that follows is a playful dervish of fun. The main melody bounces around a cascade of chords that slide down scales in an unusual way, often switching chords off-beat to catch you out. The peppy drum loops give the piano a frame to swing around its melody like a parallel bar gymnast. It’s a wonderfully upbeat and joyous track, with Postmodern Machine clearly highlighting the beginning as an optimistic opportunity. Replay this track a second time, and you’ll find the surprise chord switches excite you rather than jar. Song titles are often good storytelling devices. The following track is the flipside, titled ‘The Beginning is an Ending’. It’s a reflective, reverb and resonance-heavy piano solo with in-room noise and hiss being the only other production on the track. Even here, Postmodern Machine isn’t wallowing. There’s a hint of gratitude in the chord progression and a lean towards certain escalating notes. Everything ends, and we can try to be thankful it happened.

Modular synths finally make their appearance known in the mysterious ‘CarboHydras’. The opening few minutes let the modular synths hazily tickle and flutter like a shroud of woodwind instruments. Indeed, on first listen, I thought it was a woodwind ensemble before the clear synth modulation bursts through. Jazzy piano that continuously lands on questioning chord plonks gives this track a film-noir twist. When the drum loops hit, we could be solving a murder with clues in a dark alley. This is how I’d imagine Mammal Hands or Portico Quartet would integrate modular synths into their moodier, quieter tracks.

‘ViaLit’ switches gears from cinematic brooding to upbeat joys. I feel like this is a sister track to the title piece. Both have glitchy drums and a strident, peppy piano arrangement, although ‘ViaLit’ is definitely more strident and galloping than the peppier title track. To distinguish the two tracks further, ‘ViaLit’ indulges in muffled, detuned synths that drape themselves around the piano and bass guitar without taking over. This is also the only track that lets the piano’s low-end power through, so if you want that bass note slap, this is where you’ll get it. The album closes with probably the most bombastic and groove-driven track on the album, ‘Dainty Veins’. There are layers of half-motifs between pianos and synths that gurgle and roll around your ears, with jazzy drum loops twisting their beats towards the downtempo house world whilst never forgetting their roots. It’s a lovely finale, although I was hoping for one big chorus to sign off in style.

It’s difficult to overstate just how enmeshed the neoclassical piano, the modular synths, the drum loops, and the machine-like approach are. It is a beautiful comment in the world of AI slop that a human-machine is far more interesting and affecting than any of this machine-generated crap. Postmodern Machine continues to straddle and merge the electronic with the classical in a way that blurs boundaries and genres, yet it sounds effortlessly cohesive and singular. This album has made me a new fan, and I’ll be gobbling up Russell Jennison’s (aka Postmodern Machine) back catalogue to hear what else he has been up to.

What a treat for those looking to expand their cinematic, neoclassical horizons.

Recommended track: Satin Antelope

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