Reviews 026: Rudy’s Midnight Machine / Mind Fair presents Sundown Drive
Faze Action (brothers & label) are legendary by this point, and remarkably, continue to get better as the years pass. Last year’s Vamos Pintar single featuring Nina Miranda was a classic as soon as it dropped, especially those killer Max Essa mixes. And now, Robin Lee returns to his Rudy’s Midnight Machine moniker with Midnight Safari, reminding us yet again that these dudes are masters of disco moves and balearic grooves. We also have the latest transmission from Mind Fair, here presenting their Sundown Drive alias with the Sunset Over Santorini single on Kinfolk. The original track is a freaky cosmic disco/rock burner in that familiar Mind Fair style and there is an accompanying remix by Nad Tyler that’s as dubbed out and psychedelic as you could ever want.
Rudy’s Midnight Machine - Midnight Safari (Faze Action Records, 2018) “Midnight Safari” begins aptly with the sounds of the jungle at night and a mood of pure dreaminess. Electric piano swoons melodically, occasionally venturing off into spacier blues solos over the descending melancholic pads, tropical percussive sequencing, deep groovin’ bass, and pumping disco beat…in other words, all the ingredients for timeless balearic bliss. This is sure to be a summer anthem and has feel good vibes for days. I’m reminded of Joe Morris’ recent stunner “The Lost Garden”, only this is quite a bit more uptempo. “In the Air” is moodier and exotic, with hand drums and downer cello flowing alongside panning sci-fi sequencing. The bass is massive, pillowy, and enveloping, allowing the song to settle into this heady liminal state…cello singing mournfully over propulsive electro-rhythms and deep space effects. Total cerebral magic.
The B-side is higher energy from the start, as “Reach Backless” drops cosmic electro synths alongside a classic disco beat, textured sequencing, and ass-shakin’ bass. Clavinet alternates with groovy synth riffs and bright funky guitars, all building towards a jammy soul piano solo. This is the closest we get to “Vamos Pintar” territory and it is pure late night boogie madness. “Windchimes” is a nice breather after the preceding disco storm. Arpeggios created from guitar harmonics twinkle atop a sea of cosmic noises, eventually joined by sun-baked electric guitar melancholia and galactic washes of sound. The final track is “Solar Plex”. The bass drum stutters with a funk swagger alongside 16th note hats and solitary woodblock, everything surrounded by starlight chimes and swirly electronics. The schmaltzy synthesizer riffs remind me of the softer side of Daft Punk, until the beat morphs into more of an 80′s island jammer, dominated by those characteristic Faze Action brassy synth riffs and colorful layers of syncopated guitar. The Badarou vibes are strong, especially the ocean breezin’ synthesizer solos over the increasingly insistent and triumphant grooves.
Mind Fair Presents Sundown Drive - Sunset Over Santorini (Kinfolk, 2018) “Sunset Over Santorini” starts out in delicious cosmic jazz-funk territory as electronic pianos cascade over dubby bongos and shakers. The four-four that enters colors everything in shades of disco, but the jammy piano, acid-rock guitars, and panoramic live drum work align everything with that hippie festival vibe of Mind Fair’s self-titled epic. It’s totally groovy, druggy, wild, and woolly, especially once the monster bass guitar and propulsive jangle riffs kick in with old school psychedelic solos firing across the sky. Then we have the Nad remix. I like to imagine he has some near uncontrollable and vaguely alien dub/remix machine through which he feeds various original tracks, resulting in these totally far-out and deep drug trips. His remix here has everything immediately submerged under layers of morphing echo. The groove is anchored by a tight kick, cowbells, and shakers, though even the beat isn’t safe from the dub-echo wizardry. The bass synths are transformed into alien gurgles and deep groans, with acidic percussive noises and guitar and piano weaving in and out of the mix, all under deep space fx. The sound is evolving every single second...psychedelic and hyperactive…the fried hippie rock of the original transformed into mutating cosmic electronica. And once that phased funk bass enters, we are approaching something between freaked-out disco and the Cosmic Jokers.
(all images taken from my personal copies)
