MACHA
Macha - (1998)

The first album on which Athens, GA band Macha meld some of the dynamics of rock music with not just traditional Indonesian instruments but traditional gamelan music as well, is an unequivocably successful genetic mutation unlike any previously attempted in the American rock lexicon. It is not customary for a first attempt at such an exotic hybrid to manifest itself in such an accomplished way, but Macha have not simply cross-hatched styles on their eponymous debut album, they have infiltrated and melded their melodies with a tight grasp on the spirit of gamelan and a first-hand proficiency on the Javanese, Sumatran, and Nepalese instruments that they utilize. That is because, rather than simply being inspired by gamelan from a safe distance, multi-instrumentalists Josh McKay and Kai Riedl traveled to Indonesia on a couple of occasions to absorb the actual music as played by Indonesian musicians on the streets and in the dives from Western Java to Northern Bali. (A bonus disc's worth of the recordings they made there was included with a limited number of the CDs.) In addition to bringing back a load of instruments, the two brought back a legitimate love and appreciation for the music and a unique vision on how to make use of it. At this early stage in the band's development, the hybridization of the two musics was not yet absolute. On some songs, the gamelan instruments do not quite sink fully into the texture of the musical soundscape and on others are only cursorily present. Occasionally the rock elements on Macha seem to win out in the head-to-head-battle of the musical ingredients — "Cat Wants to Be Dog" has a slinky Love & Rockets feel to the verses, and Macha goes vaguely Stereolab-ish on parts of "Capital City" — but that is not at all a point of criticism. No matter how smoothly gamelan is or is not absorbed into the music — and on songs such as "When They First Saw the Floating World," "The Buddha Nature," "Double Life," and "Sama Sama," the band have already hit upon the perfect confluence of styles — the songs themselves are fabulous, and instruments such as Sumatran gongs and Nepalese Shawm chime and weave around the seductive, alien-sounding melodies. Macha is not quite consistent but it is consistently driving, expressive, and spiritually stimulating, even if it is not explicitely spiritually directed. In other words, there is a real sense of reaching toward transcendence even if the band did not exactly have that purpose in mind for the music when they created it. (allmusic.com)

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MACHA
Forget Tomorrow - (2004)

Four years since their last release — the wonderful collaboration Macha Loved Bedhead — and five years after their last proper album, See It Another Way, came out, Macha returned with Forget Tomorrow. The band attempts to make up for lost time by incorporating the synth pop and punk-funk trends of the early 2000s into the fusion of indie rock and pan-cultural music that made the band so distinctive-sounding in the '90s. However, these nods to recent and current musical fads end up detracting from Macha's sound as often as they enhance it; "Forget Tomorrow" itself borrows from both dream pop and synth pop, but sounds forced and hollow, especially compared to artists like Dykehouse, whose Midrange treads similar ground with more vitality and imagination. "(Do the) Inevitable"'s punk-funk vamps work a little better with Macha's already established aesthetic, allowing the band to indulge its fondness for exotic percussion in a way that's new for them. Forget Tomorrow is also hampered by several interludes, like "While the People Sleep" and "D-D-D," that sound unfinished and neither tie the album together nor embellish it. Thankfully, the album gets weirder and better as it progresses, with tracks like "Paper Tiger" and "Calming Passengers" offering a happy medium between the extremes of their new and old sounds. "Now Disappearing" is a particular highlight, creating a lovely and slightly unreal atmosphere out of synths, hammered dulcimer, and what sounds like a little girl singing backward. The gorgeous Asian strings and gamelan underpinnings of "Sub II" make it another standout track; even if its guitars are a little overblown, it's still more artful than the first half of Forget Tomorrow might suggest. Likewise, "No Surprise Party" closes the album much more successfully than it begins: despite the slightly cheesy phased vocals, it's an unusual mix of kinetic basslines, fireworks, and shimmering Asian instrumentation. Still, it's not really surprising that the more unusual moments on Forget Tomorrow are among the album's best, since Macha's uniquely inclusive perspective was a big part of what made their earlier albums so good. Despite its flaws, Forget Tomorrow has enough beauty and creativity to suggest that Macha's best music may still be ahead of the band. (allmusic.com)

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