City of Satellites
Machine Is My Animal
Hidden Shoal Recordings

City of Satellites is Jarrod Manuel from Adelaide and Thomas Diakomichalis from Sydney, both Australia. Machine Is My Animal is their debut album.

It is difficult to know exactly how the physical distance between the two band members has influenced Machine Is My Animal. But I would think it is plausible to say that it is responsible for some of the distant emotion that is so very present in most of the tracks on this pretty shoegazing, electronic pop album. Machine Is My Animal moves in a retro sci-fi, synth-shaped soundscape, from the opener "BMX" with it's dreamy flirt with 80s, through the laid-back close-to-post-rock pieces "Victor! Burn City Lights" and "Willje Sleep" to the closing with the ethereal "Sky Rider". And in between you get songs like the massive title track and the single; "Stranger Than Fiction" that offers more body and structure to the otherways cold and floating images.

In a way the coldness is City of Satellites worst, and best, side. On the more structural songs it keeps them from getting to sweet. But when they go to dreamy, the songs turns dim, borderlining uninteresting. Fortunately, they manages to balance this most of the time though. So, all in all, Machine Is My Animal turns at to be a pretty pleasant album.

Copyright © 2010 Aslaug O Klausen