I never thought a moment spoke so well

Secret Machines - Ten Silver Drops
Reprise; 2006

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It was sort of coincedence that I discovered this band. I think it had something to do with the persistant suggestion of Amazon's recommendations department combined with the fact that I saw it on the shelf at some music store (I want to sound cool. It was actually a Barnes & Noble), picked it up, bought it, took it home, and fell in love with the band. It just so happened, and I didn't discover this until much later, that one of the members of Secret Machines was in Tripping Daisy, a band I deeply mourn and often pine for.

Layered, dense and emotional. Medatative, and anything but rushed. The tracks on this album are long but don't meander much. They carry their somewhat ambivalent emotional weight (moreso than their previous efforts) without falling into sentimentalism. There's this seductive, almost trancey cohesion throughout the whole piece, and it really manages to pull the listener in.

What I don't get about this, what I don't get about most of popular music, in fact, is that very few people out there are listening to this music. Secret Machines are right there in major-label obscurity. What's up with that? I mean yeah, the songs are sort of long, but I never thought that was a good excuse for obscurity. They're way better than the mass of popular music. In fact, they're way better than the other similarly themed, slightly off-kilter acts you can catch on the more artsy radio stations out there. Plus, what with the power of the internet and all, why is good music like this still floating on the boundaries of the musical world?

I mean, I can see why some bands I write about will remain in relative obscurity: Shellac, Brainiac, To My Surprise, The Swans and the Angels of Light. Yeah, I get how some of that stuff just isn't for mass consumption. But this really is listenable. I mean, it's catchy and melodic and sort of rocks, sort of.

Are my tastes bad? Am I really that out of touch? It's true that I've never really gotten popular music in general, but sometimes it just sort of confuses me.