The title track of Brandt Brauer Frick’s recently released effort, Mr. Machine, opens the album with a recurring, thuddy beat and random ambient sounds. You hear creaking, and then you are immediately transported to the next track, “Bop,” via an intense percussive piano rhythm. In come the drums, and then the bass. The sound goes from frenzied tension to almost chillout lounge jazz music. How did this happen? It must be the major seventh and ninth chord progressions. The third song, “Pretend,” features Emika and is just percussive clock-y awesomeness with a haunting line, “Just for tonight/we can pretend/that we are friends/friends til the end.”

“You Make Me Real” was more of an experimental track that belongs in a suspense thriller featuring sleeping giants waking up in Manhattan, and “Mi Corazon,” better known as “track five,” would be the perfect soundtrack for some cool choreography. “On Powdered Ground” was a super singalong song — it’s line “Don’t break your back on the track” repeats in my head in random moments of the day. “Teufelsleiter” begins with a groovy beat and horns and a banging bass drum, then transitions into a progressive jazz piece. Wish I knew what the name of the track meant!

Clocking in at over 22 minutes long, the last track, “606’n’rock’n’roll,” was an innovative way to end the album. The first five minutes feature the characteristic sound of percussion and violins, and then nothing but silence until the last minute, when string sounds emerge and then die. The album is extraordinary, as is the group’s live show, so I highly recommend you check out both if you get the chance!

For more info on the band, visit http://www.brandtbrauerfrick.de