RIYL: Human Resource, 808 State, Boys Noize
MOTOR is hardcore (too hardcore for lowercase letters, apparently), and they want you to know it. With song titles like “Bite the Bullet,” “Death Rave,” “Le Bitch,” and “Jacked Up” they’re advertising their abrasive acid house before you even listen to them. With house going the way of electro and disco thanks to artists like Justice and Daft Punk, it’s nice to see someone take it back to the acid house roots of the late ’80s/early ’90s while adding their own spin to it. In the case of MOTOR, that spin is a dark and menacing vibe that is usually reserved for darkcore drum and bass and hardstyle. Acid house was already jarring and abrasive enough, so when you add the dark and evil vibe that MOTOR is going for, you get nonstop jarring, pounding rhythms, vicious synth riffs, countless hoovers and screeching sirens custom designed to raise the roof at a midnight rave. There’s no other way to put it – this shit is intense.
Maybe too intense. Hyper Machine sure as hell lives up to its name. It never lets up, the beats are nonstop, the sirens get louder and louder and save for a few quick samples, there are no vocals to speak of. So it can wear on you after a while, especially since later tracks like “Le Bitch” and “Thwack” just aren’t as interesting as the high-energy title track or “Death Rave,” a track so in your face that it’s just one step away from punching you in the face. Perhaps it’s best in small doses or at an actual rave But those looking for a throwback to classic hard house should really dig this. (Dim Mak 2010)
