The Demolition Series . Jasmina Maschina
staubgold 86
2008. cd . dl . lp
"Really and truly there are no low points or filler tracks here, the songs, changing pace and instrumental colouring through out are always consistent in songwriting flare, harmonic homing and rich, accomplished and soothing playing. I can see this appealing to anyone and everyone and not just folk fans as the Demolition Series is a collection of great tuneful, well written and conceived tracks, performed with great passion, feeling and depth. One of the high points of this year and surely the debut album of the year." (5/5 – Roger Batty - Musique Machine)
Binding the overpass between sensuality and stoicism, ephemera and the sublime, hesitation and intoxication, Jasmina Maschina's sonic folk soundscape transports you to the world of a familiar song that you are only too pleased to hear again. Her music glows with experience and feelings that are alien to none, and as yet imagines every part of human triviality to be unique and vital in its own subordinate way. It is the gorgeousness of the everyday.
She melds the most simple and innocent chord progressions of time-honoured folk music with a noisenik's attraction to repetition, drone and inventiveness to create the sensation of paresthesia on the skin and mind.
Lyrically, Jasmina Maschina lists the characters of the familiar and places them in the warm care of her imagination. The vocals resonate astonishment at the normal wonders of the world, an intensity of just being lucky enough to feel sensation and experience. They undertake the weight of human emotion with a flightful ease.
"The Demolition Series" sounds like an effortless album. Soaring beauty, short rides to nowhere, characters met in the dark, are all in the experience of the artist. Purely, it is a clear view through steely eyes with a touch of innocent mysticism.
Jasmina Machina currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany, is one half of the experimental electronic duo Minit and composes sound for installation and film. She composed, recorded and produced her first solo album, "The Demolition Series", at home. Guest musicians appear on the album; Torben Tilly (guitar), Jimmy Trash (melodica), Ari Benjamin Meyers (piano), Anthony Pieretti (drums) and Lucinda Dayhew (voice).
"As the album develops, Maschina’s history with Minit manifests itself; that group’s affinity for repetition, drone, and alterations of a pygmy sort informs and strengthens these songs. Inasmuch as these inclinations refresh the timbral palette, they also affirm a consistency of tone that pays off handsomely. In setting off on this path and discovering something so deeply personal, Maschina has accessed a sublime form that is well beyond herself." (4/5 – Max Schaefer – The Milk Factory)
"Superb debut album of beautiful folk guitar music from Berlin-based Maschina, better known perhaps as one half of experimental electronic outfit Minit. This is straight-ahead folk filtered through an imaginative electro-prism that knocks Cat Power into a cocked hat." (Dominic Al-Badri – Kansai Time Out)
Jasmina Maschina
Jasmine Guffond relocated to Berlin, Germany from Sydney, Australia with her experimental electronic duo MINIT (Sigma Editions/Staubgold). Firmly rooted in experimental electronics with an equal dedication to song, composition and free improvised music, as Jasmina Maschina she began recording songs in her Berlin homes producing her debut solo album, 'The Demolition Series', in 2008, for the German label Staubgold. Followed by touring throughout Europe, China and Australia, in 2010, Jasmina Maschina released a split LP/CD, 'City Splits #1 Berlin' with Golden Diskó Ship on Monika Enterprise.