THE PRODUCERS OF TOMORROW
CONFESSIONAL INDIE PIN-UP REVEALS THE BEAT PROGRAMMING PLAYER WITHIN
A cursory spin through Marc Bianchi's latest Her Space Holiday album, 'The Young Machines' [Mush], and it's easy to get lulled by the warm, delicate melodies and deft programming. But tune in a little closer to what Bianchi is actually saying, and the music takes on a decidedly different pallor. Loaded with painfully intimate details of lost love, betrayal and death [the album is dedicated to his late grandmother, with one song explaining how he deals with not visiting her before she succumbed to disease], it plays like your private diary set to a hypnotic soundtrack. Speaking from his new home in Austin, TX, Bianchi explains that 'The Young Machines' is the first HSH album where the lyrics took center stage. "The words have always been the weakest part of my records. This time I really wanted to get my point across, he says.
He achieved his goal almost too well, with songs like "Meet The Pressure," which tells the story of a music critic that makes a personal attack on "him" in a review. "He" then hooks up with the critic's wife for revenge. Needless to say, some journalists were more than a little weirded out.
"A lot of this album lyrically is supposed to be sarcastic," he explains. "I think people took some stuff like 'Meet The Pressure' a little too literally. I was really inspired by Slug from Atmosphere when I was writing. Just not being afraid of saying what you want to say, even if it's going to get you in a little bit of trouble."
SCOTT STERLING