Artwork for ‘Killing something that’s already dead’ vinyl from Machine, dear on Vimeo.

‘Årets bedste tracks’ ['Tracks of the year'] by Henrik Viking at rotation.dk
‘Årets EP’er’ ['EP's of the year'] at lydtapet.net
‘Best of 2012′ by @diffuser.net at Free Music Archive
’2012 Food Favourite Lists’ by DJ Food

Thanks a lot caring about our music :-).

Happy new year!
Frans & Anders

Thanks for stopping by for this very short update from the machinists:

While Frans is enjoying the beaches in South East Asia, I am spending the long dark winter nights making drafts for our next release – a 7″ single released some time during 2013. Remember to follow Machine, dear on Facebook or subscribe to our newsletter to get your free digital copy when it arrives.

When working on these drafts I sit down in front of this little setup:

I always dreamt of being in one of those music magazine articles where musicians tell about what gear they use. Of course no one ever asked me, so I thought I would be generous to you – dear reader – and tell you.

There is a slight chance that you are a bit geeky about audio gear and actually find this interesting. If not, please bear with me.

• Computer: MacBook Pro, 2.4 Ghz, 8mb ram
• DAW: Cubase 6.5
• Audio interface: TC Electronics Impact Twin
• Preamp: Focusrite ISA One Digital
• Microphone: Neumann TLM 103
• Headphones: AKG K121STUDIO

That is about all it takes to do whatever kind of sounds and songs that I want.

Ahh, that felt great. Back to work.

Best
Anders, MD

We are starting to work on a 7″ release, but since we are busy folks, to put it mildly, the release date (or even the release year) are still very uncertain :-).  But whenever sketches start showing up we will start sharing it.

Meanwhile ‘Killing something that’s already dead’ are still alive and kicking. Regular post and tweets from all over the world keep popping up on the web and since the release in mid January tracks from the album has been streamed on average 20 times pr day from Spotify and Bandcamp alone. By our standards that is amazing and we are the most greatful guys ever!

And in addition there might be a remix of ‘Get out’ in the making. We will keep you posted whenever that is ready.

All the best

Anders and Frans

This is how the spread looks like:

And it is accompanied by this text:
“Repeating a striped pattern on the vinyl sleeve and its transparent PVC discobag creates the illusion of a changing pattern with the slightest shift. The result reflects the meeting of mechanical and organic elements of the music within, and creates a sense of unease”.

Kudos to OddFischlein, the designers of this great piece.

And remember: there are still a few copies left of this award winning cover art at the online shop if you want to put your hands on it yourself. They are sold for DKK 100 – approx. EUR 14 – plus shipping.

Greetings from us.

Best regards

Frans+Anders=Machine, dear

The guys from OddFischlein had two works shortlisted at the award show – and both of them got a prize. This is so well deserved.
We are so happy to be a part of this and we are really proud to know such talented folks.

Go ahead and read about Creative Circle and see their mention of the cover here.

And by the way. Today it is exactly four months since our record was released. It’s been great so far. Really great.

We have been getting so much more attention that we expected. Great reviews. Listeners and buyers from all over the world. A lot of feedback on the art work. A few very dedicated fans. It’s been really great.

Since you are reading this post, you are also in some way a part of this and we ow you a huge ‘thank you’. Thank you!

We are starting to work on new tracks, new vinyl designs and maybe videos and apps. And we are really looking forward to it.

Best
Frans + Anders

As so many times before we are flattered that anyone takes the time to listen to and write about our work. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. And merci too :-).

The French speaking reader can jump over to @diffuser.net and read the full review here. Others can – like I did – use Google Translate to get a sense of what they are writing. There are some flattering stuff there… An example is the words about the opening track ‘Averages‘:

“Dès le premier titre, on en prend plein les écoutilles. Averages est un vrai tour de force, une démonstration du talent de nos deux compositeurs. On ne s’ennuie pas une seconde au cours des presque 6 minutes du morceau, emportés que l’on est par un tourbillon musical et vocal qui nous nous prend du début à la fin, les premières notes du morceau suivant nous sortant d’un état quasi hypnotique. Un plaisir à écouter au casque, ou dans le noir sur un bon système de sonorisation!“.

Thanks a lot

Anders, MD

Watch the cover on and what it’s up against on Creative Circle Awards website and cheer for success on the 11th of May.

While on the subject of the cover we want to show you a small video that a couple of guys from the cool Manacles of Acid outfit from the UK made recently.

Thanks! Go have a listen to their own cool analogue synthesizer stuff at themanaclesofacid.com.

Greetings
Frans+Anders

He took 14 great pictures and writes this about the artwork:

“I received this beautiful item the other day after seeing it on both the RokRiot and Hardformat sites. Upon watching the short film of the record being opened (see below) I knew I had to have a copy. The group is Machine, Dear and the album is called ‘Killing Something That’s Already Dead’. Designed by Klaus Matthiesen of OddFischlein, there are only 150 copies and you can grab one here.”

Wonderful!