Best Psychedelic Experience

“Welcome to Side Four” kicks off the Difference Machine’s latest album, THE 4TH SIDE OF THE ETERNAL TRIANGLE (Psych Army Records), and begins a headlong trip into the rabbit hole. Hip-hop, surrealism, the Illuminati, and the dark side wriggle and writhe around each other in an unrivaled, intoxicating musical experience. On stage, the Difference Machine experience has always been about jamming the senses — dazzling the eyes and the ears with a show of massive visual projections and bombastic sounds. The 4th Side of the Eternal Triangle presses it onto wax. Time drags, rhythms open up to reveal a kaleidoscope of meanings, symbolism, and spiritual epiphanies via songs such as “Smoke” ft. Homeboy Sandman, “It’s Alive” ft. Paten Locke, and “Kingdom of Earth” ft. Alexa Lima. This is music that smashes through the boundaries of what hip-hop is to what it can be. There are no musical clichés on display here. One could label it “experimental,” but to do so implies that the crew isn’t completely in control of this trip. Turn on, tune-in, freak out! www.thedifferencemachine.bandcamp.com. less...