Machine and the Synergetic Nuts
Leap Second Neutral

THE REVIEW

In 1997, something new happened in the world of music. We're in Japan, specifically in Tokyo, and four talented musicians are trying to give birth to a new incarnation of jazz-prog that originated in Canterbury about thirty years earlier. Drummer Sudoh Toshiaki, saxophonist Mahi-Mahi, bassist Suzuki Hiroyuki, and keyboardist Iwata Noriya form Machine and the Synergetic Nuts and create a musical style with no direct precedents. Yes, because even though the influences of Nucleus, National Health, Soft Machine, or their fellow countrymen Kenso are clearly felt, the group delivers a new music, energetic, lively, and incredibly original, making any attempt to downplay their work as "derivative" at least irrelevant.

In 2003, the first self-titled album is released and the level is already extremely high. However, despite the freshness of ideas and the chemistry between the band members, it will take another two years to reach their true masterpiece with "Leap Second Neutral". In this second discographic release, guests Matsue Jun on guitar and Takahashi Yuko on percussion join in, making the sound more varied and defined compared to the previous work.

The album opens and, from the very first notes, it becomes immediately clear that the musicians' extraordinary technique is not an end in itself and does not hinder the absolute rapport between them, nor the comprehensibility and harmony of the pieces. Toshiaki already demonstrates in the first tracks (M-B, Monaco) his deadly flair that in precision, power, and creativity closely recalls Furio Chirico of Tilt or Giro di Valzer per Domani, while Mahi-Mahi delivers breathtaking sax riffs, as in the pianistic and evocative "Trout" or the more rhythmic "Neutral", where he constantly duets with Hiroyuki’s phenomenal bass, at least until Jun bursts in headfirst with guitar in hand to steal the spotlight. Noriya finds his ideal dimension in the keyboard tracks "Stum" and "Oz", while Yuko does a meticulous refinement job almost everywhere, although it is in "Texas" that her percussion stands out most in the group's rhythmic section. The long and complex "Solid Box" and "Normal" once again confirm the exact combination circulating between energy and refinement in the compositions, which ultimately close this gem that has arrived to us from a distant land, where the magic of years long past and distant have been perpetuated until they have blossomed anew, rich with surprises.