This final entry is also one of the most recent additions to my all-time favourite album list.
Before 2013, I wasn't even aware Macha had ever existed. I discovered them one day by way of Youtube's recommended videos, which linked me to a song called 'No Surprise Party', taken from what I would later learn was their third and final album, 'Forget Tomorrow'. The song that crept from my speakers was a sprawling, post-rock slow burner that blended eastern sounds with traditional indie-rock, and I instantly knew I wanted more.
Assuming the rest of the album to be similar, I picked up 'Forget Tomorrow' but was disappointed to learn it didn't really sound much like the song I'd first heard and, in my opinion wasn't actually very good. However, instead of writing the band off, I gave them another chance and picked up this album, and I'm glad I did: SIAW is a much better record that has more in common with the song that turned me on to this band in the first place. I later decided to gave their eponymous debut a chance as well and enjoyed that too.
Once again, the draw for me is the combination of eastern and western sounds; a heady concoction of post-rock, shoegaze, post-punk and traditional Far East Asian instruments that afford the music a fascinating sense of exoticism. 'The album is also impeccably produced, which is always a big plus for me: everything is clearly defined and well spaced within the mix, particularly important given the proliferation of unusual eastern instruments used throughout.
Above all, I love this album because it is both familiar and alien, curiously melding music I already know well with far eastern flavourings. A unique record that appeals in a very big way.
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