Atlanta psychedelic hip-hop duo The Difference Machine owe many of their genre-hopping rhythms and rhymes to a UFO that band co-founder Dr. Conspiracy stumbled across in north Georgia. At least, that’s where he credits his inspiration. According to Dr. Conspiracy, after finding this space craft, he began having vivid dreams where aliens and demons would lead him through winding corridors where unusual music was playing, and this music formed the basis of his concept for The Difference Machine. Oddly enough, the other half of the group, DT, was experiencing similar dreams, and this was before either of them had met — though DT”s dreams were more lyrically based. Since first performing together in June of 2012, they’ve been recording the tracks which would form the backbone of their debut, The Psychedelic Sounds Of The Difference Machine (out now via Psych Army Intergalactic). Taking influence from artists such as DJ Shadow, Deltron 3030, and Kool Keith, the duo have been playing shows where psych samples, UFO projections, and kaleidoscopic visuals take the stage along with them.
On their debut LP, The Difference Machine hop from one sound to the next as if they were skipping stones across the music’s surface — hitting one cadence, exploring it briefly, and then moving on to another. Their music is dense but not ponderous; it swirls around your ears in a cacophony of vibrant instrumentation, settling somewhere deep within your cerebral cortex. DT’s lyrical prowess is matched only by Dr. Conspiracy’s attention to detail and quixotic beats. The songs on The Psychedelic Sounds Of The Difference Machine unspool in fantastic ways, with instruments and melodies quickly jumping into the mix before leaving just as abruptly. The album has close ties to hip-hop but also to the unpredictable nature of psych rock and the decade which birthed it. There is a sense of creative spontaneity that develops over the course of the record and allows the listener to become enmeshed in its immediacy before they realize it.
Beats Per Minute is pleased to premiere the album stream of The Difference Machine’s latest album, The Psychedelic Sounds Of The Difference Machine.
