Serene Machine

Ed Kuepper was at his most prolific in the early nineties — across five years, he recorded eight albums, either solo or with The Aints, all uniformly high quality. Serene Machine is an exemplar of his form during this creative burst. After the extended song structures on albums like Honey Steel’s Gold, and The Aints’ Autocannibalism, he’s reined in his more prolix tendencies, and Serene Machine is tightly focused and a fulfilling listen. The acoustic guitars are richer than ever, here, with thick swathes of twelve-string strum pushing songs like “Reasons” into hypnotically dense territory. The more expansive moments, like the synth-swathed melodrama of the following “This Hideous Place,” feel far more integrated than similar songs on albums like Everybody’s Got To — Kuepper’s ear is finessed now. Another great album in a stellar streak for Kuepper.