Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This is the first collaboration between John Berndt, the Baltimore band leader, and M.C. Schmidt, one half of the celebrated duo Matmos. Both have pooled their considertable expertise in avant garde and experimental music in celebration of the comic books of Jean Giraud (aka Moebius) and “the beautiful miniatures of the SKY Records Cluster/Eno/Conny Plank collaborations”.

The result is an electronic record looking simultaneously backwards and forwards.

What’s the music like?

Packed with incident across an eventful three-quarters of an hour. There is so much going on here that repeated listening is essential to absorb and appreciate the sheer scale of the pair’s inventions.

At times their music sounds like an update of Anton Webern or John Cage, so compressed is its thinking, while the pair cast the net ever wider in search of extra instrumental colour. Humour abounds, with witty thoughts bubbling under the surface as the music ebbs and flows. Especially notable are Our Theme, which behaves like the tuning process of an analogue radio, the descriptive Gecko Lazzaro, featuring trombonist Patrick Crossland and guitarist Owen Gardner, and The Analysis of Joel, a playful and colourful shredding of lines from guitarist Joel Knispel.

3000 is typical of the warmth coursing through the album, its percussion suggesting African influences.

Does it all work?

Yes, in a way that makes you want to return often to Cloud Machines to see what else you can spot. There are so many musical happenings it can be difficult to keep up at first, but as the secrets reveal themselves so too does the pair’s full invention.

Is it recommended?

Yes, without a doubt – fans of the pair’s previous work will lap this up. Be assured, the music is every bit as colourful and as far out as the wonderful cover art!

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,955 – Wednesday 22 July 2026