The M Machine @ U Street Music Hall

Photo credit: OWSLA
Photo credit: OWSLA

The M Machine was over at U Hall pumping out some serious beats on a cold January night. For the crowd of  college students who went to see the OWSLA trio, Thursday was clearly the new Friday night. At the concert, everything was perfect and nothing hurt, except maybe your feet the morning afterwards if you were stomping too hard. The San Francisco OWSLA trio came to Washington, D.C. to kick off their 2014 Metropolis tour, an event that exploded with energy within the walls of U Street Music Hall.

The talented electronic music trio kicked off their tour with funk. A lot of their newer tracks encompassed intense moods that had verses dipping flirtatiously into the darker side of electronic music. The music felt futuristic, with the exception of smoother tracks like their remix of Passion Pit’s “Take a Walk”. One of my favorite tracks, “No Fun Intended”, sounded off with beats that mimicked marbles reverberating in my head and synth bass kicks looping me out and (back) in to the beat. I expected them to play house beats that would be fun to dance to and the trio started the night with music that encapsulated those futuristic elements, slowly fading into more of your modern EDM nightclub fare with a lot of remixes that met the latter’s criteria. Ben “Swardy” Swardlick, Eric Luttrell, and Andy Coenen were definitely feeling the trap and dubstep-themed party vibe. To borrow the cliché, their transitions made the tracks short and sweet.

The M Machine is a group serious about doing their unique thing comprised of guys married to their music. This paid off in the fans being unable to resist going all out and dancing off all the new stress that came with 2014. Tracks like a remix of Tegan and Sara’s “Closer” had me breathing, “Holy yes, this is good music.” The mix of the Ghostbuster’s theme song was unforgettable because, “I ain’t scared of no ghosts.” Girls occasionally went up to the members throwing up heart signs that put feelings into hand gestures. There’s definitely evidence of daddy Skrillex’s sounds in there, but the 3 year old M Machine’s unique style is still obviously distinguishable. My expectations were well beyond met. The M Machine is on the come-up, so check it.

–Leah Edwards

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