It’s recommended that you read this along with listening to the album. Follow song by song. Bear in mind this is simply my interpretation.
Magic Machine has the feeling of an old episode of Star Trek – it has a sense of cartoon adventure and silliness, and this combined with the obvious 70s prog influence it creates a perfect classic sci-fi atmosphere. This breakdown will be shorter than the others I’ve written since Magic Machine is an instrumental album, but I love it so much I had to write the concept up.
The Departure
We start on a planet out in the far reaches of space. A crew of adventurers are preparing to embark on a journey to discover a new world in their trusty space vessel, the Magic Machine. This track is a perfect overture and starting point for the album; it starts with an orchestral section that acts like the opening credits to the 70s sci-fi show, and proceeds through proggy goodness that makes you feel like preparations are being made. Finally, the crew lift off into space to begin their adventure.
Magic Machine
This track takes us on a tour through our adventuring crew’s spaceship, the Magic Machine. It’s colourful and patchwork, bits of metal bolted on here, brown leather stapled on there by the crew, who built the ship. It’s an impressive vessel considering the circumstances, able to fly through air, space and land on bodies of water.
Galactic Tactic
As the crew are travelling through space they are found by pirates and get into a bit of a scrap. Since the Magic Machine isn’t the most suited for combat this involves a lot of attempting to run away, but eventually we outrun our pursuers.
Finding the Falls
As the crew carry on their journey they come across a space station/city with waterfalls and lakes everywhere – a beautiful sight to see in the middle of space. So, the crew decide to have some fun driving through the falls and around the city. However, the crew’s carelessness has landed them in hot water – the guards of the station aren’t happy with what’s going on and capture the crew…
The Assembly
The crew are taken in front of the court of law in this water city to explain what they were doing. Our adventurers are in real trouble unless they manage to escape, so that’s exactly what they do – make a break for it. They cause a distraction and run back towards the Magic Machine, take off and flee.
Agile Descent
The crew have travelled further through space and have found their destination – a previously undiscovered planet. They approach orbit and enter the atmosphere.
Sky Run
The Magic Machine has finally entered the atmosphere of this new planet, and begin descending through the sky above the clouds. This starts very peacefully, silence all around them. A sense of pride and accomplishment overcomes the crew as they descent further down towards the surface. The crew start looping and rolling through the air, hurtling downwards.
Through the Fog
Our adventurers have reached the clouds; the Magic Machine slows down and they begin moving their way through them, breaking through the other side and finally seeing the surface of the mysterious planet for the first time. Colourful red and green trees cover the land and a huge body of choppy water carves its way through the earth beneath our crew.
Sea Voyage
The crew finally approach, the Magic Machine deploying its sails and landing on the water. The journey over, our adventurers sail off into the distance to discover what awaits them in this new world.
Impulse II
The credits of this episode of 70s sci-fi TV roll as re-imagined version of An Endless Sporadic’s breakout track plays out.
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I have to stress that this is what I imagine when I listen to this album. Obviously none of it can actually be confirmed but going off the titles and the sound of the music this is the image that the band have created for me. Hope you enjoyed this quick breakdown; hopefully the band will release a new album soon, and when they do I’ll definitely break it down here. Thanks for reading!
– Kane
Prog Breakdown 