Zach Top Rhythm Machine

The funk and soul of Indianapolis, Indiana's Rhythm Machine has run through twelve years worth of Egon's archival work at both Now-Again and Stones Throw Records: the band, and their previous incarnation, The Highlighters, were featured on the lauded Funky 16 Corners anthology, Jukebox 45s, a Madlib mix album, the recently issued Soul-Cal anthology, and will appear the forthcoming Loving On The Flip Side compendium. Fitting time, then, for an expanded version of the Rhythm Machine's magnum opus, their self-titled 1976 album. So we present to you Rhythm Machine (Deluxe Edition): the band's solitary album, restored from the original tapes, augmented by three previously unreleased tracks and containing an informative booklet chock full of never-before-published photos and extensive liner notes. The Rhythm Machine had undergone a series of personnel changes before they finally recorded their album for Indianapolis stalwart if small Lulu label. This accomplished showband produced an accessible mixture of funk, uptempo soul and synth-lead ballads; Rhythm Machine contains the masterpiece Put A Smile On Time the song compiled on Soul-Cal, and arguably the song that stoked the feverish demand for original copies of this ultra-rare piece of wax. But fans turned on by that song will want to hear this album in its entirety. It's not perfect, but it's sincere: Rhythm Machine wore their hearts on their sleeves as they traversed the Midwest in the transitional period of the mid 1970s, perfecting the songs that would become Rhythm Machine and, as such, their album contains warm, charming syncopated soul music that benefits greatly from the glimmer that the disco era's decadence bestowed upon them.