Excerpt: “If we all looked into every subterranean up-and-comer that sounds like our favourite bands, the wishlist would be a mile long. There is a tonne of good music being made that we sadly miss every year, but it is impossible to get everything. That being said, if you’re a fan of Cocteau Twins or Goldfrapp, there is a really good album that you have to hear…. this album is gorgeous. “Machine Is My Animal” slides between your auditory legs so easily and gives you waves of smoky dream-pop sensuality. Bordering on a tag of heavy spacey Shoegaze and the hot blissed-out sound of Electronic Pop, this Australian duo has shown some impressive talent…. the potential is there, the sound is refined, the songwriting is clever (did I mention Stranger than Fiction), all City of Satellites have to do is put it all together and flip out a few similar standard discs and there can be success in this city.

Sputnik

Excerpt: “One of the most unabashedly shoegaze-y albums in recent memory… City Of Satellites’ Jarrod Manual and Thomas Diakomichalis have tuned their ears to the expansive dream-pop of the classic 4AD roster and the likeminded M83, relishing the elastic reach of spidery rhythms and unmoored melodies… There’s an almost austere sheen to Machine Is My Animal, such that we’re never bombarded but gently seduced and swayed. It’s a beautiful feeling.”

Cyclic Defrost

Excerpt: “What elevates City Of Satellites’ dream pop above others’ takes on the style is the urgency driving the nine songs on Machine Is My Animal, the group’s follow-up to its debut EP The Spook… Though the group includes only two members, Adelaide resident Jarrod Manuel (vocals, guitars, synthesizers) and Sydney-based Thomas Diakomichalis (drums, synthesizers, programming), Machine Is My Animal nevertheless comes off sounding like songs played by a live band… Listening to the album, it quickly becomes clear that shoegaze is an obvious wellspring for the group, but one also hears traces of both ’80s synth-pop (OMD, for example) and New Wave in City Of Satellites’ pristine, analogue sound.”

Textura

Excerpt: “On first listen, the 9 tracks play like one long trip through a colorful cosmic cloud with a dreamy, mysterious flow and a lush underbelly of celestial sounds. But over time, the songs distinguish themselves with swirling layers of enveloping orchestral harmonies and shooting stars of guitar bursts and cymbal crashes that add brilliant flairs of vaporous and heavenly ambience.”

Adequacy