At the start of the year, Bay Area trio, The M Machine, launched their 2014 catalog with one of the dance scene’s first vocaloid-repping tracks with the razer sharp Blade Runner big room of “Superflat.” Since then, they’ve been working on what is now their new five-track release, the Just Like EP – a collection of sounds informed by the deeper side of current dance music which still fully maintains The M Machine style. Like Metropolis Pt. I & II, the new EP gives us another glimpse into the their vast audio/visual universe — one catered toward street level metropolis night crawling. The release’s title track opener sets the tone of sleek, futuristic funk with a two-headed Bowie-Prince creature on the vocals jamming out to a metallic, clap-slapping, reverb-chained rug cutter of a track. “Don’t Speak” keeps the dancefloor packed with its bubble pop synth rhythms and call-and-responses between pitched down toplines and alien howls, locked into place through melodic bass grooves and booming bass patterns. “Over/Love” gives us a summery ocean-breeze hang sesh in league with some of Digitalism’s more spacious works within the I Love You Dude record (it’s like a mix between “Encore” and “Harrison Fjord”), before “Pluck Pluck” drives us back through the club doors; “I feel the bass comin’ from inside the building and I’m like, whaaat? That’s a lot of bass…” as filtered low end and white noise risers gives way to icy claps and heavy bass stabs. The EP’s closer track, “So Change” feels like a chilled-out reprise to “Over/Love.” It’s a hazy early morning hovercraft Uber home in which all the details of the previous night begin to warp and blur together. At this point The M Machine’s music will always invoke imagery from their excellent live performances and multi-layered sci-fi universe which they’ve cultivated over the last four years. Just Like is another pocket in that universe, and another example of their ability to make memorable sonic narratives within any environment they choose. The M Machine’s Just Like EP is out Today on iTunes and Beatport through OWSLA. (By: Fan Fiction@nesthq.com)