The Music Machine are one of the most respected and best loved American bands of the 1960s, renowned for their powerful sonic assault and intelligently crafted repertoire. The monochromatically-garbed combo’s hit ‘Talk Talk’ era was anthologised on Big Beat’s Ultimate Turn On compilation from 2006, and now the focus turns to the latter half of the Music Machine’s career.
The Bonniwell Music Machine was originally released in early 1968 and consisted of outtakes and single sides by the original Music Machine, along with newer recordings featuring the band’s second line-up: both incarnations headed by charismatic singer, songwriter and rock savant Sean Bonniwell. Now with this deluxe 2CD expanded reissue…

As this has a mixture of rare singles and unreleased tracks from 1965-1969, it's primarily for converted Music Machine fans, not for those who want just one album by the group or a place to start investigation. That said, it's a pretty interesting assortment of odds and ends, a few of which are among the band's best efforts. Foremost among them is the explosive (and quite innovative for its time) 1966 number "Point of No Return" with its unusual mixture of folk-rock and pre-acid guitar work, as well as a magnificent anguished, subtly anti-war vocal by singer and songwriter Sean Bonniwell. The moody, building-from-a-smolder-to-a-roar "Dark White," a 1969 outtake, was already heard on the out-of-print Rhino best-of LP. It's also one of Bonniwell's better creations, as well as one of the best lyrical meditations upon the ambiguous tension of sexual desire that you're likely to hear…