With “algorithm & blues,” Bloomfield Machine presents a fascinating meditation on creativity in an increasingly technological world. Brian Kassan’s ninth album brings together fifteen brief compositions that move between melodic rock, electronic textures, classical references, and deliberately fragmented sound. The result is unconventional without becoming inaccessible. Its thirty-minute running time encourages repeated plays, allowing the album to function almost like a collection of miniature worlds rather than one continuous statement.
The human presence behind these recordings is particularly compelling. Kassan writes, performs, records, produces, and mixes everything himself, working from his apartment in Orange County, California. That solitary process gives the project a strong sense of personal authorship. Rather than following a fixed formula, he searches through libraries of sounds and beats, allowing ideas to appear through experimentation. The unpredictability of that method becomes part of the album’s character, with unexpected transitions, textures, and sonic imperfections adding to its charm.
Much of the album’s appeal comes from the conversation between warmth and technology. Melodic passages provide something recognisable, while glitches, distortion, electronic effects, and layers of noise introduce an artificial edge. The increased presence of guitar also expands the project’s palette, giving several tracks a more pronounced rock identity. Ken Lee’s evocative liner notes deepen this concept, reflecting on machines, loss, humanity, and the possibility of making peace with technology. His words provide an intriguing companion to an album already concerned with those boundaries.
For Kassan, creating music has become a way of processing experiences that cannot easily be expressed through ordinary language. That personal dimension gives “algorithm & blues” significance beyond its experimental construction. The record feels like a private conversation between instinct and technology, assembled piece by piece until something unexpected takes shape. Its strongest qualities reveal themselves through close listening, making headphones the ideal setting. Bloomfield Machine continues to evolve without abandoning its independent spirit, and this album captures that journey with curiosity, vulnerability, and creative freedom.
