INFINITY MACHINE

One year after the defining Cross-Collateral album, Passport lost their momentum again. Even with the same line-up, the dedicated songwriting of the predecessor is not repeated. Instead we get a couple of nice tracks mixed with forgettable light-fusion.

With Juju Man, Passport are back where they were two albums ago, creating pleasant but forgettable easy-listening fusion fit for air-play in bars and clubs. it's a funky Carribean tune that wouldn't be out of place on a 70s Bacardi rum commercial. Mourning Sun offers more wallpaper music for sound-tracks, but Blue Aura is a bit different, an attempt to re-create the moody Weather Report ambience of old. Not bad but rather déjà entendu.

The title track is closer to what we want to hear. The splendid bass guitar dominates this heavily syncopated funk track. Doldinger's sax and Wolfgang Schmid's organ spin some improvisations around the intense rhythms. Ostinato returns to a more laid-back dub rhythms, with a catchy main bass loop and a mellow spacey arrangement that builds up nicely towards the end. Did I already mention Ozric Tentacles in this review? Contemplation is a cliché soft-jazz tune for 70s porn-flicks.

With Infinity Machine Passport gets very close to falling apart entirely, but there's still some traces of their potential. The final collapse would follow on the next and following albums, which all rate about 1 stars at best.