Reviews

“[Marco Mahler’s] music goes beyond the musical boundaries of austere beauty. It can even be life-changing.” – Thieves By Tuesday*

“Laptop Campfire Speed, has gotten plenty of critical types to stand up and take notice, and the Mahler bandwagon appears to be boarding. Luckily, MOKB is riding shotgun, having counted ourselves as big fans the moment his stunning debut, Design In Quick Rotation, landed in our hot little hands way back in 2007. Taking some time away from his ongoing accolade shower, Mahler was good enough to sit down and field a few questions from MOKB.” – Read the MOKB interview

“Laptop Campfire Speed is one of those rare and wonderful releases capable of cutting through the noise by hardly making a sound. Very highly recommended.” – My Old Kentucky Blog

“There is beauty in simplicity and the music of Marco Mahler is simply beautiful. It takes guts to be gentle and kind, the music of Marco Mahler has guts” – The Devil Has The Best Tuna

“Everyone has that one album that they will never get sick of, that always hits home, and that they can always relate to in any mood or current situation. Marco Mahler’s Design In Quick Rotation can be said to be that album. From the first 30 seconds his meek voice and guitar soak into your skin and permeate happy peaceful memories throughout your being. It’s gentle, it’s beautiful, and it’s sincere. I would imagine this being the soundtrack to a stranger’s smile, or the adventure of looking into someone’s eyes and having a full conversation without words. This album is a unique illustration of how beautiful and simple music can be.” – The Teal – Indie Rock Reviews

“Up there in the Top 5 Things I’ve Ever Found In The 100b HQ Inbox” [Laptop Campfire Speed] – 100b

“Wow, I just couldn’t stop listening to this great music. Excellent vibrant songs, with calming voice.” – Hastik Blog

“The word nice is usually sneered at, but frankly, this album [Laptop Campfire Speed] is damned nice.” – Loft And Lost

“…eleven diverse, smart and lovely songs … Mahler’s deep knowledge of a huge range of musical styles and his innate ability to fit pieces of them together so that, even in the most unlikely combinations they sound brilliant, makes Design In Quick Rotation an endlessly enjoyable listen. Folk and anti-folk dance together to smooth hip hop, while a rock band quietly practices next door … chilled out songs that have clear influences but stand out on their own as something different … They have a strange calming effect, massaging blissful pleasure straight into your ears. If you’re looking for something new, then you just found it.” – Andy Malt – Subba-Cultcha

“This is a marvellous debut album and one of those subtle records that gets under the skin in the best possible sense. The songs are intense and literate without being self conscious or morbid … this a calming record to live with and love.” – 10 out of 10 stars – Martin Raybould – Whisperin & Hollerin

“It’s honest and touching, the simplicity of the music comes from hearing it as genuine as it can be, without sprinkling the myths of stardom all over the place. Mahler would probably sound good as good in Carnegie Hall as he would on the side of the corner store, there is no thin line between anything that he does (or chooses to do). It’s dusty, it has a few scars, but it’s there, take it or leave it. Mahler will become one of the most promising musicians of the early 21st century.” – John Book – The Run-Off Groove

“Laptop Campfire Speed – Album Title of the Year, also contains the song title of the year: Don’t Buy Cows If You Don’t Have The Time. Good advice, not a flaw to gain and so is the music: beautiful, sweet, funny cross between pop and electronica.” – VPRO 3voor12

“The new album “Laptop Campfire Speed” is well worth the wait and contains a number of tracks which could well feature in your end of year lists” – Burning World

“Marco Mahler’s latest record, Laptop Campfire Speed, is one that might not have existed a decade ago. And that would have been a damn shame.” – Popdose

“Marco Mahler’s vocals may lean more towards a conspiratorial whisper than a shouted ‘hey-look-at-me’, but it’s his music that rises above that charismatic whisper to snag your ear. Acoustic guitar lines cut through all else, crisscrossing, blooming, like kaleidoscopic patterns in tracks like the instrumental “Hike The Lake”. And yet it’s that very voice, that calming, quiet voice delivering Mahler’s abstract lyrics, that’s the perfect foil to the penetrating acoustic guitar. Although all this isn’t in sacrifice to melody, he does wield a number of strong melodies that will lodge like an arrow in your heart. “Orange Chinese Car” softly thumps like a basketball about to be taken hard to the hoop, while “Study Airports” is an anti-lullaby, a song to wake up to rather than deliver the lulling. Design in Quick Rotation is a surprisingly well-crafted debut from a man who, not surprisingly, is also a sculptor.” – Alan Williamson – SIXEYES Blog

“Marco Mahler is a pleasant surprise who should be immediately plucked from the seemingly endless horde of stubbled and bearded folkies who keep threatening to hush the world. Last June, Mahler self-released the record Design in Quick Rotation, an effort so beautiful and simple that not much since David Thomas Broughton’s 2005 record can comparably stand up to it. There sounds to be little here but a voice, a guitar and a beat barely louder than a footstep, save for the plugged-in guitar on “Think Tank” or additional light percussion on “Study Airports,” which do nothing to speed things up further. The simplicity is divine, as anything additional would damage the soothing nature of the record” – choir croak out them goodies

“Indeed, the stark nature of this recording is its most arresting feature … Mahler’s approach doesn’t waver from the first note to the last. He travels through his songs, using each to change course ever so subtly.Not nearly so idiosyncratic as a Simon Joyner or Songs:Ohia or Will Oldham or whatnot, Mahler has nonetheless managed to notch his own first-rate entry into the minimalist singer-songwriter ledger. Fine work.” (about Design In Quick Rotation) and “These songs manage to be impossibly pretty and often drop-dead gorgeous without the slightest bit of adornment. Luxuriate in the sparse sounds.” (about Laptop Campfire Speed) – Jon Worley – Aiding & Abetting

“Imagine sitting, as passenger, behind your beloved as they hurtle down the highway on their seemingly ancient motorbike. You have a worn hand held camera and you are making movies of all that slides past. This is the soundtrack to that surreal blur. Here the strange things, the dark even disturbing things, are camouflaged by the twinkled reflection of shiny minimalist pop, the hushed voice comforts, seduces, distracts, and the weird is natural now, the abstract makes sense. This music is as honest as architecture made for function and as a gift; it has that throb about it only found in CDs like this and airports at 3 am in the morning … this is yet another collection to treasure and to live with.” – NBT Independent Music

“Highly individual musical language as well as an innovative guitar style making the songs and music among the most appealing and interesting things I heard from a contemporary songwriter …” Massimo Ferro – Radio Voce Spazio– Italy

“Private intimate songs that come with invisible headphones, made distinct by Mahler’s expert finger work … there is intimacy and gentleness here, but also a sturdy undertow that rescues the music from the negative space of haunting: these songs endure” – Helvetica Bold

“Marco Mahler is someone who’s music I highly recommend. In fact, I order you to give this guy a listen if you proclaim to be a fan of similar artists like Sufjan Stevens and José Gonsález. So give your eardrums a little break from the hard beats and sharp guitars, and enjoy Mahler’s mellow indie-pop instead.” – RockSellout.com

“A majestic disc of desolate instrumentals and personal folk songs with crisp instrumentation overlaying sparse melodic backdrops … “Hike the Lake” is an instrumental that builds from a single guitar, slowly filling in with keyboards and percussion. “Fields” is an elegant song with Mahler’s understated vocals that form the backdrop for precisely layered guitar lines. Give it a listen (or two).” – jefito blog

“It makes for quite an impressive range of style and influence, but the [Design In Quick Rotation’s] real charm is its acoustic intimacy … It’s not a difficult concept to grasp, this simplicity and gentleness, but in our fast-paced world, it sometimes goes unnoticed.” – Quick Before It Melts music blog

“The songs feature gorgeously calming and looping melodies and his slightly Cave-ish voice and I find that I can listen to it on repeat for hours when looking for a bit of calm in amongst a busy day. Those of us with that busy train journey know that ‘music that’s perfect to commute to’ is nothing but praise.” – Pretending Life Is Like A Song blog

“Marco Mahler’s newest release Laptop Campfire Speed is an aptly named showcase for his electro-popfolk; I usually find such things to be more electro than folk, but the light touch on production here results in a sound both decidedly post-millennial and oddly delicate” – Cover Lay Down

“Brooklyn-based musician and sculptor Marco Mahler’s debut album, Design In Quick Rotation, a nod to his mobiles and kinetic sculptures, can feel as airy and dreamy as the title makes out: lying on our backs with sunlight – yes, lots of brilliant, refracted sunlight, for this is a decidedly upbeat album – streaming in the windows, overexposing the light & lovely creation hanging from the ceiling above our heads and pushed and twirled by a breeze or possibly just the force of our breaths. Design In Quick Rotation is in many ways a remarkable, subtle album, and anyone’s guess recommends you listen to more or simply pick up a copy of the disk for yourself.” – anyone’s guess

“A highly competent mixture of beauty” – 8 out of 10 stars – Drowned in Sound

“The songs on Laptop Campfire Speed are not only good, but are good enough to be covered and cherished by other artists who will hopefully spread the word of his craftsmanship.” – This Is Book’s Music

“Marco Mahler produces well written dreamy melodies that are hard to resist. Nowadays many singers are compared to Sufjan Stevens and Nick Drake, but Mahler actually delivers on that promise.” – The Plugg

“Laptop Campfire Speed is a welcome return for Mahler, whose debut was one of my favorites of 2007, whose records are … on constant repeat” – choir croak out them goodies

“With lofting, arching melodies over pop and folk structures you’ll find his music refreshing and dreamy.” – Bring Me Up Blog

“One thing is for sure; Marco Mahler deserves widespread attention” – FensePost

“He’s got a voice … listen to the way he sings … wow… your songs are … I mean this is your song? You wrote this? You didn’t find it in a bottle or someplace? … I sure hope the prop has that on tape. That was gorgeous … People who know the scene and know something about music want to be surprised by something like you, new and exciting, interesting and somebody who’s been around …” – Bob Fass “Radio Unnamable” WBAI NYC

“Where do you go for all those ideas?” – Marc Barkan, songwriter for Elvis

“Very beautiful” – Joe Franklin, TV and radio talk show host

“Just know this: he’s good.” – a-life

“Interesting” – Allen Ginsberg