This past week and a bit, it has been Kashmir's 'Petite Machine'. There's such an intenseness to the heartbeat-like drum pattern and the chillingly imperative guitar intro, Kasper Eistrup's exigent lyrics, frantically trying to convince this girl, woman, that she's the only one who can "fix this petite machine", i.e. make him feel alright and at peace. She struggles to be convinced, and Eistrup's anguish eventually leaves him short of words, and in stead, the song explodes into one of my favorite guitar soli, that writhes and wails and cuts like a dagger that is slowly and painfully, but also resolutely torn from the heart.
'Petite Machine', together with 'Ramparts', is a curious letting go of control on Zitilites, an otherwise very subdued record. I love to listen to 'Petite Machine' while walking alone in the streets at night, with that gut-wrenching guitar solo piercing through the silence and darkness of the night like a projector illuminating what goes on deep in the corners and alleyways, illuminating intimate feelings of desperation and pain.
