Juan Atkins

SA-RA Creative Partners are the greatest crew of the 21st century, with a discography that plays like the textbook definition of machine soul.

In the hazy shadow of r&b's ultraviolet hip hop inflections, its mirror image lingers like a haunting moment still hanging hazy in the air.

Every now and then one stumbles upon an utterly beguiling record that somehow sounds both intimately of-its-era and utterly out of time. This is one of those records.

If we're talking machine soul, there's absolutely no getting around the man. There's r&b before Timbaland and r&b after, with a seismic shift in between that hinges on the axis of his vision.

A tribute to Damon G. Riddick, L.A.'s laidback ambassador of machine soul, and his sprawling nocturnal wonderland laid out beneath a neon glow.

One thing that's become apparent through the various stations of this whole Terminal Vibration saga is that the music grows decidedly more electronic...

This latest Motion playlist dates back to late summer, with the tempo dropping accordingly into machine soul, trip hop and finally post-disco and techno.

This time of year — when late autumn begins giving way to the dawning chill of winter — often takes me back to the year 2001, a swirling vortex of electronic jazz and machine soul.

Not much to add to what I said here, but within the context of what we've got lined up in the August heat, it seemed high time to throw a little more love Magic Juan's way.

With Deep Space, his debut album, Juan Atkins lays the blueprint for the chrome-plated sounds of machine soul: the art form of the 21st century.