Maybe the Circuit Rider of yore came a-knockin’, maybe they just wanted to shake things up. Perennial TMT favorites Derek Rogers (Los Angeles, CA) and Lee Noble (Nashville, TN) found nominal shelter across the pond — their collaborations now bear the moniker Circuit Rider UK. After the otherworldly incantations of last year’s Unit Holds, the duo return to Jehu and Chinaman for another tape of slowly evolving synth structures and occulted melodic drift. Their new release Alienist arrives in an absurdly limited edition of 60 copies, one of which will be easier for you to order if you live in the UK (fingers crossed that some end up in a stateside distro).
I listen to “Minimal Form” and I think “minimal schminimal.” So much happens here: a lattice of intersecting bleeps colludes with filter sweep squelches and loping bass pulses. The bleeps rocket into double time as a chord progression, tenuous and muffled, as if coaxed out of a busted pump-organ, threads its way through the proceedings, providing a new context for the extant elements to shade in. I lean back in delight as the layers compound in organic symbiosis and the atmosphere thickens. Call it “minimal,” fine, but compared to plenty of abstract, synth-based projects out there, Circuit Rider UK craft a dense nugget of alien “psych”-“pop” with all the drama and movement of a film’s title overture.
Alienist is out now via Jehu and Chinaman, and comes bundled with a killer bonus: a live set of the duo featuring American Primitive wunderkind Daniel Bachman on guitar.
• Derek Rogers: http://derekrogers.bandcamp.com
• Lee Noble: http://leenoble.bandcamp.com
More about: Circuit Rider UK
