Cathode Ray Tube :: Cycle:55 EP (Condition Human)

The prolific Cathode Ray Tube, a project by Maine-based Chang Terhune, has been at it for a very long time, and he manages to keep churning out the tunes.

A seriously clustered four-pack extended player

Someone tell me why the entire planet isn’t tuned in? Please do. It’s simply baffling that after over three decades of absorbing these tunes on a variety of mediums—including cassette, CD, vinyl, and digital—that there’s still a surplus of experimental electronic music touching the nerves yet barely getting recognized. I only wish to be able to write about and promote music that hits all the right chords every single day. Sounds that glitch and grind, expand and contract, and offer an emotive pulse, should be explored, not ignored.

With such an avalanche of music pouring through the doors, it’s difficult to capture everything as there’s just not enough hours in a day. Suffice to say, the prolific Cathode Ray Tube, a project by Maine-based Chang Terhune, has been at it for a very long time, and he manages to keep churning out the tunes. How he’s not signed to one of the larger independent imprints still puzzles me. One has to wonder, however, if it really matters, considering that he’s able to release music to the masses in digital form so easily. Maybe not. Beyond the number of releases under his belt, what does matter, is the distinctive quality each one possesses. Cycle:55 is one such audio nugget of an EP.

“Bladdermouth” opens Cycle:55, a powerful eight-minute trip pulling on the senses as “Elephant Skull” maneuvers a hypnotic synth maze tethered to fractured beats’n breaks. The explosive breakcore and acid-techno noise of “Terre Vert” hits the spot as blistered rhythms and saccharin glitch prevail on “Rombustious”—an unusually sweet closure. A seriously clustered four-pack extended player worth adding to your digital collection today, and we sincerely hope you’re out there listening.

Cycle:55 is available on Condition Human. [Bandcamp]