The Cyclist
Bones in Motion
2.5 stars
House
Describing himself as a “disco music maker” on Twitter, the latest album from Northern Ireland producer, The Cyclist, provides listeners with 59 minutes of traditional house analog experiments mangled with futuristic distortions of trance.
The sophomore album, Bones in Motion, comes from the Los Angeles based-label, Leaving Records, which is on a mission to bring cassette tapes back.
A little weird, a bit messy, Bones in Motion has its moments, but for the most part lacks focus.
Listeners journey through hazy and blurred, yet rhythmic, trance beats that do well in creating eerie chills, comforted by warm soulful moments.
A notable highlight is the track “Stove”. The spellbinding track, with its waves of white noise static and haunting French rambling (at one point played backwards), shows off The Cyclist’s creative analog skills.
“Mangel”, the second track on the album, is definitely one to download. The bass-tastic, thumping will capture you for the first half of the record before picking up phases of reverb piano that’s then overshadowed by a gargled melodic female voice. Like most of the album, the track is pure noise that somehow mighty morphs into refined music.
While the best moments of Bones in Motion are during its flashes of James Blake-elegance, Crystal Castles-funk and futuristic Tron-punk electronic, overall it still manages to fall short of its full potential especially when it bores us with its experimental tangents.
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