Faster Circuits

Faster Circuits, the project of long-time E6er and recording engineer/producer Derek Almstead, returns with their second album. On Apophenia, Almstead and company balance a generous pop sensibility with a lush undercurrent of lysergic nihilism. Its methodology and melodic genetics find split parentage in psychedelic New Zealand and the new traditions of the Athens, Georgia music scene in which Almstead has long played a part- both as a member of The Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power, Circulatory System, among many others, and as the late-era staff producer and mastering engineer for much of that crew. Apophenia's disorienting Martian textures and unique instrumentation rely on an eclectic ensemble of once-and-future Athenians: synth from Need New Body's Jamey Robinson; Jeff Tobias of New York's Sunwatchers contributing guitars and horns; Carlton Owens of Cracker providing percussion; Athens-based experimental mainstay Chris Herron of Garbage Island and Sci Fu, to name a few, lending a broad soundscape ranging from handmade, oversized kalimba to something called a Restructured Chaotic Electric Piano; guitars and acoustic piano crafted by AJ Griffin of Laminated Cat, Casper & the Cookies, and French Exit; and the crucial, cloud-piercing glints of sunlight that shine from the voice of Marshmallow Coast's Emily Growden

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