CRT has been unstoppable lately, and on the newest single from his upcoming tape CS2 (DKA Records), Michael Keenan’s veteran status in the Atlanta underground is reinforced by his ability to mold straightforward EBM beats into a vivid world in which the distance between the listener and artist evaporates. The cinematic track relies on a grating sense of melodic evolution which Keenan channels through inscrutable vocals and pulverizing rhythms.
More than his previous work, “Bulls have Ramsey by the Throat” is a synthesizer toccata, a journey of technical expertise that drags us through a grandiose mishmash of apprehension and dread. The inertia and clarity of the song recall when I interviewed Keenan last year and suggested an experimental element to his songwriting, to which he responded, “I don’t experiment and I don’t do anything half-ass.” This single-minded ethos is a defining factor in Keenan’s willingness to tread new territory while invoking the spirit of fringe electronica from the past. Check it out below.
Loyal fans who attempted to access Keenan’s Bandcamp over the past few days may have noticed that the URL recently changed, as did his Instagram handle. After he was contacted by another DIY artist who trademarked the Cathode Ray Tube moniker, Keenan decided to avoid further discrepancies by changing the un-abbreviated form of his name to, ironically, Copy Register Trademark. “I shouldn’t probably worry about this guy but he kindly asked that we tweak the name and I want to be respectful to the time he’s spent on his project,” Keenan explains. Thankfully, since he uses the abbreviation more than the long-form, his debut tape CS1 won’t need to be reissued. In fact, there’s still a few copies remaining, which you should definitely pick up here.
CS2 is out Mar. 8. Pre-orders are available here.
More Info
Bandcamp: crtatl.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @crtatl
Instagram: @copyrightregistertrademark