Silent Rider is the nom de plume of Brooklyn musician Reed Kackley who, with the aid of producer/instrumentalist Michael Santiago released this eponymous album in 2012, he will also be making a live appearance with his four-piece band at Graslands in Brooklyn on January 11th should you be in the vicinity. Also known for his remix work (he recently reworked The Vaticans 'Out Of The Fold') it's his own work under the Silent Rider moniker that we're focusing on here. Musically this is an album that takes in electro-pop and experimentation but isn't afraid to launch into a big pop tune either, as such this self-titled effort (which is free to download) could be a crossover success.
Granted, this album won't be the most varied to cross your path by any means, and there's nothing here that's particularly challenging either. It's far from throwaway pop though, and it does show a good level of both writing and production, you just wonder whether it's a little too alternative for the pop crowd and a little too pop for the alternative crown. Still, that's their problem. The closer those two worlds can be brought together the better, only then will people be more open to sampling more than just what's spoonfed to them by multinational companies. Let the people decide what they like, not the men in suits. To paraphrase Noel Gallagher, no one asked for The Beatles but they got them and it changed the world. The sooner TV and radio companies stop trying to dictate what the public consume the better. It's them that have the best judgement.
Importantly it should be pointed out that 'Silent Rider' isn't in the same class as The Beatles, simply that he's bringing two worlds together on this poppy yet slightly left-field work. Much here follows the same formula of synthetic beats, bleepy synths and boxfresh production, but it's not bowing down to supposed public demand. 'I Was A Bomb' is a great pop tune and the big beats on 'Dust On My Knees' stand out, the more experimental 'Peace Of Mind' and 'Dead Weight' too are worthy of a mention. A lot here you could take or leave and some songs are interchangeable, but this album is still a cut above the crude, lowest common denominator crap that TV tells us we should like, and for that reason we doff our cap to Silent Rider for making a pop record in the way that pop records should be made.
Download the album for free from Silent Rider's website
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