Yeah, they really are incredibly engaging live. I'm so glad I got to see them twice when they came to the US three years in a row 2005-7. I was already a fanatic but that really sealed my enthusiasm for all time. It was before they started getting heavily into the theatrics but there were still quite a few memorable moments!
I always try to stay critical with all the Circle stuff but I am clearly super-biased too, ha.
The prospect of a new and more eclectic Plain Ride has me pretty excited. The four albums they have already are all pretty interchangeable, in a good way, but this new one seems much more colorful (harmony singing!!?) which can only be a good thing!
― liam fennell, Tuesday, 1 April 2014 12:39 (ten years ago) link
*nods enthusiastically*
Yes, yes! I think I first saw them live as 'Rättö ja Lehtisalo' in 2007 and that sealed it for me. I was hooked, no going back. It was a mind-blowing experience. Soon after that I started going to all their gigs I could: Circle, Plain Ride, Pharaoh Overlord, Kuusumun Profeetta and and... At the same time I bought all their singles, EP's and albums I could find. Luckily it never stops. :-) Very much looking forward to the new Plain Ride album!
― Liinu, Tuesday, 1 April 2014 15:50 (ten years ago) link
Have you guys seen this? Circle @ Roadburn 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21tT3LBY0O4
The sound quality is quite poor, but man did they play a helluva show. Wish I had been there!
― Liinu, Monday, 14 April 2014 15:01 (ten years ago) link
dig the guy in the MAGMA tshirt and blue glitter spats
― reggie (qualmsley), Monday, 14 April 2014 15:55 (ten years ago) link
Yeah, saw that this morning. Love to see them getting into their costumes on stage as part of the performance!
― liam fennell, Monday, 14 April 2014 16:37 (ten years ago) link
Leviatan is ridiculous and amazing! Wow.
Country-flavored clean/acoustic/banjo/dulcimer LSD landscapes; contemplative and serene and surreal and a little menacing. Wheat fields, sunrises, sunsets, people tilling fields, dreams and hardships. So great. The Forest was chopped down and homesteaded by freaky but life-loving farmers, or something! Janne Westerlund is really at some kind of rare and special creative peak lately. Too funny it was only recorded in Feb 2014, that is an incredibly fast turnaround!
― liam fennell, Monday, 28 April 2014 12:37 (ten years ago) link
yeah these acoustic jams rule. and post-capitalism! i was expecting something harder and more ex-falcon but wow am i happily surprised by this
― reggie (qualmsley), Monday, 28 April 2014 22:10 (ten years ago) link
ooooof this is great
― smhphony orchestra (crüt), Monday, 28 April 2014 22:20 (ten years ago) link
Yeah, it's all very picaresque! The super understated impressionistic synths and drums (mostly limited to sparse electric bass drum with snare rim shots, cymbals and the occasional drum synth punctuations!) really make the album, throwing all the percussive acoustic instruments into sharp relief. Post-kapitalismus is a great Mummi Kutoo impersonation! I especially like the double tracked humming on that song.
The 7" is less interesting but the two songs certainly are very concise and Leppanen kills it as usual. His warm drums sound especially amazing. Less good than Mylari but better than Panic.
― liam fennell, Tuesday, 29 April 2014 11:59 (ten years ago) link
http://thequietus.com/articles/15220-the-strange-world-of-circle
― Liinu, Tuesday, 13 May 2014 12:17 (ten years ago) link
Marvelous, thanks!
― liam fennell, Tuesday, 13 May 2014 13:32 (ten years ago) link
Great article.
― djenter the dragon? (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 13 May 2014 15:20 (ten years ago) link
I found the article a bit confused, but it is always fun to hear/read what Jussi has to say. :-)
― Liinu, Thursday, 15 May 2014 19:13 (ten years ago) link
New song from Plain Ride's new album 'Skeleton Kites'!
https://soundcloud.com/ektrorecords/plain-ride-suuri-vesi
― Liinu, Thursday, 15 May 2014 19:21 (ten years ago) link
Picked up a copy of SSEENNSSEESS this afternoon (sidenote: really wishing these Ektro/Full Contact did digital downloads with the vinyl!), excited to give it a spin this weekend. I need to get Leviatan next. Is the new 7" available digitally anywhere? Leviatan is on iTunes, but the 7" isn't.
― djenter the dragon? (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 16 May 2014 19:28 (ten years ago) link
Another interview:
http://www.musiquemachine.com/articles/articles_template.php?id=339
― Liinu, Saturday, 31 May 2014 19:58 (ten years ago) link
Cool, thanks again!!!
Jon, I know some Ektro stuff ends up on amazon mp3 downloads, the last Kuusumun Profeetta had a single that ended up there so I imagine a few other things might've as well. Leviatan really is essential!
Skeleton Kites is fantastic, too!! I have been listening to it non-stop. It is 100% acoustic singer-songwriter at the core but there are lots and lots and lots of electrified rock and roll guitar solos coloring the overall picture. It is a very good companion to Leviatan, sonically and thematically (well, perhaps!) Both have the exact same guitar sounds and of course that worldly wise/weary Westerlund singing. Janne Westerlund is just hitting home run after home run the past year or two. His solo cd Oran , Frontier, Leviatan and now Skeleton Kites are all superb works where he takes center stage. I think i could make masterpiece arguments for all of them!
Oh, and getting the first 3 7" Circle singles in fancy remastered represses is really exciting!!!!
― liam fennell, Monday, 2 June 2014 12:15 (ten years ago) link
Cool interview, I love Jussi so much. I totally agree with him, his sense of guitar rhythm really is stunning! In fact, for me, life-changing!!
― liam fennell, Monday, 2 June 2014 12:38 (ten years ago) link
Jon, I know some Ektro stuff ends up on amazon mp3 downloads, the last Kuusumun Profeetta had a single that ended up there so I imagine a few other things might've as well.
Cool, thanks! I don't think I'd ever have thought to look for Circle stuff on Amazon.
― djenter the dragon? (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 2 June 2014 19:59 (ten years ago) link
Circle's Surface and Hissi will be released on vinyl! Release date is August 8th. Pre-orders in Ektro's web store.
― Liinu, Wednesday, 18 June 2014 16:24 (ten years ago) link
Wow! Surface especially is great news!
― liam fennell, Wednesday, 18 June 2014 16:34 (ten years ago) link
Must not have the Marble Sheep stuff, though, which is kind of be a shame, but understandable.
― liam fennell, Wednesday, 18 June 2014 16:39 (ten years ago) link
Yeah, looks like it is Circle's part of the Circle/Marble Sheep split only. Cool anyway!
― Liinu, Wednesday, 18 June 2014 17:40 (ten years ago) link
Been listening to Zopalki lately. Great. Valerian sounds a bit like avant-Alice in Chains
― the fourth death of ernest borgnine (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, 18 June 2014 19:46 (ten years ago) link
Okay Hissi is the one!
― noir-ish need apply (Drugs A. Money), Sunday, 22 June 2014 06:38 (nine years ago) link
Patience pays off. Leviatan finally showed up in my local shop (CD, but fine for me).
― Bus Sex Teen Busted After Queef Beef (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Sunday, 22 June 2014 16:56 (nine years ago) link
Leviatan is so great - worth waiting for! Is the title a strange pun or what? The cover painting depicts a sunbathing seal... on a staircase inside a house.
Drugs A. Money, since you're on an early Circle kick, do try to make some time for Surface which is a live album of that era. It sounds amazing and is unbelievably tight/focused. Really, really cool stuff. I think I like it the most of the first few albums because it has the most energy.
― liam fennell, Monday, 23 June 2014 11:49 (nine years ago) link
I will def get around to Surface. I liked your description of it upthread a lot
― noir-ish need apply (Drugs A. Money), Tuesday, 24 June 2014 11:11 (nine years ago) link
New Circle & Pharaoh Overlord live albums coming up!
From Ektro's web page:
Ektro Records' vision for the future is to offer "outstanding solutions of subversive sound art". Key paths to realizing the vision are "harmonizing production lines" and "maximizing synergy advantages". As part of this strategy, the company launches a new, innovative concept: The "6000 km/h" brand.
6000 km/h is a product line of high quality, multi-channel "live" recordings. The brand name strives to communicate "speed, dynamism and goal-orientedness". The honour of opening the new product line has been given to Ektro records' flagship merchandise CIRCLE, jointly with its sister band oriented to the developing markets, PHARAOH OVERLORD. The pair of albums comprises a mutually complementing conceptual gesamtkunstwerk, the parts of which can, however, also be enjoyed as independent works.
CIRCLE's album 6000 km/h was recorded on the band's European tour in spring 2014. Utmost care has been taken to include a top quality selection of most exciting "takes" of the band's psychedelic rock hits like "Paniikin Valtias", "Fish Reflection", and the evergreen "Se Jonka Nimeä Ei Mainita".
PHARAOH OVERLORD's album 6000 km/h is a recording of the band's show at Turku's H2Ö festival, where they gave the festival audience the most unforgettable summer experience of the year 2014, taking them on a ride through time and space into a dialectical tailspin where the laws of music, theatre and society, among other things, turn into their opposites. All the songs on the album are world premieres, including titles such as "Hei Se Kassi Tänne", "No Ota Sitten Kolmekymppiä", and "Onkohan Tää Riisiä"
Jussi Lehtisalo, the Executive Director of Ektro Records, is excited about the "6000 km/h" concept: "6000 km/h is our bravest product launch since the company started in 1996. This is going to be something totally whacked out!"
― Liinu, Tuesday, 5 August 2014 12:06 (nine years ago) link
Ha, perfect.
― liam fennell, Tuesday, 5 August 2014 14:19 (nine years ago) link
Excellent!
― Bus Sex Teen Busted After Queef Beef (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 5 August 2014 16:38 (nine years ago) link
New Ruton Music cassettes up for pre-order in Ektro's web store!
Harry Salmenniemi: KivirivitPharaoh Overlord: ÖverhörnCircle: Hukkaamiskielto
― Liinu, Monday, 15 September 2014 18:19 (nine years ago) link
Good lookin' out! I live in fear of missing out on these things since I missed out on the first one Noiduttu which is a hell of a great Circle album doomed to ultra-obscurity (for the time being, at least.)
The new 7" reissues are very handsome, in case anyone is wondering, and of course the music is pretty great, too.
― liam fennell, Tuesday, 16 September 2014 11:54 (nine years ago) link
YAASSS! Guillotine coming on vinyl! I love that album!
― Liinu, Friday, 26 September 2014 13:11 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, I'm so stoked ha. It's my favorite album ever, so otherworldly. And a bonus track!
― liam fennell, Friday, 26 September 2014 15:29 (nine years ago) link
Circle vs Circle @ Supermassive festival, Helsinki, Finland, 23/10/14
part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSaPaSIVxREpart 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI69Zc-Z_okpart 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az-gdyEMGropart 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdvKp2IhlJQpart 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=almaLTeQQU4
― Liinu, Saturday, 1 November 2014 23:10 (nine years ago) link
Cool! Can't wait for the record.
I haven't listened to any of the 4 new releases yet except the Circle cassette which is totally bonkers... it is a live set somehow converted to midi and then I guess mixed/layered with the actual live recording. So it sounds like really noisey live Circle rendered as 8 bit NES video game music. The cymbals especially are funny. Weird, confusing stuff. Hard to say if it is "good" or not but it is a worthy experiment.
― liam fennell, Monday, 3 November 2014 12:44 (nine years ago) link
Ydinontelo / Hollow Core (Janne Westerlund, Julius Jääskeläinen, Pekka Jääskeläinen)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdj2VtnPSJs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uajjUuNgp8Y
― Liinu, Saturday, 6 December 2014 12:47 (nine years ago) link
Yay! Got my package from Aquarius today that includes those first two 6000 km/h entries!
― ƋППṍӮɨ∏ğڵșěᶉᶇдM℮ (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 15 December 2014 20:18 (nine years ago) link
Holy shit, a Circle album called Pharaoh Overlord!
The Janne Westerlund Marshland is killer, very rootsy folksy acoustic mellow sing-songs with the occasional dark Forest-esqe dark trippy instrumental excursion. The Aktor is strange and very 80s cheese metal -- I'm going to have to spend time with this thing. Superb playing on both.
― liam fennell, Tuesday, 3 March 2015 18:25 (nine years ago) link
Oh jeez, and a Pharaoh Overlord called Circle, ha!
― liam fennell, Tuesday, 3 March 2015 18:27 (nine years ago) link
Haahaha, brilliant! I love the gimmicks. :-)
― Liinu, Tuesday, 3 March 2015 21:54 (nine years ago) link
"The best of Circle - selected by Jussi Lehtisalo. 5 tunes from the 24 year-old history of Finland's most mysterious band - Circle - selected by their founder."
https://soundcloud.com/planetrockbooking/sets/the-best-of-circle/s-XIH9N
― Liinu, Saturday, 18 April 2015 17:54 (nine years ago) link
Interesting choices!
― liam fennell, Monday, 20 April 2015 12:03 (nine years ago) link
Ruton Music cassette alert!
http://ektrorecords.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=3984
"Circle: Live in London CS (PRE-ORDER)[Ruton Music (rut-012)]
This is a pre-order item, release date is May 15th
RUT-012: Circle: Live in London (C62)
Circle at London’s epic Scala club in April 2014. Showroom dummies? Blurred agenda? Wrong timing?
”They build a lot of their work on repetition, which is fair enough, but it really does nothing for me, ” penned Chris Grenville in Monolith.
Red shell, direct black bodyprinting, numbered edition of 200."
― Liinu, Monday, 20 April 2015 18:43 (nine years ago) link
Jeez, between this, the new Circle and PO studio albums, the Bensini thing AND the 2xDVD my wallet is really hurting, ha. In the best possible way!
― liam fennell, Tuesday, 21 April 2015 11:52 (nine years ago) link
I know, right? "Welcome to Circle fan club. Sorry about your wallet." But Circle (and related) albums/cassettes/DVDs/t-shirts are definitely worth it!
― Liinu, Tuesday, 21 April 2015 20:41 (nine years ago) link
Right, every 6 months or so I'm saying to myself, "Hmmm, it's been a long time since the last Circle album." ha. And something interesting always comes along, usually something hard to comprehend that you struggle for a few listens to integrate into the big picture. Or give up on! But it's always rewarding. For 12 years now or something I've been getting this annual fix! And I guess more people must be buying the stuff because now it comes in waves!!!
― liam fennell, Wednesday, 22 April 2015 11:56 (nine years ago) link
Circle's Euro tour starts soon! Anyone here going?
15.05.SE Malmö Inkonst
16.05.DK Göteborg Truckstop Alaska
17.05.DK København Jazzhouse
18.05.DE Berlin Urban Spree + Camera
19.05.DE Dresden Scheune
21.05.UK Birmingham Capsule @ Hare & Hounds
22.05.UK Bradford Threadfest
23.05.UK London Raw Power Weekender(as Pharaoh Overlord)
24.05.UK London Raw Power Weekender(as Circle)
26.05.NL Arnhem Willemeen
27.05. BE Leuven Orange Factory @ Sojo
29.05. CH Bad Bonn Kilbi
30.05.CH Basel Bildrausch(SSEENNSSEESS - performance with Mika Taanila)
― Liinu, Wednesday, 13 May 2015 09:17 (nine years ago) link
SSEENNSSEESS CD pre-order up. I knew I should have waited or asked; prefer my Circle on CD.
Oddly there's a clip of one SSEENNSSEESS show on YouTube with no Jussi!
Actually I've been looking for an excuse to bump this thread for a while. Talk Circle!
Live In London is ace BTW, in case you were wondering. Great versions of Fish Reflection, Terminal, Beer & Ribs and other favourites.
― Noel Emits, Monday, 18 January 2016 14:53 (eight years ago) link