Circle (the Finnish band): S/D

each listen is better. "connection" could be a judas priest song. "hard to realize" sounds like a latter-day ween spaghetti western epic, complete with gene ween vocal inflections. these guys (if not ween) might be the most versatile band right now. "mercy and tuesday" and "mad man" develop into serious hypnojams

is that out? has it made it to the US yet? i can't find a fawning aquarius records review on their site...

[/snigger]

it'll get there; they'll love the shit out of this one. between 'hollywood' and the new animal collective i already have two '09 favorites, and it's just jan. 2, signs that this might the year i won't be able to keep up anymore

Circle news:

New 2LP live record Triumph finally out now on Fourth Dimension.

Also, Doktor Kettu CD album on Ektro (droney Circle/Jussi side-project).

I also hear that the 'Saturnus Reality' Circle documentary film will be released on DVD in March-ish on No Quarter!

Fun times!

Finally got my latest package from Aquarius with Arkades, Forest, and Panic. Looking forward to digging in over the course of the day. Anyone know of other stores to order from? I've just about burned through all the albums Aquarius has available right now.

eMusic has some of their stuff too if you don't mind getting by on digital downloads

yeah, aquarius is probably the best u.s. distro for circle stuff, seeing as how they love everything they've ever done, etc.

anyone seen the new dvd?

ektro recordss is run by circle's jussi lehtisalo. packages arrive pretty quickly and he promptly responds to any questions regarding orders.

Seconding the service from Ektro. Top notch.

News:

CIRCLE - Taantumus CD (Ektro-054) *** RE-ISSUE COMING SOON ON EKTRO ***
=============================================================
Ektro Records is proud announce that a re-release of Circle's difficult to find album Taantumus will be available in a couple of weeks. The re-issue comes with updated album artwork and Veitsi, a previously unreleased nine-minute bonus track.
Taantumus tracklist and samples at Circle's website:
http://www.circlefinland.com/index.php?discography=taantumus
Taantumus was originally released by Bad Vugum in 2001.

Hurrah!
I've still not seen the DVD, but will order it from Ektro when Taantumus is available.
Also picked up the couple of t-shirts they had recently. Good times.

Hah, I just said to you today that the old stuff was bound to get reissued sooner or later

Excellent news!

They reissued the first album Meronia nearly 2 years ago and said at the time that it was the beginning of gradually reissuing all the older out of print stuff. Got this email through at the weekend from Ektro.

been listening to tower a bunch lately. this one doesn't seem too popular but I think I love it. the ramshackle percussion + droney, modulating fender rhodes sound just really works for me.

The Taantumus reissue arrived this morning - one listen at work and it sounded top notch, so exciting to get an album from a band I love so much that I've never heard before and because of their odd nature have no clue beforehand what it might be like... and then to find that it totally rocks! Glorious times.

I also got a copy of Zopalki (on Bad Vugum from 1996) for relatively cheap off eBay recently. I prefer the true hypno-kraut-groove stuff, but it's got some solid moments after a couple of listens. I never really dug Meronia, so guessed that this would be a slight progression on but along the same lines.

Also scored a couple of the early-ish 7''s (the one on VHF, "Crawatt", and "Ghatarian" on 4th Dimension) for sensible prices, so I'm getting pretty deep. If anyone has any Circle-related goodies that they decide to part with then I'm your man... $$$'s ready and waiting!

Anyone else got the Circle fever atm?

Oh yeah, I missed the DVD from Ektro, so still haven't got hold of that, not that I ever really watch DVDs anyway, but you know...

too expensive to buy em all

Gotta catch them all. NWOFHM >>>> money

i don't think i could really get circle fever. i mean, i like them, but very few of their albums excite me that much. prospekt, forest and earthworm are pretty great though.

Finally picked up Hollywood while shopping in Ann Arbor yesterday, though we got back home so late last night that I didn't have a chance to rip it to my iPod - so it'll have to wait until tonight for a spin. Also ordered the Taantumus reish from Aquarius, so um, yeah, my Circle love is in full force still.

Anyone looking for Circle cd's would be well-served to check out the Omega webstore. They have a half-dozen or so Ektro cd's and shipping is free. I just got "Meronia" there a few weeks ago, which is growing on me. Hopefully they'll get "Taantumus" in before too long.

One thing that makes coming back to work after a shot vacation better? Seeing a package from Aquarius sitting on your desk that contains Taantumus, Telescope, and La Dusseldorf's Viva. Cannot wait to dig into the Circle tonight! Did krakow ever get around to running another Circle poll?

That should be "short" vacation, although I would already like to shot another vacation.

The one band that Circle remind me of every now and again is Loop. Both perfect names for what these two bands do too.

Also Oneida - the O.

Funnily enough, those are the exact three bands I've listened to the most this year!

Some circular headspace you have going on there.

Yes, that may explain some things actually. But yes, Loop was one of my happiest discoveries this year.

I've not done another poll yet, but if there's interest I'll work on doing so, probably next week, including all the new releases. Might be a good opportunity, since we're in a bit of a lull from them.

Isn't there a Circle poll?

There was one back in 2007, the idea has been kicked around as an update.

Oh I guess it's old.

Circle :: what album is their best

It's kind of too bad we can't link all the polls and threads together like a master thread.

It was before my time on ILX, so I feel hard done by you see. 2-3 years is a long time in the Circle discography too. There were at least 5-6 more albums in that period, probably more.

Bit of news...

'Triumph', which was originally a recentish limited 2LP release (start of the year), is coming out as a 2CD set at the end of this month, again on Fourth Dimension. It's a recording of a WFMU session from September 25th 2007.

cool. really like that one.

A new album is appearing shortly, a vinyl only release of a live show...

Soundcheck (live)

http://www.circlefinland.com/gfx/kansikuvat/soundcheck.jpg

Full Contact, 2009
LP

Side A
1. Kukkakaalia kapteenit! (3:40)
2. Tuhatsata (20:39)

Side B
3. Virsi (9:25)
4. Nopeuskuningas (14:00)

Live / soundcheck performance at Space Force 1 festival, Torvi 31st October 2009 Lahti, Finland

The Triumph 2xCD is also out now, available in the usual places.

Myself, I hunted down copies of Fraten and Prospekt on CD lately. Not got to Prospekt yet, but Fraten is worming its way into my mind.

Where else is it available? Aquarius only seems to have the 2xLP version.

Ah, maybe I was being a bit UK-centric, at least so far. I'd seen it on various UK sites (Cargo, Second Layer, Alt Vinyl et al) and imagined that it would have made it to the states as well, but it seems not yet. Ektro have it as well, of course.

Just wondered, thanks for the info. Aquarius has always been my go-to place in the U.S. for all things Circle.

Aye, I'm sure they'll have it ASAP. I wouldn't be surprised if it's in their next update, since one just appeared today without it.

And for those of you not on the mailing list, Aquarius now has the Triumph 2CD in stock, just ordered mine.

Just got a copy of the Lusiferiinin Armosta album, which is another Jussi project (and also features in the just-out Aquarius list btw), and it totally rocks.

OK, I would REALLY like a copy (meaning the actual CD, that is) of the 'Kollekt' compilation CD of the early 7'' tracks & other bonus material.

If anyone has this CD that they might consider selling to a rabid obsessive who has hunted in vain on the interwebs for a fair old time, then please get in touch...

In other news, utterly unedifying for anyone but me, I found 'Hissi' and the original Bad Vugum version of 'Taantumus' recently. Hurrah!

Thanks!

I wish they'd reissue more of the old stuff. "Taantumus" was the only one I actually managed to buy at the time. I was hopeful that the rerelease signalled that the 90s stuff would follow, but no.

(sorry krakow, can't help you there)

Yeah. When they reissued 'Meronia', I figured that they would just work through reissuing everything in order, since basically all of the early stuff is OOP and requires a fair bit of dedication to find, but then Taantumus being next threw that for a loop.

But maybe they (i.e. Jussi, I suppose) are not so keen on the others. I'm not a huge fan of 'Zopalki' myself, whereas 'Taantumus' is a total winner.

I'm not a big fan of Zopalki as a whole but "Brilliant Colours for Bright Ideas" is my favourite Circle track and it would be nice to have a real copy

(stupidly I first fell in love with it on a mixtape someone made for me when it was presumably still originally available, but I was new to mail-ordering records back then and buying stuff from overseas seemed a step too far - oh, regrets)

to anyone wanting to know about possible re-issues,why don't you just email ektro (jussi) and ask. you will likely get a response pretty quickly.

I was happy just to wait and see what happened. We're just speculating & discussing here, nowt wrong with that at all!

I speak to Jussi whenever I order stuff and occasionally outwith that to hassle him to play Glasgow!