Circle (the Finnish band): S/D

Yeah, me too! I only listened to one of the songs but it sounded very much along the lines of a more energetic Forest sounding thing which makes me super happy. Not too far off, either.

Falcon album is so good. My faves are "Vegas Sundown," "Leather Seat," and "Seasoned Girl."

Yeah, it's so much fun. "Leather Seat" is one I keep coming back to, but the whole thing is pretty great.

also really enjoy the hooks on "Horses" and "Miami Tits"; I think the only thing holding me back from liking the latter more is the fact that it's named "Miami Tits"

I love Frontier too!!! The album got even stronger once the hooks really started to sink in after a few listens. A great Circle album! The last song is inexplicably bad and out of place but it comes after so many awesome tunes that I can overlook it easily enough.

The new Rättö ja Lehtisalo 7" is excellent, of course. Quirky and colorful and wonderful. I hope they keep releasing 7" records, it is a good format for that group!

Sseennsseess is getting a lot of play from me, the use of negative space is particularly striking. The full set video Liinu linked to above is a good companion, essentially it is the same thing and it is fascinating to see the way they use gestures and stage theatrics as a major part of the musical strategy.

They have a "song" they do now live where they essentially pretend to be in slowwww mooottttiioooon for five minutes or more at a time which is also quite a revelation. And incredibly fun to watch, a real spectacle. All droning free-improv stuff should be so entertaining!!! I think the 2nd song on Pharaoh Overlord Palmu LP is this song. This extra-musical aspect of the performance is really fascinating to me, I would've never understood this ingenious fake-slow-motion conceit just from listening!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae87ssm8d9U

Oh yes, I love the extra-musical aspect of their performances! The music stands on its own, but the slowwww mooottttiioooon thing, gestures, playing in formation, wrestling and other stage theatrics make their live shows very fascinating and entertaining. And their spandex-leather-spikes outfits! It is so much more than just the music, and the music alone is already mind-blowing stuff. Definitely a must see live band!

Disclaimer: I am a huge fan of Circle, so I am most definitely biased! :-D

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!

*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!

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!

dig the guy in the MAGMA tshirt and blue glitter spats

Yeah, saw that this morning. Love to see them getting into their costumes on stage as part of the performance!

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!

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

ooooof this is great

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.

http://thequietus.com/articles/15220-the-strange-world-of-circle

Marvelous, thanks!

Great article.

I found the article a bit confused, but it is always fun to hear/read what Jussi has to say. :-)

New song from Plain Ride's new album 'Skeleton Kites'!

https://soundcloud.com/ektrorecords/plain-ride-suuri-vesi

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.

Another interview:

http://www.musiquemachine.com/articles/articles_template.php?id=339

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!!!!

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!!

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.

Circle's Surface and Hissi will be released on vinyl! Release date is August 8th. Pre-orders in Ektro's web store.

Wow! Surface especially is great news!

Must not have the Marble Sheep stuff, though, which is kind of be a shame, but understandable.

Yeah, looks like it is Circle's part of the Circle/Marble Sheep split only. Cool anyway!

Been listening to Zopalki lately. Great. Valerian sounds a bit like avant-Alice in Chains

Okay Hissi is the one!

Patience pays off. Leviatan finally showed up in my local shop (CD, but fine for me).

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.

I will def get around to Surface. I liked your description of it upthread a lot

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!"

Ha, perfect.

Excellent!

New Ruton Music cassettes up for pre-order in Ektro's web store!

Harry Salmenniemi: Kivirivit
Pharaoh Overlord: Överhörn
Circle: Hukkaamiskielto

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.

YAASSS! Guillotine coming on vinyl! I love that album!

Yeah, I'm so stoked ha. It's my favorite album ever, so otherworldly. And a bonus track!

Circle vs Circle @ Supermassive festival, Helsinki, Finland, 23/10/14

part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSaPaSIVxRE
part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI69Zc-Z_ok
part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az-gdyEMGro
part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdvKp2IhlJQ
part 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=almaLTeQQU4

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.

Ydinontelo / Hollow Core (Janne Westerlund, Julius Jääskeläinen, Pekka Jääskeläinen)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdj2VtnPSJs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uajjUuNgp8Y

Yay! Got my package from Aquarius today that includes those first two 6000 km/h entries!

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.

Oh jeez, and a Pharaoh Overlord called Circle, ha!

Haahaha, brilliant! I love the gimmicks. :-)

"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

Interesting choices!