Circle (the Finnish band): S/D

Is Hydra Head going to issue Manner in a non-limited way outside of RSD? I know my chances of snagging that are super slim, but I really want to hear it, especially after the positive review in the latest Decibel.

is that your eye?

I read that same review jon and I'm really excited about this one. particularly want to hear the zeuhl (!!!) track.

Haha, one of my friends also asked that Lechera! I am maintaining the possibility! :-)

Thanks for the tip on the review as well folks, it has me even more excited!

new Ratto Ja Lehtisalo is pretty great/crazy! The atmosphere and theatrics have been dialed up considerably and Leppanen is back on board.

A friend told me you can reserve Record Store Day albums in advance? I'm emailing the local store about Manner right this second. I don't know what the deal is with RSD really but I guess I'll just have to be extra-vigilant if I can't reserve a copy. I feel bad for people who don't live near record stores thought!?

You CAN'T reserve record store day items, it's part of the strictly enforced rules of the day. Registering interest with a shop is totally cool though.

If anyone wants the Manner LP and can't procure it from a local independent record shop (which I do encourage you to do) then get in touch with me, as I may end up with spares...

Okay thanks a lot Krakow. Put me on the short list for a spare? I'm gonna go and be there right when they open first thing in the morning but it'd be awesome to have a backup plan!

think i'm just going to end up holding out for a non-RSD release. i'm not going to go stand in a two hour line to not be able to buy this.

Ah, wait, what, you have to wait in a 2 hour line!? I'm very confused by all this, I'm way way out of the loop guys, sorry... surely you get some kind of ticket and at least get to go browse or something in the meantime at the very least? I thought this was supposed to be fun!!!!

i'm sure its different at some stores, but the one nearest my house last year made everyone wait outside while the line slowly shuffled to the front of the store where you were allowed to point to the remaining releases that hadn't been crossed off the master list already. no browsing allowed. it was horrible and has pretty much put me off RSD completely. i'm sure there are many record stores that handle the atmosphere much better, but i've yet to have an RSD where i get even 1/10 of the releases i want. i don't like to spend a lot of extra time in a crowded record store to be letdown.

I wouldn't necessarily expect the Circle LP to sell-out immediately, certainly not everywhere, so you should be able to visit many a shop at your leisure later in the day on RSD to pick up a copy.

I've ordered a lot of copies, because of my personal obsession and its crossover with/spillover to a lot of my friends who will be picking it up, but I do expect to have some left after RSD is finished.

We run the queue system for the first few hours, only letting in as many people in as we can serve at one time (with all four staff members on), because otherwise it descends into absolute mayhem and genuine fighting and only a couple of people can browse the RSD-specific racks at one time anyway. By the time the main queue has gone down, which is a couple of hours, things are basically back to a busy version of normal.

seattle's a big vinyl & indie record store town, but i've never seen anyhing like that here. long lines, sure, but browsing encouraged. stores just get CRAMMED for a few hours early in the day. then again, i didn't go last year, so maybe everything's gotten exponentially worse, i dunno...

well, to be fair, i am talking about the first couple hours they were open, i'm sure it was better later in the day. but i was about halfway into the line and they were already down to about 10% of the list actually available by the time i got to the counter.

i mean, i don't want to crowd up the awesome circle thread with this, but i really hate the way the RSD focus is now just all about people on a scavenger hunt for specific, artificially limited items instead of just celebrating record stores in general.

Thanks all for the info! My local store's getting a few copies so I'm sure it'll work out.

The new RjL is righteously awesome, with a very eclectic and experimental prog feel!!! A lot of the songs resemble stuff from Mika's main band, Kuusumun Profeetta, only super-powered by Jussi's relentless riffage and Leppanen's usual ultra precise drumming. Ratto deploys a lot of different keyboard sounds, particularly organ sounds and the fender rhodes also makes a few appearances. The album is soaked in reverb and there's a lot of experimenting with nifty effects and of course pop hooks galore. All and all, a very rich tapestry and a nice progression from the colorful UUmama.

Plus there's a lightning fast barn burner of a song seemingly about Anne Frank!!!!

I love "Le Mans", but am still waiting for the CD to hear more...

I picked up the RSD release 30 min before the store was about to close and the clerk was like "Hey, I think they played here earlier today" (this was at Reckless) and I looked at him like o_O really? And he insisted and then we realized that he meant Circles. Anyway, I think they had other copies JVC, if you want one.

I didn't know it had a cover of HERE COME THE WARM JETS on it!?!?! Packaging is beautiful too.

Anyway, that's my update.

I managed to score one of these, as someone had (deliberately?) hidden it amongst the stack of stock for some other band. The eyeball sticker on the LP is torn, which is a tiny bummer, but other than that - Jesus, it's gorgeous. The vinyl is white with red vein-y swirls!

Only spotted black vinyl here in the UK. If anyone finds spare copies of the 'red eye' or 'eyeball' coloured versions, then I would love them, please!

I got mine at Rough Trade East, so some of them made their way over here. I didn't know there were multiple versions.

I had 10 copies in store, all black. Would love to get the other colours myself too!

I'm sure it would cost a fortune shipping-wise, but HydraHead is selling the other colors (but running out very quickly, by all accounts): http://www.hydraheadlines.blogspot.co.uk/

Yeah, shipping for 2 LPs is far too expensive for me, unfortunately. If anyone in UK or Europe spots the coloured ones, you can trust me to purchase them from you, if you felt so kind!

I got the white eye with veins version! It's in perfect condition, no tears or anything. Also sounds great!

Anyway I think Reckless has more copies -- they did at closing time last night.

She Got The Shakes: I got mine from RTE in the same manner...

Might have a lead on an eyeball version! Excited! Open record shop open!

In retrospect I guess I didn't have to stress out too much about this ha. My store let in 10 people at a time and gave out numbers so it was pretty orderly and you could browse. Got a white eye with veins. The xerox of the guitar chords/tabs is pretty funny too!

For anyone interested in pictures over words
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8012/6959987372_e358f4893e_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7126/6959989090_492218cd58.jpg

It comes with tabulation?!

It's a photocopy, one sheet, I can take a closeup if you'd like?

Man I want that so bad. Oh well.

You don't even have the option to try and order it from Hydra Head. Fuck this Record Store Day nonsense, tbrr. I mean, I'm all for the day in general, happy to support my local stores, love the vibe, but hate SO MUCH that it is now all about music that you can't possibly get any other way.

JON have you tried to call Reckless on Milwaukee? They may have another one!!

I have no way of getting there until Thursday, at the earliest unfortunately. I'm flying out to California for work this afternoon, so I wouldn't be able to go get it and I know they don't hold stuff that long. I'm going to check the Reckless Loop location, because I could get there over lunch.

Success. The Loop location actually had five copies still! Somehow I'm questioning that there were only 500 worldwide.

i dunno, maybe it was fatigue from the bigger name releases or maybe people just don't know
the guy working at the store where i bought it got them confused with another band (as i mentioned) and didn't show any indication that he knew what the record was when he located it in the boxes
there's clearly one person working there who knows because they carried it and always have pharaoh overlord in stock too, but my guess is that THIS person has never been the one who rang me up.

congrats on finding it!

i probably just overestimate the popularity of Circle, i'm just used to their stuff disappearing really fast.

Blue Collar Distro still has mailorder copies (for $21): http://www.bluecollardistro.com/hydrahead/product_info.php?products_id=7109&cPath=4_137&store=

1000 copies across the three colours. Apparently black vinyl is actually more limited than eyeball. I will have copies of the black vinyl at least to sell in a couple of weeks...

So, I never actually told all you good Circle-loving people my exciting news that I alluded to a while back...

NWOFHM!

http://www.nwofhm.com/

http://thewire.co.uk/images/artists/circle/circle.jpg

I have set up a specialist UK-based mail-order for all things Circle, Pharaoh Overlord, Ektro, NWOFHM!, ... and related. I have the support of a number of labels already, including Jussi at Ektro, have lots of stock (as listed) in hand, loads more new releases and back catalogue to come, and plenty of exciting plans and developments on the horizon!

'Like' the facebook, 'follow' the twitter, browse the website, sign-up to the mailing list, make an order, spread the word... if you would like.

Kiitos!

So that is you I've been following on Twitter! Nice work! Do those of us planning to order from the U.S. need to know anything special?

Thank you!

In terms of ordering from the USA, I don't think that there's anything special to know, except that postage is horrific!

ha, yes horrific is the word. Congrats Krakow. Seeing that you deal in rarities... if you happen to run across a Circle Noiduttu cassette hold it for me! Should I send an email?

Please do email liam. I am setting up lists for rarities wanted.

'Zopalki' 2xLP reissue is out, on black and aqua blue vinyl.

Erkki Kurenniemi & Circle's 'Rakkaus Tulessa' LP has been repressed.

If any Circle-loving ILX-ers in the UK (or maybe even Europe) would be interested in being part of a group buy of Hydra Head's new glow-in-the-dark skull Circle t-shirt, in order to mitigate the ferocious postal costs from the USA, then please drop me an email via www.nwofhm.com...

http://www.bluecollardistro.com/hydrahead/images/hhi-ss-123-full.jpg

I'm now in communication with Hydra Head to bulk order these t-shirts, so if anyone in the UK or Europe is interested, then please get in touch asap. Thanks.

NWOFHM! road trip for me next week...

I'm flying to Amsterdam on Tuesday, then heading to Antwerp, Belgium to see Circle with Pharaoh Overlord in support at Muziekcentrum TRIX on Wednesday night and on to Tilburg, Netherlands for Circle with Harvey Milk at Incubated 18 on Thursday night!

Excited!