OFF: Other Bands - Circle

[Henderson Keith]

Nick asked...

> Certainly of interest. Circle were a revelation when I saw
> them in London with AMT in 2001. The only albums I've picked
> up are Prospekt and Tantuumus, both of which have some
> excellent tracks- however there is one aspect of their sound
> I really don't like, namely the lead vocals: sort of bombastic
> cod-opera meets Judas Priest (them again). Since many of the
> tracks are instrumental this isn't a *huge* problem but I
> wonder if the earlier albums are free of this blemish, as I
> think I read that the vocalist is a relatively recent addition.
> Comments from those who know?

Oh, this is a different guy.  The 'new' vocalist Mika just
joined for the 'Sunrise' album and wasn't on (I don't think)
any of the earlier albums.  (I don't have 'Raunio' here with
me in Europe, so I don't recall whether he appeared there also
or not...which was why I also didn't remember that "Alotus" first
appeared there as well).

Anyway, I *think* that most of the vocals from all the earlier
days were done by Jussi himself (the leader, and these days mainly
just the bassist, at least on stage), but I'm not sure even about
that.  But then, as you say, most of their stuff is instrumental
(until now, with Mika) and so the vocal tracks are normally only
2-3 per album at the most.  And 'Andexelt' (I think it is, and
maybe 'Fraten' too) is entirely instrumental.  Can't remember
exactly about 'Pori'...there might be a couple ones there with
vocals.

Anyway, Mika's singing is totally 'whack' too, and perhaps wouldn't
be "your bag," but *I* think it works well with the music (and I
never had a problem with Jussi's wacko singing either, esp.
on tracks like "Lyhytaallosta" (spelling approximate) from
'Taantuumus' which is just an awesome track in every respect IMHO).
So anyway, I think the three discs I mentioned above will all be
'safe' for you.  And all three are sufficiently different and
so there *is* a point to having them all.  'Fraten' is their most
laid-back and 'post-rock-ish' album.  'Andexelt' is mostly long
loopy, krauty rhythmic instrumentals, again Can-like.  'Pori'
has a lot more range in dynamics, from spooky-ambientish stuff
to more raucous space-rocky things like the awesome track "Kartano"
and is a good place to start for a Circle 'newbie' wanting to hear
the most variety of their works.  The really old stuff (from 10 years
ago) is more industrial-like, with a lot more heavy fuzz and more
screamy vocals, but I bet these are really hard to find these days.
Titles include 'Meronia,' 'Zopalki' and the EP/single compilation
'Kollekt.'  They are fairly hit-and-miss, but the 'hits' are quite
wonderful all the same, including the phenomenal 1-2 punch of the
ambient-but-edgy "Brilliant Colours for Bright Ideas" and the
countering hard-hitting "Valerian" (here the live version from the
Marble Sheep/Circle split live CD being just fantastic, albeit too
brief).

OK, that should be enough info...note:  I think 'Prospekt' is (apart
from the excellent 'Dedofiktion' track) perhaps their least interesting
studio album.

Grakkl (FAA)