OFF: Other Bands - Circle

[Jean Collin]

Hello again!

As a gig promoter I received "alotus" quite a while ago. It's a 47.11
minute and 6-track album on Klangbad.

jean


At 14:45 21/01/03 +0100, you wrote:
>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)