Circle - Panic (2007)
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Type.................: Music
Platform.............: Windows 9x/ME/2000
Image type...........: CD Rip
Burn Tested..........: Yes
Special CDR..........: Requires 700 MB / 80 Min CDR
Audio Format.........: MP3
Ripper...............: Exact Audio Copy
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Posted by............: Duke Leto
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Release Notes
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Please post any requests for segment fills to the .prog group & I will attempt
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Circle - Panic
Released: May 2007
Label: Ektro Records
[CENSORED]ue #: EKTRO-044
Ektrorecords promo site http://www.ektrorecords.com/promo/panic/index.html
Circle on Myspace.com --->>>
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=75934189
Circle on the Web (still under construction(?)) --->>> http://www.circlefinland.com/
Musicians/Performers:
Drums, Effects - MStky
Guitar, Mastered By - Junttura
Mixed By - Circle
Recorded By, Mastered By - Liukkari
Recorded By, Mixed By - Lankku
Synthesizer - Klinga PrSpierde
Vocals - Siki÷
Recorded at Headline, Tampere by Lankku and at Tompsoni, Pori by Liukkari.
Tracklist:
1. Black Tape (5:41)
2. State Powder (3:41)
3. Pigs In The Paper (3:29)
4. Neverending Dinner (0:38)
5. Good Day Rising (0:59)
6. Feed My Rabbit (1:02)
7. U.M.F.G. Horsemen (1:25)
8. We Must Breathe (1:43)
9. Misheritage (1:08)
10. Tunnel (11:49)
11. And Far Away (14:04)
~@~@~@@~~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@@~~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~
Reviews & Info...
A new release from Circle, once again. This time these experimental veterans study the both ends of
the previously unheard static / hyper-active scale. Soundwise they have clearly proceeded to the
21st century, jumping from limpid synthesizer soundscapes to wall-smashing "speed-kraut" bursts. The
triptych construction of the album along with the cover art that portrays war and street riots raise
various associations on the history and the current state of Western civilization.
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From --->>> http://www.aquariusrecords.org/bin/search.cgi
Ah, Circle. We love 'em. You love 'em (or, if this is the first you've heard of them, then please
do an artist=circle search on our website for plenty o' info). And we've all come to expect the
unexpected from these freaky Finns, yet also always expect the "Circle" sound: rhythmic, krautrocky,
"circular". And they always deliver. Yet we'd have to say, with this new record Panic they've also
managed to come up with the Circle album that we doubt -anyone- would quite have predicted,
nosiree.
Spoiler warning! Since we know that the legions of Circle fans reading this pretty much don't need
us to tell 'em that they want this or any new Circle cd and will be all over this like stink on a
pig regardless, we should mention that this review contains something in way of a "spoiler" about
the album's contents and if you're already planning on buying this you might want to read no
further. Not that the surprise is, y'know, like The Crying Game or anything. So read on if you
want.
Looking at this, you might be wondering, what do the apocalyptic, crusty-punk looking
black-and-white graphics mean? And why'd they call it Panic? And what's with the sticker on the
front, proclaiming Circle to be "Finland speed-kraut pioneers" and telling us that they consist of
ex-members of Sorto Ja Riiso, Saaste, Nyrkinen Kehitys, Spiders, and Suomen Ruutivarasto? Are those
even real bands? Ultimately, you're wondering, what's this gonna sound like??
So, let's put it on... it starts off with "Black Tape", reminiscent of their recent lovely Miljard
set: minimal piano plinking amidst spacey organic washes of synth, sort of Circle in an ambient
Aphex Twin / Terry Riley mood. As that track flows into the next, and the next, the tone becomes
more urgent, ominous, and busier... And then, without warning (well, unless you've read this) track
number four ("Neverending Dinner") blasts from the speakers, a loud n' raging PUNK rock shock to the
system, 38 seconds long. Seriously retro '80s styled hardcore punk, boots and spikes and all that,
with vocals angrily shouting subversive political diatribes, the music uber-distorted and as catchy
as a veneral disease. Wow. That's what we mean by a surprise! Thus begins this mayhemic middle
portion of the album, six tracks, averaging not much more than a minute in length each, is Circle's
teenage punk rock rebellion reborn and moshing hard. But since it's Circle's version of punk, so you
can still hear the sci-fi prog rock keyboards layered in there, twittering and swooshing amidst the
purely punk noise. Weird weird weird. Then, like a summer thunderstorm, all that's over with... and
we're back to the vast, instrumental reaches of deep, dark space, the disc coming to a conclusion
with its two longest tracks, the 12 minute "Tunnel" and the 14 minute "And Far Away", both even
dronier and spacier than the synthscapes that began the album. Wow again.
If you think about it, those two extremes -- spacey prog and quasi-metallic rockin' -- are both
integral parts of the hard-to-define Circle sound. So it's as if on Panic, they've taken the "usual"
Circle thing and pulled it apart, like taffy. The opposite ends of the album are stretched out into
a bleak and beautiful drone-zone, while the heaviest densest craziest stuff settles into the
middle.
Some might criticize Circle for what might appear to an indulgence in high-concept joking around...
post-modern appropriation... punk playacting... taking the piss... whatever. But what we think is
that they're all the more amazing for it, for deciding to do a "punk" record yet keeping it Circle.
After all, if you're gonna make as many albums as these guys have AND always have to make sure you
stay true to the very distinctive sound they're established (the "circular", repetitive thing),
you've gotta be creative, which they are. So their solution here is to sandwich their warped '80s
punk pastiche between something completely different -- cosmic electronics like '70s Schulze or
maybe a John Carpenter soundtrack. The jarring juxtaposition is brilliant and maybe even meaningful,
somehow tying in with the nuclear nightmares depicted on the album graphics. And there are many
clever details in the graphics dep't by the way, from the collaged riot pics to the fonts used to
the barbed wire borders and the Ektro flag-logo... tight. In fact, we might wonder which came first,
the graphic notions or the music...!?
By the way, while we've got your attention, may as well let you know to look forward to another new
Circle album coming out on No Quarter in September. Haven't heard it yet, but Jussi from Circle
tells us it sounds like "60's black metal"... whatever that means! No doubt more surprises in store.
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From --->>> http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/circle/panic/
"Finland Speed Kraut Pioneers"
Circle's Panic is a strange album to deal with. It's the meeting of two polar opposite genres in
one single disc. In one hand we have electronic meanderings reminiscent to that of 70's German
Progressive Electronic bands and on the other hand you have fast and furious Punk. Believe me that
it made me scratch my head as well when I first listened to it, and after several more listens it
still does!
This album will most definitely have a tough time finding an audience since the drastically
different genre changes in this album. In the book end of the album we see Circle's new music style
since their 2006 album Miljard, soft, atmospheric, brighter and less dark and menacing, but now
interpreted in a more electronic style. Most of it reminds me of early Popol Vuh or the "pink era"
Tangerine Dream. Slowly, but surely, the album starts getting darker and stormy. From the first
song, "Black Tape", to the third song (and last from the first electronic set), "Pigs In The Paper",
the change is clearly evident and turning more apocalyptic through time. Then when you're finally
getting comfortable to the changes in the mood of the album and the electronic vibe of it, all of a
sudden things come to a screeching halt...
By the beginning of the fourth song all of the moody electronic sounds are gone and welcomed by the
least expected punch in the face. Punk music starts filling your ears. One feels disoriented by this
drastic change in the music and you won't get up on your feet until the second set of electronic
songs begin just like a jet plane flying close to you and you couldn't make heads or tails of it at
the time. The only thing that came out of my mouth the first time I heard this was "WTF just
happened?!". I had to listen to it again to understand what just happened. When I did listened to it
for the second time I realized I was listening to this "Speed Kraut" thing they created which is
basically them playing punk with weird electronic washes and psychedelic effects going on in the
background ( like a mixture of Punk and Krautrock, if you will). All of the songs that can be
labeled "Speed Kraut" are rather short and none go over the two minute mark and the whole set is
gone before you know it.
The second set of electronic songs begins as if the frenzied rock never really happened. "Tunnel"
is just like the day after a nuclear bomb strike with its humming drone sounding like a desolate
wind with no signs of life until. "And Far Away" starts and it's a totally different sound
influenced by Tangram era Tangerine Dream. It sounds alive and vivid with a futuristic sound. The
album ends like it could continue on forever into this futuristic sound.
I don't know the concept behind this album, but by looking at the art cover and listening to the
music it can be seen as the normal days with news all over the place about a world war (first
electronic set), total anarchy and chaos before and during the war (the "Speed Kraut" set) and then
a nuclear strike to end the war (second electronic set).
Panic is one of the more polarizing albums by Circle. It's hard to recommend this to everyone
because of the two totally different styles of music on the album, but I'm sure that there's a crowd
for this album somewhere.
