If you manage to incorporate eerie vocals into some crushingly grungey rifforama, you not only surpass yer run-of-the-mill noise-rock but also create an enjoyably athmospheric attack on the senses. And yes, you guessed it, Circle do just that. Circle started out as Finland's superior exponents of the churning, hypnotic Loop-ish / Surgery-ish riff damage (w / mucho added scree), but have refused to rest on their artistic laurels, and are probably only in the early stages in their consistently challenging explorations into some increasingly AG-ish new spheres -as manifested within their debut (double) album in 1994. Also, look out for more U.S. releases on VHF & others.



Out on Bad Vugum:


Point 7" EP (Bad-30)

"Churning, hypnotic Loop / Godflesh -style heaviosity with some great Surgery-ish frenzy... Definitely one of Finland's finest exports..." -Ajax (USA). "Can this Finnish outfit get any better? ...No messin', Circle can show the Yanks a thing or three when it comes to whacking out firm and driving rhythms of this calibre... Above all, it is exactly how 'rock' music should be approached these days." -Grim Humour (UK). "Excellent stuff!" -John Peel.



Silver 7" EP (Bad-35)

A fine progression into somewhat more AG-ish riff damage, in a consistently challenging way. The title (& best?) track is the one not featured on the "U.S. edition" on VHF Records. "Very punk and very experimental, all at the same time. Unique." -Flipside (USA). "In terms of shifting dynamics, unruly noise outbursts, and general weirdness, this is unmatched as of late." -Butt Rag (USA).



Meronia dbl LP / CD (Bad-43)

A huge, sprawling Experience (with a capital E) in "Gregorian mood-fuck" and much, much more. "Pretty much sets a new standard as far as noise-rock or whatever you want to call it is concerned. It isn't even doing justice to them to say this, but Circle are way louder and more intense than any AmRep or Touch & Go band, and can back up their sheer force and density with decent songwriting, diverse instrumentation, and a weird edge that seems exclusive to bands from that part of the globe." -VHF News (USA). Bonus track on dbl vinyl...



Zopalki dbl LP / CD (Bad-57)

Who else can afford to only put out double albums and still maintain their level of class and innovation? Another massive hypno epic, now even venturing into more of an "ambient kraut-rock" tangent, to boot. Ten-minute bonus track on dbl vinyl.



Kollekt CD (Bad-74)

An exhaustive retrospective on the earliest (and sold out) Circle, featuring their both EP's on Bad Vugum: Point (Bad-30; "Churning, hypnotic Loop / Godflesh -style heaviosity with some great Surgery-ish frenzy... Definitely one of Finland's finest exports..." ­-Ajax. "Excellent stuff!" ­-John Peel.), Silver (Bad-35; " Very punk and very experimental, all at the same time. Unique." ­-Flipside. "In terms of shifting dynamics, unruly noise outbursts, and general weirdness, this is unmatched as of late." ­-Butt Rag.), the ultra-rare DIY debut single "DNA" from 1991, the one extra track on their VHF 7" not on "Silver", plus four 'left-over' tracks from the sessions of "Meronia", "Silver" and "Point". Hey, it's still a public service we run here.



Taantumus CD (Bad-93) US release through tUMULt








Also available from Bad Vugum:

CIRCLE: True masters of hypnotic space/krautrock (whose four albums on Bad Vugum are no longer available from BV - but here's some recent gems that J.Lehtisalo put out on his own label Ektro Records).

"Sunrise" CD (Ektro -02).
"Shockingly brilliant! The headbangingest Circle record, paradoxically also containing a couple of their most folked-out numbers.. Making effective use of Mika RŠttš's vocal histrionics. " -Aquarius Records

"Raunio" CD (Ektro -02).
"Several live versions of the same songs pile up in weird, cyclical collages of wild edits and studio manipulation." -TrouserPress.com

OFFICIAL CIRCLE WEBPAGE