Circulatory System - Circulatory System (2001) + Inside Views (2001)

Circulatory System is the brainchild of former Olivia Tremor Control songwriter Will Cullen Hart. Following the OTC's decision to go on indefinite hiatus, Hart decided to hole up in his Athens, GA home and focus on painting. Slowly he began to turn out new songs and, recruiting the help of most of the members of the OTC as well as The Instruments' Heather McInstosh and Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum, produced Circulatory System's self-titled debut.

Much darker and gloomier than anything from the Olivia Tremor Control, and lacking the more experimental musique concrete parts of the OTC, Circulatory System is an incredible collection of pretty, trippy tunes. Pretty much one of my favourite albums, it's the kind of thing that you never get tired of hearing. It's fucking incredible.


















Following the release of Circulatory System, Hart decided to "remix" the album. Here's the description of Inside Views from www.cloudrecordings.com:

"Cut and paste style fragments, demos and animation derived from pieces of the circulatory system album. These elements are spliced, electronically altered and juxtaposed for a reinterpretation of the sounds. The result is a peek into the sonic architecture of their album.
(set your CD player to 'shuffle' mode when playing this recording)

- reanimation by will h.

(each CD case has a unique bird picture.)"

Inside Views rearranges the original album into a whole new entity, and is equally incredible. It sounds amazing when played in sequence, but it becomes even more fascinating when shuffled. Every time you listen it's basically a different album, and no matter how you order the tracks it always sounds cohesive, and it is always beautiful.

Hart's paintings are also pretty incredible. Check them out here:
http://www.cloudrecordings.com/artwork.html

Circulatory System have also been working on a new album for about as long as anyone can remember. It's been due to come out for about the last four years, but keeps getting pushed back. However, last April, member John Fernandes wrote:

"i just posted some new music on the circulatory system myspace page.
progress is now being made on the record, a possible 'side one' has been put together with help from charlie of 63 crayons.
hopefully the new album will be released this fall."

So here's hoping... and here's music...

Circulatory System - Circulatory System

Circulatory System - Inside Views

Buy the albums here.

(Also, I realised the links are a bit confusing so the album covers are now download links as well.)

Steve Reich - Music For 18 Musicians (1974-1976)

From Wikipedia:

"The piece is based around a cycle of eleven chords. A small piece of music is based around each chord, and the piece returns to the original cycle at the end. The sections are aptly named "Pulses," and Section I-XI. This was Reich's first attempt at writing for larger ensembles, and the extension of performers resulted in a growth of psycho-acoustic effects, which fascinated Reich, and he noted that he would like to "explore this idea further". A prominent factor in this work is the augmentation of the harmonies and melodies and the way that they develop this piece. Another important factor in the piece is the use of human breath, used in the clarinets and voices, which help structure and bring a pulse to the piece. The player plays the pulsing note for as long as he can hold it, while each chord is melodically deconstructed by the ensemble, along with augmentation of the notes held. The metallophone (unplugged vibraphone), is used to cue the ensemble to change patterns or sections.
Some sections of the piece have an ABCDCBA structure, and Reich noted that this one work contained more harmonic movement in the first five minutes than any other work he had written."

Oh Steve.

Steve Reich - Music For 18 Musicians

Buy the album here.

John Cale - Paris 1919 (1973)

John Cale - Paris 1919

Buy the album here.

(This and the previous album are sendspace links, so they may not be around for very long, if anyone wants a re-upload, leave a comment)

Love and Rockets - Express (1986)

An album only partially about trains.


Love and Rockets - Express

Buy the album here.