The Lick on the Tip of an Envelope Yet to Be Sent

Artist: Circulus
Label: Rise Above
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 803341192324
EAN: 0803341192324
ASIN: B0009S4VH6

Release Date: 2005-07-07

Related Categories:

General

| Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General

| Folk | Styles | Music

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

Psychedelic Rock

| Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

Indie Rock

| Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Rock

| Imports | Stores | Music

Listmania:

best of 2005(stoner-doom-sludge-post-rock)Part 2
Best Albums of 2005 Part 2
top 2005 albums

Tracks:

Miri It Is
My Body Is Made of Sunlight
Scarecrow
Orpheus
We Are Long Lost
Swallow
Aphid
Candlelight
Power to the Pixies

Similar Items:

Clocks Are Like People

Customer Reviews:

Tongues in cheek, pastoral prog + electric folk.......2005-12-02

Perfectly fine, in the mode of Steeleye Span's mid-70s electrified Brit folk rock period, with expansion into pastoral prog that might have been featured on that same decade's Harvest label. The best songs are the instrumentals; track 7 opens up into what could be one of the last genre-bending exercises not repeated after the 70s until now. Hawkwind-meets-bucolic Eastern-tinged trippiness-anchored in rusticated England?

This would be a great avenue for the band to pursue, better suited to them than the accurate but rather arch and distant folk-rock re-creations that most of this album remains grounded by. Like "The Darkness," their tongue seems planted in cheek as they too imitate the sounds of the seventies, with earnest effusions about pixies and burning scarecrows. They don't seem to take any of this seriously, which may differentiate them from their forebears! The album does open well, I must admit: it sounds like J. Rotten on vocals as the first song begins. Female and at least two male singers alternate, which helps the texture of the songs vary, but more imagination (and perhaps a bigger budget next time?) needs to be applied to the music if the band wants to make a real impact.

The songs need to take flight more than they do; while you could play much of this shuffled into the electric folk-rock of three decades past, the band needs to do more than ape its influences. But in a decade that mimics new-wave and the 80s, it's refreshing to leap back a few years before, when it was cool to combine longhairs, shawms, and sprites. For now, if you like this, check out the similar Scots ensemble Lucky Luke, (reviewed also by me) in their debut "Patrick the Survivor."

Circulus for a big smile!.......2005-09-19

As a folk(rock) fan I was well pleased with "Lick on the tip of an envelope" being recommended to me. At one look at the cover, the photographs & the (psychedelic) artwork I smiled & knew I was into something good.
All lyrics are accompanied by appropriate artwork, and the photos are ensemble pictures which point unashamedly to hippies, old celtic rituals & (judging from what the participants are wearing) days long gone by. Oddly enough no one is smiling! (or is there a hidden meaning?)
The music didn't disappoint me either: well-played folkrock infused with psychedelic & modern sounds, starting off well with the traditional "Miri it is". Almost all following songs are quite strong with rather new-agey but sometimes quite funny lyrics. It's not really clear how serious we should take their lyrics (Power to the Pixies....?!), but this uncertainty does add to the overall charm. Included as well is a song by Marianne Segal of legendary folkrock group Jade.
Listening to and looking at the cd I cannot help comparing Circulus with the legendary bands Dr. Strangely Strange and Gong. Although Circulus will not make me forget either of those bands, their "Lick ..." is well appreciated, with the eager expectation of what may be.

Music CD:

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

Common Ground ~ Tom Chapin

Handful of Rain ~ Savatage

S&M ~ Metallica

Ready An' Willing ~ Whitesnake

Palais des Congres 2004 ~ Sylvie Vartan

Jajouka Between the Mountains ~ The Master Musicians of Jajouka Featuring Bachir Attar

Songs for My Father ~ Gitte

Destiny

Laputa: Castle in the Sky Symphony ~ Japanimation (Joe Hisaishi)

Hugs N' Kisses ~ Tutto Matto