Circle Music + 4 [2024 Remaster w/ Bonus Tracks]

by Drill For Absentee

/
  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Drill For Absentee's Circle Music + 4 is a digital release and limited edition 12" vinyl compilation of the band's previously released music from the 1990s, unreleased studio material, and a new song with old roots.

    The compilation includes:
    - the original tracks from DFA's debut 7", released in 1997.
    - the Circle Music EP recorded by Geoff Turner and released in 1998.
    - "Drown In Words," a track from the "Infinity Session" that produced the songs for the 7" and
    - "The Sea Is Watching," a new track featuring 21st century DFA drummer Ken Kuniyoshi and a bass line recorded in the band's rehearsal space in 1999.

    All new tracks were mastered and 1990s tracks remastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Services.

    The Circle Music + 4 LP features 180-gram black vinyl and full-color art. Only 200 copies are being produced, making it an incredibly limited edition release. This is a fleeting opportunity to get DFA's entire 1990s discography on vinyl, plus some exclusive bonus material.

    Includes digital pre-order of Circle Music + 4 [2024 Remaster w/ Bonus Tracks]. You get 10 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    ... more
    digital album releases July 1, 2024
    item ships out on or around September 1, 2024
    edition of 200 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $20 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Pre-order of Circle Music + 4 [2024 Remaster w/ Bonus Tracks]. You get 10 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.

    This is the pre-order of Circle Music + 4 [2024 Remaster w/ Bonus Tracks]. All tracks will release to streaming platforms on July 1, 2024. A limited edition 12", 180-gram black vinyl record will ship no later than September 1, 2024 for $25.00 USD (plus shipping and handling)

    The pre-order gives you access to all 8 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released for $20.00 USD (plus shipping and handling). That's a 20% off savings, plus early access to the tracks.

    This offer ends July 1, 2024.
    ... more
    Purchasable with gift card
    releases July 1, 2024

      $20 USD  or more

     

1.
Circle 03:13
2.
Albatross 05:22
3.
4.
5.
6.
Girl walks down a corridor, Fourteen years, seven-tenths of her reality, Battered glass like wishing wells, Her book open to page 17. She says to him she's petrified, She offers him the key, Her flag is torn and frayed, She questions his disease. Colors cured by her perception, East and west usurped by a greater need, The land that is hers is barren and dry, He watches from his tower, sips a glass of lemonade. And as the rain falls upon her, It mingles with her tears. Her life, like a book, is yet unfinished, Blank pages, 14 years. She says to him she's petrified, And offers him the key. Her flag lies broken on the ground. She questions his disease. We suffer the consequence Two-fifths of the sum. We suffer the consequence Two-fifths of the sum. You go for the gun. 21, you're my love. Give me another chance.
7.
Detunist 04:13
She walks down like a line, Walks down and picks clouds like we pick grass, Lets them fly and shape. She says something Like the mix of phone noise and crying. She says, "I love you" and "please, just stop" altogether. It dawns on me that Chloe bleeds and gets. (Cambridge came up, Cambridge fell down.) She walks a line down past things, Dresses and hairpins, She finds the ways of blowing grass, And blowing clouds, And clouding wind. There's something passionate and loving in her voice tonight, Something loving in the silence of the phone. She bleeds and finds me to tell me what the bleeding really means, What it is to her. She wants to push me away.
8.
Nouns You become them Full and listed. Common to you Common among friends. Nouns Verbs Prose. Verbal pictures which serve every color you take. Silence and function. Every color you make your own you steal. Silence and function. You walk the line You tow the line You walk the line One more time. Mission.
9.
10.

about

Drill For Absentee reformed in 2021 after a 20-year hiatus with a plan to record a single, new song and release it on the internet. The impetus for this project was twofold: DFA released very few tracks in the 1990s and had a thin catalog, and making music in the post-hardcore style is a fun and engaging musical endeavor that the band members were eager to take up again.

Michael Nace and Kevin Kelly teamed up with Okinawa drummer Ken Kuniyoshi and embarked on a fully remote recording odyssey. One song grew to 4 and then 8. The Strand of a Lake, Volume 1 EP was released on September 13, 2022, with Volume 2 to follow in due course.

In the interim, it seemed like a good idea to re-release the long out-of-print releases originally issued by The MindWalk Recording Label on one 12-inch vinyl record. The Circle Music EP was released on CD and never had a vinyl release, and only 1,000 copies were pressed for the debut, self-titled 7-inch.

This new “Circle Music + 4” edition features all of the band’s previously released music from the 1990s – the 5 tracks from the Circle Music EP plus the 2 tracks from the 7-inch – as well as “Drown In Words” from the 7-inch session and “The Sea is Watching,” a new track.

“Drown in Words” was a frequent song opener for DFA in the 90s and remained in the band’s repertoire until they stopped playing in late 1999. The original master tapes for this song are lost, which is why the sound quality is diminished.

“The Sea is Watching” was worked on by the band in 1998 or 1999 and later abandoned. This new version uses a bass track recorded by Kevin on DFA’s 4-track recorder from the late 90s and augmented with new musical ideas from the band and drum grooves from new DFA drummer Ken Kuniyoshi. The sung melody is also a remnant from the late-90s arrangement.

All of the tracks were mastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Services.

"Circle Music + 4" will be released on 9/1/2024 on limited edition, 180-gram 12" vinyl. Only 200 copies will be pressed for this release.

credits

releases July 1, 2024

The track listing for the vinyl record release varies from the "Circle Music" EP's original track listing.

Side A:

1. Circle
2. Albatross
3. Ars Poetica Scribbled on a Parking Ticket
4. Process Music For Numbers Ascending From Five

Side B:

5. Naked Singularity
6. This Process Will Make Chicago Wave Its Little Hand
7. Detunist
8. Drown In Words
9. The Sea Is Watching

Drill For Absentee:

Kevin Kelly: Bass, guitar, vocals
Michael Nace: Guitar, vocals
Bryan Sargent: Drums, 1995-1999
Ken Kuniyoshi: Drums, 2021-Present

Vincent Novara: Vibraphone and percussion on tracks 4-5

Recording Notes:

Tracks 1-3 were recorded by Geoff Turner at WGNS Studios in Washington D.C. from 7/17 - 7/18/98. Track 5 was recorded on 1/23/98.

Track 4 was recorded by Matt Magarahan at 9 North Church Street in West Chester, PA on 10/3/98.

Tracks 6-8 were recorded by James Mobile at IQ Music Studios in Wagontown, PA over 4 days in the Summer of 1996.

Track 9 was recorded by Drill For Absentee in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Okinawa in March 2023. Drums were recorded in a tunnel under the Okinawa Expressway.

Release Notes:

Tracks 1-5 were released in CD format on the Circle Music EP by the MindWalk Recording Label in 1998 (MW04). Original CD jacket printing by Thingmakers.

Tracks 6-7 were originally released in 7-inch vinyl format by the MindWalk Recording Label in 1997 (MW01). Original jacket and sleeve by Fireproof Press.

Track 8 was previously unreleased.

All songs written by Drill For Absentee.
All tracks mastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service.

New jacket, sleeve, and insert design by Rita Nace.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Drill For Absentee Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

US math rock trio, active 1995 through the end of 1999.

New music released in 2022.

contact / help

Contact Drill For Absentee

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Drill For Absentee, you may also like: