Lick on the Tip of An Envelope [Import]

Lick on the Tip of An Envelope [Import]

Track Listings

1. Miri It Is

2. My Body Is Made Of Sunlight

3. Scarecrow

4. Opheus

5. We Are Long Lost

6. Swallow

7. Aphid

8. Candlelight

9. Power To The Pixies

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Psychedelic and fantastical seven-piece debut album contains 9 songs played with passion, wit and despair.

Tracks:

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

Album Description

Psychedelic and fantastical seven-piece debut album contains 9 songs played with passion, wit and despair.

Album Details

Debut Album from a Band that Has the History and Mysteries of Britain Etched Into Its Grooves in Pure Songs Played with Passion, Wit and More Than a Hint of Despair. Circulus Are Psychedelic, Open-minded and Idealistic. "The Lick on the Tip of an Envelope Yet to Be Sent" Has Captured their Ethereal Power in a Tangible Form that Can Be Enjoyed on all Modern Stereo Systems. Circulus Cannot Fail to Uplift and Give Meaning to the Life of all who Embrace Them.

Customer Reviews:

Tongues in cheek, pastoral prog + electric folk.......2005-12-03

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.

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

Average customer rating:

"What the mushroom said to me": representative lyric
Bring on the Medieval Folk-Rock!

The Lick on the Tip of an Envelope Yet to Be Sent
Circulus
Manufacturer: Candlelight
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

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

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B000A2H722
Release Date: 2005-08-23

Tracks:

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

Customer Reviews:

"What the mushroom said to me": representative lyric.......2005-12-01

This is perfectly fine, if you like Steeleye Span's electric phase with the heavy(-handed) Bob Johnston guitar atop studio arrangements that gloss folk-rock up in polished layers of male-female vocals, lyrics about burning scarecrows, and a more contemporary touch that for our decade means putting "bitch" into the lyric. It does start winningly, with what sounds like Johnny Rotten vocals, but most of the album in its sound is more "traditionally" electrified 70s-era British folk rock. This is not bad by any means, but if you put this on in a shuffle with the "real" imitation thing, you might not tell the difference. This is both this album's strength and limitation.

Hints of mannered prog surface in the keyboards and the instrumentals, notably also in track 9, which opens up their song to nod towards what the Harvest label might have produced thirty years ago, mixing pastoralia with more of a punchy synthesized songcraft. This is a direction in which Circulus would be wise to explore, as a Hawkwind-meets-Steeleye blend is one of the few that have not yet been revived by the neo-hippie generation.

Bring on the Medieval Folk-Rock!.......2005-08-25

I just have finished giving a first listen the the Circulus album "The Lick on the Tip of an Envelope Yet to Be Sent", and all I can say is brilliant.

The songs generally consist of straight ahead folkish-rock, with the terrific addition of medieval/renaissance instruments (including recorder, crumhorn and rauschpfife[another capped-reed wind]). The lyrics are simultaneously amusing and insightful, and the vocals match to a tee.

There are nine songs on the album, two of which are instrumentals, and one is a showcase for Jade member Marianne Segal, which may be the most radio friendly piece on the album. The first instrumental, 'Orpheus' is a nice traditional renaissance-type dance number with just enough drums and synthesixer to make it modern, and the other instrumental, 'The Aphid', is an atmospheric piece that reminds me of North American Native American flute music, and in fact this song reminds of some of Ozric Tentacles' more atmospheric pieces.

This album recollects United States of America, Pearls Before Swine, and in recording technique, the American 60's band Clear Light. If The Incredible String Band were to have formed in the 21st Century, they may have sounded very much like Circulus.

If you are expecting a Gryphon type-band, this album is not it, but if you like folk-rolk and aren't afraid of the renaissance additions, I highly recommend this album.

Music Review:

Music Review

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