Circle Takes The Square At Work On Long-Awaited Album, Decompositions Volume 1

From Secret Service Publicity:
April 5, 2011 – Los Angeles, CA – In 2004, Savannah based experimental post-hardcore group Circle Takes the Square turned the scene on its ear with the release of their critically heralded, ferocious debut full-length, As the Roots Undo; Seven years later, the band has made their long-awaited return to the studio to record their highly anticipated follow-up, Decompositions Volume 1, which they will self-release this fall on their newly formed label Gatepost Recordings.

Since the release of As the Roots Undo, Circle Takes the Square have been far from idle. In 2007, dueling vocalists and core members Drew Speziale (vocals/guitars) and Kathleen Stubelek (vocals/bass) recruited former Mare drummer Caleb Collins and longtime friend David Rabitor as the second guitarist to round out their current lineup. Following a tour with Thursday and Portugal the Man, the band posted a live demo of new material online which sparked rumors of a new album. Although Speziale and Stubelek had a handful of new material they were inspired to forgo recording to explore new ideas with Collins and Rabitor.

“The process of creating Decompositions Volume 1 was lengthy and trying, to say the least, but ended up being an extremely educational and musically horizon-broadening experience- of particular value for a band that has always challenged itself and attempted to occupy a space beyond the bounds of its own limitations,” says Speziale. “The first phase of our songwriting sessions was to generate raw material in the form of short collections of riffs that we would jam together and organize into loose outlines for songs. We considered these to be "sketches", and by the end of 2008 we had manifested the basic musical vocabulary that would define our evolving sound. Then, the task of structuring the final versions of the lengthy songs we were creating began. For the next year and a half we attempted to balance the important and demanding developments within our personal lives (three marriages, an engagement, and two of us relocating to another region of the country), while still working on our music and making as much progress as possible with our songs.”

Despite complicated logistics and personal demands, Circle Takes the Square finished writing Decompositions Volume 1 through intense, long-distance writing sessions and convened at Rockstudio on January 1, 2011 in Brunswick, GA with As The Roots Undo producer Anthony Stubelek to record the album.

“From the very beginning of the writing process, our mission statement was to comprehensively explore the musical themes that we were creating,” Speziale adds. “We set out to build upon the stylistic foundation we had established with As the Roots Undo, but were determined to provide ourselves with the room to experiment, and try our hands at more repetition, variation and management of space in ways we hadn't attempted before. We decided not to let song-length or other logistical limitations inhibit the sprawling arrangements we were crafting, and ventured to grant each individual idea within our multi-movement songs its own chance to meander and evolve: sometimes in linear ways, and sometimes within the framework of more traditional progressions. Our emphasis on fine-tuning, experimenting with, and expanding our approach to song structure enabled the creation of the three fully-arcing, musical story-lines that will make up Decompositions Volume I (which has a running time of 50-plus minutes).”

Circle Takes the Square will reconvene the first week of April for their next studio session. Keep track of the progress and news about Decompositions Volume 1 on the band’s blog, Facebook and Twitter.

NPR.org posts full concert by Circle Takes The Square

Despite Hurricane Irene’s torrential downpour and horrendous winds, fans packed the sold-out Black Cat venue in Washington, DC on August 27 to see experimental indie-hardcore band Circle Takes The Square perform for the first time together in three years…and NPR.org was there to record the entire set.

Listen to Circle Takes The Square’s complete set here.

“The thing that struck me, though, in all the twisting time signatures, start-stop dynamics, overlapping screams and metallic chaos, was how 'now' it all still sounded,” said NPR reporter Lars Gotrich. “In a carefully considered set list culled from the band's small yet strong discography, this was the embodiment of impassioned renewal.”

Circle Takes The Square’s energized passion can be felt wholeheartedly on their new EP, Rites of Initiation, which is available now for stream and purchase here.

Rites of Initiation is the first of three chapters that will be featured on the band’s long-awaited new album Decompositions: Volume 1, which is due out in November.

Circle Takes The Square to release 'Decompositions: Volume I' in November

Photo courtesy of Secret Service Publicity

In April, we posted an entry on Circle Takes The Square when the band was in the studio recording its new album, Decompositions: Volume I.

Seven years after the release of its debut, As the Roots Undo, experimental cult rock band Circle Takes the Square has announced plans to release its second full-length album, Decompositions: Volume I, in November via their own Gatepost Recordings.

Recorded/mixed/mastered by Anthony Stubelek at Rockstudio in Brunswick, GA, Decompositions: Volume I is a collection of songs, comprised of three central musical narratives. Each composition maintains its own identity and story arc, while also playing an integral role in the overarching plot line that will unfold throughout the Decomposition series. Given the self-contained nature of each individual passage, CTTS will be unleashing the complete first chapter from Decompositions: Volume I, titled "Rites of Initiation" as a digital EP on August 23 here in advance of the full album’s release in November.

"Rites of Initiation" finds CTTS breaking into new territories, from the crushingly primitive to the technically transcendent, from stripped down metallic riffs to harmony embellished, eerie folk passages, all within a framework consistent with their trademark discordant and experimental approach to high-speed, outside-the-box punk/hardcore.

“We have spent vast amounts of time exploring every fractal peak and recursive valley in the landscape that these songs describe, and we are eager to provide our listeners with the opportunity to glimpse a portion of this realm, and to immerse themselves in the labyrinth of startling curves and staggering depths that we've been lost within for so long,” said co-vocalist/guitarist Drew Speziale.

“Rites of Initiation documents the ill-lit, inward-leading, forever-winding pathways that eventually take hold, on a search for the authentic in an increasingly artificial world. When the boundaries between thinking and knowing, dreaming and waking, living and dying all begin to blur, a terrifyingly primal vision begins to bleed through the fragile veil of consensus perception. To surrender to it, embracing the other side is our 'rite of passage.' We've crafted these songs in an attempt to sing that transition into being.”

"Rites of Initiation" is CTTS’ first recorded music since their debut album, As the Roots Undo, which was released in 2004, and gives fans a peak at what’s to come on the long awaited follow-up Decompositions: Volume I.

Stay tuned here for news and information regarding CTTS’ forthcoming, cryptic new album, Decompositions: Volume I.

Rites of Initiation Track Listing:

I. Enter By The Narrow Gates
II. Spirit Narrative
III. Way of Ever-Branching Paths
IV. The Ancestral Other Side

Fest 10 announces more confirmed bands, gives away free compilation

THE FEST 10 recently announced more confirmations on their website for its big 10-year anniversary of their annual multiple-day, multiple-venue party down in Gainesville, Florida.

Added to the massive roster of bands will be onikers, Kyle Kinane, The Emotron, The Forthrights, Scum of the Earth, Worlds, Rivernecks, Alligator, Mouthbreather, John-Micheal Bond, Billy Wallace, Greys (Canada), Pujol, Kite Party, Teenage Softies, Wet Witch, The Fucking Wrath, Arms Aloft, Despite Everything (Greece), the Ex-Boogeymen, Over Stars and Gutters, Unfun (Canada), Liquid Limbs, Nato Cole and the Blue Diamond Band, Sister Kisser, Dig It Up (Canada), Luke Fields, Chicken Little, Charles the Ospery, Nightmares For A Week, Hold Tight, Vena Cava, Timeshares, Rose Cross, Post Teens, Nightlights, Douglas Shields and the X-Factors, Saint Alvia, Die Hoffnung, Chotto Ghetto, Sister Kisser, Evan Rocha, Luther, Party Drag, International Dipshit, Young///Savage, Kevin Seconds, Mauser, Wavelets and Creepiod.

You can read below for a complete list of bands performing including Hot Water Music, Against Me, Less Than Jake, Bouncing Souls, Lifetime, Dillinger Four, Samiam, Youth Brigade and more.

The festival will take place Oct 28,29 and 30 of 2011. Weekend passes are currently SOLD OUT but organizers are trying to find more venues willing to participate so they can open more weekend passes up for sale

FEST 10 also launched a Bandcamp page where anyone can grab a free downloadable comp featuring some of the artists performing. This will be the first of a six-comp series being released over the weeks leading up to the festival. You can go here to download (or just click on the album art):

Even though the FEST is SOLD OUT, organizers have been working with bands and local venues to help organize two PRE-FEST shows to happen on Thursday Oct 27^th.

Bands performing include Cobra Skulls, Nothington, Banner Pilot, Worn in Red, Bridge & Tunnel, Moutherbreather, Spanish Gamble, O Pioneers!!!, Shores, Caves, Pure Graft, Landmines and Fellowship Project. There are also two TBA special guests to be added at a later date.

Head to the FEST 10 website for venue and ticket information.

Bands confirmed so far:

Hot Water Music, Against Me!, Less Than Jake, Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Touring Company, Samiam, Ted Leo + The Pharmacists, Defiance Ohio, Franz Nicolay, Lifetime, Bouncing Souls, Youth Brigade, Dillinger Four, Smoke or Fire, None More Black, Paint it Black, Small Brown Bike, Dead to Me, Teenage Bottlerocket, Toys That Kill, Lemuria, Tim Barry, A Wilhelm Scream, Polar Bear Club, Circle Takes The Square, Off With Their Heads, The Holy Mountain, Cobra Skulls, Magrudergrind, Bomb The Music Industry, No Trigger, P.S. Elliot, Trap Them, Dear Landlord, Underground Railroad to Candyland, The Menzingers, The Copyrights, Broadway Calls, La Dispute, Fake Problems, The Soviettes, Cheap Girls, Ninja Gun, Nothington, Good Luck, Shook Ones, Paul Baribeau , The Arrivals, Banner Pilot, RVIVR, Static Radio, Rehasher, Armalite, Screaming Females, Coliseum, The Swellers, Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves, We Are The Union, Grabass Charlestons, Iron Chic, Mikey Erg, Ampere, Worn in Red, The Measure (sa) [FINAL SHOW], Burning Love (Canada), Tiltwheel, Bridge and Tunnel, Dan Padilla, Blacklist Royals, The Snips (Canada), The Brokedowns, The Bomb, The Catalyst, Algernon Cadwallader, Red City Radio, New Bruises, Shores, Future Virgnis, The Riot Before, Make Do and Mend, We Were Skeletons, Pianos Become Teeth, The Flatliners (Canada), Young Turks, Campaign, OK Pilot (UK), Look Mexico, Dirty Tactics, The Dopamines, The Arteries (UK), Bent Left, SSSSNAKES(UK), How Dare You, Comadre, Grown Ups, Such Gold, Tigers Jaw, Touché Amoré, The Great Explainer, PJ Bond, Carpenter (Canada), Annabel, One Win Choice, Amateur Party, Cynics (UK), Sexy Crimes, Greenland is Melting, Spanish Gamble, Captain We’re Sinking, Senders, O Pioneers!!!, Pure Graft (UK), Caves (UK), Mixtapes, Vultures United, Living With Lions (Canada), Mose Giganticus Mockingbird Wish Me Luck, Whiskey & Co., Protagonist, Dukes of Hillsborough, Max Levine Ensemble, Big Eyes, No Friends, Failure’s Union, 1994!, Landmines, Heartsounds, After the Fall, Cletus, Coffee Project, Savage Brewtality, King Friday, Fellow Project, Gateway District, Worthwhile Way (Japan), Calvinball (UK), Leagues Apart (UK), Glocca Morra (Canada), The Slow Death, The Anchor, Punch, Goddamn Doo Wop Band, Banquets, Old Man Markley, Red Collar, Weak Teeth, Deep Sleep, No More, Reverse the Curse, Assassinate the Scientist, Army of Ponch, Naïve, Capsule, Jeff Rowe, Koji, Go Rydell, Pine Hill Haints, A Great Big Pile of Leaves, Former Thieves, Elway, The Wild, Pygmy Lush, Too Many Daves, Joey Briggs. City of Ships, INxSANE (Slovenia), Spraynard and Vacation Bible School.

THE FEST 10 will host 250+ bands over three days at 11 venues all within walking distance in downtown Gainesville, Fl.

Last year, The FEST 9 had over 5,000 folks in attendance with visitors from 46 states and 14 countries such as Canada, UK, Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Puerto Rico, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

In past years, The FEST has hosted numerous bands such as:

7 Seconds, Able Baker Fox, Against All Authority, Against Me!, Alexisonfire, American Steel, Ampere, Ann Beretta, Armalite, The Arrivals, As Friends Rust, ASG, Assholeparade, Atom and His Package, A Wilhelm Scream, Banner Pilot, Baroness, Bear vs. Shark, Ben Davis, The Blood Brothers, The Bomb, Bomb the Music Industry, Bouncing Souls, The Briefs, Bridge & Tunnel, Broadway Calls, Burning Love, Cheap Girls, Chuck Ragan, Cinemechanica, Circle Takes the Square, Cloak/Dagger, Coalesce, Coliseum, Communique, Das Oath, Dave Dondero, Dead to Me, Dear Landlord, Defiance, Ohio, Dillinger Four, The Draft, Drag The River, Engine Down, The Epoxies, The Ergs, The Eyeliners, Fake Problems, The Falcon, Fifth Hour Hero, The Figs, Finfangfoom, Fleshies, Floor, Frank Turner, The Gaslight Anthem, Ghost Mice, Good Luck, Gospel, Government Warning, Grabass Charlestons, Gunmoll, Hard Skin, Har Mar Superstar, The Holy Mountain, Hot Cross, Hot Water Music, J Church, Joey Cape, Kylesa, Latterman, The Lawrence Arms, Leatherface, Lemuria, Less Than Jake, Look Mexico, The Loved Ones, Lucero, Marked Men, Mastodon, Mates of State, Matt & Kim, Mercury Program, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, The Methadones, Minus the Bear, Municipal Waste, Naked Raygun, None More Black, Off With Their Heads, One-line Drawing, Paint It Black, The Pietasters, Pink Razors, Planes Mistaken For Stars, P.O.S., Polar Bear Club, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Radon, Rehasher, Riverboat Gamblers, Russian Circles, The Sainte Catherines, Savage Brewtality, Seaweed, Sinaloa, Small Brown Bike, Smoke or Fire, SNUFF, The Soviettes, Strike Anywhere, Suicide Machines, The Swellers, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, Thunderbirds Are Now, Tiltwheel, Tim Barry, Tiny Hawks, Torche, Toys That Kill, Transistor Transistor, Twelve Hour Turn, Valient Thorr, VCR, The Velvet Teen, Whiskey & Co., Wow, Owls!, Young Livers and Youth Brigade.

The FEST is put together by the folks who run No Idea Records and Southern Lovin’ PR.

Fest 10 Info:

From No Idea Records:
THE FEST 10 has launched their full website for the big 10 year anniversary of their annual multiple day, multiple venue party down in Gainesville, Florida.
The festival will take place October 28, 29, 30 of 2011. Organizers have planned an alumni reunion from years past to celebrate the big milestone!!! See below a list of bands confirmed so far! The FEST 10 has also opened up weekend passes for sale as well as official FEST 10 hotel bookings. The FEST 10 passes will be available at an early booking special rate of $75 from now until July 1st. On July 1st the price will increase to $100 for the 3 day weekend pass.


Bands confirmed so far include: Hot Water Music, Against Me!, Less Than Jake, Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Touring Company, Samiam, Lifetime, Bouncing Souls, Youth Brigade, Dillinger Four, Smoke or Fire, None More Black, Paint it Black, Small Brown Bike, Dead to Me, Teenage Bottlerocket, Toys That Kill, Lemuria, Tim Barry, A Wilhelm Scream, Polar Bear Club, Circle Takes The Square, Off With Their Heads, The Holy Mountain, Cobra Skulls, Magrudergrind, Bomb The Music Industry, No Trigger, Trap Them, Dear Landlord, Underground Railroad to Candyland, The Menzingers, The Copyrights, Broadway Calls, La Dispute, Fake Problems, The Soviettes, Cheap Girls, Ninja Gun, Nothington, Good Luck, Shook Ones, Paul Baribeau , The Arrivals, Banner Pilot, RVIVR, Static Radio, Rehasher, Armalite, Screaming Females, Coliseum, The Swellers, Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves, We Are The Union, Grabass Charlestons, Iron Chic, Mikey Erg, Ampere, Worn in Red, The Measure (sa) [FINAL SHOW], Burning Love (Canada), Tiltwheel, Bridge and Tunnel, Dan Padilla, Blacklist Royals, The Snips (Canada), The Brokedowns, The Bomb, The Catalyst, Algernon Cadwallader, Red City Radio, New Bruises, Shores, Future Virgnis, The Riot Before, Make Do and Mend, We Were Skeletons, Pianos Become Teeth, The Flatliners (Canada), Young Turks, Campaign, OK Pilot (UK), Look Mexico, Dirty Tactics, The Dopamines, The Arteries (UK), Bent Left, SSSSNAKES(UK), How Dare You, Comadre, Grown Ups, Such Gold, Tigers Jaw, Touché Amoré, The Great Explainer, PJ Bond, Carpenter (Canada), Annabel, One Win Choice, Amateur Party, Cynics (UK), Sexy Crimes, Greenland is Melting, Spanish Gamble, Captain We’re Sinking, Senders, O Pioneers! Pure Graft (UK), Caves (UK), Mixtapes, Vultures United, Living With Lions (Canada), Mose Giganticus Mockingbird Wish Me Luck, Whiskey & Co., Protagonist, Dukes of Hillsborough, Max Levine Ensemble, Big Eyes, No Friends, Failure’s Union, 1994!, Landmines, Heartsounds, After the Fall, Cletus, Coffee Project, Savage Brewtality, King Friday, Fellow Project, Gateway District, Worthwhile Way (Japan), Calvinball (UK), Leagues Apart (UK), Glocca Morra (Canada), Slow Death, The Anchor, Punch, Goddamn Doo Wop Band, , Banquets, Old Man Markley, Red Collar, Weak Teeth, Deep Sleep, No More, Reverse the Curse, Assassinate the Scientist, Army of Ponch, Naïve, Capsule, Jeff Rowe, Koji, Go Rydell, Pine Hill Haints, A Great Big Pile of Leaves, Former Thieves, Elway, The Wild, Pygmy Lush, Too Many Daves, Joey Briggs. City of Ships, INxSANE (Slovenia), Spraynard, Vacation Bible School, \…and many more alumni to come!!!
THE FEST 10 will host over 250+ bands over three days at 11 venues all within walking distance in downtown Gainesville, Fl.

Weekend passes are currently available for sale!
EARLY TURD SPECIAL RATE:
3 DAY PASS - $75 (from now til July1st)
*July 1st 3 DAY PASS = $100
Go to: http://www.thefestfl.com to purchase weekend passes/ book hotels/ buy FEST 10 merch.