Premier Rock Forum

Vinyl reissue of their clanking, percussion- and tape loop-filled debut LP, Prehistory (1983), coming in February, on Drag City.

https://www.dragcity.com/products/prehi ... 8hhyZsItxk

Reclusive, passionate, and loose no wave/proto-noise rock band w/screeching vocals and much guitar grime, formed in Louisville in 1978. Moved to NYC, then to Dijon, France, then back to NYC. The first untitled 12-inch EP from 1979 remains one of the best, most scorching art-punk records ever created. Grating guitar sound of the gods. The final full-length album, 1994's Celestial (improbably released on Matador), is pretty amazing as well, especially considering that it came out 11 years after the first one. (Someone should really consider a deluxe 2xLP reissue of that, including the CD-only bonus tracks from the OG release.)

Opinions? You can probably guess where I stand on 'em.

BEYOND NOT CRAP

Great to see Prehistory reissued. The Index edition was the first vinyl record I've ever gotten because I loved their untitled EP and Celestial and read in a review that they had an earlier album (Prehistory, of course), which was long out of print. I had to listen to it. I was not only totally fascinated to listen to Prehistory, I remained being fascinated when I finally listened to it.

I got nearly every record they have, except for the WFMU tape. The 7" records that make The Ivory Tower make my favorite album ever.

I also read somewhere that their Anti-Utopia book was in a New York library somewhere. Has anybody ever been able to see it? I'd would love to make that a trip to that library sometime in the future.

One of the all-time great bands. NOT CRAP.

Cardholder wrote:I got nearly every record they have, except for the WFMU tape. The 7" records that make The Ivory Tower make my favorite album ever.

I also read somewhere that their Anti-Utopia book was in a New York library somewhere. Has anybody ever been able to see it? I'd would love to make that a trip to that library sometime in the future.

You and me both. No FMU tape, but I've even got an original pressing (and the reissue) of the first 7-inch, released in Germany in '79.

The Ivory Tower is incredible (that silkscreened mirror...), and the series of singles it collects was very exciting as they were initially being released individually. Almost as good as the first EP. It was like Circle X was this mythical entity that had come back from almost 10 years of total obscurity. But coming back hard. Those records would make a lovely LP reissue. When it was new, the box set version was briefly sold at a reasonable price in several NYC record stores.

There are a few different Anti-Utopia books. My memory is hazy, but one was for sale at Printed Matter, the NYC art-book store, during the '90s. It had a metal cover w/hinges and seemed quite expensive, even then. You can see it here:

https://www.theincliningexperiment.com/anti-utopia

There were at least three other Anti-Utopia books. I've seen most or even all of them on a shelf, but it was long ago and my memory is hazy,

One of them did come w/a great flexidisc (featuring unreleased Circle X; Christian Marclay; Bodeco; recording engineer and occasional Circle X drummer Mike Pullen performing solo; others). I've got the flexi, but not the book.

I suspect they're all in the NYPL research catalog, but not available for checkout.

Saw them at a Cropped Out fest in Louisville like 10 years ago, I didn't recognize a single song but it was a wild set, watching these stoic, aging, normal looking people make a buncha beautiful noise.

I've heard the EP and the two LPs, had no idea there were other releases. It's all great, but I really enjoy how Celestial breaks them away from the primordial rock thing of the earlier stuff. It reshapes them, in my opinion, away from a naive (if fascinating) caveman thing and into the strange creature that all the masses adore.

How in the hell do you end up in Dijon, France as a rock band, much less that rock band?

NOT CRAP

OrthodoxEaster wrote: Thu Jan 22, 2026 11:20 am You and me both. No FMU tape, but I've even got an original pressing (and the reissue) of the first 7-inch, released in Germany in '79.

The Ivory Tower is incredible (that silkscreened mirror...), and the series of singles it collects was very exciting as they were initially being released individually. Almost as good as the first EP. It was like Circle X was this mythical entity that had come back from almost 10 years of total obscurity. But coming back hard. Those records would make a lovely LP reissue. When it was new, the box set version was briefly sold at a reasonable price in several NYC record stores.

There are a few different Anti-Utopia books. My memory is hazy, but one was for sale at Printed Matter, the NYC art-book store, during the '90s. It had a metal cover w/hinges and seemed quite expensive, even then. You can see it here:

https://www.theincliningexperiment.com/anti-utopia

There were at least three other Anti-Utopia books. I've seen most or even all of them on a shelf, but it was long ago and my memory is hazy,

One of them did come w/a great flexidisc (featuring unreleased Circle X; Christian Marclay; Bodeco; recording engineer and occasional Circle X drummer Mike Pullen performing solo; others). I've got the flexi, but not the book.

I suspect they're all in the NYPL research catalog, but not available for checkout.

Man, I want to see the Anti-Utopia books in person even more now. They look incredible! I wonder if the library allows for in-person viewing (I totally understand why they wouldn’t be available for checkout). I got the Anti-Disc I compilation (also, another first for me, the first flexi disc I got) and it's a fun listen. I wish there were others, but I suspect that was the only one that accompanied an Anti-Utopia book.

gotdamn wrote: Thu Jan 22, 2026 12:33 pm How in the hell do you end up in Dijon, France as a rock band, much less that rock band?

From what I can remember from the WFMU interview they did with Rik Letendre in 2008, Circle X had a manager who had connections to the France who let them travel with him to France. It’s been a long ass time since I’ve listened to the interview so I can’t recall that many details (I’ll definitely relisten to it later! Link), but I think it’s even crazier that Circle X had a manger in the first place!

Cardholder wrote: Thu Jan 22, 2026 1:25 pm

OrthodoxEaster wrote: Thu Jan 22, 2026 11:20 am You and me both. No FMU tape, but I've even got an original pressing (and the reissue) of the first 7-inch, released in Germany in '79.

The Ivory Tower is incredible (that silkscreened mirror...), and the series of singles it collects was very exciting as they were initially being released individually. Almost as good as the first EP. It was like Circle X was this mythical entity that had come back from almost 10 years of total obscurity. But coming back hard. Those records would make a lovely LP reissue. When it was new, the box set version was briefly sold at a reasonable price in several NYC record stores.

There are a few different Anti-Utopia books. My memory is hazy, but one was for sale at Printed Matter, the NYC art-book store, during the '90s. It had a metal cover w/hinges and seemed quite expensive, even then. You can see it here:

https://www.theincliningexperiment.com/anti-utopia

There were at least three other Anti-Utopia books. I've seen most or even all of them on a shelf, but it was long ago and my memory is hazy,

One of them did come w/a great flexidisc (featuring unreleased Circle X; Christian Marclay; Bodeco; recording engineer and occasional Circle X drummer Mike Pullen performing solo; others). I've got the flexi, but not the book.

I suspect they're all in the NYPL research catalog, but not available for checkout.

Man, I want to see the Anti-Utopia books in person even more now. They look incredible! I wonder if the library allows for in-person viewing (I totally understand why they wouldn’t be available for checkout). I got the Anti-Disc I compilation (also, another first for me, the first flexi disc I got) and it's a fun listen. I wish there were others, but I suspect that was the only one that accompanied an Anti-Utopia book.

gotdamn wrote: Thu Jan 22, 2026 12:33 pm How in the hell do you end up in Dijon, France as a rock band, much less that rock band?

From what I can remember from the WFMU interview they did with Rik Letendre in 2008, Circle X had a manager who had connections to the France who let them travel with him to France. It’s been a long ass time since I’ve listened to the interview so I can’t recall that many details (I’ll definitely relisten to it later! Link), but I think it’s even crazier that Circle X had a manger in the first place!

I'd kill to see those books as an adult. I was like, 18 the last time I laid eyes on one.

That's a damn admirable starter flexi. I think it was the third or fourth one I ever owned. (The first being the Dustdevils' "Mother Shipton," from 1987.)

Circle X's first manager was Bernard Zekri, a sort of Malcolm McLaren figure who, I think, would go on to far more success bringing NYC hip-hop to France and working for Canal+. Bizarre. But before all that, he owned a bookstore in Dijon and flew Circle X over, trying to make them into some kinda reverse-Pistols, American-punk sensation abroad.

Most of those no wave bands had "managers," weirdly enough, although that term was pretty loose and noncorporate by today's standards. Perhaps b/c the musicians themselves had little-to-no business or promotional sense. The days before Black Flag and indie networking and such.

Dating myself, but very specifically, because bands like Circle X and Fushitsusha always remind me of the bygone days of… blogspot uploads.

As for the band, I think Circle X clearly had something a lot of other groups didn’t. Fucking great. Just a few notes of the 2000s LP took me back - very happy to add them back into rotation.