Circulatory System: Circulatory System LP (Elephant Six Recording Co.)
Release date: June 16, 2020
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Bio: The Elephant 6 Recording company is pleased to announce a comprehensive gatefold double-LP reissue of the Circulatory System’s 2001 self-titled debut album, marking the first time this beautiful and critically acclaimed album will be available on vinyl.
Helmed by Will Cullen Hart (Olivia Tremor Control) and featuring contributions from Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel), Circulatory System is a profound meditation on the threads that connect the inside world and the outside world, the past and the present, mythology and reality. The album’s fuzzy analog textures and masterful songwriting will come as no surprise to fans of The Olivia Tremor Control’s 1999 psychedelic pop opus Black Foliage. But something about Circulatory System still feels markedly different--more introspective, more intimate. Whereas Black Foliage felt like it was building an entire world out of tape collage, distorted guitars, and vocal harmonies, Circulatory System is an invitation to listen for the worlds that exist within each of us.
Such an invitation has only grown more meaningful and relevant in the nearly two decades since the album’s original release. On highlight and centerpiece “Inside Blasts” Hart reminds us of the power we have to examine and transcend the myths of our own making--to stay grounded in the truth of our connectedness to ourselves, each other, and the world around us. Though it trades in hushed vocals and minor chords, Circulatory System is a uniquely and undeniably hopeful record. It helped me find my way through the fall of 2001--another time marked by tragedy and change at a global scale--and it is helping me find my way through the spring of 2020.
Give it a listen, see where it takes you.
Matt LeMay, Portland OR, June 2020
Helmed by Will Cullen Hart (Olivia Tremor Control) and featuring contributions from Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel), Circulatory System is a profound meditation on the threads that connect the inside world and the outside world, the past and the present, mythology and reality. The album’s fuzzy analog textures and masterful songwriting will come as no surprise to fans of The Olivia Tremor Control’s 1999 psychedelic pop opus Black Foliage. But something about Circulatory System still feels markedly different--more introspective, more intimate. Whereas Black Foliage felt like it was building an entire world out of tape collage, distorted guitars, and vocal harmonies, Circulatory System is an invitation to listen for the worlds that exist within each of us.
Such an invitation has only grown more meaningful and relevant in the nearly two decades since the album’s original release. On highlight and centerpiece “Inside Blasts” Hart reminds us of the power we have to examine and transcend the myths of our own making--to stay grounded in the truth of our connectedness to ourselves, each other, and the world around us. Though it trades in hushed vocals and minor chords, Circulatory System is a uniquely and undeniably hopeful record. It helped me find my way through the fall of 2001--another time marked by tragedy and change at a global scale--and it is helping me find my way through the spring of 2020.
Give it a listen, see where it takes you.
Matt LeMay, Portland OR, June 2020