Circle - Katapult - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Originally released in 2002, SUNRISE is perhaps the ultimate psychedelic, kraut-metal record. Mind-melting riffs and trance-inducing rhythms nicely complimented by Mike Ratto's exotic, Rob Halford-like vocals (sung in his native Finnish). Circles songs are built around cold, hard repetition and while SUNRISE is as diverse as the group's influences, the recurring theme remains their trademark circular sound.

'Singer-songwriter' is a frustratingly confining term; to truly understand exactly just how confining, look no further than the recorded works of Simon Joyner, an artist whose work consistently transcends the narrow parameters of genre classifications and record shop bin cards. Though his music has always honored, reckoned with-wrestled with-the tradition set forth by his songwriting forebears (Cohen, Van Zandt, Ochs, Dylan, Reed to name a few), Joyner can always be counted on to defy expectations; as a lyricist, melodicist, and arranger, Joyner likes to keep us on our toes. For his new album Pocket Moon, Joyner opted to engage in a risky artistic challenge. Instead of leaning on his fertile pool of Omaha musicians (the amorphous Ghosts band), he asked friend and frequent collaborator Michael Krassner to assemble unknown players on his behalf specifically for this recording. He then traveled from his home base to Krassner's '7-Track Shack' studio in Phoenix to record the album, abandoning the literal and figurative comfort zone of old habits and home field advantage. Simultaneously sparser and more immediate than 2017's obliquely topical Step Into The Earthquake, Pocket Moon is instantly one of Joyner's finest albums since his redoubtable 2012 double album masterpiece, Ghosts, or to some ears the excellent, sonic 180 he managed with his follow-up, Grass, Branch & Bone. Krassner's wrecking crew is sturdy, versatile, and complementary. Utilizing a wide range of instruments and textures, the band contributes additional nuance to each of the ragged, sublime songs here. The result is another song cycle stylistically unified, dynamic and rich.Inch - James Jackson Toth

After releasing Mazes, one of Sacred Bones' best selling albums of 2011, and the accompanying limited edition LP of remixes, Mazes Remixed, Moon Duo are set to Circles with Sacred Bones this fall. The band will also set off on a worldwide tour in support of the album, after living and playing in Europe for most of this year.