Search
ARTISTS: Circle Bros / Karina ESP
TITLE: Fragment Series 2
FORMAT: 7" / DL
CATALOGUE NUMBER: trome009

Split release from Belgium/UK artists. Limited lathe-cut vinyl of blurred experimental drone songs. Housed in individually hand-painted and ink stamped covers with embossed paper sleeves and insert.
TRACKLISTING

Side A - Circle Bros

Frozen Lakes
Peaks

Side B - Karina ESP

Time Is Suspended

CREDITS

Circle Bros = Wim Lecluyse
Frozen Lakes was recorded in Hilversum, Netherlands in the winter of 2004
Peaks was recorded in Gent, Belgium in the winter of 2016
Karina ESP = Chris Gowers
Time Is Suspended was recorded in Glasgow, Scotland in the summer of 2014
 
Mastered by Fraser McGowan
Lathe cut by Peter King
Artwork by Chris Gowers

ARTWORK
REVIEWS

Not so long ago I heard music by Circle Bros for the first time (Vital Weekly 1203). This is the musical project of Wim Lecluyse, who also runs the Morc Records label. I very much enjoyed that work and that pleasure continues here with two short pieces on this lathe cut record. The first piece is 'Frozen Lakes' and it was already recorded in 2004 and is a typical ambient post-rock guitar piece of that time; looped guitars spinning circles and some far-away voice at the end of it all. The 2016 track 'Peaks' sounds like a pleasant accidental recording of objects falling and looping in a whirlpool of delay pedals and last one minute and twenty-one seconds; then the spell is broken, unfortunately.  On the other side, we find Chris Gowers' Karina ESP project. These days we know him from his musical project Lowered (Vital Weekly 1027 and 1117) and the label that also releases this lathe cut record. His work as Karina ESP I haven't heard not in a long time, and I assumed he was no longer active as such. 'Time Is Suspended', the piece in question here, was recorded in 2014, so still active then. The last time I heard Karina ESP was 'Detachment' (Vital Weekly 832),
released by Morc Records (it's a small world) and here Karina ESP sounds like before; moody ambient music with the strong use of guitars, a bit of percussion (cymbals mostly), feedback/singing bowl and a voice from the next room that sounds like an accidental field recording. It is "about the terminal illness diagnosis of a loved one" and indeed it is a very sad tune. While it is a mournful piece of music, it sounds great. You would wish that more than forty people would hear this as that is the number of copies made of this record. It comes with a handmade cover.
- Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly

Amper 40 uur ver in het nieuwe jaar weet Gentenaar Wim Lecluyse a.k.a. Circle Bros. de stilte na het obligate nieuwjaars-geknal in te vullen met sfeervolle ambient meets postrock. Het doorbreken van de stilte hoeft niet altijd gepaard te gaan met een potje ketelherrie, dat is bij deze nog maar eens bewezen.  Het melancholieke ‘Frozen Lakes’ klinkt alvast zo winters als de titel laat vermoeden. Peaks mag een kort, bevreemdend tussendoortje heten. Uitgegeven door de Britse independent Trome Records op een split 7″ single.
Op de b-zijde laat het ons volslagen onbekende Karina ESP, nom de plûme voor Chris Gowers, een fraaie soundscape horen (‘Time is suspended’). Erg filmisch en op hetzelfde behoedzame elan doorgaand als de collega uit 9000 Gent. 40 fysieke exemplaren te koop van deze release, elk voorzien van een unieke hoes. Te ontdekken – downloaden – kopen via Bandcamp.
- kinkystarcesoir.wordpress.com

TROME RECORDINGS 2021