Tag Archives: circle

#1027: R.E.M. – Perfect Circle

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Ah, R.E.M.’s Murmur. I’ve commented on this album before. How I came about it initially, and how I came to ultimately love it. For those not in the know, it’s not a long story. Heard it once in 2013. Went on to completely forget about it. Heard it again in 2017 and thought it was one of the greatest albums I’d heard up to that point. It’s a tie between it and Automatic for the People as my favourite record of theirs. The preference can change day-by-day. What I observed right away with Murmur was that the choruses on every song were downright incredible, even on the sole slower number ‘Perfect Circle’.

The record prides itself on a whole singer-not-making-sense-but-it-still-sounds-great theme, which I think endears a lot of people to it. The lyrics are more for the listener’s interpretation rather than setting a straight-up narrative or trying to signify a message. Placed right in the middle of it all, or as the closer to the first half if you’re a vinyl person, ‘Perfect Circle’ is something of the emotional centerpiece – even though it might be difficult to find something to latch onto with all the vague lyricism. For me, there’s a hint of something clear in the second verse, in which the song’s title is said for the one and only time in the song, where there’s a scene of friends getting together, drinking and enjoying each other’s company. But that’s all I can say at this time. Otherwise, I’m mostly getting lost in the comforting instrumental backdrop of pianos and lightly strummed guitars.

Whether this was well-known before 1998, I’m not sure, but it was that year when R.E.M. were on tour that they began to bring this track back to their live sets, announcing before they’d proceed to play it that the song was actually written by drummer Bill Berry. He had amicably left the band the year prior, and so every performance of the song was in dedication to him. By “written”, I think it would mean musically. Am sure Stipe was always behind the lyrics. But that the drummer was behind the music should be no surprise. It’s just another example of an R.E.M. song where Berry’s musicianship resulted in one of the band’s (in my opinion) best songs.

My iPod #188: Test Icicles – Circle. Square. Triangle

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One of the best dance-punk band to come from the UK, and before I appreciated their material they had already split up.

I was ten years old when “Circle. Square. Triangle” first appeared on MTV2, and was repeated quite frequently too. I could not stand it. The lead singer’s weird and annoying American accent that was put on when he sang, screaming all the time…. I thought it was terrible.

Then my sister borrowed their album “For Screening Purposes Only” from her friend later in the year. Didn’t listen to it. Why would I have done? I didn’t like them. Why would I have like any of their other songs?

Shows you how much of a shit I was at that age. This song is great, I was dumb. You know when I realised how good Test Icicles were? When I was FIFTEEN. I listened to that album in full, and it took me five years. The band hadn’t been together for four years at the time. Damn.

I miss Test Icicles, even though I was a hater initially. This track is catchy, addictive and groovy as anything. My ten year old self was very foolish.