Lush pop grooves in bite sized fragments, like a soundtrack but without the film.

26 MP3 Songs
POP: Pop/Rock, POP: British Pop

Details:
Who is âVivian Circleâ?

The story of how Vivian Circle came to be cannot be told without first telling the story of how it all began, in the shadows of the Las Vegas sun, and grew from the ashes of another band called The Gowns Project.

The collaboration between George "Difficult" Tennell, The enigmatic Ms. Lisa, and C.Thomas-Joseph, in the early nineteen-nineties, produced a unique sounding alternative to the dry and vapid pop music of the day. And, carved out a niche somewhere between the industrial sounds of Einsturzende-Neubauten and the fragmentary noises and samples of NURSE WITH WOUND, with an intensity not unlike SWANS, but the simplistic beauty of JOY DIVISION.

They mixed in a little H.P. Lovecraft and the influence of the cut-ups projects of William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin the three managed to create a new type of pop-chaos.

Playing slow dirge-like rhythms, George would sample and loop from his vast catalog of seemingly infinite resources. Creating a backing track and using the now classic 808 drum machine while Ms. Lisa would add vocals and bass. C.Thomas would tie the musical ends together playing minimal but melodic guitar.

The band recorded only three songs, one of which became the sublime âGowns Themeâ which became the âsoundâ of Gowns.

When George suddenly passed away in his sleep after an evening of cultivating trees in his back yard, the newly formed band came to an abrupt and untimely end.

Pressing onward in the wake of their friendâs death, C.Thomas finished the album entitled "Floor Show" with the help of Ms. Lisa. And in the weeks following George's death, KUNV's Doug Jablin devoted his entire show as a tribute to the man who helped create the sound of the now legendary "Difficult Listening" radio program, which Doug now resided over.

As a fitting tribute, the surviving members of the band wrote one last song as Gowns entitled, "Threnody's Call". A lament-like seance that featured the layering bits of haunting busy signals mixed with the plaintive voice of Ms.Lisa repeating; "I'm trying to reach George Difficult. Iâm trying to reach George Difficult", as strings and church organs clashed and merged grinding to a pinnacle end.

The song became one of the most asked about during and after the show, prompting long time listener and avid fan of Georgeâs previous work, Michael Prescott, to request a copy.

In the following years Ms. Lisa and C.Thomas recorded under the name âWithout Brown Vinylâ a tongue in cheek experience that included audience participation in their live shows. Soon though the couple parted ways, as they each continued to write and record music on there own.

C.Thomas began to write and record under the name, Vivian Circle, using an ever-alternating âcircleâ of musician friends to complete projects. Applying what he learned form the Gowns experience; the band creates what they call Lush-Pop-Fragments of Melodic beauty and decay.

Songs lasting under half a minute are not unusual and are complimented by epics that expand to a whole three minutes!
âThere are no boundaries and all envelopes will be pushed.â The sound is beautifully maintained by a dedication not to overproduce them and to let each song dictate their length and style. âThe songs tell us when theyâre done.â


2008 will see the release of âEXCEPTIONAL RUINâ by Vivian Circle, a new collection of 26 lush-pop-fragments that will be available through independent distributor CDBABY.com and through select Barnes & Noble stores on the West Coast.


Vivian Circle and its members also live on in the fictional comic-book style blog written and drawn by C.Thomas entitled: VAST EXITS: The Ballad of CarmineRed. It is currently under construction at PEDANTICEXTREMES.Blogspot.com, where the fictional role of the holographic âVivianâ was inspired by Ms. Lisa, and George has now taken up residence as the soul of a haunted â808â drum machine.

In June of 2008 two new songs recorded especially for the VERYUSARTISTS.com theme album (tentatively titled: MUSIC FROM THE FUTURE), will be featured on Town Hall Records and will be accompanied by an extensive collection of new songs that will go along with the comic-blog in the form of a soundtrack.

Ms. Lisa is currently preparing a swift return to world of post-pop-punk-rock in 2008. We wish her well on her solo career. For more information please go to Virb.com/MSLISA.

â¦So there you have it, a long way to go to explain whom Vivian Circle is, but without George Difficultâs influence, there would be no such band. We would like to thank all the members of the band, both past and present for their contributions, and very special thanks to Derek Sivers and our new family over at CDBaby and to John LaSala and all the kind folks at VERYUSARTISTS.com for their help and support.

Also, much love and respect to the DelusionalDiva.com for friendship and more.

And to my own R.A. , without whose love and compassion none of this would have been possible. Aku Cinta Pada Mu!


The music created under the Gowns name can be listened to at Virb.com/thegowns. Presently there plans underway for this music to be released to a wider audience but until then all inquiries can be posted to Virb.com/VIVIANCIRCLE.

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