Arc (w/ Aidan Baker) - The Circle Is Not Round CD

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• ASP02 - A Silent Place 2005
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ARC formed spontaneously in 2000 at a performance at The Ambient Ping, Toronto's long-running live ambient/experimental music series. ARC is a trio of Aidan Baker (guitars, flutes, tapeloops), Richard Baker (drumkit, percussion), & Christopher Kukiel (percussion). Their music is a mixture of Popul Vuh acoustic compositions, Pink Floyd's Ummagumma era, Voice of Eye or Subarachnoid Space..., with dense and organic drones and hypnotic ethnic rhythms. ARC's sound is centred on the melodic loops, textures, & samples provided by heavily-effected guitar & other melodic instruments. This is overlaid with tribal-esque rhythms provided by various percussive instruments; drum kit, djembe, tabla, wood blocks, etc. With this combination, they create a roiling tapestry of both rhythmic & ambient sound, a sound simulataneously prim(ev)al & avant-garde. ARC, regular performers in Toronto and Montreal, have released a number of cdr releases on such labels as Piehead Records, Worthy Records, and their own label Arcolepsy Records. Their release "The Circle is Not Round" with label A SILENT PLACE is their debut CD release. The disc is packaged in a special cardboard digisleeve with varnished images. Limited edition of 800 copies.

LAUDATORY QUOTES:
"One would be hard pressed to come across a band that is more adept at soundtracking the theatre of the mind."
I. Khider - Exclaim

"Their music is a mixture of Popul Vuh acoustic compositions and dense, organic drones with enthno rhythms...It is very pleasant music, one to turn on and space out too."
Frans de Waard - Vital Weekly

"[R]eally well done, slithery tribal stuff a 'la 'Culling.'- era 23 Skidoo. Lots of drumming and percussive electronics with a soothing, nocturnal feel...Parts of this reminded me of the earlier works of Current 93 and then it would shift to almost Eno-esque and then again to parts that sounded like Can while still being wholly original..."
Maurice Underwood – Brainwashed