Some 42 years after its initial release, Circle X's Prehistory returns to the vinyl format. New listeners to this music will discover, in addition to the roiling compulsion in its odd, dance-damaged clockwork and instinctive joining of feral and aestheticized values, a refined understanding of the width and breadth of 'post-punk' music, both in and out of its time. In and out of time, Circle X operated between 1978 and 1995, formed in Louisville, KY, but existing largely as a New York-based collective, a band who insisted on working outside the standard definitions. Arriving in New York in late '78, they found a rehearsal space and gigged around at CBGB's and elsewhere, alongside DNA and other No Wave acts of the era, recording their first single before decamping to France at the request of their new manager, Bernard Zekri. They split their time between Dijon and Paris and returned to New York in the spring of 1980, having recorded their 'untitled' EP. At this time, the art aspects of Circle X in performance were brought to the fore. Similarly, the recording of Prehistory developed as much on a conceptual basis as the shows. Circle X's music has continued to grow through each further iteration of 'the present times.' Their third and final album, an expression utterly distinct from all earlier evocations, was released on Matador in their early '90s heyday. The 'untitled' EP was reintroduced to the contemporary ear twice, via Moikai's 1996 CD version and Insolito's 2009 vinyl repress. In both instances, it was noted, as had been in '79, how little their music sounded like anything else from then or whenever the current now was. That still holds true in the present. Similarly, Prehistory was re-injected into the marketplace via Blue Chopsticks' 2008 CD edition.
