Circle (Boom Bip and Doseone album)

Circle
Studio album by
Boom Bip & Doseone
ReleasedAugust 1, 2000 (2000-08-01)
RecordedAugust 1 – October 1, 1999
Genre
Length70:35
LabelMush Records
Producer

Circle is a collaborative studio album by Boom Bip & Doseone. It was originally released via Mush Records on August 1, 2000.[1] In Europe, it was re-released via The Leaf Label on May 27, 2002.[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Exclaim!favorable[4]
The Milk Factory[5]

Kingsley Marshall of AllMusic gave the album 4.5 stars out of 5, saying, "Boom's otherworldly production and sense of the epic match the rapid-fire delivery of Dose blow for blow -- though occasionally the lyrics come so quickly that lines have to be spun simultaneously through different speakers."[3] Thomas Quinlan of Exclaim! called it "one of the greatest contemporary hip-hop albums".[4]

The New York Times included it on the year-end "Worthwhile Albums Most People Missed" list.[6]

In 2010, Ali Maloney of The Skinny described the album as "a critical textbook for anyone with delusions of performance poetry."[7] In 2011, Blake Gillespie of Impose said, "Circle remains one of the most daring and challenging records from the early Aughts, predating Anticon's 'advanced hip hop' era."[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Boom Bip and Doseone

No.TitleLength
1."Open"0:10
2."The Birdcatcher"3:10
3."Square"0:51
4."Dead Man's Teal"2:57
5."Re: The Rarity of Meaningful Experience"1:08
6."Directions to California"1:37
7."The Lantern"3:19
8."'Art Saved My Life' - 71"1:37
9."Questions Over Coffee"3:16
10."Wishful Thinking"2:51
11."Ironish"3:39
12."21 to 35"0:23
13."Slight"3:17
14."'Open Quotes"0:54
15."Town Crier's Walk"4:25
16."Fence Hopping"1:35
17."Poetic License"1:30
18."Viewfinder"1:08
19."The Birdcatcher's Return"4:11
20."Sleep Talkin"2:43
21."Gin"5:03
22."Goddamn Telephone"2:48
23."I Get It"0:13
24."Me and People"3:54
25."Ho's"0:38
26."Square... No Corners"1:37
27."This Album Was Meant to Be Myself but Somewhere Along the Line It Ended Up Feeling More Like You... Yet..."0:36
28."The Birdcatcher's Oath"5:20
29."Close"5:27
Total length:70:35

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

  • Boom Bip – performance, production
  • Doseone – performance, production
  • Robert Curcio – additional production
  • Tony Franklin – drums (19)
  • Anthony (Tony) Luensman – alternative instrumentation (21)
  • Mark Fox – puppets
  • Hiro Matsuo – photography

References

  1. ^ "MH-201: Boom Bip & Doseone - Circle". Mush Records. Archived from the original on May 20, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  2. ^ "Circle". The Leaf Label. Archived from the original on September 12, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Marshall, Kingsley. "Circle - Boom Bip & Doseone". AllMusic. Archived from the original on March 12, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Quinlan, Thomas (May 1, 2000). "Boom Bip & Dose One - Circle". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  5. ^ "Boom Bip & Doseone - Circle". The Milk Factory. July 2002. Archived from the original on August 19, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  6. ^ Strauss, Neil; Pareles, Jon; Ratliff, Ben; Powers, Ann (December 28, 2000). "The Pop Life: Undeservedly Obscure; Pop Critics List the Worthwhile Albums Most People Missed". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  7. ^ Maloney, Ali (June 30, 2010). "A Rough Guide to Doseone". The Skinny. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  8. ^ Gillespie, Blake (2011). "Boom Bip rises from the instrumental hip hop graveyard". Impose. Archived from the original on September 12, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2018.