“Circle” provides a unique Native sound worth your listen

“Circle” is a compilation album by Keith Secola. It compiles tracks from different smaller releases together into one, 13-song album. Despite the fact that it’s a compilation, I noticed the album was remarkably cohesive. There is still a mood and a musical direction clear throughout this record to the point where I actually probably wouldn’t have realized it was a compilation album if I didn’t happen to look it up. I learned about this album after being shown the song “NDN Kars” in one of my classes. It’s the first song on the album and makes for a really great introduction. Many of the recurring elements throughout the album are first introduced here.

Secola is Ojibwe, and the theme of the song has to do with the relationship Secola and other Native Americans have with their cars. (Or “Kars” as he puts it.) What I appreciate about the song is how it invites you into that world so freely. When you listen to that song, you’re sort of transported into the scene Secola describes. He sings about driving to a Pow Wow in a car that’s being held together by bumper stickers, and it makes me wish I was riding shotgun with the radio cranked up. Secola’s website says it’s the most popular song on Native American radio stations, and I can see why—I imagine it would relate to someone living the life Secola is writing about.

Another aspect of Ojibwe culture on display is the language. Most of the album is recorded in English, but there’s some lines in Ojibwe. The opening line to the song “Akina” is the phrase “Akina means all.” A quick look at the Ojibwe People’s Dictionary confirms that this is indeed the case. Another song is titled “Zoogipon,” which means “It Snows.” I’m writing this review in the middle of a blizzard, and, frankly, I find that one to be pretty relatable right now. I liked how over the course of this album I got to learn about a few new cultural traditions and how I learned two new words. I wonder if I keep going through Secola’s discography, how many other things I might pick up along the way.

One element on this album that sticks out to me is the use of distortion guitars in a subtle way. A lot of ‘90s rock is really focused on the big wall of sound and trying to make things sound as big as possible—which is where you get bands like Smashing Pumpkins layering 32 guitar tracks. Most of the distortion guitars are used for leads rather than playing big power chords, which contributes to a unique mood. Not all of the distortion is used so subtly, though—the aptly-named “Noize” rocks pretty hard. There’s a lot of brilliant fingerpicking going on, too. I’m kinda jealous, really—I can’t fingerpick worth a damn. I stick to power chords.

Another thing I like about the guitars has to do with the background noise. When you play guitar you can hear the sound of your fingers sliding across the strings or the more percussive sound of the pick as it strums each chord. That’s something I find more and more uncommon in recordings as you move from the early days of rock and roll to more modern sounds. There are ways you can cut that extra noise out in the mix, but Secola keeps it in on this album. I like it because it creates a more intimate sound. A lot of artists try to recreate the feeling of you being in the room through tricks like multitracking, but I think Secola does a better job of that by doing more with less. The instrumentation also helps with that. I noticed some of the percussion didn’t sound like a typical rock drum kit, and, according to Secola’s website, a Pow Wow Drum is featured on some recordings. There’s also Native American flute, which makes an appearance on tracks like “So Many Dreams.” Those aren’t instruments a lot of rock musicians use, and it makes this album special to me.

The combination of the intimate recording process with this somewhat reminded me of Alice in Chain’s two famous EPs, “Sap” and “Jar of Flies.” AIC’s typical material is fairly heavy rock, but those two EPs are somewhat more laid-back. “Circle” was recorded before either of those EPs, though. One of the reasons I draw that comparison is the mix of acoustic guitars with clean ones and the occasional dirty distorted one. Another is the vocal harmonies. There’s a lot of sparse moments where Secola’s vocals are isolated, but there’s some great harmonies, too, that are a really nice touch. There’s certainly an alternative rock element to Secola’s music, at least to my ear, but there’s not the angst you’d typically find in that genre. Secola’s music also feels far more optimistic than that of his contemporaries.

There’s a sort of hopefulness even in the melancholier tunes. “Circle” is mostly a pretty laid-back album, but listening to it makes me happy. I enjoyed this album, and I was pleased to learn Secola’s got a lot of other material. In addition to that, he apparantly plays around Minnesota pretty often. Maybe someday soon I’ll get to hear him play “NDN Kars” live. I might not be able to ride shotgun with Secola to get the real NDN Kar experience, but I think a live show would be a pretty close second. In the mean time I’ll keep “Circle” in regular rotation.