Circus 2000 - I Am The Witch: The Anthology

Facts Two CDs. First-ever complete anthology of hugely collectable early 70s Italian psych/folk/prog band. Heavily influenced by early Jefferson Airplane with lead female vocals and English language lyrics. Fronted by Grace Slick-influenced singer Silvana Aliotta, Circus 2000 formed in Turin, north Italy in late 1969 in an attempt to emulate their British and American psychedelic heroes. They made their vinyl debut a year later with a self-titled album featuring such superb, quasi-mystical songs as 'Magic Bean', 'The Lord, He Has No Hands' and the dramatic 'I Am The Witch'. But the band struggled to find an audience, their guitar-led, song-based nature and English language vocals leaving them out of step with the complex, keyboard-based Italian progressive scene flourishing all around them. After developing a more improvisational, underground-friendly sound on the thriving Italian festival circuit, they returned with a second album, 'An Escape From A Box'. Now regarded by European psychedelic collectors as their masterpiece, this five-track album welded their original Jefferson Airplane leanings with expansive Pink Floyd-esque arrangements that peaked on Side Two with the epic 'Need' and the spooked, climactic closer 'When The Sun Refuses To Shine'. Unable to make a commercial impact, the band broke up shortly afterwards, and it would be a couple of decades before Circus 2000's music began to receive the attention that it deserved. The first-ever complete anthology of their career, 'I Am The Witch' naturally includes both of their highly sought-after albums as well as stand-alone singles, alternative versions and tracks that were intended for an aborted third album.