THE FUTURE
SOUND OF LONDON - TEACHINGS FROM THE ELECTRONIC BRAIN: THE BEST
OF THE FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON (2006)
CD (094637052228) 4th
September 2006
01. Papua New Guinea (12" Verison)
02. Max
03. Everyone In The World Is Doing Something Without Me
04. My Kingdom
05. Smokin' Japanese Babe
06. Antique Toy
07. Lifeforms (Radio Edit)
08. Yage
09. Expander (12" Version)
10. Glass
11. The Far-Out Son Of Lung And The Ramblings Of A Madman
12. The Lovers
13. Mountain Goat (Amorphous Androgynous)
14. Cascade (Shortform)
15. We Have Explosive (7" Edit)
Notes:
The first official compilation release from FSOL, Teachings From
The Electronic Brain, released in 2006. The tracklist is
surprising; whilst it covers all 'FSOL' singles (including an
appearance from Translations in 'The Lovers'), there is
technically no material from the band's most successful album,
Lifeforms (both single versions of Cascade and Lifeforms differ
drastically from their LP counterparts), Mountain Goat makes an
appearance from Tales Of Ephidrina, an alias release, and there
are several additional tracks from Dead Cities, an album the band
have all but disowned. The album features no new material,
unfortunately, so the release looks set to be for die hard
collectors and newer fans looking for an introduction to the
band. We're waiting to hear this before judging, but given the
manner in which FSOL albums work, it will be a very unusual
listen to say the least.
There is no promo single planned for the release (due to there
being no exclusive material), but a series of download-only EPs,
with tracklist voted for by the fans, will be available alongside
the release. The voting page, as well as a promotional video for
the record, is online here.
Press release:
The Future Sound of London were formed by Brian Dougans and Gary
Cobain in the early 90’s and are seen to be one of the most
respected and influential electronic acts of the past 15 years.
Their work enabling them to incorporate elements of classical,
hip hop, electronica, industrial, punk and dub to create
expansive tracks laden with samples exquisitely produced and
pretty unique.
They met in Manchester in the mid 80’s where they started
looking into electronic music, working in clubs and alongside
many well known and respected artists and DJ’s from that
time. Brian’s work incorporated a project for the Stakker
Graphics company where he created the top 20 hit 'Stakker
Humanoid', accompanied by a pretty visually stimulating video,
while Gary latterly became involved with the accompanying video.
Over the next 3 years their partnership grew and they released a
number of early techno and dance records under a variety of
aliases.
It wasn’t until 1992 when 'Papua New Guinea' was released
(through Jumpin’ and Pumpin’), peaking at number 22 in
the UK chart, that the first release from The Future Sound of
London was available. It was the ambient dub of 'Papua New
Guinea' that caught the ears of Virgin Records who snapped them
up hoping for more of the same (or similar). First they had to
complete an album for Jumpin’ & Pumpin’, so
'Accelerator' was finished and included 'Papua New Guinea'
alongside 'Expander', both of which are included here. They began
their deal with Virgin with the experimental 'Tales Of
Ephidrina', released under their Amorphous Androgynous moniker in
1993, from which we have included the sublime 'Mountain Goat'. It
was around this time that ISDN broadcast began to take off as a
medium and they keenly took it up, broadcasting to Kiss Fm
listeners on an almost regular basis with their mix of ambient
and techno.
'Cascade' was released in 1993, showcasing where 'Tales of
Ephidrin'a had taken them. It peaked at 27 in the UK singles
chart in November that year. The double disc 'Lifeforms' followed
in 1994 and was hailed as one of the greatest ambient/electronica
albums of the 90’s by the media (and public), whose positive
coverage helped propel the album to number 6 in the UK charts,
where it remained for a further 17 weeks. Songs such as
'Lifeforms', (which reached 14 in the UK singles chart),
featuring Liz Fraser (of Dead Can Dance / Cocteau Twins) on
haunting vocal duty, create vast sonic soundscapes of real and
unreal sounds laid under or over a played-down beat.
By 1995, the duo had undertaken numerous ISDN broadcasts
including a world tour and a headline slot at the Brighton
Festival - all from the comfort of their own studio! Each
broadcast would include more new material and in 1995, Virgin
released a limited edition black album of these recordings
entitled 'ISDN'. This was soon followed by the full length LP
under the same name, but in white packaging. Remaining defiantly
original but moving away from the completely ambient landscapes
that filled 'Lifeforms', to a more industrial sound, fusing hip
hop beats with jazz funk, such as 'Far-Out Son Of Lung' and 'The
Ramblings Of A Madman', as well as organic beats.
'Dead Cities' saw FSOL embark on a darker journey through
electronica with songs such as 'Everyone In The World Is Doing
Something Without Me' offering a creepy, yet sleepy, urban
landscape of vocal samples which almost serves as an introduction
to the darkness of 'My Kingdom' (# 13 UK chart) with its dark,
trippy beats and haunting flute. 'We Have Explosive' with
it’s explosion of drums and guitars aggressively stabbing
over electronic bleeps and robotic voices gave FSOL their biggest
single, peaking at 12 in the UK chart. Further tracks included
here, from 'Dead Cities', include the electro beats of 'Antique
Toy', and the piano of 'Max' – a dedication to long time
contributor Max Richter.
FSOL are an important part of the journey from post rave
electronica, with music that has successfully experimented and
crossed the boundaries of trip hop, ambient, hip hop, jungle and
even punk, or certainly a punk-rock attitude.