The Future Sound of London - A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble - The Wizards of Oz

Another in the continuing mix series, focusing on the psych hotspot of the moment, Australia.

http://www.fsoldigital.com/?product=a-monstrous-psychedelic-bubble-the-wizards-of-oz-double-cd

samples:

http://www.mojo4music.com/18383/amorphous-androgynous-remix-aussie-psych-nuggets/

Holy shit that cover..

mega cool

Really looking forward to owning this. The cover... less so.

Will be available on CD and Vinyl.

I really want to delve into the world of FSOL again, but everytime I start I'm just scared away by the amount of albums. All these archive albums, ISDN transmissions, Environments series, this AA-alias and other aliases, etc. I don't know where to pick up anymore. I love FSOL but haven't looked past the main albums (ISDN, Lifeforms, Dead Cities, Tales Of Ephidrina, Accelerator and the occassional random YouTube track I stumble upon) so I'm hopelessly behind. Any guidance would be appreciated :)

And after typing that I realized this is not a new album but a mix, part of a mix-series. There you go. Sounds pretty cool though!

This is the place to go, we have threads on pretty much any aspect of FSOL, Ross and Pandemonium will answer any questions and love to give opinions. Pande has taken it upon himself to do a track by track review of their entire discography, complete with sample sources.

http://www.ilovecubus.co.uk/fsolboard/viewforum.php?f=2

  On 1/8/2015 at 1:59 PM, Herr Jan said:

I really want to delve into the world of FSOL again, but everytime I start I'm just scared away by the amount of albums. All these archive albums, ISDN transmissions, Environments series, this AA-alias and other aliases, etc. I don't know where to pick up anymore. I love FSOL but haven't looked past the main albums (ISDN, Lifeforms, Dead Cities, Tales Of Ephidrina, Accelerator and the occassional random YouTube track I stumble upon) so I'm hopelessly behind. Any guidance would be appreciated :)

 

And after typing that I realized this is not a new album but a mix, part of a mix-series. There you go. Sounds pretty cool though!

I would say that you should check out the My Kingdom and We Have Explosive EPs they are both excellent and expand on the Dead Cities albums beautifully.

I second that, check MY KINGDOM, the ep from 1996. Still gives me goosebumps but I'm sure it's because of the memories it brings back.

http://www.discogs.com/Future-Sound-Of-London-My-Kingdom/master/59592

Buying the My Kingdom EP back in 1996 was the biggest turning point in my life, musically. The Cascade, Lifeforms, My Kingdom and WHE EPs are must-haves. All 30 - 40 minutes long and a huge amount of new material. The 'single' versions of Cascade and My Kingdom are drastically different to their album counterparts, too. The full ten-minute version of My Kingdom with the gorgeous synth pad build up and then the breakdown to near-silence before the vocal sample comes in... heart-stoppingly epic.

In terms of new stuff, the Environments albums are a good starting point. The first is the lost album from late '94 that works as a halfway point between Lifeforms and ISDN; since then they've been a mixture of archive and new recordings with the balance tilting as they've gone on (E2 only has two new pieces on; by E5 it's 99.9% new material). The third relies a little too heavily on Dead Cities sounds to feel like a 'new' album, but otherwise they're excellent releases that regularly reach the highs of their '90s material. The later From the Archives releases (particularly 5, 6 and 7) also come recommended. Also their Electric Brain Storms mix series is utterly fantastic - I often wish it was these being released as opposed to the Monstrous Psychedelic Bubbles! All sorts of '70s electronics, IDM, glitch, noise, ambient, modern classical, folk and hauntology stuff mixed in FSOL-style. Most are only available through 'unofficial' sources these days, however.

Once you've absorbed all that then there's another level of archives, alias releases, mixes etc. to get into - the further in you get, the more nerdy fanboyish it all becomes (is 'Glass Girl' really a tape Brian's neighbour gave him back in Glasgow in the '80s, or simply a solo project with a misleading cover story? etc.)

But yeah, the Environments albums are pretty wide ranging and come highly recommended if nothing else.

  On 1/8/2015 at 3:16 PM, Rubin Farr said:

Ross [...] love to give opinions.

everyone love everyone

Thanks a lot everyone for the recommendations, just what I needed! I do have the Cascade versions too (rocking that now actually, still blowing my mind), so the other versions seem like a good idea. FSOL was one of my first electronic ventures but somewhere in time I just stopped researching, which is just a shame. I'll get on it :)!

That forum is great too of course, I try to catch up on it occassionally until I get all overwhelmed again

My Kingdom ep suite is still one of the GOAT. Amazing thematic composition and progression.

  On 1/9/2015 at 6:13 PM, datastream said:

My Kingdom ep suite is still one of the GOAT. Amazing thematic composition and progression.

Probably showing my age here but I bought it when it came out. Really blew me away then and still does now after all this time.

The video for My Kingdom was on Top of the Pops, which is where I first heard it - stumbled across the tape in the ex-chart section of my local indie a few weeks later.

  On 1/11/2015 at 12:35 PM, purlieu said:

The video for My Kingdom was on Top of the Pops, which is where I first heard it - stumbled across the tape in the ex-chart section of my local indie a few weeks later.

I never did see the video until a few years after. I remember seeing FSOL on that documentary Rave New World and being blown away by what I saw and heard. I must have worn the tape I recorded that on by watching it so much. The My Kingdom single was the first thing I saw of theirs that I could buy. Picked it up from my local shop on vinyl. First time listening experience I won't forget.

Nice read and samples:

http://www.mojo4music.com/18383/amorphous-androgynous-remix-aussie-psych-nuggets/

Wow, almost missed it, thx!

Like Herr Jan, it's hard for me to dive in Enviroments, Archives etc. Prefer old their stuff, but I'll get there

Accelerator is on one level with Prodigy "Experience" and SAW1 (for me), fundament of 90s electronic

...so good many memories, and Accelerator lp was actually stolen from me on a drunk party...'tches

Unmixed double vinyl confirmed as Record Store Day exclusive - April 18

New interview:

http://www.australianmusician.com.au/amorphous-androgynous-wild-antipodean-trip/