Various - The Sounds of Monsterism Island Vol.1 [compilation mix] (26.09.2005)
Forever Heavenly - FHVN 3LPCD / EMI - 00946 339109 2 8
The very same day when Alice in Ultraland came out, this psychedelic compilation mixed by Brian Dougans (credited as Brianimal) also made its way to the market. It was made to accompany Pete Fowler's monsterism.net website (http://www.monsterism.net - it's still active and awesome, check it out!).
Pete Fowler is a versatile artist with unique view to cartoon characters, and he also works on multiple projects - like, for example, The CD comes with a Heavenly Ranger figure. Two more visual artists were involved in the making of the CD - Mark James & Neil McFarland.
This CD is dedicated to Martin Denny (1911-2005). Denny was the pioneer who combined Jazz, Pop, Folk & World music. After the WWII he ended up on Hawaii, combining space-age easy listetning pacific music and ending up with his signature Exotica sound, which was some form of early psychedelic (late '50s) music among other things. All music on this compilation is from the 1956-1973 era (if we don't count Dead Meadow track). The mix also reminds of the Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble mix-series, but with even older tracks / styles and some of them with more poppier sound. It has Vol.1 in the name, meaning they were planning more to come, but this wish didn't materialize. Fowler will release two more compilations in 2009, containing some Dougans/Cobain tracks, but those compilations were not mixed by Dougans.
Many jewel songs and overlooked bands here - every psychedelic fan should check some albums by all of these:
Tracklisting:
01. The Millennium - The Island (3:10) - (Columbia, 1968)
02. Martin Denny - Sake Rock (2:06) - (Liberty, 1959)
03. The United States of America - The Garden of Earthly Delights (2:36) - (Columbia, 1968)
04. White Noise - Love Without Sound (3:04) - (Island Records, 1969)
05. The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - A Child's Guide to Good and Evil (2:22) - (Reprise Records, 1968)
06. John Baker - Milky Whey (1:37) - (BBC, 1967)
07. Martin Denny - Quiet Village (3:47) - (Liberty, 1959)
08. Sagittarius - The Keeper of The Games (1:54) - (Columbia, 1967)
09. East of Eden - Jig-A-Jig (3:21) - (Deram, 1971)
10. Dead Meadow - Indian Bones (6:35) - (Tolotta Records, 2000)
11. The Rattles - The Witch (2:35) - (Help!, 1970)
12. Silver Apples - Program (4:03) - (Kapp Records, 1968)
13. Aphrodite's Child - Funky Mary (4:11) - (Mercury, 1969)
14. Mandingo - Black Rite (4:03) - (Studio 2 Stereo, 1973)
15. Clarence 'Frogman' Henry - Ain't Got No Home (2:23) - (Argo Records, 1956)
16. Joe Meek aka Rod Freeman & The Blue Men - The Bulblight (2:26) - (RPM Records, 1960)
17. Manfred Mann Chapter Three - One Way Glass (3:28) - (Vertigo, 1969)
18. Martin Denny - Enchanted Sea (2:17) - (Liberty, 1959)
19. Eden Ahbez - Full Moon (2:51) - (Del-Fi Records, 1960)
20. Harpers Bizarre - Cotton Candy Sandman (Sandman's Coming) (2:57) - (Warner Bros. Records, 1968)
- And have a listen at one of my favorite ones, also, now that I heard it here, I remember listening to it in a few MPB (and other) FSOL mixes, but can't remember where exactly... Well... maybe on the second pass... if I don't forget 'till then...
Eden Ahbez - Full Moon (1960)
PS - The 1955 version of Nature Boy (composed by Ahbez) played by Miles Davis is one of the best tracks EVER played.
Last edited by Pandemonium on Sun Aug 24, 2014 1:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
Been meaning to get this one for ages. I always liked the fact that it immediately discards any nonsense about Gaz being the only one of the two really into psychedelia.
It took me some time to get my hands on this one to be honest. Was a bugger to find at a remotely reasonable price, but a lovely album. It actually seems to be quite easy to get a hold of now if Amazon is telling the truth.
FSOL - A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding In Your Mind Vol.7
(BBC SixMix) [radio mix] (30.10.2005)
- bootleg / first official release 15.11.2008, currently unavailable
We thought this would be the last installment of the MPB series - when Vol.8 came out 4 years later it was a pleasant surprise. Today we can call it a pattern, 8 Kiss mixes, 8 MPB mixes, 8 EBS mixes - though EBS series is probably not finished, or maybe it is and we wait the next awesome series. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself...
This MPB mix is kinda different. Hosted by Gaz and Chris (AA member at the time) it's divided into four 30 minute slots, while Gaz & Chris banter around like 'normal' radio DJs. The thing is, this MPB mix borrows a lot from the previous mixes, and has very little new (unplayed on MPB mixes before) content. But that little 'new' content (mostly in Part 1 and Part 4) is pretty crazy and trippy as hell.
So, MPB Vol.7, deconstructed and explained, read away...
(scroll to the end of the post to see just the tracklist)
MPB 7 Part 1:
00:00 Transmission intro (Gaz & Chris banter around, and do talk a LOT in and between the tracks...)
00:28 - Freeman Lowell - "I suggest that you reach deep down inside yourself..." - (from Silent Running, 1972)
- Bruce Dern as Freeman Lowell in the legendary sci-fi movie Silent Running ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067756/ ) - it's after the 9 minute mark in the movie...
01:32 Secret Chiefs 3 aka The Electromagnetic Azoth - On The Wings of The Haoma - (Web of Mimicry, 2004)
- A totally crazy song that seems to be constructed of about a dozen songs, and it all works like a motherfucker!
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Secret-Chiefs-3- ... ase/420431 )
06:40 Sebastian Tellier - La Ritournelle - (Record Makers, 2003)
- How did this Eurovision participant ended up on this mix...? Nevermind, the song is good...
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/S%C3%A9bastien-T ... ase/237095 )
20:42 Leon Russell - Acid Annapolis - (Shelter Records, 1972)
- An American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music.
- ( ) @20+ minutes...
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Leon-Russell-Car ... se/1512397 )
24:44 Beck - Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes - (Hollywood Records, 2004)
- Beck is one of the rock mysteries to me - but this song picked by Gaz from the Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind movie is quite brilliant.
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Various-Eternal- ... se/1371310 )
00:15 Joe Meek & The Blue Men - I Hear a New World - (RPM Records, 1991)
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Joe-Meek-And-Blu ... se/1234694 )
- The last 3 minutes Gaz & Chris just talk about the obscurities of Joe Meek...
06:42 The Amorphous Androgynous - The Emptiness of Nothingness - (Harvest, 2005)
16:16 The Amorphous Androgynous - Coconut - (unreleased to date)
- not exactly sure where/what is this track, at a few points at least 3 tracks go together... this is the same chunk as heard on the MPB5 mix... but here maybe Coconut is the extended track that goes on while they talk...
19:42 Silver Apples - Oscillations - (Kapp Records, 1968)
- Highly overlooked US band - They were one of the first groups to employ electronic music techniques extensively within a rock idiom, and their minimalistic style, with its pulsing, driving beat and frequently discordant modality, anticipated not only the experimental electronic music and krautrock of the 1970s, but also underground dance music and indie rock of the 1990s.
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Silver-Apples-Si ... ase/906717 )
21:39 - Swami Vivekananda - The Song of The Free (poem snippet) - (circa 1898)
- ( http://www.poetseers.org/the-poetseers/ ... -the-free/ )
- Indian Hindu monk and chief disciple of the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century.
24:17 Tim Buckley - I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain - (Elektra, 1967)
- Father of Jeff Buckley. He died at 28, and Jeff died at 30... Yet they left so much behind...
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Tim-Buckley-Good ... se/1816637 )
03:18 Ananda Shankar - Explorations - (EMI, 2001) - Deepak Chopra snippet at the end.
- In the late 1960s Ananda Shankar traveled to Los Angeles, where he played with many contemporary musicians including Jimi Hendrix. There he released his first self-titled album in 1970, featuring original Indian classical material alongside sitar-based cover versions of popular hits such as The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and The Doors' "Light My Fire". Returning to India in the early 1970s Shankar continued to experiment musically and in 1975 released his most critically acclaimed album, Ananda Shankar And His Music, a jazz-funk mix of Eastern sitar, Western rock guitar, tabla and mridangam, drums and Moog synthesizers. - Not related to Ravi Shankar.
- ( )
06:50 Heaven and Earth - Feel The Spirit - (Ovation Records, 1973)
- This psychedelic folk group has just this one album, and it's perfect!
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Heaven-Earth-Ref ... ase/592375 )
09:09 - 'You're surrounded by what you create. You're the King of negative energy.' - Danny DeVito to Jim Carrey in 'Man on The Moon' (1999)
09:49 The Mothers of Invention - Flower Punk - (Verve Records, 1967)
- 'Flower Punk' parodies the garage rock staple "Hey Joe", and depicts a youth going to San Francisco to become a flower child and join a psychedelic rock band. Additionally, the track makes a reference to "Wild Thing", one of the songs that defined the counterculture of that period. Hendrix (a friend of Zappa) is also present on the cover of the album.
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Mothers-Of-Inven ... se/4830249 )
10:25 Betty Davis - If I'm in Luck (I Might Get Picked Up) - (Just Sunshine Records, 1973)
- born Betty Mabry, she was Miles Davis's second wife. Miles credited Betty with helping to plant the seeds of his future musical explorations by introducing the trumpeter to psychedelic rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix and funk innovator Sly Stone.
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Betty-Davis-Bett ... ase/964304 )
13:02 Sun Dial - Exploding in Your Mind - (UFO Records, 1990)
- The track that inspired the title of the MPB series (well, at least the second part of it). The first Sun Dial album, “Other Way Out” (1990), copied the sound of the late sixties perfectly and is still celebrated as one of the best examples of neo-psychedelia.
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Sun-Dial-Explodi ... ase/419225 )
16:40 The Charles Lloyd Quartet - Journey Within - (Atlantic, 1967)
- Recorded at the Fillmore Auditorium featuring Keith Jarrett, Ron McClure, and Jack DeJohnette.
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Charles-Lloyd-Qu ... se/3086716 )
18:02 - Gary Lucas phone interview (about the Beefheart / Buckley experience...)
- Jeff Buckley - Tongue - (Columbia, 1994) - goes in the background of the interview...
22:53 The Amorphous Androgynous - The Witchfinder - (Harvest, 2005)
30:09 End (of Part 3)
MPB 7 Part 4:
00:00 Part four intro
00:03 Demis Roussos - Ô My Friends You've Been Untrue To Me - (Philips, 1971)
- Another founder of Aphrodite's Child (besides the famous Vangelis), Roussos was the prog-rock side of the band.
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Demis-Roussos-On ... se/3817330 )
02:05 Third Ear Band - Stone Circle - (Harvest, 1969)
- London band, members came from The Giant Sun Trolley and The People Band to create an improvised music drawing on Eastern raga forms, European folk, experimental and medieval influences.
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Third-Ear-Band-A ... se/1064217 )
07:04 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Electricity - (Buddah Records, 1967)
- The only person that came close the Zappa's weirdness / psychedelia is indeed the one and only, Captain Beefheart.
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Captain-Beefhear ... se/1890055 )
10:05 Spirit - Space Child - (Epic, 1970)
- Randy California (who also played with Hendrix) is the founding member of this LA psychedelic band. Randy also had solo albums that inspired / were sampled in Snake Hips (an ISDN track).
- ( )
- ( http://www.discogs.com/Spirit-Twelve-Dr ... ter/101986 )
MPB 7 Part 1:
00:00 Transmission intro (Gaz & Chris banter around, and do talk a LOT in and between the tracks...)
00:28 - Freeman Lowell - "I suggest that you reach deep down inside yourself..." (from Silent Running, 1972)
01:03 Bill Hicks - Gifts of Forgiveness (1997)
01:32 Secret Chiefs 3 aka The Electromagnetic Azoth - On The Wings of The Haoma (2004)
06:40 Sebastian Tellier - La Ritournelle (2003)
08:56 The Earlies - The Devil's Country (2004)
12:17 ????? - ?????
14:10 Devendra Banhart - When The Sun Shone on Vetiver (2004)
16:51 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi - Love (1967)
17:08 Supergrass - Run (2002)
20:42 Leon Russell - Acid Annapolis (1972)
22:11 David Holmes - Lifting The Building (2004)
24:44 Beck - Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes (2004)
28:54 - Danny DeVito as George Shapiro - "So, what do you have here? A big elaborate joke..." (from 'Man on The Moon', 1999)
28:54 Joe Meek & The Blue Men - I Hear a New World (1960)
29:58 End (of Part 1)
MPB 7 Part 2:
00:00 Joe Meek & The Blue Men - Magnetic Field (1991)
00:15 Joe Meek & The Blue Men - I Hear a New World (1991) - The last 3 minutes Gaz & Chris just talk about the obscurities of Joe Meek...
06:42 The Amorphous Androgynous - The Emptiness of Nothingness (2005)
13:38 David Holmes - What R We Stealing (2004)
16:01 Silver Apples - Oscillations (1968)
16:16 The Amorphous Androgynous - Coconut (unreleased to date)
17:44 Buffy Sainte-Marie - He's a Keeper of The Fire (1969)
19:42 Silver Apples - Oscillations (1968)
21:39 - Swami Vivekananda - The Song of The Free (poem snippet) (circa 1898)
21:52 The Mystic Moods Orchestra - Cosmic Sea (1973)
24:17 Tim Buckley - I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain (1967)
30:07 End (of Part 2)
MPB 7 Part 3:
00:00 Part three intro
00:49 Noonday Underground - London (1999)
03:18 Ananda Shankar - Explorations (2001) - Deepak Chopra snippet at the end.
06:50 Heaven and Earth - Feel The Spirit (1973)
09:09 - 'You're surrounded by what you create. You're the King of negative energy.' - Danny DeVito to Jim Carrey in 'Man on The Moon' (1999)
09:49 The Mothers of Invention - Flower Punk (1967)
10:25 Betty Davis - If I'm in Luck (I Might Get Picked Up) (1973)
13:02 Sun Dial - Exploding in Your Mind (1990)
14:34 Joni Mitchell - Help Me (1974)
16:40 The Charles Lloyd Quartet - Journey Within (1967)
18:02 - Gary Lucas phone interview (about the Beefheart / Buckley experience...) - Jeff Buckley - Tongue (1994) - goes in the background of the interview...
22:53 The Amorphous Androgynous - The Witchfinder (2005)
30:09 End (of Part 3)
MPB 7 Part 4:
00:00 Part four intro
00:03 Demis Roussos - Ô My Friends You've Been Untrue To Me (1971)
01:30 Demis Roussos - On The Greek Side of My Mind (1971)
02:05 Third Ear Band - Stone Circle (1969)
03:04 Dead Meadow - Indian Bones (2000)
05:50 ????? - ?????
07:04 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Electricity (1967)
10:05 Spirit - Space Child (1970)
12:55 Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks (1971)
17:01 Yellowhammer - Lazy (2004)
19:31 Debashish Bhattacharya & Bob Brozman - Lullabai (2003)
20:42 The Amorphous Androgynous - All Is Harvest (2005)
24:28 Joni Mitchell - The Silky Veils of Ardor (1977)
26:57 Dead Can Dance - The Host of Seraphim (1988)
28:52 Jeff Buckley - Tongue (1994)
30:04 End
Want to read about the other MPB mix series? Click away:
Plus two not numbered in the series (the SixMusic one and a recent 30 minute online one... Solid Steel was it?)
Gotta say, my second favourite in the series, behind volume 1. Probably the most stylistically varied tracklist, and I find Gaz and Chris hilarious in it - definitely confirms the idea that Gaz's more 'far out' schtick is playing up to his 'crazy' image as much as anything - it's all very self-aware. Brilliant stuff.
2006 was one of the slowest years for FSOL. While a lot was happening behind the curtains, almost nothing happened in the front. The Dougans/Cobain duo was active for 5 years now, but not as FSOL. And they owed Virgin records one more FSOL album. 2006 was the struggle year with Virgin, when they finally agreed (or didn't, and Virgin did that on its own because the contract said so) to release a compiled Best of FSOL album and be done with it. The positive thing about it, in 2007 FSOL went independent and their new on-line store bombarded the fans with 20+ releases - but, let's not jump ahead...
In late 2006 Virgin released the Best of FSOL with some promo materials, and we also heard the birth of the Electric Brain Storms series, the Kinetica event and the Stereo Sucks documentary.
FSOL - Teachings From The Electronic Brain (The Best Of FSOL)
[compilation] (11.09.2006)
Virgin – 0946 3 70522 2 8 / 370 5222 // Astralwerks - ASW 70522
I'm gonna open with: This compilation is just plain WRONG on so many levels. Where to begin... FSOL aren't meant to be experienced on a 'Best of' compilation. The tracks don't flow, the feel is wrong and every FSOL album is so different than the other, that it's just stupid to try and clump them together. But the 13 year old contract said FSOL owed one more album to Virgin, and if they didn't deliver, a compilation would follow.
Virgin made an effort to supply some important tracks that weren't owned by them, like Papua New Guinea & The Lovers, and probably in their minds this is really the Best of FSOL. The final tracklist is... well... weird. It covers all FSOL singles but none of the Lifeforms album material. (Cascade & Lifeforms are represented with their single versions) No big deal, it's only their most important work (!!!). On the other hand almost half of the tracks are from Dead Cities.
Zero new material on this compilation. Most of the tracks (some more some less) have their ending environments cut out, so no track-melting either - another legendary FSOL signature destroyed.
The artwork looks good overall (better than the sound I guess). There is a rather long story about FSOL history through the booklet, and I often wonder who wrote it and if he ever really understood FSOL or just googled a bunch of articles... The story starts OK and generally is OK throughout, but there is this niche of pretentious bullshit that the author spits out from time to time, making the whole thing an overkill, with a real danger to push off a potential fan. Especially the part where some guy tried to fuck his girlfriend during some radio ISDN sessions, but he couldn't because the music was too immersive, so he continued to just listen and she got mad at him. I mean, the story stands OK but it sounds really Stupid printed on a booklet of FSOL history.
One more thing... I didn't mean to badmouth Virgin... in general. They certainly did their part in the FSOL history, because in the music industry, if you want to live off of it, it's not enough just to make great music to make a decent living, you have to have marketing and product placement just like with everything else. Back then, it was a standard procedure - and even though they practically robbed the artist, they gave them some sort of fame/focus and core fan-base - and without that, FSOL wouldn't be today what they are - an independent institution.
If I try to push a positive note for this one - it's not that bad for electronic music enthusiasts who never discovered FSOL. It can be an OK starting point even though no real FSOL fan would recommend it. Never heard of someone starting with this and becoming a fan... and I'll stop here.
Tracklisting: [compilation length vs the original release length]
01. [4:58] vs [4:59] Papua New Guinea (12" Version) - same as the original version.
02. [2:50] vs [2:50] Max - same as the original version.
03. [1:58] vs [4:10] Everyone In The World Is Doing Something Without Me - cut in half / heavily edited version, used as intro to My Kingdom.
04. [5:35] vs [5:46] My Kingdom - cut from the Part 1 of the single version.
05. [5:10] vs [5:42] Smokin' Japanese Babe - same as the EP/video version, but the last 30 seconds are cut off.
06. [4:13] vs [5:43] Antique Toy - same as the original version, but the last 90 seconds of environments (Predator samples) are cut off.
07. [4:36] vs [9:00] Lifeforms (Radio Edit) - another cut in half / heavily edited version, and it's actually an Edit of the Path 4 from the Lifeforms single. They put this one in there just to market the appearance of Liz Fraser on this release.
08. [6:19] vs [7:32] Yage - same as the original version, the last 70 seconds of environments are edited out though.
09. [4:49] vs [5:40] Expander (12" Version) - same as the original version.
10. [4:52] vs [5:38] Glass - same as the original version, the last 50 seconds of environments are edited out though.
11. [4:11] vs [4:29] Far-Out Son Of Lung And The Ramblings Of A Madman - same as the original version.
12. [5:56] vs [6:04] The Lovers - same as the original version.
13. [4:41] vs [4:38] Mountain Goat - same as the original version.
14. [4:15] vs [4:15] Cascade (Shortform) - same as the original version.
15. [3:03] vs [3:26] We Have Explosive (7" Edit) - same as the original version, but a different outro.
FSOL - Lifeforms / We Have Explosive (Remixes) (Sep.2006) Virgin - 7243 892377 1 9
A 12" only remixes of Lifeforms and We Have Explosive, to promote the Teachings From The Electronic Brain (The Best Of FSOL) compilation. How on Earth did Virgin release remixes from Robag Wruhme and King Roc is beyond me. They were never signed with Virgin and they were not a big thing in 2006. But they both did quality stuff in their respective movements of German minimal techno and British electro-breaks, so I don't know... maybe some cool guys in Virgin still wanted to push up some quality artists.
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme - this is like saying Monkey Maffia & Robag Wruhme & Robag Wruhme - another mystery but they did released credits like that. Wighnomy Brothers (aka Monkey Maffia & Robag Wruhme) were releasing very unique line of techno - darkish, cranky, minimal, yet somehow still sounding like German electro/tech-house. They stopped working in 2009. Robag Wruhme (aka Gabor Schablitzki) was working solo the whole time and still works today. His 2004 album Wuzzelbud "KK" is a must-hear for all the techno lovers.
The Simetikon 001-06 Re-Edit mixes Path 1 of the Lifeforms single, and I don't get it... it kinda sucks...
The Simetikon 002-06 Re-Edit mixes Path 3 or the album version of Lifeforms. This mix is better, it sounds OK, but still far from Wruhme's good side. The end samples the 'Could you live the lights alone please...' bit from ISDN - or should I say from the Joy Division live event.
King Roc (aka Martin Dawson) was a British electro-breaks producer. He died in November 2012 due to an aneurysm (RIP). His WHE remix is somewhat standard dancefloor filler breaks track. Even though I'm a sucker for WHE remixes and this one has a few good bits, it's generally slow and loses the compressed energy of We Have Explosive. Better name for this mix would be We Don't Have Explosive or We Lost The Explosive or We Have Fire-Crackers.
Tracklist:
A1. Lifeforms (Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhmes Simetikon 001-06 Re-Edit) [3:25]
A2. Lifeforms (Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhmes Simetikon 002-06 Re-Edit) [6:04]
B1. We Have Explosive (Remixed By King Roc) [8:32]
The CD promo release lists the WHE remix as track 1, but the vinyl lists the WHE remix as the B-side.
FSOL - Teachings From The Electronic Brain (The Best Of FSOL):
Rare Tracks Edition EP (26.02.2007)
Virgin - no catalog number (on-line release only)
I'm gonna jump a few releases and visit 2007 for a tiniest bit, because this release was meant for 2006, and just got lost and late in the Virgin birocracy.
Marketed on the on-line stores as:
EP companion release to the "Teachings From The Electronic Brain" compilation. Features a new version of "Herd Killing", as well as several other rare & unreleased tracks.
- Well, there is nothing new here, maybe a little rare, and also nothing unreleased. These tracks were voted for by the fans, containing four 'rare tracks' from the ISDN sessions, sourced from Promo 500 (12" only limited release) and the ISDN Black edition (also limited, but on 10,000 pieces). The only new thing here was that the promo/demo version of Herd Killing got a digital release (it was available only on vinyl before). Live In New York already got it's digital version on the Rarewerks compilation.
Tracklist
1. Herd Killing [1:43]
2. Live In New York [6:16]
3. Hot Knives [3:25]
4. An End Of Sorts [5:26]
Well, it was an end of sorts... but a new FSOL era started a few months later, it was a magical start and it's still going strong!
Last edited by Pandemonium on Thu Aug 28, 2014 1:32 am, edited 3 times in total.
Pandemonium wrote:One more thing... I didn't mean to badmouth Virgin... in general.
Except of course Brian and Gaz compiled the record, not Virgin. There was an interview a couple of years ago (can't remember which) in which Gaz explained that this was his chance to make peace with Dead Cities, hence including a lot of it on there. So it's sort of him giving people an opportunity to buy the Dead Cities material he likes without the tracks he's less fond of. Similarly, there's probably nothing from Lifeforms as the material from that shouldn't be heard out of context (I also think this is the case regarding the singles from the album being so drastically different.)
Zero new material on this compilation.
Actually...
In amongst this we're starting to work on the best of for EMI, trawling the archives looking to see if there's a few interesting curios that might be useful. Mountains and mountains of DAT's. There was stuff in there that neither of us could remember doing and before we had got through the first box we must've had 50 tracks that deserved being heard. A bit of research showed that we could get something setup and running a lot easier than when we last looked into it.
FSOLDigital is the electronic brain made reality.
... indirectly we got a lot of new material.
Of course, the lack of segues is somewhat odd and jarring, and is the biggest stumbling point for most fans (me included.) There was definitely an opportunity to make this play out like an ISDN performance, with tracks - sometimes exclusive mixes - blending to form one career-spanning soundscape. Something happened after Dead Cities regarding segues, because The Isness has none, Alice in Ultraland and Translations only have a few, the first three archives have none, and neither do any of the other initial FSOLDigital releases. For whatever reason, at this point they didn't seem to be into doing them, which is probably why they didn't appear on Teachings. A shame.
04. [5:35] vs [5:46] My Kingdom / same as the original version.
It's actually the first half of 'Part 1' from the single, so it's sort of an exclusive version in its own way.
07. [4:36] vs [9:00] Lifeforms (Radio Edit) - another cut in half / heavily edited version, and it's actually an Edit of the Path 4 from the Lifeforms single. They put this one in there just to market the appearance of Liz Fraser on this release.
The best thing about the compilation for me - the 2 minute edit that was the single version seems so slight, but I find the nine minute version heavy going at times. This exclusive edit is my favourite version of the track.
15. [3:03] vs [3:26] We Have Explosive (7" Edit) - same as the original version.
Different outro.
Those Lifeforms remixes are pretty poor, I agree, although I like the King Roc version of WHE - I'm a fan of his Stakker remixes too. Didn't know he'd died, just thought he'd disappeared from music for a while. RIP indeed.
These tracks were voted for by the fans
This was a farce - you had to vote for your favourite version of Cascade, Lifeforms, My Kingdom, We Have Explosive, and your favourite 'rare track' - to form a five track single of fans' favourite. As an incentive (why did people need an incentive??), one voter would win some expensive headphones. Of course, the incentive backfired and hundreds of people just took part to try and win the headphones, simply clicking 'submit' as Part 1 of each was automatically selected. I'm guessing EMI noticed this and realised that it was completely skewed and not at all representative of the fans' opinions, so went for this instead. I think it works out better, as there will be a lot of fans out there who will find some of this material difficult to get ahold of, especially if they're not vinyl lovers. As a digital release to support the album, I think it's pretty good on the whole.
I think the biggest disappointment for me with Teachings From The Electronic Brain (that CD rather than the awesome MTV thing) was the lack of mixing between tracks. For me their segues really created the atmosphere, without them it just seemed like an edited highlights reel, someone skipping through a playlist, rather than a cohesive compilation album
You got some valid points Ross,
I too remember reading that this compilation started the idea for the Archives series and later the whole FSOLDigital store,
but had completely forgot about it...
I guess some good came out of it (still wouldn't recommend it to any potential fan)
^^ Yeah, that's kinda how I feel. Do Ozric Tentacles do that on any of their albums. I love what I've heard so far, but they're crying out for FSOL-style seques
And to be on topic:
I haven't heard that "best of". I looked at it when I was getting into the band, but as there didn't seem to be anything on there that was exclusive I decided just to go with getting the albums instead and I bought Lifeforms. I think I chose wisely
Ross wrote:I think segues work great for some music, but can't really imagine them working on, say, a folk-rock album.
well you know always exception to the rule and not every single track on an album would need it necessarily etc.
i think more often than not though i would prefer it. keep in mind a segue can be extremely subtle....even if it's just field recording to lead you to the next tune etc.
no ozric segued stuff off the top of my head
sure woulda been great tho!
RIP indeed.
