Pande-reviews: 2009.0 (FSOL - EBS Vol.4)

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Re: Pande-reviews: 1991.2 (Pulse EPs, Intelligent Comm.)

Post by Ross »

Yes, probably other mistakes all over the site. Working on an idea for it which will make corrections and amendments easier.
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Re: Pande-reviews: 1991.3 (FSOL - PNG)

Post by Pandemonium »

In late 1991 the duo released their first official single and the legend of FSOL was born kicking and screaming.

The Future Sound of London - Papua New Guinea [single] (1991)
Jumpin' & Pumpin' – 12 TOT 17

Image

A1 - Papua New Guinea (Dali Mix) | 4:57 - this is actually later commonly called the Original 12" mix.

B1 - Papua New Guinea (Dumb Child Of Q) | 4:21 - also a very popular mix that made it on hundreds of ambient/dub/techno compilations.

B2 - Papua New Guinea (Qube Mix) | 4:32 - this one remains to this day an exclusive mix of this early 12" only release.

In late 1991 Dougans/Cobain were turbo releasing singles and EPs, and in that rush another single was released, first time as a stand alone FSOL release - the single was called Papua New Guinea. It went unnoticed the first few months and into 1992 but when the track made it to the charts and THE hit was born, this single was repressed and sold out at least 12 times in 1992 (it has a total of 30 re-releases to date - late 2013) - not counting the white label and fan remixes.

What else to say about this ambient/dub classic, it remains the band's most popular track to this date - they have dozens of better tracks even more pop-like ones - but the masses decided - this is the one they go in history with.

Design – Buggy G Riphead / Engineer, Producer – Yage / Executive Producer – Tim Jones / Written-By – Brian Dougans, Garry Cobain (or somewhere still Cockbain - he still hasn't decided yet)

PNG samples quite a lot tracks, the most popular sample being Dead Can Dance - Dawn of The Iconoclast (the vocals at 0:24) from the album Within the Realm of a Dying Sun (1987). Next, the break is taken from a funk track by Bobby Byrd - Hot Pants (Bonus Beats) also from 1987, and the "Uh-Ohoww" vocal sample is taken from a 1989 house track called Shelter, by Circuit. They even took a sample from Meat Beat Manifesto - Radio Babylon - it's the first sound that you hear behind the vocals on the first second.

The legendary opening, the very first tone you hear on PNG beginning, is taken from a comedy-horror movie from 1987 called House II: The Second Story. The score was composed by Harry Manfredini, a US composer working primarily in horror movies (most notably Friday The 13th series). You can hear it here:


Bobby Byrd - Hot Pants (Bonus Beats) (0:09)


Dead Can Dance - Dawn of the Iconoclast (the vocals at 0:24)


Circuit - Shelter (2:51 and 3:05)


Meat Beat Manifesto - Radio Babylon (1987 12") (0:01)


And here's the exclusive mix:
The Future Sound of London - Papua New Guinea (Qube Mix)


And, of course - the first original video made for PNG in 1991 (the 1992 album version got another video):


And it still sounds FRESH 22 years later, although in my opinion - these last 3-4 years - I think random people will notice it's an 'oldie' :)
Last edited by Pandemonium on Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:08 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: Pande-reviews: 1991.4 (Smart Systems, 100Hz)

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Smart Systems - The Tingler - Remix [single] (1991) Jumpin' & Pumpin' – 12 TOT 18

Image

A1 - Tingler (Meltram Mix) | 4:59
B1 - Tingler (Mingler Mix) | 5:00
B2 - Tingler (State Side Swamp Mix) | 4:32


Rap credits goes to – H (yes, just one letter, H)
EDIT: It's actually Hamish McDonald, the same guy who'll later remix PNG.

"From my dreams... so beautiful" speech sample from the movie Dune (1984).

We already discussed this massive tune (and what it samples) in the Pulse EP3 review a few posts back.

- The (Meltram Mix) is the same as the Eathbeat (Remix) or the (Smart Systems Remix) as it is better known on other compilations. This track contains rapping vocals, a guy hyping about the Smart Systems and The Future Sound of London.

- The (Mingler Mix) is a sort of instrumental version of the (Meltram Mix). I mean it does have some of the voices, but doesn't have the rapping - and is exclusive to this release.

- The (State Side Swamp Mix) is same as the (Four By Four Mix) that appeared earlier on the Pulse EP3 - this version is the best one - according to me.

The music is hardcore/rave style which is kind of the mark of the Smart Systems. It may sound funny sometimes, but it was a dance-floor killer, and some parts sound really fucking fresh and awesome even today.

Smart Systems – Tingler (Mingler Mix):


The lyricless vocal cuts on Tingler are taken from Jocelyn Brown, also some music patterns (best heard at 6:15 onward) are also taken from Jocelyn Brown - Love's Gonna Get You (a 1985 single)


The opening drumroll on Tingler is sampled from Liaz - House Sensation (a 1988 single) (at 0:07)


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100Hz - Progress [single remixes] (1991) Rumour Records – RUMAT 40

Image

A1 - Progress (People Living on Mars Mix) | 7:10 // Producer, Mixed By – The Future Sound of London
B1 - Progress (Jx3p Mix) | 4:52 // Producer, Mixed By – Future Sound of London

The second mix FSOL did in 1991 was a double one for 100Hz - a house/techno group from UK.
- The (People Living On Mars Mix) has some nice tribal beats and effects (I guess in this period they were into these pagan PNG-like rhythms).
- The (Jx3p Mix) is a standard techno/house remix, with some acid throwing around and closer to the original track.

Written-By – D. Walker*, J. Chapman*, L. Renacre*

100Hz - Progress (People Living On Mars Mix by FSOL):
Last edited by Pandemonium on Sun May 13, 2018 8:55 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: Pande-reviews: 1991.3 (FSOL - PNG)

Post by OffLand »

Awesome PNG writeup. Sure it's their most popular song and probably none of us here consider it to be their best track but damn it's hard to say anything bad about it. Doesn't sound 22 years old!
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Re: Pande-reviews: 1991.4 (Smart Systems, 100Hz)

Post by Dennis »

Haha funny, I always thought it's Gaz doing that rapping on tingler.

Am just listening to "by any other name" cd and was noticing that the Visual Attack thingy is actually just another remix of 'tingler', but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong...
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Re: Pande-reviews: 1991.4 (Smart Systems, 100Hz)

Post by Pandemonium »

Well, all that is left of 1991 is the first Accelerator pressing, and then I'll do 1992,
and on the end of 1992 I will break my chronology and review 'By any other name' and 'Pulse EPs CD' because they are from 1990-1992 period after all :) - so I will check it out the connection of the original Visual Attack - Tingler - and the Smart Systems Visual Attack.
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Re: Pande-reviews: 1991.5 (FSOL - Accelerator)

Post by Pandemonium »

The Future Sound of London - Accelerator [album] (1991)
Jumpin' & Pumpin' – CD TOT 2 / LP TOT 2 / MC TOT 2

Image

01 - Expander (5:40)
02 - Stolen Documents (5:13) - previously released on Pulse EP2
03 - While Others Cry (4:14)
04 - Calcium (6:43) - previously released on Pulse EP3 (as a Yage track)
05 - It's Not My Problem (3:54)
06 - Papua New Guinea (6:46) - previously released as a PNG single - although this album version is longer and unique
07 - Moscow (3:33)
08 - 1 In 8 (4:24) - previously released on Pulse EP2
09 - Pulse State (7:27) - previously released on Pulse EP1
10 - Central Industrial (4:25)

credits:
Gary Cobain - Producer, Composer / Brian Dugans - Producer, Composer
Buggy G. Riphead - Artwork / Eunah Lee - Graphic Design / Tim Jones - Executive Producer

Listening to this album today (2013) after starting a B/G chronology review, I am really surprised by this album. I mean, before these last few months, Accelerator, to me, was a pretty straight-forward album that was nice and good debut and all that, but it was kinda weak compared to FSOL's later works. While the bigger part of that definition is still true, I see and feel this album now on another level. Listening to where they were in 1989-90-91 and what they achieved with this album, it becomes pretty clear that there was a huge leap in sound complexity. Accelerator looks like just a bunch of straight 4/4's to the untrained ear, but the melodies, the little effects all around, the mixing, the melting of the tracks, the ambient that will flourish in the years to come - it's all there if you listen carefully.

They were young (24 and 26) and they wanted the attention, and the next year they got it big time - but the brilliant thing is; they recognized that popularity is over-rated bullshit and they threw it away in just 12 months and went fully sound-scape ambient at the end of 1992. They grew really fast musically and released that if they did what they really loved, it will be brilliant and it will find audience and it did. Maybe, or certainly, PNG & Accelerator helped to go in later mainstream more easily... But, I'm getting ahead of myself, again...

Even though exactly half of the album tracks were already released on various EPs, here they received a proper (melting) treatment and a digital CD release that will reach wider audience.

- Expander opens like a motherfucker, this is a breaks track (as opposed to the most other straight-forward beat tracks) - and it is just mind-blowing. I liked it as a kid a lot! Listening to it now I discover dozens of little effects in the background...
- While Others Cry echoes the piano and just reaches that melancholy effect. The voice is just spot-on.
- It's Not My Problem contrasts While Others Cry and it sounds robotic and merciless. Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard: "It's not my problem" in Blade Runner (1982)
- Moscow sounds very vibrant and it has that energy of a car chase - in Moscow I presume.
- Central Industrial - a fine ending (started with breaks, end it with breaks), they ARE the Future indeed!
("Welcome to Central Industrial. We are the future. - Words from "Ghosts . . . of the Civil Dead" (1988) movie)

And now, to the sample library!

The Expander break is taken form a funk classic: Bernard Purdie - Soul Drums (1968)


Expander also samples at the opening Pink Floyd - Time (around 0:55) (1973)


The Expander vocals are taken from: Marc Almond and The Willing Sinners - The Sea Says (clearest at 3:58) (1986)


The vocals sample from While Others Cry is taken from: Yargo - Carrying Mine (at 0:14) (1987)


Calcium samples a 1982 track by Malcolm McLaren, called Buffalo gals - it's the opening flutey like sample:


Calcium also samples a short vocal sample from a 1989 track called Tears by Frankie Knuckles & Satoshi Tomiie, the vocals are by Robert Owens - at 2:10 you can hear the "I'm Drowning" vocals that are sampled in Calcium at 3:03 & 4:18

(most likely taken from the acapella version that's not present on youtube, but it was for sale on two different vinyl pressings back in 1989)

PNG samples quite a lot tracks, the most popular sample being Dead Can Dance - Dawn of the Iconoclast (the vocals at 0:24) from the album Within the Realm of a Dying Sun (1987). Next, the break is taken from a funk track by Bobby Byrd - Hot Pants (Bonus Beats) also from 1987, and the "Uh-Ohoww" vocal sample is taken from a 1989 house track called Shelter, by Circuit. They even took a sample from Meat Beat Manifesto - Radio Babylon - it's the first sound that you hear behind the vocals on the first second.

PNG samples Dead Can Dance - Dawn of the Iconoclast (the vocals at 0:24)


PNG samples Bobby Byrd - Hot Pants (Bonus Beats) (0:09)


PNG samples Circuit - Shelter (2:51 and 3:05)


PNG samples Meat Beat Manifesto - Radio Babylon (1987 12") (0:01)


The upbeat in Moscow at 1:24 samples: War - Flyin' Machine (The Chase) (1978) - and now its clear why the tracks sounds like a chase!


Moscow's drums at the opening sample/rework: Mantronix - Who Is It? (at 2:44) (1986)
The breaks of Central Industrial (around 0:43) are sampled from the same Mantronix track (insane pick-pocketing!!!): Mantronix - Who Is It? (at 0:10) (1986)


1 in 8 samples the laughing and the 'oh-wow' sound from the 1986 movie Solarbabies ( )

The opening of Central Industrial (after the female announcer) is taken from: Throbbing Gristle - What a Day (1979)


Bonus: Expander (Remix) [which will appear on the 1992 re-release of the album] samples small cuts from the bongos (throughout the tracks) of Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band - Apache (most notably at 3:12) (album: Bongo Rock, 1973)


See you in 1992 :)
Last edited by Pandemonium on Mon Dec 07, 2015 10:50 pm, edited 12 times in total.
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Re: Pande-reviews: 1991.5 (FSOL - Accelerator)

Post by Tito Lozano »

Fucking good review , this is the best Accelerator (and preview tracks on Pulse eps etc)that i seen , all reviews saw ,they talked about only for the great success of Papua on the dancefloor , rave culture,electronica scene,but this is more deep and explain what,where,when,who and why this album is a great debut (althought is not a big new age or Ambient electronic music in it) had repercussion, was a preview of things more sophisticated that would follow,for me is 1 of the most important in his discography(but all official albums are importants and necessary)I like to see how a band goes beyond fame and deepen their sound for better complicated sounds but for souls to just fill the cavity between a pill and your head into a dance floor.
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Re: Pande-reviews: 1991.5 (FSOL - Accelerator)

Post by Ross »

Completely agree, the other full-lengths from this era - Earthbeat, Pulse EPs, By Any Other Name - sound ridiculously primitive and simplistic in comparison to Accelerator. Complex and beautiful in places.
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Re: Pande-reviews: 1991.5 (FSOL - Accelerator)

Post by mcbpete »

Wow all those sample findings is quite the revelation. Great work man (not only in this review but all the others, clearly a lot of work have gone into them!)
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Re: Pande-reviews: 1991.5 (FSOL - Accelerator)

Post by Ross »

It's funny how much of their stuff is samples, isn't it? I always used to think Gaz was exaggerating when he spoke about them not being musicians, just collage artists, but it all makes sense now.
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Re: Pande-reviews: 1991.5 (FSOL - Accelerator)

Post by mcbpete »

Absolutely - the best pick pockets in town !
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Re: Pande-reviews: 1991.5 (FSOL - Accelerator)

Post by Pandemonium »

Yeah its insane how much music they've listened, processed, and took samples from. Reworked them, replayed them, recycled them...

It seems like, in the 90s (and even earlier for Brian) all they did was living in the studio 24/7 and just listening to music 24/7 and then creating some of their own. For me personally, its very hard to create original sounds after listening to albums 24/7 - I really need to take my everyday listening to a minimum or zero for a few weeks in order to come up with some sound of my own - but not these guys, they seem to get inspired even more by listening to old records, and then re-sample, add the own magic touch - and voila - brilliance :)

They are so good at it, the samples that are taken are completely put into new perspective and they really don't have anything in-common with the original track - the art of sampling/pick-pocketing/collaging should be in the history books under the chapter of FSOL :)

Also, a thought came to me, 4-5 years ago, that B&G really live in some other dimension and they just occasionally cross-over to us :)
My point - they started with ultra-crazy ahead-of-the-time acid Stakker beats, going in techno, ambient, sound-scape, psychedelic rock, and then just everywhere -- multidimensional at the same time - its like time went backwards for them in comparison to the normal world that went psychedelic - rock - industrial crossover kraut - electronic - techno... you know what I mean :)
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Re: Pande-reviews: 1992.1 (Yage, Pulse 4)

Post by Pandemonium »

In the beginning of 1992 D/C just continued with the turbo-production of singles and EPs under various aliases, seeming to invent new alter ego for every possible sub-sub-gender of electronic music known to men. They released a couple more releases before the PNG madness caught up with them:

Yage - Fuzzy Logic EP (1992) Jumpin' & Pumpin' – 12 TOT 21

Image

A1 - Quazi [6:30] - still going forward with the awesomeness of the effects, strong 4/4 track

A2 - Coda Coma [4:49] - Composed By Pajnutticeverio, whoever that is... another nice track with string samples and breaks mixing. EDIT: That alias is actually Charissa Saverio aka DJ Rap. Gaz's girlfriend at the time. ( https://www.discogs.com/artist/758229-Charissa-Saverio )

B1 - Livin' for The Love [5:04] - the opening is great, but then it kinda goes nowhere, still good though...

B2 - Fuzzy Logic [4:29] - very weird track, containing some techno elements as well some tribal rhythms later.

The first ever Yage release. (15 years later the Yage project will become a whole different beast)
Ravey/techno sounds all over, the sound is actually similar with Smart Systems (very interesting to me).
The first two tracks got a digital release on Earthbeat later, and the B-sides are exclusive for this release.

Yage - Fuzzy Logic


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Various Artists - Pulse EP4 (1992) Jumpin' & Pumpin' – 12 TOT 25

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A1 - Mental Cube – I'm Not Gonna Let You Do It [5:35] - another techno Mental Cube track after a long time... wonder where the vocal samples are from...

A2 - Smart Systems – The Creator [4:30] - Paul Frees as the voice of the Alien, "We have transferred all knowledge from his brain to our machine" from the Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, a 1956 sci-fi classic :)

B1 - Indo Tribe – Shrink [4:24] - sounds like something that didn't make it on the Accelerator - Indo Tribe seems to be the garbage-can project of D/C, they have more than 6 tracks and no stand-alone release ever.

B2 - Smart Systems – Space Virus [5:18] - another weird wonderful track. I wonder where the sample 'Let my people go' is from - probably from some Moses movie where he tells the pharaoh 'Let my people go!' :)

The final Pulse EP, with tighter production (understandably). The Creator and Shrink got on Earthbeat earlier, and the other two tracks are exclusives here.

Smart Systems – Space Virus


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Various Artists - Pulse EPs (1991-92) (05.05.2008 Digital Remaster)
Jumpin' & Pumpin' – CD TOT 57 (2008, 1st Digital Remaster)

Image

More of a collectors item, I'm gonna break my chronology to say a few words about this digital release of the four Pulse EPs (released 1991-92) and digitally remastered 16 years later in 2008. It contains the first FSOL tracks ever. Also, some other nice tracks as we reviewed in each of the Pulse EPs in the earlier posts. Most of the tracks are slightly edited and remastered, and the track times vary slightly, probably because they needed to shrink the total time on the CD below 80 minutes (it clocks at 79:11)

01 - Indo Tribe - Bring In The Pulse (MFK Mix) (5:12) - same
02 - Indo Tribe - In The Mind Of A Child (First Born Mix) (5:05) - same
03 - The Future Sound Of London - Hardhead (Frothin' At The Mouth Mix) (6:06) - the opening whistles are gone, but they appear later
04 - The Future Sound Of London - Pulse State (831 AM Mix) (7:19) - shorther for about 13 seconds
05 - The Future Sound Of London - Stolen Documents (Jazz Dub) (5:23) - longer for just a few seconds
06 - Smart Systems - Zip Code (Stress Ball Mix) (5:17) - 44 seconds longer, but no other changes
07 - The Future Sound Of London - 1-In-8 (4:44) - slightly different effects
08 - Indo Tribe - I've Become What You Were (Insider Mix) (4:19) - same
09 - Smart Systems - Tingler (Four By Four Mix) (4:35) - same
10 - Indo Tribe - Owl (I Can See You Mix) (4:56) - without the rap samples, like the Earthbeat version
11 - Indo Tribe - Bite The Bullet Baby (Jaques Reynoix Mix) (4:33) - same
12 - Yage - Calcium (Elemental Mix) (4:53) - 15 seconds shorter, but no other noticable changes
13 - Mental Cube - I'm Not Gonna Let You Do It (3:49) - more than a 100 seconds shorter, with almost no vocals, this track is a whole other cut.
14 - Smart Systems - The Creator (4:22) - 10 seconds shorter, but no other noticable changes
15 - Indo Tribe - Shrink (4:14) - 15 seconds shorter, slightly enhanced efects
16 - Smart Systems - Space Virus (4:26) - 50 seconds shorter, the 'Let my people go' sample is not present here.

So, there you have it, read you guys next time with the PNG/Accelerator re-re-re-release madness :)
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Re: Pande-reviews: 1992.1 (Yage, Pulse 4)

Post by Ross »

Fuzzy Logic is one of my favourites of the early releases. Coda Coma in particular.
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