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

[Ross]

Awesome, cheers guys! I'm slowly adding in stuff to the Galaxial sub-forum as time goes on. Hopefully in the not-too-distant future, we'll have a proper big archive of everything known.

[seedy]

yes pande - keep going forward for now
save the final polish for the end

[Pandemonium]

This was written in 5 separate days because it was to much to digest at once, so take your time...

Amorphous Androgynous - The Isness [album] (05-13.08.2002)
Future Sound Of London Recordings - FSOLCD101 / FSOLCD102 / FSOLLP101
Hypnotic (Cleopatra) - CLP 1206-2 / CLP 1206-3 // Phonokol - 2234-2 // Sum Records – 2600-2


- The first promo CD with the Abbey Road version, but the tracklist was messed up, - and the second CDr promo of the official version.


- The official limited edition (10.000 units) in Burgopack (yes, that's what burgopack looks like)


- The standard jewel case release (on FSOL records and Hypnotic too), - and the LP cover.


- The promo version of the mispress (Abbey Road) version - and the "official" mispressed version (2.500 units) of the Hypnotic/Cleopatra release.

You know those cliche openings, like 'this is the album that changed my life!' - they're lame I know, but looking back a dozen years and seeing/hearing how this album changed me, I can honestly say that this album changed my life!, and I don't give a fuck how cliche it sounds when it's the truth. I guess this happens only a few times in the life of a music lover / crate digger / archivist. The Isness really changed the way I viewed / experienced music as an art-form. When I heard this album a few dozen times I was 21 and I finally knew without a doubt that a large portion of my life will be dedicated to music for the rest of my life.

This album was almost 6 years in the making, at least 68 people were involved in it and there are like 20 different cuts of the album. The melting of the psychedelic progressive rock-funk-jazz-folk with this level of introspection, the inevitable sampling and production finesse... this is a truly Epic album in it's genre (or any genre if you ask me). And to those old FSOL fans that don't like this direction and only like the electronic side, well, WTF guys - you have limited knowledge of music and just... (OK I'll edit some words and stop now).

With this album Amorphous Androgynous was reborn in a yet one more new direction of music (for Dougans/Cobain) that still tingles our brains 12 years later. The album was originally planned to be released as it was mastered at Abbey Road Studios, but it was changed to the final version at the last minute. The US label Cleopatra (Hypnotic), 'accidentally' released 2500 copies of the Abbey Road master, and this became known as the mispressed version. Some tracks differ drastically in this cut, while some are almost the same, we'll go in detail about this below. Cleopatra (Hypnotic) made another mistake releasing the album under the FSOL alias, for obvious marketing reasons. Even in the UK some pressings stated The Future Sound of London presents Amorphous Androgynous: The Isness. But future releases will show that Amorphous Androgynous is the alias for the psychedelic rock releases and everyone counts The Isness as an AA album.

Now comes a really long part of saying a few words about the people involved in the making of The Isness - you can skip it, but you'll miss out on some very very interesting background information

The People (we know something about):
- Brian Dougans (37) aka Stone Freshwaters - Piano, Harmonica, Effects, Engineer, Written by
- Gaz Cobain (35) aka One Man Band Of Cosmos - Guitar [12 String], Acoustic Guitar, Voice, Written by
- Linda Lewis - Voice [Female Voices on The Lovers] – English funk/soul/pop vocalist, best known for her version of Rudy Clark's "Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)" (1975), also has provided vocals for David Bowie, Al Kooper, Cat Stevens, Jamiroquai etc. etc.
- Baluji Shrivastav - Sitar, Strings [Dilruba], Tabla, Flute, Whistle [Intro Tin Whistle] – Baluji is a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist from India. Being completely blind, the is self-taught musician breaking the dogmas of India's mystical dynasties, guru teachers and having to have eyes to master Indian music. He was a AA resident until after the Alice album.
- Gary Lucas - Accordion [Electric], Guitars [all possible kinds] – resident guitarist for the The Isness sessions... American fusion guitarist with a impressive catalog of albums. He played with Captain Beefheart and later in the Jeff Buckley band. He was with the AA team a long time (split off a year or two after the Peppermint Tree, I think...).
- Mike Rowe - Mellotron, Organ [Farfisa], Keyboards, Organ [Hammond], Guitar [Additional], Cello [Additional Mellotron Cello] – Multi-instrumentalist, best known as a keyboard player. He's with the AA team for a long time now, even made an appearance on Environments 4 in 2012. Often played for Oasis too.
- Dominic Glover - Arranged By [Brass] – Session trumpeter from London (UK) who is working for Vinylizor Productions. He's had half-a-dozen bands/projects doing various funk/soul/jazz albums, most notably - he plays with the acid funk jazz supergroup Incognito.
- Christine Jackson - Cello – member of Electra Strings, a big band of women playing strings (live and studio) for a wide range of bands like Massive Attack, Bjork, Mark Knopfler, PJ Harvey, Transqlobal Underground, The Cranberries, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Laurie Anderson, Peter Gabriel, William Orbit and Michael Nyman (that is an impressive list!)
- Helena Binney - Cello – professional cellist who played in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She plays and tours with the Guildhall String Ensemble, and is principal cello with the Glyndebourne Touring Opera. She also plays in the Mainardi Piano Trio.
- Jane Fenton - Cello – British cellist that's been around playing in studios since the '80s.
- Michael McEvoy - Composed By [Reprise Orchestration], Orchestrated By [Reprise Orchestration], Orchestra [Reprise Orchestration], Violin – American musician, award-winning screen composer, orchestrator and multi-instrumentalist based in London, England, UK.
- Daniel Pemberton - Effects [Reprise Synth], Orchestrated By [Additional Synth Orchestration Composed And Played By] – long time friend, Pemberton is an Ivor Novello winning and multi-BAFTA nominated composer who works predominantly in film, television and video games. His credits include everything from feature films such as The Awakening and the Sundance Jury winning Enemies Of The People to cult British television shows such as Peep Show, Hells Kitchen and Great British Menu. He has written the score for the second best selling Xbox 360 game of all time (Kinect Adventures) as well as creating the iconic theme for Sony's LittleBIGPlanet.
- Chris De'Margary - Flute, Brass – a funk/jazz studio flutist that features on dozens of various albums spreading the flute-funk.
- Thelma Owen - Harp – she's old-skool harp player since the '70s, member of the London Classical Players who released dozens of albums in the 87-97 period.
- Philip Eastop - Horn – one of London’s finest horn players. He plays with all the major London orchestras as guest principal horn since the '80s. Currently professor of horn at the Royal College of Music, London, he's been learning jazz trumpet since 2003 (maybe the Isness sessions inspired him...).
– Kate St. John - Oboe, English Horn [Cor Anglais] - musician, vocalist, composer and record producer since the '80s, making everything from modern calssical to synth-pop.
- Fayyaz Virji - Trumpet, Trombone, Brass – Tutor at London Centre Of Contemporary Music. Recording and performing credits include Tina Turner, Annie Lennox, Chaka Khan, Joe Cocker, Ray Charles, Paul Young, George Michael and Lauryn Hill. He also played with the jazz/funk super-group Incognito as some other Iness sessions musicians.
- Jo Archard (Joanna Archard) - Violin - British violinist and pianist, also part of the Euphonic String Ensemble.
- Morven Bryce - Violin - studio violinist who continued working on contemporary soundtracks.
- Richard Thomas - Electric Piano [Rhodes] – the drummer/multi-instrumetalist of Dif Juz, who also worked with The Jesus And Mary Chain and a few other cool bands for 4AD records.
- Max Richter - Strings, Trumpet, Double Bass, Electric Piano [Rhodes], Producer, Orchestrated By, Piano, Keyboards – a German-born British composer who works with the duo (occasionally) even today (2014).
- Randy Hope-Taylor - Bass – One of the UK's finest funk bass players who came to the fore in the early 80's on boogie and jazz-funk tracks by Congress and Cargo. Also played with the Incognito super-group.
- Kevin Robinson - Brass – Trumpet player who performed with the Redskins as part of the Redskins Brass. Previous member of UK super-group Incognito.
- Sue Monks - Cello – British classical cellist playing for BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Classical Players, Mistry String Quartet
- Nu Colours - Choir [Gospel Choir] – (Fay Simpson, Lain Luther, Lawrence Johnson, Priscilla Mae Jones) a gospel/soul quartet active in the '90s.
- Phillip Bainbridge - Flugelhorn – Classical trumpet player and flugelhorn player, working with The Academy Of Ancient Music, The King's Consort, Orchestre Révolutionnaire Et Romantique.
- Levine Andrade - Viola – Strings player since the '70s, primarily viola but has also played violin. Worked with the Arditti Quartet & Matrix Ensemble, he has connections with Balanescu from there.
- Alexander Balanescu - Violin - founder of the brilliant Balanescu Quartet, this Romanian is one of the most visionary and exciting violinists of our time as well as a prolific composer with a repertoire centered in contemporary and new music.
- Clio Gould - Violin - she's 1st Violin of the London Sinfonietta and Artistic Director of the BT Scottish Ensemble. Also palyed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
- Wayne Urquhart - Cello – later he made connections with Ninja Tune and is releasing future jazz albums with his band called Pest.
- Merlyn Sturt - Viola - studio player who later even played live with The Cinematic Orchestra.
- Vuk Krakovic - Violin - Serbian violin player, member of '2227', 'Bast' and Cirque du Soleil. I've actually met this guy, but at the time I wasn't aware that he's played on the Isness.
- Riz Maslen - Voice [Female Voices] – a long time friend of the band, she's been with them since the beginning. With Neotropic and Small Fish with Spine aliases under her belt, there are just a few other females that are more respected in the world of the electronic music.
- Alexa Hamilton - Voice [Intro Voice Narration] – UK/US actress who is also a singer/songwriter, she finally released an album in 2008.
- Paul Tyagi - Drums [Rock Section] – Scottish indie rock drummer from Glasgow, his band Del Amitri disbanded in 2002.

The People (we know little of):
- Stinky Rowe (Stuart Rowe) - Guitar, Electric Guitar – another resident guitarist for the PNGT & The Isness sessions...
- Herb Moons - Drums, Percussion – another mysterious musician that worked on the PNGT & The Isness sessions...
- The Major - Banjo, Vibraphone, Tambura [Tamboura] – another mysterious musician that worked on the PNGT & The Isness sessions...
- Stix - Engineer, Engineer [Voice And 12 String Recordings] – Who is this guy? I don't remember B&G ever having engineer other then themselves...
- Mark Eades - Trombone – unknown trombonist, he plays guitar also, just found some info he played on some folk and some rap albums (?)
- Sarah Tilley - Violin - unknown violinist
- Anjali Saga - Voice [End Female Voice], Backing Vocals - unknown vocalist...
- Joss - Vocals - unknown vocalist...
- Albert Ross Junior - Glockenspiel - unknown glockenspielist (yeah, it's a word) who played this weird instrument on Egghead. The glockenspiel is from the family of xylophone/metallophone family.
- Sam Pickins - Harmonica - unknown harmonica player...
- Christine Charley - Vocals [Female Vox] – unknown vocalist...
- Mao (aka Mau) - Orchestrated By [Strings], Composed By [Strings] – unknown strings composers/arrangers Catrin Jones and Ben Pitt.
- The Cabbage Orchestra - Strings – Cello by Wayne Urqhart, Violins by Jennifer Underhill and Charles Cross, Viola by Merlin Sturt.
- Charles Cross - Violin - unknown violinist...
- Jennifer Underhill - Violin - unknown violinist...
- Big Freddy Teddy - Banjo – unknown banjo player... and he's doing such a fine job!
- Bertie - Drums – unknown drummer...
- Sara Gepp - Voice [Female Answer Machine Residue] – unknown answer machine specialist...
- The Electric Gospel Choir - Vocals [Additional La-las] – (Gloria Gee, Rechenda Elmhurst, John-Llewelyn Evans, Christine Settle, Jacqueline Goddard, Adrian Osmond and Jon English) and not much other info...

The People (that probably don't exist):
- Future Sonic Orchestra Limited* (another FSOL abbreviation) - Strings - how many members does this orchestra have?
- Sampler Jam - Effects [Fx Warps] – This isn't a person, but a real sampler jammed and made some cool sounds.
- Big Screen FX Singers - Voice [Additional] – another made up name...?
- The Vaudeville Stage - Voice [Additional] – and another one...

Photo / Artwork / Design / Layout people:
– Jim Cherry - Photography By - the front cover (and a few more from the booklet) are by this guy. I've always wondered if the molested girl from the cover photo is a real crime scene photo or a scened photography. It just looks so real, with bruised ankles and thrown in the wheat filed... is it wheat or just some dried out meadow?
- Christine Lala - Photography By – the Gaz portraits on the booklet are by this Lala person.
– Paula Flack - Photography By - Paula is a UK manager, project coordinator who also worked with Donovan.
- Paul Agar - Layout [Additional] – Sleeve designer who put the whole booklet together.
- Dianne Harris - also helped with the final sleeve look and photo editing. She was Gaz' girlfriend at the time.
- Donovan - he wrote the psychedelic intro text in the booklet. Donovan is a legendary psychedelic singer/songwriter, I often call him the English Bob Dylan. He really did much more than just making the intro text for Isness, he was more of an adviser and spiritual leader for the making of this album.

So, 38 known musicians + 24 unknown musicians + 6 more for sleeve = 68 people
At least 68 people were involved in conceiving The Isness - I mean, that's fucking impressive!

The Tracks:
(First the final / official cut, then the LP track only, then the Abbey Road cut, then a mention of the Sampler Promo)

1. The Lovers [6:02]
- The opening just slides into you with that funky/jazzy relaxed feeling, and then the persussions just enhance it. The funky wah-wah guitar, the sitar and the orchestral funk background arrangements are really nothing short of the touch of a genius. The vocals of Linda Lewis peak out only on a few places but they add a rare haunting beauty to the track. This was always one of my favorite FSOL/AA tracks, topped in its funkiness only by some recent tracks from the Cartel.
- Gaz spent 8 hours cutting up and mixing the guitar solo from a jam with Stinky Rowe at the Rock Opera.
- This track is not present in the Abeey Road cut and is one of the main reasons why I can't decide which cut I like better...

2. The Isness [2:58]
- Very intimate and very introspective track. Baluji really shines on this one.
- The working title of the track "The Isness" was "Low Tide On The Sea Of Flesh", the connections with the High Tide On The Sea of Flesh are obvious.
- The title track of the album means a number of things. I've heard it simply means God, or the fact that a thing is, or the state of things as they are. But the weirdest and most beautiful explanation I've heard is that the Isness is that moment when you are awaking and you are not yet awake but not asleep either, so a few different wavelengths tickle your brain and you feel funny/dazed, and everything is blurry and yet so clear.
- Also not present on the Abbey Road cut... WTF?

3. The Mello Hippo Disco Show [5:23]
- One of the oldest pieces here dating back to the 1997 Peel Sessions, under the working title as Trying to Make Impermanent Things Permanent. This final version is something like... the first try to make a prog-rock / sleazy pop song. The music is actually fairly complex with lots of organ layers, mellotrons, guitars and effects, while the lyrics are weird and seem to be rambling, until you hear them a few hundred times and realize they are mocking the fake people who present themselves to be on the top of the world.
- Supposedly inspired by 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'I Am The Walrus' by The Beatles.

4. Goodbye Sky (Reprise) [1:12]
- A short nostalgic track about the sky. It has nothing to do with the actual Goodbye Sky track except the words 'Goodbye Sky'.

5. Elysian Feels [4:45]
- One of the best tracks ever composed by the Amorphous Androgynous. This sound will define the directions in music on Alice in Ultraland and their live acts, and even further, the base sound on the Cartel. The breaks are crazy, the bass is funky as hell, the flutes are awesome, the horns are timeless and jazzy - the whole thing just fits. You can dance to it, you can drive with it, you can meditate to it.
- The beat is obviously inspired form The Beatles' Tomorrow Never Knows.

6. Go Tell It To The Trees Egghead [4:26]
- If you try to explain world folklore music in a few minutes, there isn't a better example than this song. It has everything, country, (European) folk, eastern percussions, and the xylophones are just beautiful. A real good-mood trigger sing.
- The working title was Hick, and I love that, but the final title is even better.

7. Divinity [7:25]
- Behold, the first true love ballad by Amorphous Androgynous. This track means so much to me... personally, I really can't write about it without drooling... (*10 minutes later) OK I'll give it a shot.
- The working title was Little Miss Divinity, and it was basically ready in 1999, but wasn't released...
- The lyrics, a fucking masterpiece, a true ego-less explanation of the trips to India - love yourself, be happy with yourself, but if you need a lover...
- The simple guitar, the sitar, the strings, the fugelhorn!!!, the percussions, the orchestrated choir, it's just pure emotional perfection! This song defines EPIC for me.
- An unreleased version with Donovan on vocals exists. (please release it!)

8. Guru Song [2:47]
- And what would this eastern-influenced album be without a Guru Song.
- The final cut is instrumental, shorter, with heavy breaks and mixed sitars.

9. Osho [2:12]
- And right after the Guru Song, a song dedicated to a guru.
- A really spiritual piece written in a classical Indian way. It's getting really hard to WRITE about the sounds on this album... You really can't explain the emotional triggers without repeating yourself and/or drooling in some way... time for another two day break...

10. Her Tongue Is Like A Jellyfish [2:34]
- Another instrumental piece with beautiful string section opening (by Max Richter). It was supposed to be some epic soundtrack song, but then a weird (yet standard) FSOL glitch happened: "On that particular track [originally called “FX Warps Sampler Spew”], Brian was trying to write a track, and it spat this shit back at him. The sampler jammed, spewing the samples out left and right, constantly morphing into each other. It seemed to join the end of the sample with the entire contents of the Akai S3000 sampler. It is an incredible hidden gate that spews out the most incredible shit. It is magic."

11. Meadows [3:27]
- The opening lyrics are from the sci-fi classic Silent Running (1972), but sample clearance was probably tricky so the lyrics were re-read and changed a little by Alexa Hamilton (yes, the actress). The soft voice is even better for the piece, which is another epic composition. The brightness of the track never fails to deliver.
- Supposedly inspired by Fleetwood Mac's Albatross.
- The Dead Cities scream sample is priceless...

12. High Tide On The Sea of Flesh [5:25]
- A slight change of pace with this one - it has a little darkness in it. It actually reminds of FSOL for a change. One of those introspective pieces that make you think about life in general. I distinctively remember making two good life decisions while the main High Tide theme was bouncing in my head.

13. The Galaxial Pharmaceutical [14:32]
- And where to start on this epic prog-rock epicness...? (*after another three day break): OK, The trivia first:
- the album was supposed to be named after this one, and I think it would've been a better choice, but Isness is good too.
- Gaz started writing this out of boredom (sitting all the time due to the broken leg).
- It contains over a hundred audio tracks, and it almost crashed the Mac they were often using.
- Inspired by Space Oddity by David Bowie, the connection is they explore inner space as opposed to outer space.
- Inner space and own spirituality also inspired by Deepak Chopra.
- Being epic, this piece has everything (in all seriousness and as a joke too). The opening is majestic, the fugelhorn / saxophone strikes gold again. Then the heavy guitars. Then the lyrics. The first part of the track ends around 7:45.
- The second part comes around the 10 minute mark, and the strings are phenomenal here. And then at 11:30 starts the Am I Big or Am I Small part - a piece that was stated as a stand-alone, and later incorporated into the Galaxial Pharmaceutical. This is the joking part, that I sometimes just skip because it requires a special mood, but the ending... the ending is majestic again.


C4. Chawawah [4:02]
- LP only track - it was later released on The Otherness (in 2004) - which is basically B-Sides and Remixes of the Isness.
- It's a fun and groovy track, incredibly reminding of The Beatles and that late '60s / early '70s era.


The Abbey Road / Mispressed version tracks:

1. Elysian Feels [6:03]
- A longer and louder version compared to the final cut. Different and maybe better fitting guitar soundscapes, but the beat isn't let loose and free here like in the final cut. The mid-track quieting down and tripping out is really cool (the percussions too).

2. The Mello Hippo Disco Show [4:32]
- A shorter yet more psychedelic version. The vocal is more upfront and mixed better. Still, I can't decide which version is better...

3. Goodbye Sky (Reprise) [1:10]
- The same version with the official version, yet it sounds a little different, because the whole Abbey Road cut is somewhat louder and tighter in production.

4. Osho [2:14]
- Same as the final cut.

5. The Galaxial Pharmaceutical [15:03]
- This one has the most drastic changes compared to the final cut.
- It's not fragmented into clearly divided parts like the final cut, and the intro is much much longer. The guitars are different too.
- As with all the tracks from both cuts, sometimes I think this is the better version, and sometimes not...

6. Yes My Brother [0:52]
- Exclusive short piece for the Abbey Road cut, this little funk gem was later (for the Alice in Ultraland album) developed in a full track called The Prophet, and also the name was used for another track 'Yes My Brother (You Gotta Turn Yourself Around)' which had the same drums.

7. Go Tell It To The Trees Egghead [5:31]
- It's a little longer, but basically the two cuts are the same.

8. Divinity [7:57]
- You're doing fine - and the guitar wilderness is ecstatic!
- Not very different from the final cut, a little longer though...

9. Guru Song [3:45]
- A longer version, with some lovely ego definitions in the middle. It took me a while to hear what the lyrics are.

10. Her Tongue Is Like A Jellyfish [2:33]
- Same as the final cut.

11. Meadows [3:28]
- Same as the final cut.

12. High Tide On The Sea Of Flesh [5:25]
- Same as the final cut.

13. Goodbye Sky [4:43]
- The second exclusive piece for this cut. The brass opening are, again, some sort of a joke that takes a special mood, so more often than not - I generally don't like this track. I just don't get it... or maybe don't want to get it...

--- --- ---

Bottom line, I really really can't decide which cut is better... I Love them both! (Gun to the head, I'll probably pick the final cut.)

There was also a 4 track promo sampler for The Isness. The versions of "The Mello Hippo Disco Show", "Elysian Feels" and "Go Tell It To The Trees Egghead" are the Abbey Road masters from the mispressed version, whilst the version of "Divinity" is the "Album Edit" from the "Divinity" promo single.

And now... To the sample library!

The opening flues of Elysian Feels (at 0:14) are sampled from a track by Gong called A Sprinkling of Clouds (at 8:44) from the album You (from 1974). Gong are one of the trippiest and mot psychedelic space rock bands that ever existed, criminally overlooked!


Also, officially credited is that Elysian Feels samples from Crosswinds by Dif Juz, from the 1985 album Extractions. I really can't hear any samples... maybe someone will spot it, but I think Crosswinds just inspired Elysian Feels with some melodies and chord progressions on the keyboards / saxophone sections.


The noise/ambiance (at 1:01) on Her Tongue Is Like a Jellyfish samples Timewhys (at 0:43) by Tonto's Expanding Head Band (from the album Zero Time from 1971)


Charles Trenet (French singer) - Credited for some sample on Meadows. It's said Meadows contains samples or melody from La Mer, a 1943-46 song by Trenet, or to be more precise, a 1966 version of that song performed by The Fluegel Knights (aka King Richard's Fluegel Knights) - it's extremely hard to dig out music by these guys to confirm anything... and I can't hear anything Meadows connected in the original La Mer (although, there are hundreds of versions of La Mer...) If I had to guess, I'd say it's that Hawaiian sound at 1:50 on Meadows.


The opening of The Galaxial Pharmaceutical (at 0:05) samples Through a Glass Darkly, A Lyrical Adventure (at 0:11) by Peter Howell & the BBC Radiophonic Workshop (from the 1978 album Through a Glass Darkly)


The beat on Chawawah (at 0:50 and onwards) samples the beat from Electric Light Orchestra - Don't Bring Me Down (album: Discovery, 1979)

[Ross]

Abbey Road for me, Guru Song is the only one I prefer on the final version. I can even hear the cuts where they stuck two bits together on the final versions of Divinity and Galaxial. It's incredibly rare I'd accuse the guys of being sloppy, but I just can't listen to those tracks. The Abbey Road Mello Hippo and Goodbye Sky are heavily indebted to the British 60s psych-pop I love, so they're winners for me.

Everything about that review sums up why I much prefer The Isness over the other AA stuff, though. It really is an epic, the number of musicians, the scale of the pieces, the range of styles, the orchestration and arrangements... It's a monumental, towering achievement.

[mcbpete]

Aye, Abbey road version for me too. The structure is just so much better than the final one which almost sounds like a best-of compilation (but just made from one album !)

[ronniedobbs]

100% Abbey Road, I was working in a record shop the Summer this came out, and it quickly became a store favorite. We were gifted with a batch of the AR version, and it's superior in every way. Especially after listening to the original mix, the "final cut" sounds very disjointed and edited. Don't fix what ain't broke!

[RazorJack]

Nice album, just realized it's been far too long since my last listen. The Mello Hippo Disco Show is my favorite track.

I think I've listened to the EP more often than the entire album, though the album version of this song is best.. :s

Honestly I think Tales Of Ephidrina is better though, as far as they can be compared. Not digging some of the vocals and sitar on The Isness.

[Pandemonium]

Pete, true, the final cut sounds like a compilation,
but I don't like the track order on the Abbey Cut either...
- and the Abbey cut is mixed a bit too loud for my taste...
- I don't want to defend the final cut, the best course would be a new cut

-- The Isness - Remastered & Expanded -- 4 CD box - or something

[Pandemonium]

The opening of The Galaxial Pharmaceutical (at 0:05) samples Through a Glass Darkly, A Lyrical Adventure (at 0:11) by Peter Howell & the BBC Radiophonic Workshop (from the 1978 album Through a Glass Darkly)

I see no one mentioned this - it was a new find for me I was pretty impressed - even submitted it on WhoSampled.com
- did you guys knew about this sample - I don't remember it was ever mentioned here...
(I mean I know he was credited but never knew the exact track / sample)

[LooseLink]

In a sense, the last world FSOL created that your ears and mind can dive into for hours and hours at a time.

You "could" count the Environments series at the moment as a world, but its nowhere near as focused as Lifeforms-ISDN-DeadCities and The Isness. The immersiveness of the Headscapes they were in and expressing was not as elaborated on as the previous worlds were, more focusing on the influences instead of the output, way less mystery, but the spirit was there in the personality of the broadcasts. And again its completely different to the world they created before, which makes it all the more interesting. Over time the material has started to come out, and you now get the sense that that world was as large as the previous one, more to explore.

As a album: again the "world" part just adds to the whole experience compared to the rest of the Amorphous output, though there has been some good stuff coming out since, especially from the Cartel.

[Dennis]

Yeah, an Isness-rerelease would be it. My suggestions for the definitive version: abbey road/mispressed version including the isness(track) and the lovers and maybe some otherness/unreleased stuff on (at least one) bonus cd. *dream*

BTW I never recognized the 'am I big or am I small' as a joking part. In fact I always found this slightly scary, there is a very weird effect on the vocal (adding to the fact that Gaz is singing also in a very weird manner), giving it this strange feverish acid-trip like atmosphere, and this weird lyric about loosing any sense of reality is what one really experiences when being under the influence of stuff like acid or mushrooms, esp. that part describes that so perfectly musically & lyrically (as btw. the whole album does), this is something I always found very fascinating.

[Ross]

The Isness is definitely more in line with the atmospheric side of FSOL than the funky songy psych side of Alice / Peppermint / Cartel etc. It creates a real environment.
I think Environments 4 does as good a job as their '90s albums at creating a "world", the others slightly less so, although 2 holds together simply through the stylistic consistency of the tracks.

[Pandemonium]

LooseLink makes a really good point a few posts up, but maybe a bit too harsh...
I think we've all felt the detail and the "new submersive world" effect was/is missing since The Isness
even though every piece of music they released was really really good.
(yes, Cartel excluded, though I still need time to drink this one up and decide how awesome it is),
(yes Ross, I also think E2 and E4 are very very good and they hold their own little submersive world)

- Well, generally, they're not as young as they used to be, and - life happens, kids too... so they couldn't work on it 24/7 as they used to.
- And generally in the 2007-2011 period they decided to release / re-brush all the material that was rotting away on tapes and old hard-drives (and that God they released all that).

- BUT, in 2011/2012 they finally ran out of older material and started new stuff. Archives 7 and E4 were just the warm-up.
- The FSOL is still on the more passive/dormant side, something like the things I said a bit earlier, making electronic music that is very good and introspective, but a little vague and open to interpretation. In the '90s era there is no vagueness - everything is spot-on and they just say exactly what they want to say.
- The Cartel is really a massive project looking from a composer / arranger / producer perspective.

[Ross]

What I find interesting is that they haven't released a "proper" new album as AA or FSOL since 2005 (The Peppermint Tree is very much an Environments-esque mix of old and new with alternate takes and mixes is in there). As there's no evidence that any of the side projects are definitely both guys, that's really quite odd. The Cartel is the nearest thing.

[Pandemonium]

Also, officially credited is that Elysian Feels samples from Crosswinds by Dif Juz, from the 1985 album Extractions. I really can't hear any samples... maybe someone will spot it, but I think Crosswinds just inspired Elysian Feels with some melodies and chord progressions on the keyboards / saxophone sections.


Charles Trenet (French singer) - Credited for some sample on Meadows. It's said Meadows contains samples or melody from La Mer, a 1943-46 song by Trenet, or to be more precise, a 1966 version of that song performed by The Fluegel Knights (aka King Richard's Fluegel Knights) - it's extremely hard to dig out music by these guys to confirm anything... and I can't hear anything Meadows connected in the original La Mer (although, there are hundreds of versions of La Mer...) If I had to guess, I'd say it's that Hawaiian sound at 1:50 on Meadows.

I also hoped someone would comment on this (but probably everyone got tired of reading when/if they reached the end of the review aka the sample library... It really tickles my OCD that these tracks/people are credited and I can't find out why exactly