More and More Stuff On FSOLDIGITAL

[OffLand]

All previously unreleased but probably all from the archives.
So new to us!

[moxlox]

Sweet. Downloaded and listening to it now. Good start!

[dell1972]

So the cover artwork for this would appear to be for Environments 6...

[Ross]

Does it say that inside? Mine hasn't arrived yet.

[epitome]

Yeah, just got mine and it does say that inside.... COOL!

[Ross]

The booklet is wonderful - much more than simply reproductions of the recent artwork, it features full pre-printing layouts for the sleeves (maybe I'm the only one nerdy enough to care about that!), lots of unseen images, various bits of text which I can only imagine are from the script of Yage: The Movie (a PDF of the script is something I would love to turn up on FSOLDigital) and lots of really interesting shots from the band's studio and archives, including various DATs and promo CDs.

What is visible from the promo CDs is very interesting:
The Future Sound of London 'BBC Sessions'
1. Lifeforms
2. Expander
3. Papua New Guinea
4. My Kingdom
5. Yage
6. Shining Path
7. The Mello Hippo Disco Show
8. Thinking About Thinking

I wonder at what point this disc was burned - whenever it was, 'Trying to Make Impermanent Things Permanent' was referred to as 'The Mello Hippo Disco Show' at the time.

There's one for a disc called The Future Sound of London - The Video Collection 1992 - 1996 (I would imagine this was an idea for the DVD release that was mooted in 2002 / 2003 but EMI were less keen on) which featured the full Lifeforms cover / Dead Cities CD image.

There's another for The Mello Hippo Disco Radio Show hosted by The One Man Band of Cosmos, and a CD sleeve for Zeebox - I'm guessing that was a test for the mooted 2001 2xCD release.

And most interestingly, there's something rather strange entitled Fish Smokin' (subtitled "[something] of unreleased tracks") with images of dead fish with cigarettes in their mouths.

The cover of 2" Tape Reels turns up elsewhere to tease us!

And then there's a piece of text that reads:
MIRROR OPAYK
Envisaged Installation Akt-3mondom
NEW YORK - Environments 8
24 Oscillator light affected panels
Geo matrix design enables tracking of the sun


Er... Environments 8. I wonder how far ahead everything is planned...?!


But yeah, the overall thing reminds me of the Dead Cities 192 page book, only smaller. Definitely worth the money.

[Pandemonium]

Well who knows when mine will turn up...
- And yes, it is/was really cheap -- I wanted to buy two, but then I reconsidered and ordered a CD for a gift...

[Ross]

Oh and it comes hand-numbered - by Brian I believe.

[ronniedobbs]

Do they still send you a download link or do we go to their site to do downloads now? I got a message saying you must be logged in to download?

[epitome]

Yeah, gotta say it's a great booklet. But now I feel like I will have to hide it away so that it never gets damaged! My precious...

[Pandemonium]

Is it built good or will it age bad ? (like the Dead Cities limited booklet)

[dell1972]

It's kind of like a glossy magazine with thick pages, stapled together. Outer cover is glossy thick paper, inner isn't glossy but still thick. As long as you're fairly careful I'd imagine it would stand the test of time. My Dead Cities booklet got nicked back in 1998 (along with the majority of my record collection) so I never got to see it grow old disgracefully. I'd imagine the spine would break over time and pages fall out.

There were a few tantalising suggestions of things possibly to come in the booklet, most of which Ross mentioned. There was a very nice looking Piano : EMS whole page cover. The Smokin' Fish thing was funny and I didn't quite know what to make of the Environments 8/24 Oscillator thing.

I did wonder if we'd see a BBC Sessions album at some point...

[darktrain]

Hey dell, I have a spare Dead Cities book if you're interested,no charge to a fellow Fsol fan.

Let me know if you want it.

[Pandemonium]

Well, if Dell doesn't want it -- I certainly do.

I mean, I do have one - but I always imagined if I'd have another one -- I'd pick the one (of the two) that was more fallen apart -- rip all the pages and make quality scans from it - so it would be preserved (and shared) - in a digital way at least.

[dell1972]

Oh that would be extremely kind of you Mr. Train! I guess I could say I have not seen that booklet this century! I see they still have copies of the Ltd Edition package on fsoldigital, but rather pricey, so I suspect they're getting low on stock.

It would be good to get the booklet digitised, but I agree it would involve completely trashing one of the books.