How did you feel the first time you saw this ....

[mcbpete]

[youtube]vh0kF34o0TY
(Apologies, I can't find a less compressed version)

I think this video was hosted on a very old version of futuresoundoflondon.com back when it was just some crazy flash links and a rather black message board (and a shop that promised to open soon, which only came to fruition after the main site itself died to be later replaced with fsoldigital.com). Anyway, I seem to remember being rather shocked (to put it mildly) when I saw this 'Psychedelic Manifesto' not knowing where the hell this direction had come from - even though there were hints in the latter day ISDN & radio sets - and certainly not knowing whether I liked it or not. I distinctly remember going down to the pub with my friends that afternoon and returning a couple of hours later and thinking: "Hang on, this might work actually !"

By the time the album arrived on my lap I was pretty much prepared for what I was in for, especially with their sets close to the album launch (although Divinity took me a little off guard, to this day I still cringe a little bit when I hear it !), and although it took me a few listens for me to take it in I did enjoy it.

But yeah, the first time I heard the Manifesto video my ears and eyes were

Et toi ?

[Dennis]

Great, never saw that video before.

My first encounter with "The Isness" was around a time in 2002 when I thought FSOL had split up after nothing came past "Dead Cities" and their "Teachings..." video which was shown a few times on MTV Europe around 1998-99. I remember reading an announcement in a german music-magazin (focussing on Prog-Rock and stuff) which states that FSOL is back again with an album full of David Bowie & Beatles influences.

I still can remember the confusion when I read this article, I mean "David Bowie & Beatles Influences", was the least I expected from one of the coolest and most futuristic electronic music artists I knew at all at this time, but curiosity won, and I ordered the album right away without hearing anything from it in advance, (at a time when it was not officially released in germany).

What can I say, I didn´t regret it, It´s still one of my all time favourite albums of all time, if I had to make a list of my favourite top 10 albums of all time, it definitely deserved one of the first places still all those years since its release.

And "divinity" is great though!! The whole album captures just anything musically that I was ever into, from electro to progrock to psychedelia, and it´s just incredibly timeless in its appearance, i´m sure you can play 10 years ago, and it will still not sound outdated.

[Ross]

Ah, look who uploaded the video! As far as I know, that's the only quality available, it was a tiny little QuickTime video.

Brings back memories, I remember listening to it and being so excited. I found Translations to be a bit disappointing on the whole - overly long and some tracks without much progression, but this was a whole 'nother thing. I loved everything about it, particularly 'the Jo Jo song' which I was desperate to hear in its entirety (the Abbey Road version, which I heard first because I was insane enough to spend £70 on the first Isness promo that come up on eBay back in April 2002 didn't disappoint me, but the final mix has always seemed too loud and clattery, probably because I was first familiar with the softer, jangly version from this video).

What surprises me now - and what disappointed me about the album at the time - is that it's not very representative of Amorphous. The four tracks on the EPK are 3-5 minute pop songs, no psychedelic jams. From everything Gaz was saying at the time coupled with this video, I expected the album to be song-based, so was very surprised to find eight instrumentals and only one of the songs from the video.

I still love the Abbey Road mix of The Isness mind, it's got a light, sparse poppiness to it, in some ways it's probably FSOL's most laid back album (other than Environments 2), I love how well structured the pieces are and every instrument has a chance to breathe. The other two albums I'm still not sold on, although they have some truly magic moments.

Funnily enough the AA album I listen to most is a compilation I made of their poppier tracks, mostly the songs - minus Rocket Fuel and Marylebone Road - plus Chawawah.

[Pandemonium]

By the year 2002 I was heavily influenced and very-very IN-to FSOL, I've listened all the albums and singles hundreds of times, moved to a bigger city, discovered faculty fast(er) Internet, Disenchanted and TONS of ISDN transmissions ... Holy shit, I still don't believe that someone has listened those Disenchanted transmissions more than me

Then, in the summer of 2002, I was in a local (semi-pirate) music shop, named (losely translated ) 'I heard, I heard' - and then I saw the cover of The Isness and read the letters FSOL presents AA... and in that moment the sales kid (who liked only downtempo Thievery Corp. style of music) said to me: That album is the BOMB man, it's even better that Thievery... I listened to it on headphones right there next - I was stunned, first by difference, than by bliss, then I fell in love with The Isness. A month later I found (accidentally) the mispresed version...

[Tito Lozano]

I remember 2002 ,for me passed long time without news about Future Sound Of London...in this year i leave my university studies(never finish my Teacher of English studies,im very bad with language as you all see)and start a job as Waiter of restaurant...with money i bought my first pc...my first searching on google....FSOL! and bingo!!! i saw the old flash web and say wow this is psychedelic! Isness was a very changes feelings in a very change times...Then i found Soulseek p2p(1 person say me about my great fsol mp3 searchings and tell me about Disenchanted Room)and time after i found this forum

And i think that i know person that upload this video , is not bad guy...

[dubmasta]

The first time i listened to new then Amorphous stuff i must admit i didnt get excited at all, i think because it was not FSOL and i was desperately dying to listen to unreleased FSOL material. Now that ive got the Archives and the Environments, and i know that more material is coming soon, listening to Amorphous Androgynous now, i can say that i find it very enjoyable and i like it a lot...

[tryptych]

I thought it was very convenient.. like some strange hippie continuation to the Dead Cities-era. I always thought it was kinda funny for people to still wait for some kind of sequel to DC after those years. Maybe after 4 years, but in 6 years time just passed it by.. The time between DC and those pre-Isness tracks was some of the best ever for me.

I really love the AA stuff..

[mcbpete]

Big topic bump ....

It looks like clearer versions of the videos used in that [now-removed] EPK are featured here -



Do you think full length videos to the songs actually exist or are there just these mini super-8 clips ?