My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day release

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Ross
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

Post by Ross »

Chris3d wrote:Part 5 in effect is just the radio edit of Part 1. Not sure why they did that. As on the Cascade single, the shortform was included on the end of the other 5 parts.
Yes, it appears on the promo as 'Media Mix', which makes more sense than Part 5. None of their other radio edits are considered 'parts'.
The live version on the Netshow CD you mean? I like that version too with the extra samples and effects. So that's actually 4 other versions aside from the single.
Yes, it's a whole new jam based around the single version, and running in at five minutes it would have been perfect for the album.

That said, the album version is basically the same as the 1995 version only with a different break, so they almost certainly finished the track in late '95/early '96, and then once the album was completed they started work on the single version, which takes it in a whole different direction.
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

Post by Chris3d »

It's interesting what other tracks were on that CD too and how they originally sounded. Seems the original version of Yage was actually Hallucination and they made it more dubby for the album. Carlos doesn't seem to be used or released anywhere else though. Her Face Forms in Summertime is much darker on the album too. Which I actually prefer. I wonder if they were trying to do that with the album version of My Kingdom. I don't actually dislike the album version, but it's just that the Rachael's Song vocal signals the end of the track :(
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

Post by Ross »

Well, as I say, it's likely the album version predates the single version by some months. My guess is for the single, they were jamming with the track and came up with that gorgeous synth part in the middle which totally transformed the mood and structure of the piece entirely. I've said it many times, but the point where Mary Hopkin's vocal comes in out of almost silence in the middle is my favourite moment in the history of recorded music.

The Hallucination version of Yage dates back to the 1995 Peel/Futura sessions as well, that one definitely got way more transformation than the others. They're incredibly different pieces. It surprises me, really, that the planned third single from the album was Glass, given that between Hallucination, Insulin, the Oil Remix of Yage heard in 1996, and the Sunset Strip & Bejing versions from the EBS mixes, there's a whole multi-part single of radically different mixes seemingly ready to go there.

Carlos featured on the 1995 Essential Mix and is still around, played on the Touched Radio night last year under the name Santana, so I'd imagine it'll appear on a future Archive one of these days.
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

Post by Chris3d »

I always thought Yage deserved a single of paths. Yashica would fit on there too. Glass I was surprised when I first read it was originally set for a single release. The only track I can think of on their Archives releases even similar is Space Squids. Don't suppose there is much chance of them constructing these as belated singles. Although they did it with Environments 1.

Carlos? Santana? A connection there surely?
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

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I would imagine Carlos/Santana is intentional, maybe it's a source of a sample.

I believe they were planning to do something with Eno for the Glass single, but it never happened. As you can tell by WHE Part 3, they'd already moved on to earthier, funkier things by then. Another Dead Cities thing that never happened: a version of Max with Suede's Brett Anderson singing (Suede were massive FSOL fans at the time).

The one I'd really like to hear is the Eggshell single. It's likely that Climbing from Archive 4 was part of it somehow, but otherwise its contents are a mystery. I'm guessing with the overlap of the planned and scrapped Environments album and ISDN, there was just no room for another single in there. It's unlikely we'll ever get it, though. I suppose there's always Globular if we want a longform version of the track.

I think there was also a second ISDN planned single. I wonder what they would have entailed.
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

Post by Chris3d »

Glass is unlikely to emerge then seeing how it was meant to collaborative. But as you say, Yage is pretty much ready to go though.

I thought Climbing sounded much later. But many of their tracks surprise me as to how early they were actually written. Tokyo Travel for example.

I know there are outtakes of ISDN with a longer version of It's My Mind That Works. Also on the outtakes was Brujo, Fractional Difference and Teeth of the Wind. Again, more tracks that were ready to go but somehow never happened.
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

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Well, Climbing definitely has the same melody as Eggshell which ties it in. It could always be a later thing - could even be a Globular outtake. The eight minute It's My Mind That Works is incredible, I wish it could have been included like that on the album, one of my favourite FSOL tracks. That outtakes selection is pretty cool, and there are still a handful of tracks which are unreleased. And so many others on the various other transmissions - there's a bloody amazing one with a vocal sample that appears on some of the Dead Cities shows.

But yeah, the Archives series just gives you an idea of how prolific they are - Dead Cities and ISDN could easily have been double albums without losing any of their quality. As far as I know, they make just as much material these days, which is how we got Synthi A, Environments 6, 6.5 and Environmental all within the space of a year.
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

Post by Chris3d »

Just listened to both Eggshell and Climbing, and yes there is a similarity in those patted drums on Eggshell. That's the thing, it's so difficult to place when some tracks were even made.

Hopefully they release a couple more archives albums to include those unreleased tracks. Even if they are just done as random tracks like the first 3 volumes. If not then maybe as bonus material if they ever do the reissues.
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

Post by Blinker »

I have to say that this is very exciting indeed. I've been wondering what they would come up with this year. Looks like they'll getting more of money! They are the band that keep on giving... I think I have more FSOL stuff than any other group now and I don't even have everything.

I'm really excited to hear what this will be like. The original EP was a game changer for me (like many others I suppose) I had never heard anything like it before, so I suppose this has a lot to live up to. They are however probably the most consistent artists I can think of though, I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

On a different note, I would love that massive re-issue of Dead Cities to happen. Is it definitely not happening?
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

Post by Rob »

Blinker wrote:I have to say that this is very exciting indeed. I've been wondering what they would come up with this year. Looks like they'll getting more of money! They are the band that keep on giving... I think I have more FSOL stuff than any other group now and I don't even have everything.

I'm really excited to hear what this will be like. The original EP was a game changer for me (like many others I suppose) I had never heard anything like it before, so I suppose this has a lot to live up to. They are however probably the most consistent artists I can think of though, I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

On a different note, I would love that massive re-issue of Dead Cities to happen. Is it definitely not happening?
It'a an adventure, a challenging hell of pleasure to complete all their outputs through the years - of course, not only the physical ones, there is a bigger treasure to dig out from the digital only releases as well - it's exciting me, with them it's always a neverending surprise!
Yes, My Kingdom is so powerful use of sound&vision, to me (was) is THE radiation.?. .they usually comes from environments, cosmos, from the outside...that ONE emission is so deep from the inner consciousness! My skeleton went permanent fluorescent after 14 Oct 1996. So you can imagine how much i WAIT for its new DESTINATION ;)

...just ramblings from an old f**t....
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

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Blinker wrote:On a different note, I would love that massive re-issue of Dead Cities to happen. Is it definitely not happening?
They're certainly up for deluxe reissues of their '90s catalogue - it's in the hands of Universal / EMI / Virgin / whoever owns that company this week. If the Lifeforms LP reissue sells well I'm sure the label will be happier to consider a proper reissue campaign. They certainly did a good job with The Orb a few years back so there's nothing to say FSOL can't get the same treatment.

And yeah, My Kingdom was my introduction to the band - I still remember finding the cassette single and putting it on at home one Saturday afternoon at the age of 12. A genuine life changing moment.
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

Post by moxlox »

WOW!

Unexpected this is!
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

Post by Concept »

Well looking forward to this.
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

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Chris3d wrote:I always thought Yage deserved a single of paths. Yashica would fit on there too. Glass I was surprised when I first read it was originally set for a single release. The only track I can think of on their Archives releases even similar is Space Squids. Don't suppose there is much chance of them constructing these as belated singles.
Quick update to this - the Glass EP was never finished at the time, it got scrapped as they moved onto more psychedelic things. Two pieces worked on for it, however, were 'Glacier' and 'I Turn to Face the Sun'. So although we'll never hear an EP, that should give you a good idea of the mood it would have been.
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Re: My Kingdom re-imagined / Isness - Record Store Day relea

Post by Chris3d »

I knew tracks like Glacier, Sendero Luminoso (aka Shining Path), Mango Tree, 100 Baby Spiders and The Exhibition were set to fit in somewhere after Dead Cities, as some of them feature on promos that came out at that time. I’d have never have placed I Turned To Face The Sun around that time though, so that’s good to know. I guess the commercial success of We Have Explosive and My Kingdom could have also deterred them from completing the Glass EP, as perhaps they thought it wouldn’t follow suit.
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