Environment FIVE: out 8-Sep-2014

[RazorJack]

Maybe they done that because this is not the next in the "Environments" series but rather a completely new album.

[Ross]

Environments or Environments 1, depending on whereabouts on the sleeve you look
Environments II or Environments 2, depending on whereabouts on the sleeve you look
Environments 3
Environments 4
Environment Five

I think the differences between titles on the original FSOLDigital releases of the Archives and their CD counterparts, the random pluralisation of things (Small Town becomes Small Towns on Fears & Fantasies of the Unconscious Mind being the first example of many!) show that they're actually not that bothered about the specifics of the title, as long as they hint at the mood that's important.

Much like the artwork, as discussed in the Terminal Radio thread, the titles have become very 'plain' these days - no psychedelic trippy Far Out Son of Lung and the Ramblings of a Madman type craziness, just 'River Delta' and things. I think in this sense, the titles can be intentionally vague.


I think 5 is the next in the series, largely because 1 - 4 have moved to the top of FSOLDigital, so they obviously want to promote them alongside each other. I think the likelihood is that it's a singular narrative / theme, whereas the others were intended to be individual ideas sewn together. Although 2 has the most coherently named tracklist of any album they've done, with all the icy, arctic titles, so who knows.

[seedy]

haha my guess would be that all of these examples were simple accidents or just things they don't care about


brian would probably read this thread and say "guys....get ahold of yourselves!"

[moxlox]

I mean, most of us buy the physical releases for art-collecting-purposes, not for listening

Just to add to the discussion. My preference is the physical release because of the experience of putting it on, listening to it, thumbing through the artwork. This is especially true of vinyl because I have to be more involved to clean the record before I listen, get up frequently to flip it over because of the shorter sides etc. So to listen to vinyl I dedicate more time to just the experience of listening to it. CDs in a similar way, though not as much involved because of their ease of usability.

Digital downloads I use for when I am away from home, at work, in the car on the move. Works well for me. But I can't abide digital on line shopping. Which is another reason I like physical releases - the browsing experience and the excitement I still get of finding something I don't quite know in a shop, buying it, then the suspense of waiting to get home to listen to it!!

CDs remain my most common listening experience. Vinyl for my very favourite stuff. The best stuff I get on both vinyl and CD, I guess for a collecting standpoint.

Environment Five will be CD and vinyl. Partly as I cannot bear to have it only on vinyl and all the other Environments on CD. .....did someone mention OCD around here?!......

[Pandemonium]

I think OCD is a requirement in being a FSOL fan

[Ross]

Has anybody here actually been diagnosed with OCD, by the way? Or is it just being used as shorthand for pedantic attention to detail?

[Pandemonium]

I think it's one of those fancy new western disorders/syndromes - that actually doesn't exist

Seriously, there are like 0 cases diagnosed with OCD in eastern Europe.

- mildly related to this, but a phenomenal video I just watched

http://video-subtitle.tedcdn.com/talk/p ... 80p-en.mp4

[moxlox]

Has anybody here actually been diagnosed with OCD, by the way? Or is it just being used as shorthand for pedantic attention to detail?

Shorthand for being a pedant, yes

[Ross]

I think it's one of those fancy new western disorders/syndromes - that actually doesn't exist

Seriously, there are like 0 cases diagnosed with OCD in eastern Europe.

Actually, I think it's more commonly diagnosed in Eastern Europe than Western, to my knowledge.

Edit: mention of that here here.

Edit 2: treatment study done in a hospital in your hometown

It's also not new - the name is around a hundred years old, but was chosen as a compromise when bringing several long-known, similar conditions under one name.

As for 'doesn't exist', having suffered with it myself, and having known others who have it, I know how life-ruining and debilitating it can be, I cannot fathom why anyone would make it up. If I could do anything to get rid of it, I would, believe me.
Bearing in mind that most mental health disorders are simply ways of labeling 'odd behaviour' that makes it difficult for a person to integrate comfortably into society. In the past, such people may have been recognised as eccentrics, heretics or possessed, but the behaviours were there. Example of famous historical people who would almost certainly be diagnosed with OCD now.

[mcbpete]

Has anybody here actually been diagnosed with OCD, by the way?

Thankfully not (though have a close relative that does), completely debilitating condition and wouldn't wish it on anyone. Michael J Fox's portrayal of it in Scrubs (I'm not an avid watcher of it so not sure how frequent his character appeared) was scarily spot on, still haunted by the end of an episode where he's struggling to leave the room due to the continued checking of a light switch.

EDIT: Here's the clip *warning , contains Coldplay*

[Ross]

Rituals involving washing and light switches are the most common / well known examples of obsessive compulsive behaviour, and thankfully I have to deal with neither. But his performance is spot on. The self-contained anger that comes from knowing you have a compulsive behaviour you know is nonsensical, yet can't stop without inducing a massive panic / anxiety attack is perfect in that.

What a nice way to start the day!

[epitome]

The only thing I'd consider myself slightly OCD about is my music collection. And even then, I wouldn't go as far as saying I really was OCD about it, I just like it to be organised and as complete as possible.

[dell1972]

It is something that can be very debilitating, thankfully not something I have. I remember the episode of scrubs Pete mentioned, powerful stuff. It could be argued I'm paid on a day to day basis to be a bit OCD. I test software for a living which means I pick fault in everything everyone around me does. I seem to have done something bad in another life as I spend most of my time correcting terminally dyslexic colleagues, and Japanese colleagues whose English never quite makes sense. It really pains me to read stuff like that, but with me it is just being paid to be a pedant. What Ross is describing is an entirely different ball-park.

[Pandemonium]

Well Ross, I stand corrected.

Like Epitome & Dell, I also thought in the direction of slightly OCD or overly pedant / organized. Those real cases of OCD are really horrible.

I still think they throw around OCD and ADHD too much and without having a closer look in the world, especially at kids (hence, the link from the speaker in my previous post - has anyone seen that - it's quite brilliant).

[Ross]

I still think they throw around OCD and ADHD too much and without having a closer look in the world, especially at kids (hence, the link from the speaker in my previous post - has anyone seen that - it's quite brilliant).

The video is absolutely fantastic, and it does tie in somewhat with my definition of what a mental health condition is - it's something that stops people conforming to perceived 'normality'. If we lived in a society which embraced people's differences more, the need to define things as illnesses would decrease dramatically; furthermore, I genuinely believe a lot of anxiety-based conditions (OCD, depression, etc.) would be less prevalent, or would at least flare up less often.