Environment FIVE: out 8-Sep-2014

[mcbpete]

Pre order Tues 26th aug from FSOLdigital.com and get a 3 track bonus EP on Release

I'll only get the EP if I pre-order do I? Well that means my 2014 purchase ban is exempted as I'll not be able to get it next year - yaaaaaas (I may have kinda breached it this year with a few [or lots] of plugins that were on sale)

[epitome]

Yeah, don't worry, it was only a VERY slight disappointment - I'd got my hopes up with the earlier talks of a possible double album that this one might at least be closer to 70 minutes. Don't worry though, I'm still very happy with 53 minutes - can't wait to hear it

[Dennis]

No, I meant the main album on MP3/FLAC? Like when you buy a CD off Bandcamp or Amazon. I'm pretty sure they don't do that.

There was no download when I ordered The Cartel-CD´s, so I guess it will be the same with this one. Slightly dissapointing for me cause UK-orders arrive over here within 2 weeks in average, so I guess it will arrive when the actual CD is out in the shops here for a week at least...

[Pandemonium]

Yeah, they definitely should work out a email response with a download link

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

[RazorJack]

Cool, can't wait to receive it!

[Ross]

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

...? That's a bold claim. I don't know many people who do that...

I am a bit surprised at the length, I'm wondering if all the talk of it being a long one means that the remaining material will be what forms Environments 6. If 'Five G', '******' and 'Strange Glare' aren't on it then maybe they'll be on 6.

53 minutes is a pretty good album length to be honest - Lifeforms and Dead Cities are very much exceptions to the 'long albums = long winded' rule for me. Once the novelty of fitting 74 minutes onto a CD faded in the late '90s, I've noticed loads of bands who used to do looooooong albums have gone back to doing albums less than an hour long - Orbital, FSOL, Underworld, The Orb etc., none of them seem to feel the need to fill a CD anymore.

[epitome]

Some of my favourite albums are long ones... my favourite of all time is Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, which is over 2 hours. And obviously Lifeforms and Dead Cities are great long albums, I could list countless more. But there are loads of shorter albums that I love too, some under half an hour. 53 minutes is a nice length and I suppose it will be easier to find the time to listen to it too

I'm glad the release is brought forward a week - that means I have FSOL and Amplifier on the 8th and then there's still 4 or 5 albums coming out the week after that.

[mcbpete]

I used to be a firm believer of physical releases until I moved to my flat and realised what a pain in the arse it was to store stuff in my small bedroom after a while. Still get stuff if it's super fancy in design, but other than that FLAC/MP3 purchases have been my main format.

Not that I want it to be that way, but the logistics of it make it so ...

[OffLand]

Question: Why are all the past albums called "Environments" (with an s) and the new one is just "Environment"

A shift in direction? Conspiracy? Nothing at all?

[Pandemonium]

Yeah, the singular/plural mistypes of FSOL give my OCD a beating every time...

There are countless examples, but I think this one is done deliberately

- like, the other ones were chunked together from different environments from different times, and this is one new continuous Environment.

[Ross]

Certainly the way the others have been promoted, "through darkness and light. Through jungles and cities, from outer space to inner space" etc., it suggests that they are definitely plural environments, whereas this is an individual one. Although it was described as Environments in the Fears and Fantasies tracklist...

[Ross]

Amazon now have much larger images up:

Ultra-nerd observation: the font used for the band name is not the usual font, but the incredibly similar one that appears occasionally on their recent sleeves (usually the cat. number on the spine, but also the whole spine text for E3, and the distribution credits etc.) Slightly thinner, with a more rounded 's'.

[darktrain]

Just pre-ordered it now on fsoldigital.Curious as to what the 3 track e.p is that we will be getting.Judging from the samples they have released this could be the best one in the series.Also love how they are all new tracks.YES.New tracks!

[dell1972]

I see the band did a (e)mail-out today about the band. Seems there's an FSOL twitter account now:

https://mobile.twitter.com/fsoldigital

You never know, the EP might be an hour long too. Suspect not though. Interesting they're calling it an EP rather than just bonus tracks.

[RazorJack]

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

...? That's a bold claim. I don't know many people who do that...

I actually do, but not for many albums, maybe 5 or so. Stuff that I own on both vinyl and digital, and when I want to hear the music I'll just play the CD/Spotify/pirated version.

But I already know now that I'll play the Environment Five LP's non-stop for days, I've already dusted off my turntable and cleaned the needle, omg two more weeks... I can't wait that long

Also I am looking forward to find out if it will come in a nice gatefold with printed inner sleeves like Lifeforms, ISDN and Dead Cities. It better does!!