The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Feel free to talk about anything and everything FSOL related in this board.
User avatar
epitome
Elaborate Burn
Posts: 1037
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:18 pm

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by epitome »

Got it - I haven't heard anything from either of these, so looking forward to it :)
User avatar
ronniedobbs
Expander
Posts: 302
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:27 pm

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by ronniedobbs »

Digital downloads seem to be dead until the 20th as well.
play this backwards and you'll hear evil messages
User avatar
sigESANg5
Tingler
Posts: 128
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2012 3:42 pm

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by sigESANg5 »

'We Persuade Ourselves We Are Immortal' digital download is now active !!! this has been a very much anticipated release ... here we go !!! :D
User avatar
OffLand
Ill Flower
Posts: 554
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2011 2:41 am
Contact:

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by OffLand »

'We Persuade Ourselves We Are Immortal', while not my favourite AA single, does have it's moments. 'Psych Recap' is fantastic.
______________________________________________
- Off Land
User avatar
Ross
Environmentalisations Se7en
Posts: 4480
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:03 pm
Contact:

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by Ross »

We Persuade Ourselves We Are Immortal. It's been five years since we first heard a snippet of this. I'm not sure what my expectations of it are/were anymore. Probably doesn't help that we've heard the bulk of the song from Facebook videos anyway. It is a tremendous song, although I'm not convinced it needs quite so much of a stop-start structure. It's maybe not quite on the Galaxial / Plankton level when it comes to amazing epics, but it's still very good. No loops, and the only electronics are in the intro and outro. Amorphous feels a very long way from the FSOL-isms of The Isness now.
Hymortality. Ambient version. Some synth pads, then strings and choir, guitar solos. Lots of sequences and EMS squelches, Brian's presence is more keenly felt here. Some synth noodling. Pink Floyd-style bass. A palate cleanser after the first track.
Immortality Break. Cartel style pounding funky breaks version. Loud choirs. Outro gets a bit more atmospheric again. This one falls into the 'not my thing' category.
Physically I'm Here, Mentally Far, Far Away. I suppose this is the 'orchestral' version, operates similarly to 'The World's in Transience' on Mello Hippo for the first two thirds. Some nice plinky synth arps and white noise washes from the EMS come in near the end.
Psych Recap. Back to The Cartel with fuzz bass and breakbeats (although they sound live rather than sampled). Sounds like Gaz's vocals coming through for the first time. Backwards sitars and something that sounds very close to the 'gull' sound from PNG. Lots more manic sounds in there... this is the closest to the 'progtronica' end of Amorphous we've got so far, this could almost be on Alice in Ultraland. Fades out into some more electronic sounding environments and that 'One of These Days' bass again.
Synthony. Opens with a couple of minutes of the kinds of sounds we've already heard so far. Finally we get into Dave Spiers's big synth melodies. Well into Vangelis territory here. Some new drums come in and it's turning into something of an instrumental reprise of the main track. Lots of wailing female wordless voices, something the MPB album had too... too many maybe. It all builds up to a climax, going for a big epic finale, the sort that an album based on a track like this definitely deserves.


So... that definitely opens and closes on two really great tracks. 'Psych Recap' is a fun breaksy workout, if a bit slight, and the other three were sort of just variations on the same sounds really. In some ways, I found it a bit underwhelming, in that most of the new material doesn't seem to add that much new to the first track. I'll also be honest, I do miss the slightly more electronic, FSOL-tinged approach of The Isness and Alice in Ultraland, with loops and electronics and samples in the tracks. But that's not in any way surprising - the electronic psych instrumentals all seem to be going onto FSOL albums now (Anacro Rhythm, In Solitude, that track from Alan's mix this week), meaning this is the material they're specifically setting up as Amorphous.

I'm looking forward to hearing how Immortal fits in to Head Chakra, surrounded no doubt by tracks that are tonally quite different.
User avatar
epitome
Elaborate Burn
Posts: 1037
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:18 pm

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by epitome »

I guess the Amorphous CDs should be shipping now from FSOLDigital? Covid-related delays, no doubt!
User avatar
Ross
Environmentalisations Se7en
Posts: 4480
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:03 pm
Contact:

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by Ross »

The official release date for the CDs is technically tomorrow, I think they're shipping from FSOLDigital as of yesterday.
User avatar
epitome
Elaborate Burn
Posts: 1037
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:18 pm

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by epitome »

Ah, that would explain it even better then :D Thanks!
User avatar
Ross
Environmentalisations Se7en
Posts: 4480
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:03 pm
Contact:

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by Ross »

My CDs came this morning. The main album works a lot better when approached as a single 40 minute piece rather than six individual tracks. Just putting it on and letting it play works much better than looking at which track I'm on and trying to analyse it like that. Would still like some more electronics in there, but enjoyed it a lot more this time than first play.
The MPB album is still a bit... much, especially after the main album. I'm not sure if I really need 90 minutes of the same track.

The credit list is extensive (47 musicians plus choir!). Much closer to the Isness-style 'anybody they could get their hands on' approach than the concise-band feel of Alice. Stu Rowe is the only familiar name from earlier albums. Brian is only credited with SX-1 and FX when it comes to performance, although he's also credited with co-collage and arrangement of the whole thing. And the Cuckoo Clocks track at the end of the MPB album credits Yage with the final mix, which I would assume in this context is Brian. Enrico Berto co-produces. The MPB booklet contains four full pages of credits. Lots of tracks feature elements of other remixes from the album, which gives an idea of just how much effort went into making the record coherent.
Gavin Penn's artwork is absolutely brilliant. Gaz's two-page photo collage of the band is... of the same quality as earlier Amorphic Arts images.
User avatar
epitome
Elaborate Burn
Posts: 1037
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:18 pm

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by epitome »

I have only listened to the main album so far - really enjoying it, full on proggy-psych goodness.

I'll move on to the remix CD fairly soon. You say it's a bit much - are the remixes lacking variety?
User avatar
Ross
Environmentalisations Se7en
Posts: 4480
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:03 pm
Contact:

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by Ross »

I'm not convinced they all add much to the table. Nothing wrong with any of them, but the overall mood is a bit louder and more hectic than the main album, but with a lot of the same sounds running through the whole thing. It almost feels like two 25 minute side-long pieces rather than 14 remixes.
User avatar
epitome
Elaborate Burn
Posts: 1037
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:18 pm

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by epitome »

That's a bit of a shame. Maybe not helped by them being released around the same time too. The main album is making me feel pretty groovy though 8-)
User avatar
Ross
Environmentalisations Se7en
Posts: 4480
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:03 pm
Contact:

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by Ross »

Both versions of Immortal are being reissued on vinyl, preorders on Bandcamp now...
User avatar
epitome
Elaborate Burn
Posts: 1037
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:18 pm

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by epitome »

Finally got round to listening to the Immortal Remix album. I see what you mean, Ross, the overuse of the same elements throughout the tracks is very apparent and weakens it slightly as an album. The tracks are very nicely blended together though, which helps to make it feel like one continuously evolving track. Enjoyable and certainly interesting to listen to!
User avatar
Dennis
Ill Flower
Posts: 553
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 11:08 pm

Re: The Amorphous Androgynous - Listening Beyond the Head Chakra

Post by Dennis »

Just managed to listen to the first CD, but I already love it. The actual track itself is a wonderful piece, despite the many layers of sound with orchestra and choir and the like, it is a quite catchy tone imo. As Ross stated it's a much more "song"-like affair than the more electronic, collaged stuff from previous AA-albums. The rest is also very nice, flows very well, with some neat "Enya"-like vibes on track 6 (?) and a great variety in styles and sound in the other tracks. Looking forward for the album, hopefully coming this year.
Magnificient Insignificance
Post Reply