Environment 7 trilogy

Feel free to talk about anything and everything FSOL related in this board.
Post Reply
User avatar
tengram
Hardhead
Posts: 43
Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2021 1:13 am
Location: United States

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by tengram »

I ordered the LP and got the download with it via Bandcamp just now. Been listening to it this morning, and I am really enjoying it on this first pass. I agree with Ross's take on it re: the 1990s feel but also being it's own take on things.
User avatar
dell1972
Spineless Jelly
Posts: 718
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 10:50 pm
Location: The edge of time

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by dell1972 »

Very enjoyable first listen, and thanks to Ross for his comments to glance at while listening. I like the way it refers to the sound of Lifeforms, ISDN and Dead Cities without being derivative.
I am the eye that looks within
User avatar
sigESANg5
Tingler
Posts: 128
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2012 3:42 pm

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by sigESANg5 »

What an expansive album! It's what I was hoping to hear, but very much surprised all the way through ... bloody beautiful!!! Cheers to FSOL!
User avatar
epitome
Elaborate Burn
Posts: 1037
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:18 pm

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by epitome »

Ross wrote: Tue Apr 26, 2022 4:44 pm The ‘bonus tracks’ are basically just an extension to the album that’ll also be on the CD, like the ones on the RSD re-recordings, ie the LP version is actually edited to fit the format rather than the CD/digital has some bonuses. There’ll be no gap or anything.
Ahhhh, that's nice to know - so they aren't feeling "tacked on" at all then :) Very much looking forward to hearing it... will place an order shortly!
User avatar
OffLand
Ill Flower
Posts: 554
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2011 2:41 am
Contact:

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by OffLand »

I wrote a long post about this album but didn't save a draft and the site ate it so here's a shorter 2nd attempt... :roll:

This is the first FSOL album that I've been able to purchase on CD for a long while. I love the ISDN mixed with the 1998-post-DeadCities sound that this album seems to take inspiration from. Rituals an excellent album and I'm looking forward to parts 2 & 3.

Hopiate is a stunner. Probably in my top tracks. I love the breakbeat and that base-line. It really has a 98 sessions feel to it.

Triple Circles is like Environments 6 through an ISDN era filter.

Ritualised feels very ISDN, like a amalgam of Slider and Just a Fuckin Idiot

Time Cone sounds like if one of the abstract interludes from Lifeforms was stretched out to 4 minutes. A hypnotic oddity.

Sand to Ocean is a "what if FSOL made a club banger but left out the bang". A strangely uplifting track.

Far Seeker gives me the same sense as listening to U.F.O.'s Over Leytonstone by Squarepusher.

Visibility Accumulation is not my top track on the album but it gets a mention from my for being the most listenable experimental piece from FSOL.

I Am Error also feels very ISDN, reminding my of It's My Mind That Works and Dirty Shadows.

Time Passed the Sun is a great track to sum up the sound of Rituals, with that Amoeba ISDN sound mixed with that 98 session style.

The shorter interludes each are memorable and really bring a diverse pallet of sonics to the album. The four bonus tracks don't really bring much extra to the album. While they are all enjoyable, they do feel more like some extra tracks than they feel like a conclusion to the album.
______________________________________________
- Off Land
User avatar
Dennis
Ill Flower
Posts: 553
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 11:08 pm

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by Dennis »

Ok, first listen here. Seems very much along the lines of previous stuff like 6/6.5, EAV. I had those 90ies-flashbacks also with E6&6.5 already, quite similar here. A bit more uplifting maybe. Bonus tracks fit very nicely I think.
Magnificient Insignificance
User avatar
Dennis
Ill Flower
Posts: 553
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 11:08 pm

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by Dennis »

It's incredible, really no promotion at all. No teaser, no video, nothing to spread on social media except link to bandcamp page with only 3 playable songs. They really try hard to remain in hiding with this kind of promotional behaviour, this is curious.
Magnificient Insignificance
nanio tine
Hardhead
Posts: 67
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2020 1:54 am

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by nanio tine »

going to have to be the odd one out here and say I'm a bit disappointed. while I agree with most of you that its pretty different to the past few years of stuff, and I get the isdn parallels with all the slow beats and stuff, there are only three or four tracks standing out to me. the first track is brilliant and sand to ocean took me by surprise in a good way. not getting much of the rest of it though. where are the tunes? almost nothing here compares with the hooks and magnificent beauty of pulse state, papua, cascade, eggshell, my kingdom, dirty shadows, glass, smoking Japanese babe etc etc. FSOLDigital era has been no different, listen to I Turn to face the sun, sunsets, summers dream, symphony for halia, hollow earth, opal light, moments of isolation, glitch in cellular, triospheres, all the views stuff, this is all classic fsol. most of the tracks here are just beats. I certainly don't hear any lifeforms or dead cities on this - both of those albums are expansive and have the euphoric sadness thing. to me a lot of this just sounds unfinished.

I stepped away from the electronic scene in the late 90s early 2000s because things were going too minimal and the tunes were lost - ambient went into micro sound and ambient techno went into aimless idm, I was so happy when fsol came back with classic stuff but I really think its all moved on again now. will probably check out vol 2 and 3 when they come along but if they're similar then I think sadly I might be done with fsol :(
Vandit89
Hardhead
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jul 02, 2021 8:17 pm

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by Vandit89 »

Unfortunately for me only three tracks: hopiate, visibility accumulation and time passed the sun.
I prefer previous part and I think that even calendar tracks such as zen Jenny, string, another ending it's all more attractive.
So I agree with nanio and it's so sad for me too cause FSOL my favourite band...
User avatar
Dennis
Ill Flower
Posts: 553
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 11:08 pm

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by Dennis »

Hm, after repeated listens I really do like it. Maybe not the incredible stand out top tier FSOL album some might have expected, but a solid, decent record, maybe a tad less 'melodic' than previous Environments, but a strong overall atmosphere, nice flow (including the bonus stuff) and generally quite fresh and new sounding.
Magnificient Insignificance
User avatar
Ross
Environmentalisations Se7en
Posts: 4483
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:03 pm
Contact:

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by Ross »

Dennis wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 10:55 am Ok, first listen here. Seems very much along the lines of previous stuff like 6/6.5, EAV. I had those 90ies-flashbacks also with E6&6.5 already, quite similar here. A bit more uplifting maybe. Bonus tracks fit very nicely I think.
Interesting - for me, the E6 trilogy was about as far from the '90s sound as any FSOL albums have gone: very, very synth and drum machine heavy with lots of short tracks. What makes Rituals a lot more '90s-esque for me is the rhythmic work, which is slower and more live/acoustic sounding, as well as the tracks being allowed to grow a bit more again. I suppose I tend to associate FSOL with a much less overtly 'electronic' sound than most of their contemporaries, because of the heavy use of samples and live instrumentation, so the ISDN-esque drum loops here are more reminiscent than the IDM, Humanoid-leaning sound of a lot of other recent material.

I kind of get why some people might struggle with the direction of the record, it's definitely quite rhythm-forward in places (although it feels weird typing that as I'm currently listening to 'Sand to Ocean') and, other than 'Hopiate', avoids the more expansive side of the band's sound maybe. I think the particular appeal of the '90s material is that blend of electronic and acoustic, of experimental and accessible. They undoubtedly put out some of the strangest material released on a major label in the 1990s, but at the same time those records are chock full of genuinely hook-filled music, either through samples or their own compositions. The Environments series is definitely considerably less commercial in that respect: there's very little on any of them that would make as good a single as 'Cascade', 'My Kingdom' or 'We Have Explosive', with a more sedate, atmospheric approach on the earlier volumes and a more abstract and even introspective feel to these later ones. They're clearly capable of making more accessible stuff that leans closer to their '90s output - 'Hopiate', 'Artificial Placement of Emotion', 'Dreaming With the TV On', 'Snug', 'Another Ending' and 'The Whispering Masses' all immediately come to mind - but it doesn't seem to be the main focus at this particular point. So if you're after an album chock full of tracks like 'Her Face Forms in Summertime' and 'Glass' then I totally get why it might not be the record for you.

That said, it's worth remembering that, although they clearly have some similarities, the Environment 6 trilogy albums are all pretty different to each other: 6 is dark, claustrophobic and filled with melancholic, bleepy melodies, 6.5 much more expansive with some clearly very Gaz-heavy Amorphous-leaning material on it, and A:E:V being cold, minimal and very thickly textured. Given the unexpected amount of slow, chuggy tracks on Rituals I would be very surprised if the e7 trilogy isn't similarly split into particular sounds or styles. 7.002 might be largely 'Hopiate'/'Hollow Earth' style epics or bleepy IDM, 7.003 might focus on ambient drift or frenetic breaks/dnb type stuff.
Dennis wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 5:03 pm It's incredible, really no promotion at all. No teaser, no video, nothing to spread on social media except link to bandcamp page with only 3 playable songs. They really try hard to remain in hiding with this kind of promotional behaviour, this is curious.
Yeah, this is kind of baffling. 30303 and Built by Humanoid are the only releases to get pre-release Youtube promotion since 6/6.5. Navel-gazing again, but I really do miss the days when there'd be a long lead-up with video clips and stuff. 3, 4 and Five in particular were great times to be a fan.
User avatar
sigESANg5
Tingler
Posts: 128
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2012 3:42 pm

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by sigESANg5 »

Rituals has allot of beautiful and intricate details, I highly recommend putting on some headphones and going on a long walk with this album! Time just seems to disappear for me. I love and appreciate this record more with every new listen.
User avatar
Ross
Environmentalisations Se7en
Posts: 4483
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:03 pm
Contact:

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by Ross »

It feels weird not to be out and about with it, I do a lot of FSOL listening on walks or in the car. Currently bed-ridden with post-covid fatigue but might pop it on my phone for a deep headphone listen tomorrow anyway.
User avatar
sigESANg5
Tingler
Posts: 128
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2012 3:42 pm

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by sigESANg5 »

Ross wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 8:44 pm It feels weird not to be out and about with it, I do a lot of FSOL listening on walks or in the car. Currently bed-ridden with post-covid fatigue but might pop it on my phone for a deep headphone listen tomorrow anyway.
Sorry to hear that, get better soon!!! FSOLdigital music is brilliant on walks.
User avatar
Ross
Environmentalisations Se7en
Posts: 4483
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:03 pm
Contact:

Re: Rituals: e7.001 (Environment 7) out April 2022

Post by Ross »

Thank you. Symptoms are thankfully fading, so I'll hopefully be out and about for a detailed listen in the not-too-distant future.

'Hopiate' is glorious, isn't it? Can't stop listening to it. Otherwise I'm actually going through the previous Environments in order, hopefully in time to complete them for the CD of Rituals to arrive.
Post Reply