Fractional Difference - Exploring FSOL song-by-song

[Enofa]

Whose kingdom?

My Kingdom
-Part 1
-Part 2
-Part 3
-Part 4
-Part 5

My favourite piece of music ever, so beware, it's a bit gushy in places.

[molo]

All great stuff, keep going and we’ll keep reading!

With regards to Promo 500, do you know if it was an actual promo only release for radio or labels etc, or was it generally available in stores?

[Enofa]

I would imagine it would have been promo-only, I can't be sure exactly where it was sent, mind you. There are plenty of promos that are a bit baffling like that.

[molo]

Yeah I just checked my copy and it does have “promo use only not for resale” on the back. I always thought that’s why it has the virgin artwork, it being not for general release. I picked it up from Discogs a few years back and it can still be had pretty cheap from some discogs sellers.

[Enofa]

Apparently Richard Branson was very unhappy with the old Virgin art being used, that hadn't been the logo since - I think - 1977, but the band demanded it.

[Enofa]

Dead Cities

I'll do a track-by-track later, that took ages. Tell you what, though, that's the most I've enjoyed that album in years. After going through all the '93-'95 stuff it's so fresh and different.

[Enofa]

Herd Killing
Dead Cities
Her Face Forms in Summertime
We Have Explosive
Everyone in the World is Doing Something Without Me
My Kingdom
Max
Antique Toy
Quagmire
In a State of Permanent Abyss
Glass
Yage
Vit Drowning
Through Your Gills I Breathe
First Death in the Family
Punk City / Dead Cities Reprise

[808Spense]

ISDN VPRO Radio (09/09/94)
[/quote]

I was listening to this and noticed that the environment at 1:46:20 sounds like a slowed down version of "Sly" by Massive Attack. Not sure if the FSOL remix of this track ever saw the light of day but it is possible that this is a snippet of the remix.

[Enofa]

Interesting, it's definitely similar. I don't think that's related to the remix, but it could well have been something they took from the stems sent over (the same way a bit of the Curve remix ended up in Environments).

[gabo86]

Ross, once again, I have to let every post start with a gigantic acknowledgement of your work.
I have a question about Herd Killing: in the album version (which is a shortened version), and in the 2021 reworking it seems to be a missing sample; it's something like a female voice moaning (or, at least, that's what I heard). It's in the Wipeout 2097 soundtrack (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpDZPS-qG9g at 4.19) and in the Wipeout 2097 intro movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpDZPS-qG9g at 0.52) but not in the official FSOL releases (it could be in the single, though).
I don't know why this sample does not appear in Dead Cities or in the 2021 reworking, because for me it's a very important part of the track (which is, for Wipeout-ish reasons, the first time I heard something FSOL-related).

And thanks again! Your work is outstanding.

[Enofa]

A casualty of it being edited I suppose! It does appear on two official releases, however: that Wipeout track is on the Semtex 12”, and Part 4 from the single is very similar, only with added synth pads (this is also the version heard on the live transmissions).

As always, glad to read that you’re enjoying the posts!

[gabo86]

I was expecting such a reply (about it being a casualty), but it's funny because for sixteen long years (from 1998, the year I started playing Wipeout 2097, to 2014, the year I became a FSOL fan) Herd Killing was "that sound". And then it had been removed!

I'll give a chance to Part 4, of course.

[Dennis]

Great write up as always!
DC will always be the definite fsol album for me I guess. Perfect flow from start to finish, also WHE fits perfectly imo.
It was my first fsol album and the first electronic music release I bought at a time when I listened mostly guitar based stuff. Maybe it's because I heard the album version of my kingdom first, it will always be the 'right' version for me
Btw. I always thought the "breath environment" is a snoring horse recorded anything known about the sample origin?

[Neil]

Man, i'm loving this thread, thanks for putting so much into this Ross, and so much to catch up on (so glad you did the Lifeforms VHS too!). Dead Cities is possibly my favourite album ever (or top 3, it's too hard to pick one!), so as much as i love their other material, i've been really looking forward to your write up of DC. Think i discovered FSOL in a similar way too, through the My Kingdom video on TOTP. I agree with Dennis as the flow feeling spot on, and i feel totally immersed from start to finish, it just feels perfect to me. What i love about Dead Cities is that it's so lush and intricate in detail that it's one of the few albums that feels like it has something new to offer each time i listen, almost illusory - my brain has never really managed to pin it down into something predictable or too familiar. It still feels like a mystery. Thats the genius of it for me. I bought a 2nd hand vinyl copy a few years back from a DJ, and noticed some etchings on the inner part of the record where the DJ had apparently made a note of the tracks he could get away with playing in his set! Safe to say it wasn't 'Everyone in the World'... Can i ask Ross - i have a few of the archives sets but kind of lost track with them (i've followed the Environments sets more) - but wondered which are best for Dead Cities era material as you mentioned?

[Dennis]

@Neil

For DC material from the archives Vol.5 is best I suppose, the tracks on there are from a scrapped DC-successor album from 97/98, and in a very similar mood, dark, beat driven tracks and a very nice flow throughout.
Otherwise a lot of tracks from DC-area are scattered across the whole archives bunch, but Vol.5 is the one with most coherence.

And you will not want to miss the recent reworking albums for "Yage" & "We Have Explosive", a lot of end-90ies atmosphere in there, funky breakbeats and Dn'B in best "Dead Cities"-manner.

The My Kingdom-reworking is also very great, but has a more Amorphous feel to it, I like this one very much too.