The FSOL Message Board

I personally felt Environments 1 was a bit of a disappointment. It almost felt like a pastiche of the '90s sampledelic FSOL sound, but whereas Lifeforms and Dead Cities had strong controlling ideas, Environments was just, well, a bunch of random environments all stuck together. From Environments 2 onwards the mood of each disc became much more coherent for me. Environments 3 does feel a bit scatter-shot with lots of tracks, samples and snippets of musical ideas coming and going, but to me it conjures a more utopian version of the post-apocalyptic landscapes of Dead Cities. Listening to Environments 3 I feel like I'm walking through some alien desert encountering glittering fragments of some forgotten civilisation, the orchestral swells bringing to mind shattered statues and sculptures, grand architecture eroded and disintegrated.

Granted that's a very subjective and fanciful interpretation I wouldn't expect anyone else to share, but I loved E3 from first listen. And the primordial grandeur of Environments 4 followed on perfectly, the return to a prehistoric savannah suggesting some kind of grand cycle of human evolution across the series. Again: probably all bollocks, but what is ambient if not music that fires the imagination?

You're right Jack, E1 did feel a little bit light...
But that's because it is not the album intended for 14 years before it's release.

The E1 that we got was... leftovers and B-sides from the intended E1, because the (lets call them) important parts from the original E1 ended up on Lifeforms, ISDN and the singles surrounding them. That's probably why we only got 2 big tracks instead proper tracks like the other E-series.

I'd be interested to hear what was originally intended to be on Environments - I wouldn't even be surprised if they never made a 'final' version before scrapping it back in the day. Obviously a lot of what is Environments now went on to be on ISDN, and other bits were remixed bits of Lifeforms. For me it works as one alternative path the band took after Lifeforms (the other being the more ethnic / percussive sounding Paths EP) - both of which converged again on ISDN. I also love the Berlin School-type sequencey bits, quite unusual for them. But yeah, it's not as different as the others in the series.

Those descriptions are cool - the guys' music is so detailed that it's easy to conjour so many different images listening to it, always good to read other people's experiences. For me, if Dead Cities is the sound of decay and death, E3 is returning to the city once it's died out completely. Ruins of buildings, eerily desolate, nature taking over once again.

Never imagined 4 as being 'prehistoric', but I completely get that now. For me, it's the only FSOL record which seems to be entirely untouched by human beings. Lifeforms has sinister human goings on at its fringes throughout, but E4 is completely cut off, nature left to its own wild ways. So prehistoric works quite nicely for that...

currently due august 2014

photo session -- recording the album

https://www.flickr.com/photos/grumphick ... 827602653/

Wouldn't mind having that setup, to be honest.

August eh? Will this be featuring 'Loft Insulation' this time?

no -- previous info was from an unreliable source -- no track list given yet

Nice pictures, quite a set up.

myeah i'll take that studio thx

Looks like a Korg MS2000 in the middle there - one of those turns up on Photographic Reflection, and a couple of collaborative things I'm working on with Noisesurfer and Off Land. Lovely thing.
Of course, it's the Synthi I'm really looking at there...

That's their setup in Somerset right ?

I would imagine that's only a small part of it, but yeah, guessing it's Brian's church / house / studio.

there is one pic there that brings back memories, hope its a sign cos we've been waiting too long

Cool setup.

As long as we get the full uncensored version of ****** from Sampler 2 on there, I'm happy

nanio-tine wrote:currently due august 2014

photo session -- recording the album

https://www.flickr.com/photos/grumphick ... 827602653/

Nice. I can lust after the Synthi, but I have a pretty healthy set up myself, so I'm not that jealous.

Where's the OSCar?

Nice refreshing news, thank you nanio-tine

Have you noticed - there's a big camera on one of the pictures... facing the synths...
Makes me wonder...