Isolationism

I don’t usually comment on music as it’s a highly personal experience subject to individual tastes. But I couldn’t let this one pass by unmentioned.

The duo famous for turning the electronic music scene on its head in the 90’s is back—sort of. While the FSOL have released several new albums since their disappearance from the scene in 1995 after Dead Cities, most notably Translations, The Isness, its re-work album, The Otherness, Alice in Ultraland, and a few other releases of remix material/singles, although worthy of note here.

From the Archives comes in volumes 1–3; three separate ‘discs’ of around 70 minutes worth of FSOL tunes. “So fucking what,” you say, “when it’s all just the same shit we’ve been hearing for years played back in a different order?”

Well, the first thing I noticed looking at the track lists is, there’s very little there that’s familiar. Virtually nothing, in fact. Then I gave them a listen, and realised that while a couple tracks were familiar (like Hallucinations and Arrived, as I had heard them from some ISDN show or other), most were totally unfamiliar to me.

Or rather, the tracks themselves were totally unfamiliar. What wasn’t absent were so many of the samples I recognise from other FSOL albums. Another extremely welcome familiarity was the sound; musical styles ranging from Stakker to post-Dead Cities ISDN shows with a lot of great beats, haunting vocal samples, and mellow guitars to name but a few.

Don’t run out to the music store just yet; From the Archives is only available online from a new online store set up—strangely enough—specifically for the purpose of selling FSOL back-catalogue stuff. There are other albums, too, most without their most common moniker—but I haven’t checked them out, yet.

My mind can’t describe how my heart feels; it’s as if the Future Sound of London have just released three new albums of similar calibre to their 1990’s efforts all at the same time, shuffling their feet and mumbling about something being lost in the post for a decade. I know Garry and Brian have moved on to making psychedelic rock and will probably never come back to their old, beloved sound—but for a little while I can close my eyes, listen, and remember those happier times.