FSOL Digital 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Not a lot sounds like The Amorphous Androgynous, which is a relief because with a name like that you really do need to back it up with something experiential. A quick search online can tell anyone the duo - better known as Future Sound of London - have a strange relationship with Noel Gallagher, having recorded with him only to then be told by the Manchester man the outcome was shit so he destroyed the masters. Apparently these then turned up in a sock circa 2018 and you could almost be forgiven at least one of the tracks is here.

Actually, The World Is Full of Plankton comprises three tracks from 2005's album Alice in Ultraland, but the wailing, trippy, spaced out vocals that float in and out of dominance on the title number almost sound like the old Oasis lad. It's a deep and very operatic affair, which contrasts the exotic spatiality of 'All Is Harvest' and the prog rock piano stepper, 'The Emptiness of Nothingness'. Amazing stuff.

Review: Music From Calendars is the on going project Future Sound of London have been helming since 2017. It sees them serve up new digital tracks each month and home put them out as an album at the end of the year. This time out the crew pick some of their best tunes from the last four years and put them together in a seamless mix over the course of 50 minutes. Their sound is a perfect fit for the format - all sleek ambient, gently lilting electronic grooves and sci-fi moods that drift by like zephyrs.

Review: To say that The Future Sound Of London are legendary would be an understatement. Brian Dougans and Garry Cobain continue to stupefy and amaze with this fifth chapter in the Environments series, this time allegedly exploring the space and dimensions after death. That might sound a little gloomy, but the music itself is actually surprisingly funky and upbeat. The opener itself, "Point Of Departure", is a gorgeous slap-bass beat track backed with some stupendous female vocal chops. There's a bit of everything across the thirteen tracks, such as the eerie soundscapes of "Beings Of Light", or the break-ridden lo-fi jam that is "Somatosensory". These guys have never stopped and they still mean business. Recommended.

Review: The legendary Future Sound Of London have finally started dropping their Environments series on vinyl format, which will no doubt please the countless numbers of FSOL junkies out there! These sessions, the present title being the penultimate in a series of five, have been long sought after and they have been pivotal in shaping the sound of today's electronic dance music. Fifteen tracks in total here and the interesting thing about this album is the fact that it can be heard either as single tracks or as one developing and morphing wall of sound. All but one of these tracks, "Murmurations", are from way back and haven't seen the light of day, so get listening and indulge yourself in some pioneering sounds!

Review: The Future Sound of London keep their fans busy with a steady dispatch of music via the fsoldigital.com label, but it feels like there's a sense of occasion around this new album. Rituals E7.001 is purportedly the first part in a trilogy, and it already highly prized by the devoted followers of Brian Dougans and Garry Cobain's music. It's not hard to hear why on listening to the gorgeous strains of 'Hopiate', which harks back to some of the duo's most iconic music (we'll let you guess which one we mean). FSOL have always had a particular touch in their exploration of electronica, ambient and outernational sounds, and it sounds rich with inspiration on this new, expansive album.

Review: This double record - originally released in 2002 - is a deep dive into the duo's creative process, reimagining the 1991 classic through multiple sonic lenses. The London duo bring an album's worth of reinterpretations, starting with the evergreen original version's ethereal pads and hypnotic breakbeats. T2 merges the iconic melody with playful elements blending dreamy basslines and warm builds with subtle psychedelic hues. T3 extends the atmospherics and psych guitar wails in the final stretch triumphantly. T4 drifts into ambient psych-rock while T5 is a harsher more abrasive version. T6 is a slow, genre-blending piece with psychedelic undertones and emotional weight, gracefully building toward a euphoric blend of organ notes, complex drum patterns and smooth saxophone. Finally, T8 closes with lush downtempo elegance, layering sitars, sax and processed vocals from the original track for a mesmerising finale. Old skool fans will lap this up all over again.

Review: The Future Sound Of London are well-known for their intense sectioning-off of various albums into sagas. Conceived as far back as the late 1990s, the 'Environments' album series has been routinely topped up on a slow but steady basis, and has thus far manifested as a grand total of seven psychedelectronic odysseys. 'Environments Seven', which came out earlier in 2022, is testament to the duo's madcap penchant for sagaizing; indeed, this seventh instalment in the LP is split into a trilogy, and 'Environments 7.02' is the second in said trilogy.

Review: The Future Sound Of London are well-known for their intense sectioning-off of various albums into sagas. Conceived as far back as the late 1990s, the 'Environments' album series has been routinely topped up on a slow but steady basis, and has thus far manifested as a grand total of seven psychedelectronic odysseys. 'Environments Seven', which came out earlier in 2022, is testament to the duo's madcap penchant for sagaizing; indeed, this seventh instalment in the LP is split into a trilogy, and 'Environments 7.02' is the second in said trilogy.

Review: 30 years after ditching the Humanoid alias in order to form Future Sound Of London with Garry Cobain, Brian Dougans has decided to resurrect his rave-era solo project. The result is "Built By Humanoid", a delightfully skittish, off-kilter album of raw, ragged and mind-altering cuts whose wayward, out-there electronics were partially created using two custom-built synthesizers that Dougans co-designed. The resultant album is breathlessly brilliant and magnificently mind-mangling, with the veteran producer conjuring up cuts that giddily join the dots between Aphex Twin's most intense moments, the acid-fired "Braindance" of Ceephax Acid Crew, the doom-laden ambient and IDM oddness of Future Sound Of London and the sweaty breakbeat rush of early UK hardcore.

Review: 30 years after ditching the Humanoid alias in order to form Future Sound Of London with Garry Cobain, Brian Dougans has decided to resurrect his rave-era solo project. The result is "Built By Humanoid", a delightfully skittish, off-kilter album of raw, ragged and mind-altering cuts whose wayward, out-there electronics were partially created using two custom-built synthesizers that Dougans co-designed. The resultant album is breathlessly brilliant and magnificently mind-mangling, with the veteran producer conjuring up cuts that giddily join the dots between Aphex Twin's most intense moments, the acid-fired "Braindance" of Ceephax Acid Crew, the doom-laden ambient and IDM oddness of Future Sound Of London and the sweaty breakbeat rush of early UK hardcore.