26/07/08 - PBS on hold, Pod Room, and a thank you.

Thanks to Ceeg and AS Cob for this one - it looks like the PBS transmission, Electric Brain Storm 2, isn't happening just yet. Brian has confirmed it's on hold, apparently because of licensing problems.
Some of you on the forums may remember I mentioned a possibility of old transmissions making a reappearance in the future - the project has now been given a name, 'The Pod Room', where the band's old mixes and transmissions will be available for download. Obviously a project like this is pretty complex so please no requests for when it's going to happen, let's just wait.

To end on a lovely note, here's Brian's take on the 15,000+ sales of the Archives series:
"the FSOLdigital platform has performed very well - we are delighted that people still dig us - we dig you all too"

23/07/08 - Those CD releases

So, Environments is finally out on CD (unless you preordered on FSOLDigital, where copies were sent last week anyway). It's an exciting moment in FSOL history, to hold a copy of Environments in your hands. What can we say about the disc? Not much, really. The artwork is more cityscape based than perhaps the music suggests, but it all looks fabulous, and the spine and back artwork reference the disc as Environments¹, just in case people weren't aware of the forthcoming volumes. The credits are in the same position as on the archive releases, interestingly.

The Peppermint Tree & The Seeds Of Superconsciousness is on CD from this coming Monday, although FSOLDigital preorders have been sent out already. The artwork is a little more... well, Amorphous Androgynous, really, with an array of bizarre fonts and strange layouts. Lyrics are present for all songs except Rocket Fuel.
Of most interest is something we've been discussing over on the forum, which is the 'Other AA albums available at fsoldigital.com' page. Alongside The Isness, The Mello Hippo Disco Show, The Isness & The Otherness and Alice In Ultraland are four apparently forthcoming releases. The first is 'A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Vol 1 - Cosmic Space Music' (which should be out in October on Platipus, we believe), but after that we're entering new territory: The New Love Poetry, 2012 and Wobbly Oozescapes. They all have cover art. Maybe one is the Amorphous Archives disc. Maybe it'll be the next Environments and they'll be release in 2022. Only time shall tell.

Oh, and congrats to the guys for selling over 15,000 copies of the Archives series on disc so far!

07/07/08 - The Peppermint Tree press release, information

We're not entirely sure exactly which label The Peppermint Tree & The Seeds Of Superconsciousness is being released on. Various websites have given us Pinnacle (Jumpin' & Pumpin's distribution company) and Passion (J&P's publishers), but the catalogue number for the release is FSOLD005, which would suggest Future Sound Of London Recordings has been resurrected for the release. We'll see by the 28th.

Here's a bit more information about the disc as shown on recordstore.co.uk:
The Amorphous Androgynous is the psychedelic rock-tronic supergroup created and produced by The Future Sound Of London. Born out of a desire to balance the cutting edge production techniques they had become famous for as FSOL with the live free flowing musical improvisational performances of a vast array of musicians they had met along the way of recording TOP 10 FSOL albums like 'Lifeforms' (1993) and Top 20 album 'Dead Cities' (1996) the Amorphous project gradually evolved and took on a life of its own from 1997 onwards.

Building on the success of their previous albums; 'The Isness' (2001) and 'Alice In Ultraland' (released in 2005 on the infamous EMI Harvest label which brought us Pink Floyd) they release 'The Peppermint Tree & The Seeds Of Superconsciousness' this year (2008) an epic post -modern psychedelic concept album.

'The Peppermint Tree...' features the legendary guitar skills of erstwhile Jeff Buckley and Captain Beefheart collaborator Gary Lucas along with keyboards by maestro Mikey Rowe (Oasis, Sheryl Crowe, Rolling Stones) and eastern promise by sitar guru Baluji Shrivastav plus orchestrations by Max Richter (Vashti Bunyan) and the vocals of 70s soul diva Linda Lewis along with FSOL (Gaz Cobain and Brain Dougans) themselves strumming and singing but all the while with one hand on the mixing desk.

The result is an album evoking the lysergicWith a tour of Russia in Aug/Sept 2008 the Amorphous supergroup will be sharpening their teeth in preparation to return to the UK for some dates later in the year which are expected to highs of Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd combined with the progressive rock of Amon Duul and the freak beat sitar groove of Ananda Shankar all infused with the funk sensibility of a cosmic Miles Davis. It stands almost as a compendium of all the various psychedelic and experimental music of the last 40 years. How fitting it is then that this album was completed late last year (2007) the 40th anniversary of that great psychedelic revolution. 'The Summer Of Love' of 67. Be under no illusions though, this album could only be made now... and although wearing an obvious love of the 60s/70s on its sleeve it also sounds nothing like its psychedelic peers, it is unmistakably modern. This in fact is one of the albums and the bands' greatest achievements.

Tracklisting

1. The Peppermint Tree
2. Given That We've Given
3. Have I Loved You Into Oblivion
4. Light Beyond Sound
5. In Fear Of The Electromagnetic Machine
6. Nowhere At The Edge Of Somewhere
7. Riders (On The Circadian Rhythms)
8. Carousel
9. Yantra
10. Opus Of The Black Sun
11. Marylebone Road
12. Tiny Space Birds
13. Drifter
14. Rocket Fuel
15. Listen Little Man
16. Man Is A Virus In Shoes
17. Mr. Sponge's Groovy Oscillations
18. It's A Sunshine Day (Yeah! Yeah!)

No sign of An Absurd Consequence Of Living In Absurd Times which it seems is a digital release-only track.

Bizarrely, both the old digital basic 'tree' cover, and the more elaborate psychedelic collage one have been sighted online. Once again, when the discs start being dispatched we'll see which is the official cover.

04/07/08 - Peppermint Tree on 28th July!

I've just moved house and am currently stealing wireless internet from somewhere nearby so shall have to be quick - The Peppermint Tree & The Seeds Of Superconsciousness by The Amorphous Androgynous (it's hard to be quick when you're typing that) is out on 28th July 2008. Pre-order on FSOLdigital for a sooner release date, Environments is already on its way to customers who pre-ordered it!