13/12/14 - News, hints and rumours overload

It's that time again: after going over the Artworks book with a fine toothed comb, myself and FSOLBoard resident knowledge-hoarder Pandemonium - along with some helpful hints from a certain Mr. Dougans - can reveal a number of possible and probable past, present and future projects from the guys.

Environments news! Well, it's been known that the Environments series will continue, and the cover has already been confirmed (the same as the cover of Artworks), but one of the pages has information on an envisaged sound installation in New York, which is labelled as Environments 8. Brian himself has now confirmed that the band have ten volumes in the series planned. Furthermore, Environments 6 is complete and due for release in 2015 alongside Archive 8. Given that the original plan for volume 5 was for it to be a double album, it's quite possible this is the second disc of that (quite possibly the more electronic material as previewed on The Fears and Fantasies of the Unconscious Mind in 2012). Given the installation nature of the proposed eighth volume, it seems the band seem keen to make the series their more exploratory, experimental output - whilst non-Environments material is worked on in tandem.

A lot of interesting historical items are featured in the book, including covers for an Isness-era proto-Archives release entitled Fish Smokin', a Mello Hippo Disco Radio Show CD promo, a video collection, and a test pressing of a 3" CD EP of Zeebox material planned for release on Rephlex ten or so years ago (a vinyl edition was also planned to exist). The number of scrapped releases by the band must be astonishing.

Finally, if you enjoyed Artworks, you'll love Histories. A second FSOL artwork book (or booklet, as they seem to be underselling it), likely to contain seen and unseen art and behind-the-scenes photos of the band's '90s period, is coming in the new year.

There are only ten copies of Artworks left at FSOLDigital, so if you want to see all this for yourself, you'd best get your skates on!

03/12/14 - New Humanoid on Touched Two; E6 cover.

Due to delays in their album being released, Brambles & Nest have had to remove their track from the Touched Two compilation. Thankfully, Mr. Dougans has kept the album fleshed out with a new, last minute addition of a newly recorded Humanoid track, entitled Posthuman. Stream the track here if you so wish, or purchase the album on the main page.

In other news, it turns out the cover of the Artworks booklet is mooted to also be the cover of the forthcoming Environments 6...

28/11/14 - Artwork surprise! + Touched Two

If FSOL are good at anything (other than making electronic music, of course), it's surprising us. Hands up who thought the next release announced would be From the Archives Vol. 8. Me too. Instead, today we got a surprise through FSOLDigital: Artworks.

The site states: "36 page A5 full colour booklet depicting FSOL’s art from the last 7 years. Hand numbered and limited to 250 copies. Booklet comes with a free gift download of 4 tracks (320kbps mp3)."

The cover looks a bit like this:


The tracklist for the EP runs as so:
01. Cattle
02. Viewed From Across the Room
03. I Turn to Face the Sun
04. Neurotic

The version of 'I Turn to Face the Sun' is a different edit to that which comes as a bonus track with Environments II LP purchases through FSOLDigital. Furthermore, there's a rather nice Far-out Son of Lung poster on sale in limited quantities.

Turning away from FSOLDigital briefly, the second Macmillan-funding compilation, Touched Two, is available as of today, and features an alternate take of Outer Heaven (originally from Archive 7). And if that's not appealing enough, you can also find unreleased material from Autechre, Orbital, Ochre, Neotropic, Ceephax Acid Crew, B12, 808 State, not to mention the cream of the underground electronic, ambient and modern classical scenes. Grab this generous 255 track compilation here for a donation of £12 or more.

Oh, and the Environments 4 LP is out on Monday, just to keep you on your toes...

16/11/14 - covers'n'bubbles'n'stuff

So, there's some bonus stuff with the Environments LP packages. The Environments 4 LP will feature the previous digital bonus track Plough on the vinyl itself, interestingly. Purchases from FSOLDigital will feature a digital bonus track entitled 'Komagi'. Similarly, FSOLDigital orders of Environments 2 come with a digital bonus track 'I Turn to Face the Sun'. And now, have a look at what the E2 vinyl looks like:

On the same day, the Syd Arthur Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble vinyl EP is released, and it seems the release will be on Monstrous Bubble Records (another - finally!). That looks a little like this:

Digital listeners will be happy to hear MP3 and FLAC versions will also be available.

In other news, acclaimed drum'n'bass outfit Blu Mar Ten have announced the release of a mysterious release entitled FSOL. Rumour has it that this vinyl single, the fourth part of the band's Famous Lost Words Remixes series, will feature a track called Night Shift remixed by FSOL. It will be shipping from December - more news soon.

Elsewhere (this is a long update due to laziness throughout the week), the FSOL-soundtracked puzzle game Mushroom 11 is now available, and a deluxe edition comes with the soundtrack. All pieces are sourced from the band's Archives and Environments releases, edited down for use in the game. The tracklist, cover and discussion can be found here.

What else? Oh yes, a Zeebox track is appearing on a compilation of '80s industrial, which is a lovely turn of events. 'Laughing Box' appears on Label Noir Vol. 2, which is available now.

Finally, Gaz revealed on Facebook that the next Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble mix (probably the Australian one) will be released early in the new year.

That's probably enough for now. Who wants to buy all of this for me for Christmas?

09/11/14 - More Environment vinyl; Gallagher collab resurrection?

Following the vinyl release of Environments 2 on 24th November, an LP edition of Environments 4 will be released on 1st December. On the subject of Environments 2, it has been revealed that the 180g edition will be available exclusively from FSOLDigital.com, whilst other retailers will be stocking a standard weight edition (this is quite likely to be the case for 4, but nothing has been announced.) Futhermore, the band have teased this edition will contain 'something extra'. More news soon.

On the other end of the Dougans / Cobain spectrum, Noel Gallagher has been in the news lately, promoting his forthcoming second High Flying Birds record, Chasing Yesterday. In a recent interview, he described the record as an eclectic one, containing "space jazz" and "disco", and claims he's reworked two of his collaborative pieces with Amorphous for the album. Who knows how far from the 2012 versions they will be, but it seems that least some elements of those sessions will finally be released. Chasing Yesterday will be released on 2nd March 2015.

03/11/14 - Another 24/11 vinyl release!

Sitting alongside the Environments II vinyl (which, by the way, is rumoured to be a 180g double LP!) will be the long-awaited Amorphous Androgynous remix album of Syd Arthur material, entitled - imaginatively - A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble. The press release reads:

Following their critically acclaimed remix/production work with Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, DJ Food, Pop Levi and their award winning compilation series "A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding In Your Mind", The Amorphous Androgynous now turn their attention to Canterbury psych-rock quartet Syd Arthur, who were recently named Breakthrough Artist of 2014 in the Prog Awards. Choosing five tracks from Syd Arthur's back catalogue to re-work, The Amorphous Androgynous have fed these tracks through the AA sonic blender, turning up the saturation of the psychedelic dimensions within the Syd Arthur universe. The resultant album is a seven track, 45 minute auditory delight with the controls set resolutely toward the heart of the sun. Syd Arthur is fresh from a two month tour of the STATES supporting YES and a headline UK tour of their own.

The tracklist runs as follows:
1. Morning's Recall
2. Black Planet Eyes-Paradise Lost
3. Edge Of The Universe
4. Ode-Summer Is Leaving Me Behind
5. Born To Live Born To Die-Dorothy
6. Edge Of The Cosmic Earth
7. Morning Reprise-Advertsydment

Currently looks to be released on vinyl only.

02/11/14 - FSOL on Touched Two

FSOL will be presenting a new track, alongside names like Autechre, Orbital, B12, 808 State, Plaid and a whole host of other names from the electronic, ambient and modern classical worlds, on the second compilation from Touched - Music for Macmillan Cancer Support. The album will be available from 28th November; in the meantime, check out the full list of 251 (!!!) artists on Facebook

01/11/14 - Environments 2 vinyl release

Environments 2 will be out on vinyl on 24th November through FSOLDigital. "Since the original release of the CD in 2008, and subsequent releases in the series to Environment 5 in 2014, there has been growing demand for vinyl and so for the first time this year we bring Environments 2 in that format."

25/10/14 - Terminal Radio 22 inc. EBS10: stream and download now

After last night's premiere of six new FSOL tracks on Terminal Radio - 'Electric Brainstorm 10: Micro Edition' - the show is now available to stream and download from Soundcloud. The tracklist:
Film Polski - Vietnam
Zeebox - Sewage Worker (Triangle)
The Future Sound of London - 滅亡 (Archive 8 - Edit)
The Future Sound of London - Unfurl (Archived)
The Future Sound of London - EBV Answer Machine (The Knowing Collectors)
The Future Sound of London - Lakeside
The Future Sound of London - Driving Round

12/10/14 - EBS10: Micro Edition

A fifteen minute edition of The Electric Brainstorm series is due on 24th October. Electric Brainstorm 10: The Micro Edition will be part of the next Terminal Radio transmission, as organised by members of our very own forum. This particular edition sees Nmesh pull out all the stops, grabbing stars such as Youth, Ishq, DJ Food, Mixmaster Morris, Neotropic and Surface 10, alongside Terminal regulars Akkya and Sy Haze. Plus himself. And FSOL, of course. The FSOL mix will the premier of six unreleased FSOL and Zeebox tracks.

For those of you confused about the lack of EBS 9, it appears the opening track on the Environment 5 Bonus EP was actually volume 9 in the series, which is branching out into an all-round multi-media concept (a VHS version is still in the works.) You can tune in to Terminal Radio on Future Music at 1700 - 2000 BST (12PM EST) on 24th October.

08/10/14 - Environment Six teaser??

Today, the FSOL and FSOLDigital Facebook pages showed an image with six CD covers, and the caption "THE ENVIRONMENT SERIES. Now available on FSOLDigital.com". The six cover is that of one of the inner booklet pages of Environments 2, suggesting that it might simply be there to add symmetry to the image. It's also possibly there to suggest that a sixth is on the way. Not that past teasers have meant imminent release (volumes three, four and five have all been mentioned two years before their actual release) but with the initial rumours of Five being a double album, and the lack of tracks such as the previously heard '******' and 'Strange Glare', there is always the possibility that Six might be here soon.
Or it could just be for symmetry purposes.

Check out the image and join the speculation here.

03/10/14 - From the Archives 8 on its way

The eighth volume in the band's From the Archives series is on its way. No release date set yet, but watch this space...

08/09/14 - Environment Five out today

Yeah.

03/09/14 - Clip from 'Electric Brain Storm'

One of the tracks from the three track bonus EP available to those who pre-order through FSOLDigital will be called, interestingly, 'Electric Brain Storm'. Hear a clip below:

02/09/14 - Environment Five clips on Amazon

You can now hear rather low bitrate clips of Environment Five's 13 tracks on Amazon. Without giving too much away, it's fair to say that the Environments series has a definite sense of continuity, and this really charges ahead with the new sounds introduced on volume 4. Six days to release!

28/08/14 - FM Lifeforms interview out now; MPB Down Under

The October issue of Future Music magazine (#283) is out now, and features the Lifeforms interview, in which Gaz reminisces about the making of and reactions to the album, and occasionally actually discusses specific tracks (although considerably less than you'd expect from a 'track-by-track'.)
He also mentions that 'this month' Amorphous Androgynous will be releasing a Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble album based around Australian music. Quite what 'this month' means - both in terms of literal understanding (it is technically an October issue, despite being out in August), and in terms of FSOL's alternate universe timestream when "soon" means "in two years" and press releases go out advertising things that never even happened (the 2008 Isness re-release, for one.)
Still, it sounds like a fascinating approach for a new MPB project, and one that will likely throw light on some wonderful obscurities from the culture of an oft-forgotten country.

27/08/14 - Future Music Magazine Classic Album: Lifeforms

While you wait impatiently for Environment Five to come out in a couple of weeks, why not revisit the past with this month's issue of Future Music Magazine? Lifeforms is the magazine's 'classic album', and not only does it feature an interview with Gaz about the album, but it also contains a track-by-track description of the record by Mr. Cobain too.

25/08/14 - New E5 teaser

A third Environment Five teaser for everyone, this time Machines of the Subconscious, a beaty, electronic affair. The video also announces that the album will be shipping a week early (8th September) if ordered directly from FSOLDigital... The video description states pre-orders made on / from 26th August will receive a free 3-track bonus EP on release. We're not sure if that's only on 26th August or any date after that... confirmation soon.
EDIT: all FSOLDigital pre-orders will receive the bonus EP on release, not just those placed on 26th August.

Oh, and that video:

25/08/14 - And we have a cover

20/08/14 - Environment Five tracklist + info

Although there's been lots of speculation around the previous records, all of the Environments albums have been marketed as 'lost albums' from their '90s period, despite the very clear progression into newly recorded material as the series has gone on. Still, even volume 4 had 'Fibrillation', which has its origins in 'Glacier', and potentially more old stuff we don't know about. It is, then, with some excitement, that we can share the album description of Environment Five...

Following on from the themes of the first 4 Environments albums, Five explores the space / time / dimension that exists when we die. The moment of departure. It includes appearances from Daniel Pemberton (BAFTA nominated / Ivor Novello winning composer), Raven Bush (Syd Arthur) and Riz Maslen (Neotropic). The Environment series originally began as an archive of previously unreleased recordings but Environment Five features thirteen all new songs recorded in the first half of 2014.

So yes, confirmation that this is the new FSOL album. So that's a nice way to start the day. Also, this is the first time an album has been given an official description. Whilst both Lifeforms and Dead Cities had their concepts discussed in interviews, this time we have a definite theme: the space / time / dimension that exists when we die. This theme is very much explored in the tracklist, as listed below...

Disc: 1
1. Point Of Departure
2. Source Of Uncertainty
3. Image Of The Past
4. Beings Of Light
5. In Solitude We Are At Least Alone
6. Viewed From Below The Surface
Disc: 2
1. Somatosensory
2. Multiples
3. Dying While Being Held
4. Machines of the Subconscious
5. Dark and Lonely Waters
6. The Dust Settles
7. Moments Of Isolation

Despite both the vinyl and CD editions being listed as single disc editions, both feature a double disc tracklist. Given the knowledge that it's going to be a long album, it's likely that it's a single CD, double LP edition, and this tracklist is for the vinyl. There's a lot of potentially interesting stuff to read into the tracklisting... firstly, again, the theme. Unlike the previous Environments records, which have very much had vague descriptive titles ('North Arctic', 'The Empty Land', 'River Delta', etc.), here there's a definite sense of cohesion between the track names. Secondly, it's great to see the 'Viewed from...' series make a return after its absence on the previous volume. Lastly, no sign of the three titles we'd previously been supplied with: 'Five G' (from the Seafar teaser in early 2012); '******' and 'Strange Glare' from the FSOLDigital Sampler 2. It's possible that these have been renamed; it's equally possible that the 'first half of 2014' remark in the description is true, and this wholly new record replaces an earlier incarnation of the album - in which case, we'll probably see those tracks appear on a future Archive record.

20/08/14 - Environment Five vinyl

Environment Five will be the first major FSOL release to come out on vinyl since Alice in Ultraland in 2005. This is exciting news.

19/08/14 - Environment 5 out 15th September

All this time I've been looking for information on Environments 5, I never stopped to consider that the album could really be called Environment 5. Then again, this Amazon release date of 15th September suggests otherwise...
Less than a month to go!

19/08/14 - Environments 5 clips

Two clips from Environments 5 have appeared on Brian's STAKKERHUMANOID account this afternoon.
"In Solitude At Least We Are Alone":

"Source of Uncertainty":
 The former is reminiscent of the Amorphous-tinged sound of Environments 4, whilst the latter is a moody piano piece, with hints of Environments 3. Yet they both sound fresh and new, too. Which is all we can hope for. Other than Gaz saying he's finally back in full-on FSOL mode:
"very proud of this upcoming FSOL album.. some very deep personal synchronicity behind it which feels like i've reconnected with my former self at the same time reconnecting ( here via facebook ) with some incredibly important people from my past. Don't quite know why i let such people leave my life and don't quite know why i left FSOL behind when it represents such a huge emotional aspect of my personality but there you go...we are a mystery unto ourselves sometimes......love this track featuring the wonderful RAVEN BUSH with a majestic violin performance 'IN SOLITUDE WE ARE LEAST ALONE ' can't wait for people to hear the whole track and album..."

22/07/14 - Gaz on Facebook: Australia release and Environments 5

A couple of remarks about the future from Gaz on Facebook - in reply to a question about Australian releases, he hinted at a future release 'devoted to Australia' that they're just finishing up.
He also said that a little thing called Environments 5 will be out 'next month', contains 'new material' and that he's 'very proud of this album' - so that's exciting. The wait is almost at an end, it seems!

07/07/14 - Monstrous Psychedelic DJ set + news forthcoming

From the Amorphous Facebook page...

"Looking forward to spinning some cosmic grooves with our sitar maestro Jonathan Mayer on the magic pumpkin in a couple of weeks time...haven't done one of these in a while, yes, a Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble DJ set in Finland with live sitar no less no more.

https://www.facebook.com/events/621218951304869/

http://www.h2ofestival.fi

& seems timely to dig out this one at the Green Man ha ha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Ts4DnVJsM

This comes ahead of some very exciting new MONSTROUS Psychedelic Bubble news forthcoming shortly..ah..a psychedelic tease eh?!"

What this news will be - the rumoured covers + remixes album, the new Amorphous single "Mother", the long forgotten FSOL volume of the series or, most likely, something we've not heard of yet - remains to be seen, but given the group's definitions of words like "shortly", we'll probably know by the end of the year...

27/06/14 - FSOL Facebook

FSOL have finally taken over the Facebook fan page that has collected 20,000+ followers since it began a few years ago. Find the new FSOL official Facebook here.
"This page now becomes the official FSOL - The Future Sound of London page - our many thanks to diana for beginning this - if anyone needs to contact us - then here is the place - ONWARDS"

27/06/14 - Environments 5 & 6 news.

A few updates for you on the new record - Environments 5 will be a single album, not a double album as rumoured. There may be a vinyl release as well as CD. Release date is speculated to be August / September.

And two forthcoming releases - an based around the EMS Synthi (but different to EMS : Piano). And Environments 6.

Really.

25/06/14 - Environments 5 in August? And studio photos

A rumour on the FSOLBoard suggests Environments 5 is due for a release in August. Whilst this is from the same poster who brought us the infamous 'Loft Insulation' E4 tracklist, it seems a tad more legit this time, with a link to this set of studio photos, apparently from the E5 recording sessions. More news as and when...

16/06/14 - Sturmazdale - Document #2 out on FSOLDigital now

This week's FSOLDigital release is by Sturmazdale, an experimental music project by Craig Gillman and Ross Baker. Their second album, Document #2, is described as "Six acousmatic / electro-acoustic / dark ambient / glitch sound experiments exploring microcosms within microcosms".
As with recent FSOLDigital releases, it's a £3.50 320kbps MP3 / £5.00 FLAC deal. Grab it here.

18/05/14 - Cartel Remixes download

Bit late on this one due to being away last week, but it seems the weekly release slot is continuing, this time with a download edition of the Cartel Remixes album. A slightly different tracklist to the RSD vinyl (particularly in lacking the standard album versions, along with a few other differences), the record compiles the bulk of the remixes in one handy download package.
£6.99 MP3, £8.50 FLAC - grab it here.

07/05/14 - Glass Girl

Continuing this spring's FSOLDigital update, we have Glass Girl - first heard on EBS6 four years ago.  Brian describes the release:
‘Back in 1983 my dad said – “hey theres someone else nearby making electronic music why dont you go and see him?” – so I did. Sadly he was away on holiday however I did buy this tape from his mum – recently I found it again and tried to track him down even asking friends in Glasgow to visit his house – nothing – no trace – where are you? - A fantastic blend of electronics and soundscapes – especially when you think this was recorded in 1982/3 – enjoy’ – BRIAN

Six tracks of analogue synths and voice samples, once again £3.50 MP3, £5.00 FLAC.  Grab it here.

29/04/14 - The Jazz Mags!

Following hot on the heels of Blackhill Transmitter 2 comes the first release from The Jazz Mags, entitled An Open Window.
This is believed to be an FSOL alias (rather than a solo release), as the track Open Window appeared on EBS 3 under the FSOL name.  Described as "New EP from The Jazz Mags – trumpets, cellos, oboes, percussion blended with electronics and synths - splendid." the EP contains four tracks: Startled, Burn, Open Window, and Startled (orig).  Once again, £3.50 MP3 and £5.00 FLAC , right about here.

29/04/2014 - Blackhill Transmitter - 2nd, in MP3 and FLAC

The second EP by Brian's Blackhill Transmitter project is released today, with a little more info than the last one...

Second helpings from Blackhill Transmitter - continuing the sound of hauntology
The once active transmitter / receiver now lies silent albeit for the faint crackling and buzzing as if ghosts from the past still wish to be heard

Five tracks:
1. Alignment (4:12)
2. Interception (3:07)
3. Loko Motive (4:40)
4. 1957 (1:12)
5. Uf (4:47)

This is the first FSOLDigital release to be made available in MP3 and FLAC format (here's hoping they go through the back catalogue at some point).

Grab it here!

22/04/14 - MPB live in Finland

'A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble' is on the bill at the H2O festival in Finland - no news as to whether this is a MPB stage like at the Green Man festival, or just a slightly bizarre billing of Amorphous.  No doubt Gaz will be there and psych jams will be played.
FSOLDigital artists Kettel + Secede, long-time FSOL collaborator Neotropic, and Amorphous favourite Gong are also playing at the festival.

H2O takes place at the old dockyard in Ruissalo, Turku, on the 18th and 19th July 2014.  Lots more information at the official site.

02/04/2014 - RSD Cartel tracklist revealed, new Gaz interview

The Record Store Day Cartel 2XLP tracklist runs as so:

1. The Chaser [Black Light Cinema Remix]
2. 000000 [Cranium Pie's Baking Research Centre Remix]
3. City Of Regrets [Broadcast Of Variants Remix]
4. Where Does The Evil Go
5. Tunnel Vision [DJ Food Remix]
6. Billionaire
7. Bugged [Virgil Howe Remix]
8. The Watch Man
9. The Killin' Spree
10. The Costa Rican Cartel
11. Visiting The Visitor [Seafar Remix]
12. Out About [Mikey Rowe Remix]
13. Wasp [Blood Solution] [Youth Remix]
14. Banksters
15. The Bug
16. Regrets [Re-edit]
17. Radio Break [NMESH Re-mix]
18. Wasped[Cranium Pie's Baking Research Centre Remix]
19. The Wasp
20. Bankster Island
21. The First Billion Is The Hardest
22. Regrets And The Damage Done [Lost In Edit Re-mix]
23. The Rat
24. Opium Smiles

Congratulations to forum regular Nmesh for getting his remix of Radio Breakdown in there, and of course it's great to see Seafar finally getting a physical release!  Also, a proper long-awaited FSOL/Orb cross-over of sorts, with a Youth remix in there.

In other news, here's a fascinating interview with Gaz on the history of FSOL, Lifeforms and other such wonderful stuff, on Swedish radio...
Includes exciting news: they've been working on a new version of the Liz Fraser Lifeforms for the past four or five years which will be out soon!
Well worth a listen!

29/03/14 - One of those 'here's a billion new things' updates

Nothing released, but a few updates from the band on future releases...

Buggy G. Riphead is currently working on the artwork for Environments 5, so things are moving smoothly there, and we should still be expecting a release later in the year.  This one seems to have taken longer to complete as it's going to be a much longer album than 4.  The band are also considering related stuff to coincide with the release, and although nothing is confirmed yet, this could include a box set, a vinyl release or even a single.  More news later in the year.

It has been confirmed the soundtrack to the game Mushroom 11 is just selections from the Archives & Environments series.

Broadcast of Variants mini album to come this year.  Expected title to be City of Regrets.  BoV is the project of Russian musicians Vladislav Isaev and Elena Isaeva.

New singles and EPs from EMS : Piano, Blackhill Transmitter, The Amorphous Androgynous and Seafar.  We imagine this'll probably be another batch release like the last lot of EPs.  The Amorphous single will be called Mother.

A single called Open Window.  Whether this will be as FSOL or under the Open Window name is not currently known, but as the track was listed in the EBS3 tracklist as 'From the Jazz Mags', it is probable that this will be the eventual release of those sessions.

Electric Brain Storms 9 is due later in the year and might take a slightly different approach to the previous ones.

Digital album from Sturmazdale entitled Document #2 due soon.  Sturmazdale is form of Ross Baker and Craig Gillman.


And probably other stuff too.  We'll keep you updated.

19/03/14 - Prime World soundtrack

Well, as we're covering one computer game, why not let's cover another (or: thanks to Dell for being bored enough at work to do some research). The full soundtrack to last year's Prime World game is actually on YouTube, recorded by a player. There are seven tracks, and we're pretty sure parts 2 and 7 aren't FSOL, as they sound very different. The rest of it is in the form of a long, morphing extension of the ambient bits of Environments 4 - particularly The Wheel of Life, Fibrillation and The Clear Light of Reality. In an age when singles no longer really exist, it's a fascinating opportunity to have a listen to some drastically different versions of FSOL tracks...

19/03/14 - Some more Mushroom 11 info

Some more notes on FSOL's soundtrack to the upcoming Mushroom 11 game. Some more gameplay footage, featuring a slightly different mix of A Corner, can be found here:

And from the developer's blog, a bit of info about how the collaboration came about:

"I’ve been a huge fan of British electronic music duo The Future Sound of London (FSOL) since the 90s. Their experiments in various musical sub-genres have inspired me for decades, with masterpieces like ISDN, Dead Cities and my personal favorite, Lifeforms.

When coming up with the original designs for Mushroom 11, I used to listen to FSOL while designing its dark, desolate world. The pace, story and even the mechanics were highly influenced by their unique ambience.

Around a year ago I decided to try and get FSOL on board with the production of Mushroom 11. I believed it would be a near impossible task for me—an indie developer with no PR or funds, nor with a compelling product at the time—to convince this supergroup to join forces. I was thoroughly surprised at how helpful and accommodating they were, and how much they had believed in the game, even when all I had to show for it was interesting mechanics, programmer art, and some grandiose ideas. They provided me with tips, ideas and a huge selection of beautiful, electrifying music, which really helped me define Mushroom 11 and set its style and direction.

So, I couldn’t be prouder to announce the collaboration between Mushroom 11 and The Future Sound of London. Also remember that Mushroom 11 is up for the prestigious IGF 2014 Excellence in Design Award, so if you’d like to play the latest build, come by the IGF Pavilion at the GDC Expo, San Francisco, March 19-21. Hope to see you there! Itay (@itayke)"

A wonderful example of the guys working hand in hand with the independent, DIY world once more. Oh, and here's a poster:

18/03/14 - Mushroom 11 Soundtrack

Following the group's work on Prime World, the announced-and-immediately-forgotten Russian computer game, FSOL have now contributed music to the forthcoming independent platform game Mushroom 11.  From here...

Indie developer Untame is announcing that their upcoming puzzle platformer Mushroom 11 will feature an ambient soundtrack by supergroup The Future Sound of London (FSOL), who pioneered electronic dance music in the 1990s.

The licensed music can be heard in-game this Wednesday, March 19 through Friday, March 21 during hands-on demos at the Game Developers' Conference in San Francisco, where Mushroom 11 is an Independent Game Festival finalist for the prestigious Excellence in Design award. A public demo will follow at PAX East in Boston, April 11-13

Mushroom 11 is a game about destruction. In an empty, desolate world, you are an amorphous organism that can only move by destroying its own cells. Removed cells immediately regrow elsewhere on the organism, so you can move, reshape, and even split yourself freely. This cerebral gameplay challenges players' logic skills as well as their reflexes, set to ten beautiful and electrifying tracks licensed from FSOL.

"As a fan of The Future Sound of London growing up in the 90s, it is an honor for me to announce this cooperation," says Itay Keren, Mushroom 11's designer. "FSOL's music is a true inspiration for the entirety of my work, including the dark, desolate world of Mushroom 11. I couldn't be prouder about incorporating their music in my game."

Mushroom 11 is under development for PC/Mac as well as multiple console and handheld platforms.


The video features an alternate mix of Field of Flowers, so it remains to be seen whether this will be archived material or new tracks.

13/03/14 - An end of sorts

Look at that! A FSOL pun title! And it works!

As you may have noticed, the fully fleshed out website version of The Galaxial Pharmaceutical has gone offline. It's been around for twelve years, in which time the internet has changed significantly. With the rise of sites like Wikipedia and Discogs, the need for fansites has diminished drastically. And whilst FSOL have a long, convoluted, occasionally strange and densely confusing history, it still remains that the news page and forums have formed the main activity on the site for the last few years, according to our stats. Web 2.0 and all that. On the plus side, no Frames.
This doesn't mean, however, that the content is gone. Not at all. Instead, you'll find on the right here, links to sub-forums on the FSOLBoard, which contain threads for every release, every ISDN transmission, live show and mix, and all known interviews. Not only can you read about the group, but now you can discuss particulars in-thread. So join the board and tell us which is your favourite version of Papua New Guinea from the 2001 re-release, and explain why it's not the Simian Remix (it really should be the Simian Remix). Some of the pages need an update, and that's going ahead slowly but surely - but the bulk of the information is there.

There are various other reasons for this, including excessively expensive webhosting and the need to edit the site on the go, which will also be addressed by this move. The Second Thought domain will exist for a short while yet, but in general it's best to bookmark fsolnews.blogspot.co.uk for all your future FSOL needs.

In other news, we can confirm the double LP version of The Cartel + Remixes is a Record Store Day release. So go and buy yours in April if you can get through the crowds alive.

10/03/14 - Environments 5 mini update

'ENVIRONMENTS FIVE soon come'.  So read a not-very-cryptic status update on a certain FSOL member's Facebook this morning, along with a photo of an interesting setup, featuring the EMS Synthi and a bunch of effects.  Obviously most people's idea of 'soon' (a few weeks, perhaps) is usually at odds with that of FSOL's (a few months to a year), but we're reckoning a late spring/early summer release at the moment.

In the meantime, you can revisit the first half of the legendary first ever Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble transmission on the FSOL Digital Soundcloud page, which - with its Pro Account status - looks like it might be acting as a work-in-progress replacement for The Pod Room. That can be found here.

22/01/14 - Electric Brainstorms 8 online for free!

In an unexpected move, the latest volume in the Electric Brainstorms series has been uploaded to the newly formed FSOLDigital Soundcloud, and can be streamed from now.  Entitled 'The Electric Brain Storm - Document Eight', the mix can be listened to here. The tracklist can be found here.  A couple of interesting inclusions are the opening piece by CPA, which is labelled as 'FSOLDigital', and thus a possible future release on the label; a currently unreleased Blackhill Transmitter piece entitled '0010100101', hinting a possible future release for the alias; and a new EMS : Piano piece.  Interestingly, there is no material from the forthcoming Environments 5, perhaps suggesting the album is further off than predicted.

16/01/14 - FSOL on Facebook and a quick catchup

Yup, we're crap and decided not to update you on ANYTHING for a couple of months.  So here's some stuff:

There is now an official FSOL Facebook, for those who use the site.
Amorphous did a mix for Solid Steel radio in December, which can now be heard on YouTube. The mix is a promotional half hour set for The Cartel.
And there's a brand new FSOL track available on the charity compilation Touching.  All profits made from the fundraising compilation will go to Macmillan Cancer Support, and it features over a hundred artists, including 808 State, Plaid, Arovane, and of course FSOL.  FSOL contributed the new ambient piece Lakeside, plus archive piece Lizzard Crawl.  Grab the compilation for a staggering £6 (or more if you like!) here.

And our new year's resolution is to update this page on time from now on!