02/11/22 - Brian moonlights as film score guy

Sorry for the clickbait headline there. Still, it's worth noting that Brian has been helping longtime collaborator Dan Pemberton on his film scores, and this has gone seemingly unnoticed by most of us. He's credited for mixing the soundtrack to the National Geographic documentary One Strange Rock, "electronic instrument design" on the Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse score (most likely for use of the SX:One), and 303 programming on the score for Birds Of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn. Mr. Pemberton has certainly raised his game since creating the music for the first series of Peep Show 20 years ago, but it's also wonderful to see Brian on these albums. It's quite remarkable to think that there's a trace of FSOL on at least one Hollywood blockbuster.

12/10/22 - A Space of Partial Illumination out now!

E7.02 is out now from Bandcamp. Thoughts and observations:

Bandcamp title is A Space of Partial Illumination E7.002, but the CD and LP versions are both E7.02.
CD has different artwork to the LP, a warped photo of some pipes with rainbow colouring.
CD and digital have four bonus tracks: 'Mangy Burger', 'A Stationary Air Mass', 'Exists to Remove Doubt' and 'Sophies Path'. These aren't listed on the CD art.
'Mangy Burger' is the least FSOL title ever; 'Sophies Path' is named after Brian's cat.
Only 'FSOL' appears in the band's usual font, the rest in a new typeface not seen on an FSOL release before.
There is no reference at all to E7.02 on the CD spine, further moving away from the 'Environments' name.

17/09/22 - A Space of Partial Illumination update

Stores are now listing release dates of 14th and 21st October for E7.02 A Space of Partial Illumination; given the band's usual decision to release albums a couple of weeks early, this suggests we'll probably be getting a Bandcamp edition in the next couple of weeks. And finally some news on the CD version: different cover art, and four additional tracks.

15/09/22 - The Family Dog, remixes, unheard '80s Humanoid track?

In what is the first FSOLDigital release of an outside act for many years, the website presents 'Traumadol' by The Family Dog. The release is described as:
"In a tumbledown shack behind a hoarder’s house in the north of the city, strewn with logs for the firepit and guarded by a beast of a mutt they call Thor, THE FAMILY DOG have built The Box. A home-made rehearsal studio and musical kennel for their band, which consists of five North London brothers chewing up the marrow of Americana, soul, punk, blues, psychedelia and a whole lot more, then howling it all out in gigs resembling “a pack of wild dogs not giving a shit.” Swapping instruments, diving into crowds and embracing the chaos, they’re a feral concoction of White Denim, The Black Keys, Curtis Mayfield and The Band.
FSOL digital brings you the first release from this amazing guitar band.
“These guys are insane… Totally fukin hilariously good” Brian Dougans
"

As well as 'Traumadol', the release features a 'Decomposed' remix by Yage. With the MP3 at £1.50 and FLAC for £2.00, it will no doubt be of interest to fans for the remix alone. Grab it here.

In other news, a couple more Yage remixes have appeared. Pleasurefields' 'Hands of Time', remixed by Yage, appears on a ludicrously limited run of 10 lathe cut 12"s given away to friends of the Touched label, with the Heogen remix of 'sT8818r' on the b-side. Let's hope that mix gets a proper release one day, as it's currently by far the rarest track in the band's catalogue. The other remix has already been heard on Mind Maps 3, but is now properly identified and is available for purchase: Inkipak's 'Open Door', on the +ve album. Grab your copy from Fourier Transform.

It's been a long time since we uncovered an old track that's been floating around out there for years without being noticed by the fanbase, but it seems FSOLBoard member cascade has come across something very intriguing: a track called 'Here We Go' credited to Cold Steel. While this doesn't ring any obvious bells, in the liner notes it's credited to B. Dougans and B. Ofoedi, which looks like a misspelling of Ofoedu. With a runtime of 4:26, Brian's initial guess was that it was simply 'The Deep' renamed (the sort of sly trick Trax got up to, apparently). However, listening on YouTube proves it's not: there's definitely an Ofoedu rap, including a lyric that mentions the word humanoid; there's also a "go, go, go" chant which sounds suspiciously like the one sampled on 'Tingler'. Is this, then, an outtake from Global? More news as we get it...

Quick response from Mr. Dougans:
"So that’s me / but not me

Me / not me

That’s a half bake demo track that has been finished by Morgan
Ben is the rapper ( phats + small )
That rap was on the demo

Obviously finished up and sold to Trax
"
So yes, it's not officially sanctioned, nor is it a final Brian production, but it's still otherwise unheard late '80s Humanoid, and the presence of Brian makes it more FSOL-related than some of the Peter Black tracks on Global itself.

13/07/22 - E7.02 in November?

Amazon are now listing the release date for the A Space of Partial Illumination LP as November 18th. This is obviously much more in line with the date given yesterday by Brian, although even later. With an FSOLDigital release due a couple of weeks beforehand, it's possible that at least CD and digital editions will be shipping from Bandcamp at the end of October, even in line with this date. As these things do tend to change quite often, this is all still provisional. More news as and when...

12/07/22 - E7.02 in October

Contrary to dates listed on various online stores, it turns out E7.02 A Space of Partial Illumination will not be released on 22nd or 29th July. In fact, the current release date is expected to be in October. As far as I'm aware, there aren't actually any copies in existence yet. FSOLDigital will be selling copies a couple of weeks before the street date, as normal. Let's hope there aren't too many people disappointed by the three month wait on their pre-orders through Amazon, Juno, etc.

28/06/22 - More E7.02 news

There be the cover! Here be the tracklist:
1. In Solitude We Are At Least Alone (Waltz)
2. A Space of Partial Illumination
3. Frozen Light
4. If That Were to Occur
5. Informal Horizon
6. Intents and Purpose
7. Ephemeral
8. Embodied Cognition
9. Long Green Field
10. All This Has Happened Before
11. Temporary Aliasing
12. How Forests Think

That's probably just the vinyl tracklist. Of particular note are the alternate version of 'In Solitude We Are Least Alone' which may well be the more electronic interpretation of the track, heard on Mind Maps 2 and one of the Foundation NFT artworks, as well as 'Long Green Field', a Dan Pemberton collaboration previously heard on Mind Maps 2. The inclusion of 'Solitude' is particularly interesting, as this is the first time two versions of a track have appeared on two different albums (ignoring archived stuff), which itself ties the series together in an intriguing way. The cover states the title is E7.02 A Space of Partial Illumination, which is amusingly out of sync with how the previous volume is named. And, of course, the return of eurostile bold extended on the cover after an almost complete absence on Rituals.

28/06/22 - Environments 7.02 A Space of Partial Illumination out 22nd July

According to Juno. This is quite a surprise, as it initially looked like an early autumn release was likely. The LP edition is now listed on Juno, although no tracklist is present. CD will no doubt be released at the same time, and it's very likely FSOLDigital/Bandcamp will be shipping a week or so earlier, meaning it could easily be in our hands in three weeks! In other predictions, the CD and digital editions will likely feature exclusive tracks again. As for the title, it's unclear whether this will be how the album is listed on the artwork, although given the series's past, going from e7.001 to Environments 7.02 wouldn't be out of character. The album's proper title is the defintion of 'penumbra' found in several online dictionaries. More news soon!

Update. Amazon has this rather... short tracklist to offer:
1 A Space of Partial Illumination
2 If That Were To Occur
3 Intents And Purpose
4 Embodied Cognition
5 All This Has Happened Before
6 How Forests Think

That may just be side A. Or they could all be very long tracks.

17/06/22 - FSOL remix Dan Pemberton

Daniel Pemberton, frequent collaborator with Brian and Gaz since the late '90s, has just released a promotional single in support of his score for the film Brian and Charles. The single, 'Wales, Land of Wonder', features a FSOL remix of 'The Workshop of Invention' on the b-side. The remix appears on the full album score which will be available for puchase next week, 24th June.

17/06/22 - Mind Maps 3 out now

Grab your copy from Touched Music. Stay tuned for FSOLDigital release.

11/06/22 - Mind Maps 3 launch event

As with the previous volumes, Touched Music will hold a launch event for the third Mind Maps CD on Mixlr prior to its release. The mix album will be played in full, and no doubt some additional material will appear, in the event starting at 7:30BST on Friday. Here's a Facebook link for the event, and here's the Mixlr page.

23/05/22 - Mind Maps 3 on June 17th

17th June 2022 is your release date for Mind Maps 3. No tracks confirmed yet other than a remix of a piece by Enofa. There will very likely be a Touched Music preview before release.

13/05/22 - Mind Maps 3

We are very happy to announce that the third volume of the FSOLDigital Presents Mind Maps mix CD series is on its way and will be out in the not-too-distant future. More news as it comes in...

06/05/22 - Calendars crossfaded

Cheers to fsolish on the board for this discovery - the Bandcamp editions of the previous five Calendar Albums feature crossfades between the majority of tracks, making them feel like 'proper' FSOL albums. The differences are very subtle, although one major difference is the move of the opening environment of 'Petroleum' to the start of 'Artificial Placement of Emotion'. We've yet to give them a proper listen, but this is certainly a positive step (albeit one that requires a second purchase for those of us so inclined) and hopefully the albums will feel a little more complete now.

02/05/22 - Rituals out last week, as you already know

As I spent the whole of last week stuck in bed with some pretty terrifying post-Covid fatigue, I wasn't up to updating the page to inform everybody of the excellent news that the CD, digital edition and the band's vinyl stock of Rituals was made available from Wednesday 27th April, a couple of days earlier than expected. General response from fans has been very positive, with a couple of people disappointed at the comparative lack of melodic pieces. Indeed, in terms of past albums, its closest cousin is maybe ISDN in its raw, chugging beats and emphasis on rhythm over melody. On the whole, however, it has its own new sound and is a very worthwhile addition to the FSOL catalogue. Grab yours here now. The gradual obsolesence of the FSOLDigital page continues as the album isn't listed there at all. Two of the expected previously heard tracks are on the album - 'Hopiate' and 'Ritualised' - meaning there is more known material in the speculation about e7.002, which is still expected to follow later in the year. In other Record Store Day news, the 2LP reissue of Earthbeat can also be picked up from Bandcamp now.

06/04/22 - sT8818r CD and digital out now

Click here to purchase the CD and digital editions of sT8818r. In true FSOL style, both editions have a different tracklist, so here's a quick rundown of what's what:

This is what's on the CD:
1. Stakker Humanoid
2. sT8818r Luke Vibert Mix
3. sT8818r Autechre Mix
4. sT8818r Mike Dred Mix
5. sT8818r Plaid Mix
6. sT8818r Tejada Mix
7. sT8818r Heogen Mix
8. sT8818r Roel Funcken Mix
9. sT8818r Yage Mix
10. sT8818r Inkipak Mix
11. sT8818r
12. Hsycam
13. Blue Beans
14. Made In Manchester


And this is what's on the download:
1. Stakker Humanoid
2. sT8818r Luke Vibert remix
3. sT8818r Autechre remix
4. sT8818r Mike Dred remix
5. sT8818r RTR remix
6. sT8818r Acreationator remix
7. sT8818r Plaid remix
8. sT8818r Tejada remix
9. sT8818r Heogen remix
10. sT8818r Roel Funcken remix
11. sT8818r Yage remix
12. sT8818r Inkipak remix
13. sT8818r


That makes the RTR and Acreationator remixes exclusive to the download, and the three new tracks exclusive to the CD. The CD comes in a digipak, as with last year's 7 Songs.

25/03/22 - sT8818r Album

Next month, Humanoid's sT8818r single will be released on FSOLDigital as a full-length album. On top of the four tracks released on last year's 12" are ten additional tracks, including the previously released original mix of 'sT8818r' and the Plaid remix, new mixes from John Tejada, Heogen, Roel Funcken and Inkpak, a Yage remix, and three new tracks 'Hsycam', 'Blue Beans' and 'Made in Manchester'. It will be released with the catalogue number CDTOT85, and a street date of 22nd April, with a strong possibility of a FSOLDigital/Bandcamp release before then.

1. Stakker Humanoid
2. sT8818r Luke Vibert Mix
3. sT8818r Autechre Mix
4. sT8818r Mike Dred Mix
5. sT8818r Plaid Mix
6. sT8818r Tejada Mix
7. sT8818r Heogen Mix
8. sT8818r Roel Funcken Mix
9. sT8818r Yage Mix
10. sT8818r Inkipak Mix
11. sT8818r
12. Hsycam
13. Blue Beans
14. Made In Manchester

21/03/22 - Rituals CD/digital tracklist

God, it's like the pre-2017 era lately with the comparative scarcity of news and releases. Still, Rituals is only a month away, and we now have the CD and digital tracklist:

1. Hopiate
2. Triple Circles
3. Somewhere Outside
4. Ritualised
5. Time Cone
6. Solar Signal
7. Sand to Ocean
8. Far Seeker
9. Slowly Slipped Away
10. Visibility Accumulation
11. I Am Error
12. Colour Primary
13. Time Passed the Sun
14. Ebb Flow
15. Avoiding Mirrors
16. Clone A9
17. Only in Memories

The last four tracks are the extras not on the LP release. They mostly continue the slightly sci-fi feeling of the other titles and cover, suggesting this could be a very different album. Four and a half weeks to go!

06/03/21 Rituals tracklist

The tracklist for the LP version of Rituals (e7.001) has been revealed.

A1. Hopiate
A2. Triple Circles
A3. Somewhere Outside
A4. Ritualised
A5. Time Cone
A6. Solar Signals
B1. Sand to Ocean
B2. Far Seeker
B3. Slowly Slipped Away
B4. Visibility Accumulation
B5. I Am Error
B6. Colour Primary
B7. Time Passed the Sun

So, no 'Northern Point' or 'Sonata in A', although these may well appear on 7.2 or 7.3, or the extended CD version. 'Ritualised' may be a renamed version of 'Rituals'.

18/02/22 - Earthbeat 2LP for RSD

We missed this one.

"30th Anniversary Edition of the iconic 1992 "Earthbeat" collection with much sought after tracks from the series of ‘Pulse’ EPs and 12” singles by The Future Sound Of London under their many guises. This special limited to 1500 hand numbered edition comes in a gatefold sleeve with a unique centrefold featuring past artwork and images from the period of these classic, much sought after tracks and rare mixes."

It's been announced as incoming, so perhaps not surprising that it's now!

16/02/22 - Principles of Motion EP now out

In slightly smaller news, the Principles of Motion 12" reissue is now available from FSOLDigital. It turns out it's a new remaster, too!

16/02/22 - Environment 7.1 out on Record Store Day, with wider release to follow

"The much acclaimed Environments series returns with an exclusive to Record Store Day vinyl edition of “RITUALS” the first in the Environment 7 trilogy - a 13 track album of new recordings by The Future Sound of London, engineered by Yage. Delicate melodies collide with deeply fragmented electronics - surfing atop muted rhythms and beats. Unique and unplaced the FSOL are unrivalled in art-electronic."

Well, there's a lot to unpack here. Firstly, the initial Record Store Day release of this makes it pretty much exactly five years since the last entry to the environment series, Environmental, released for RSD 2017. That's a long time. And, before anything else, CD, digital and further vinyl copies will be available from FSOLDigital the week following Record Store Day. CD and digital will have bonus tracks. RSD will give you an opportunity to get the album early, and possibly as a limited edition (past RSD releases have been numbered), but the album will be widely available soon afterwards.
The title? Well, we've had Environments, Environment, Environmental, everything from 1 to ⁴ to Five and 6.5. But >e7.001 is a very, very odd one. There appears to be no direct mention of the full series on the front. In fact, the blurb effectively says that the album is called Rituals, which just happens to be part of the Environments series. So those few people out there still waiting for a new album with a standalone title, here it is. The art is incredibly different, following on from the modern graphic style of the Bandcamp Calendar Albums. It'll be interesting to see it up close. There's no sign of the traditional FSOL font on the cover, or even a 'The' in the band name.

No tracklist yet, but we'll probably get one quite soon. Whether there'll be CD/digital bonus tracks or not remains to be seen, although it's certainly possible. More news soon, no doubt!

05/02/22 - Principles of Motion reissue

Once overlook but now greatly loved, the band's early 12" as Intelligent Communication, Principles of Motion, is due to be reissued on 29th April. This looks to be a direct copy of the original 12", down to its catalogue number. As one of the most expensive of the band's early releases on the second hand market, it's great to have this wonderful collection in print again. Copies will very likely ship from FSOLDigital and Bandcamp before the wider release date.

02/02/22 - Life in Moments CDs on Bandcamp

For those of you who are missing this rarity from your collection, some copies of Life in Moments have been found over at FSOL Towers and can now be purchased from Bandcamp. The CD was previously only available with purchases of the book The Most Important Moments in a Life.

14/01/22 - This year's Calendar Album out now

Happy new year everyone! 2022 looks set to be another busy one in FSOLland, with the Environment Seven trilogy, Mind Maps 3, Mantra and another Record Store Day re-recording due, plus a few side-project releases. And, first of all, the FSOLDigital Calendar Album is now on sale. It can be purchased from FSOLDigital in both FLAC and MP3 format, and from Bandcamp too. The first track is the catchily named 'Opk Machines Trx M2', and appears to have been recorded this year.