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!

12/11/13 - Cartel out on FSOLDigital, Stakker article on Guardian

Well, the prediction that The Cartel 1 & 2 would be available on FSOLDigital early has come spectacularly true - if you're awaiting the digital versions, they appeared online yesterday. And physical versions are available to order and will be shipping as of next Monday (18/11). There's also a 'combo pack' of volumes 1 & 2, which we're guessing will be what most people go for. And they're all available at FSOLDigital.com now.

In other news, The Guardian have run a nice article and interview with Brian about the 25th anniversary of Stakker Humanoid, and the success of the track. That can be read here.

06/11/13 - The Cartel on 2nd December, Cartel remixes and Enhanced Archives to follow

The first two Volumes of The Cartel are due out on 2nd December, according to our tax-avoiding friends at Amazon. It's likely they'll appear slightly sooner at FSOLDigital. No news of bonus tracks for buying direct from the band yet - we'll keep you informed if any turn up. The press release states the albums feature a certain Mr. Noel Gallagher on bass and guitar, and will be followed by a third volume of remixes next year (as previously hinted by DJ Food). Official sources have revealed the enhanced versions of Archives 1 - 3 will finally be appearing on FSOLDigital shortly after The Cartel is out, which means they can be bought without paying extortionate Beatport prices. These will just be digital currently, although the band are looking into the potential of doing physical versions in the future.

27/09/13 - X Series, Cartel Remixes, Stage Animations and #FSOLtop10

Right, time for a bit of a roundup of the latest comings and goings in the FSOL and Amorphous world.

First up, there's a new selection of tracks on the Extreme Music library music site X-Series. Nu-Psychedelia features eight tracks by Dougans/Cobain: Coma Chameleon, Present Sense, What Goes Up, Shroom Walk, Warm & Fuzzy, Happy Trails, Contact High and Keep it Unreal.  As the title suggests, they're more on the Amorphous/psychedelic end of things, with an electronic twist that keeps them in line with the more recent Amorphous remixes and Cartel preview tracks.  The eight tracks can be streamed in their entirety directly from the site.

Secondly, DJ Food has been spilling information on his blog again. This time he mentions "...I’m also about to begin work on not one but two remixes for The Amorphous Androgynous (!)". There's no remix EP planned for The Cartel, so we'll have to wait and see just how these remixes surface.

Next, some video footage of the 'In 2 Minds' animation from the band's 2009 Athens show by its creator, Tom Bell, featuring a staggering array of alternatives for what FSOL could mean.  Check that out on Bell's Vimeo page.

And finally, for those on Twitter, you may wish to follow Neglected Nuggets @thelostrecord this evening (27/09), as we're taking over for an hour to do our FSOL Top 10. Not quite a conventional ten favourites, but ten of their best since 1990, with an emphasis on obscure, unknown and hidden gems. You can follow @thelostrecord or check out the #FSOLtop10 tag from around 8:30 this evening (that's GMT+1 as it's summer [apparently]). Feel free to send us your comments thoughts on our choices and FSOL in general!

03/08/13 - News! Everywhere! LOADS OF IT!

So, a roundup of the madness so far this week.

First up, on Tuesday it was 20 years since Tales of Ephidrina was released, the first album on Astralwerks. To celebrate, two never before heard alternative mixes of Liquid Insects and Mountain Goat were added to the label's Soundcloud page. The tracks are quite similar to the released versions, but there are noticable differences to make them interesting curios. You can stream those here.

Next, new release news. Four EPs appeared on FSOLDigital on Thursday. It is not known whether these are alias or other artists, although it is presumed they are aliases. First up, Blackhill Transmatter - "EP". Written by Blackhill Transmitter. Recorded at Nine L West. Produced by Yage.
01 - Five Twenty Seven (3:08)
02 - Tower (3:08)
03 – Landslides (1:41)
04 – Karman Line (3:55)
05 – TX DSO Stage 1 (3:22)
06 – Hurple (2:37)
07 – Black Grain (2:34)


The tracks are mostly ambient with live sounding drums, and not entirely unlike some of the Environments 4 material in their organic feel.

The second release is, finally, the first release from EMS : Piano, a short EP entitled "One". The credits this time: Written by EMS : Piano. Recorded at Nine L West. Produced by Yage.
Recorded to 1/4 ” tape – warm and saturated - EMS : PIANO use exactly whats on the tin to create this 3 track EP. Taken from the album “VESSELS”
TRACKS
•01 – Grazing (Part 1) (5:44)
•02 – Swimmer (3:12)
•03 – The Suitcase (3:32)
Two of the pieces will be familiar from the EBS mixes. We're looking forward to the full album!


Next up, Sand Sound Folly - Salient Moons 1973. This one is very much a mystery, with the only credits being: Recorded live at The Panvision Gallery 03/04/10. Mixed at 9L-West. The EP is very organic sounding again, lots of acoustic instrumentation and percussion. TRACKS:
•01 – A Silent Moon (4:23)
•02 – Wishbone (4:58)
•03 – Willow (2:52)
•04 – Ebb & Flow (4:02)

The final of the four EPs is Stillness by Suburban Domestic, which falls firmly into the category of ambient dub. No credits whatsoever for this one, and five tracks:
•01 – Stillness (3:33)
•02 – Suburban Domestic (6:56)
•03 – Naked Earth (4:07)
•04 – A Pleasure Doing Business With Ya (3:13)
•05 – Municipal Infrastructure (4:28)

Sound samples of all releases are on the FSOLDigital pages, which can be found by clicking the EP titles in the above text.

Finally there is new merchandise to purchase on the site too. Four new t-shirt designs of the hand-drawn hands from the Amorphous/Paul Weller remix 12" released a few Record Store Days ago, the Environments logo from volumes 1 and 2 of the series, a Papua New Guinea cover and the FSOLDigital 'splash' logo. The t-shirts are hand-printed, made from organic cotton, ethically produced with low carbon footprint (more information on the individual tee pages). There's also an Alice In Ultraland poster on the site.

Meanwhile, in a 1970s cop film...
CARTEL Vol 1 the first release in a new series ' MONSTROUS BUBBLE SOUNDTRACKS produced and performed by the Amorphous Androgynous. It's a parallel series to the MONSTROUS PSYCHEDELIC BUBBLE DJ series but AA write and produce all the music in this series ( rather than DJ like MPB )exploring sub genres of MPB. The Cartel explores ' psychsploitation' where blaxploitation meets psych - a psychsploitation soundtrack for bank robberies , car/ cop chase/ heists, gunrunners , counter-surveillance, killing sprees and regret . . . .

Text and bizarre punctiation & capitalisation by Gaz there, of course. Ok, the tracklists for Volumes 1 & 2 are here - are you ready for this?

Volume 1
1. The Wasp
2. The Bug
3. Banksters
4. Regrets and Last Respects
5. The Chase
6. Hide and Speak
7. Loaded Silence (Part 1)
8. The Plaza Heist
9. Eyes and Ears to the Ground
10. The First Billion is the Hardest
11. Where Does the Evil Go When Evil Men Die?
12. Radio Breakdown
13. Taken Delivery
14. The Harry Limescale Theme
15. Down The Memory Hole
16. The Rat
17. Never Trust a Grass

Volume 2
1. Watching the Watcher
2. The Watcher
3. An Ocean of Regrets
4. Hombre Malo
5. The Visitor
6. Loaded Silence
7. Jah Skansters
8. 20 Years Behind Bars
9. The Killin' Spree (Theme From Harry Limescale)
10. 1,000,000 Stashed
11. Dead Vapours
12. Tap-Up
13. Billion Breaks
14. The Decision
15. Tunnel Sequence
16. Dead Man's Shadow
17. The Costa Rican Cartel
18. Cook The Books
19. Gun Runners
20. Some Time Later


And here are a load of video promos for the albums:








I think that's probably enough to keep us going for the moment.

11/06/13 - Updates from the land of FSOL

So, it's been quiet, but there is stuff on its way - word from FSOL talks about:

-an update to the FSOLDigital shop 'coming soon' with new material - we're guessing the Yage EP, and probably some surprises

-several remixes the band have been working on lately will be released in due course

-Environments 5 still in the works

-a new Monstrous Bubble release entitled The Cartel, and described as a 'funky psychsploitation soundtrack'.

So whilst all is quiet on the public front, lots is going on behind the scenes.

28/03/13 - Possible FSOL/Will White collab?

I recently heard from somebody claiming to know about a forthcoming release by FSOL & Will White (ex-Propellerheads, collaborator on The Woodlands of Old and Environments 4), which has been described as containing funky sounding house and breaks tracks - 'not very FSOL'. Probably coming on FSOLDigital but nothing confirmed. Not sure how reliable this is, but Brian did mention some time ago that they were working on something with him - initially it was presumed to be the Yage album, but maybe not?

Yeah, that's it for now.