03/03/23 - Humanoid EP out soon on De:Tuned

A new four track 12" of acid cuts by Humanoid will be released on De:Tuned on 29th May. The EP features the title track, 'Sweet Acid Sound', two new compositions 'Roached' and 'Si-Rak', and a piece called '808 Nation' which appears to be written by 808 State, with the possibility that it's the 'Flow Coma' cover we heard a few years ago. The EP can be pre-ordered from Bandcamp now, with wider availability due nearer to the release date. The title track can be streamed from the page.

16/02/23 - Record Store Day 2023 releases: Tales of Ephidrina and Life in Moments

A reissue of Tales of Ephidrina has long been expected, and it's finally coming out for this year's Record Store Day. The LP edition will be in print for the first time since the album's release 30 years ago, which is exciting in itself; even more notable is the fact that this is the first expanded reissue in the band's catalogue. While we've been spoiled with a wealth of unreleased material in the From the Archives series, this is nevertheless very much overdue, with the group being one of an increasingly small number of major label acts not to be given the deluxe reissue treatment. The LP edition comes with a bonus 12" featuring four tracks, and the release is pleasingly accompanied by a CD reissue featuring the same tracks on the end. Both editions have been remastered by Matt Colton. The four bonus pieces are 'Mountain Path' - giving a recording date to this Environment Six track that has long been rumoured to be a 'Mountain Goat' alternate take - 'Static Field', as previously heard on one of the Touched Music nights, as well as an extended mix of 'Sky-Scraper' and an alt take of 'Swab'. All in all this is a wonderful release, and with it being the band's first album for Virgin, it does pose the question whether the rest of the Universal catalogue will see similar treatment, or maybe even a boxset release.

The FSOLDigital release this year is different to past years, but equally exciting in its own right: with the RSD blurb revealing that the initial CD release was limited to a staggeringly low 250 copies, hence ridiculous prices of £100+ on Discogs, it's great to know that Life in Moments will finally be getting a reissue. It's also an opportunity for vinyl fans to get this previously CD-only release. The LP edition features a single bonus track, 'Sonata Andantino' - aka the Schubert Violin Sonata first heard on a Touched Music night and initially planned for the Environment 7 trilogy - at the end of side A. To the best of my knowledge, a further expanded CD edition will follow in the vein of previous Record Store Day releases. The album cover is the same image as the Most Important Moments in a Life book, as opposed to the Dollis Hill station shot from the original CD.

Record Store Day is on 22nd April. Life in Moments is limited to 1,000 copies; no limitation is given for Tales.

04/02/23 - Calendar and remix

Not very long after the last post, the 2023 Calendar Album duly appeared. Available from Bandcamp, the album opens with an FSOL track called 'Input Gate'. In other news, a new album from Sundial Aeon, Regenesis, will apparently feature a Yage remix. More news on that when we get it.

30/01/23 - Various updates

Hello all, apologies for the very long delay in getting news out. Unfortunately I've been quite ill recently and staying on top of the site hasn't been a priority; I was originally hoping to start covering last year's releases on my Fractional Difference blog this month but that, again, has had to take a back seat for the foreseeable future.

In FSOL news, there have been a couple of things to mention. Firstly, Humanoid track 'Atari Scodar' appeared on the third Found Sound compilation from Touched, along with - again - FSOL's 'Dox 2'. The CD is very much out of print now, but the set can be purchased as a download here. 'Atari Scodar' appears around the 42 minute mark of Mind Maps 3. Speaking of Mind Maps, the online launch event for the compilation announced that a fourth volume of the FSOLDigital mix CD series will be out this year. As far as I know, it's intended for release in the spring.

Other releases for 2023 include the conclusion of the Environment 7 trilogy, a new Record Store Day release, and hopefully the next '90s reissue from Universal, plus, of course, plenty of stuff previously unannounced. There's no sign of a Calendar Album yet, but that could still come along in the next 24 hours.

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.