The Future Sound Of London
 

Time for my awesome-act-fully-deserving-of-their-own-thread of the week-related thread.

Anyone else here heard/heard of these guys before? Of the more mainstream progressive house acts to emerge from the acid house movement (with their mega-hits Stakker and Papua New Guinea - a couple of dance-floor classics), these chaps, who'd sometimes work under the pseudonym of Amorphous Androgynous and Humanoid, definitely ended up in the most avante-garde, left-of-centre (or just IDM if that's how you wanna look at things) place. They have a sample-heavy sound which incorporates dub, hip-hop, ambient, down-tempo, even psychedelia and jazz which yields endlessly fascinating results.

Albums you should look for if your interested (or ask for off me via PM if that's how you feel) include but aren't limited to...


^ So that's Dead Cities, Lifeforms and Accelerator from left to right there.

Amorphous Androgynous are well worth a listen too. Tales Of Ephidrina is probably my favourite of theirs under that name, sounding not too far removed from their work as FSOL with all those down-tempo, psychedelic and ambient vibes about them.

And because I'm just that kinda guy, have some videos too...


So, if you're up for a link, just ask. Otherwise, watch the videos and learn!

I've been aware of these guys since the mid to late 90s, and may have listened to one of their albums at the time but never really got into them. I don't remember if I liked or disliked it but obviously I didn't fall in love with their sound. All the elements you mention remind me of Meat Beat Manifesto, who I loved at the time and still do, but I know their styles aren't the same. They just appear to have the same set of influences.

Anyway, I'll check out these vids later. Just wanted to say that yes I have heard of them.

Oddly enough, I've not heard of Meat Beat Manifesto. If they're anything like these guys they'll definitely be worth a shot - any particular works of theirs I should go for?

At the same time, if you need help finding any of FSOL's albums, just let me know.

I'm going to check out some samples first to remember what their sound is like.

As for Meat Beat Manifesto, I'm not saying they are alike, but they come from similar backgrounds and influences. I only brought them up because of your description, "...avante-garde, left-of-centre (or just IDM if that's how you wanna look at things) place. They have a sample-heavy sound which incorporates dub, hip-hop, ambient, down-tempo, even psychedelia and jazz...". I'm thinking that FSOL is probably a bit more on the trancey/spacey side of things, but they both fit that description.

I enjoy much of MBM's work but would recommend Armed Audio Warfare for a real aural assault (think industrial dance hip-hop?), and Satyricon for something a bit more groovy and laid back. Those two should give you a good sense of their early sound. 99% should be considered too. They all may sound a bit dated, but I'm sure FSOL do too, at least in the production. The latest MBM from 08 is actually really good too, with a big dubstep influence. Though I always say that MBM has always had dub undertones...and that today's dubstep artists were probably influenced by MBM whether they know it or not. ;)

Dated doesn't bother me one bit - big fan of acid house and the earlier, commercial side of progressive house y'see. As you say, FSOL are as well, at least on Dead Cities anyway (dunno if you've heard that We Have Explosive tune in the vid there as well? That mix was on the soundtrack for the Wipeout 2097 Playstation game - say it all really). It is still a great album, but Lifeforms and Accelerator have, to me at least, stood the test of time better.

MBM sound pretty decent as well. It's true that FSOL can be a bit more trancey and spacey, but they do have some properly groovalicious, slightly more mainstream-leaning tracks. They are mostly known for the more down-tempo/IDM kinda stuff though. As for their albums, I have at least one album covering the areas you mentioned, so it'll be good to expand a little more. Cheers for the recs.

Listening to Accelerator right now, I love it, brings me back to my party days, I have goose bumps, lol, awesome.

Dead Cities has always been my favourite. I find Accelerator very patchy personally but another great band from the Electronica scene that came out of the Rave scene.

Dead Cities and Lifeforms are my personal favorites, although I should probably familiarize myself with more of the repertoire. Another one of those artists where it's quite an intimidating experience getting into, sort of navigating from a common well known album which introduced you through the huge discography. Anyone fancy recommending where to go next? I've only got my hands on the two said above and PNG.

Definitely look into them...

They definitely do have a labyrinth of a discography, as both FSOL and Amorphous Androgynous. It's well worth getting into piece by piece though. I go about such things like so...

The Future Sound of London – Discover music, videos, concerts, & pictures at Last.fm

^ The top albums section is usually a fail-safe way to get into a new artist from the top downwards if you will. There's a link to Amorphous Androgynous' page there as well which is well worth a look.

I'm just listening to AA's Alice In Ultraland at the moment. There's some bloody amazing, brain-melting neo-psychedelia/down-tempo going on here.