''Radio quickly evolved as an area where people were inclined to use their
ears. We could reach people at their strongest and most vulnerable-in
the home...''
On first listen, I thought 'more outtakes from Lifeforms...' But not
exactly... After hearing the announcer shout 'stop flashing the fucking
lights' I sat up in my chair. I had heard many rumors about 'the far out
son of lung and the ramblings of a madman' but none were true(except that
it wasn't the two japanese lads as previously mentioned). The high
pitched frequencies, and low synth drones drove me deeper into the pieces
'appendage', 'slider' and the awesome 'smokin japanese babe' with its
ocean wave washes over my ears and the oh-so-painful to hear jazzy,
mutated trumpet.(You have to understand, I've been into
FSOL since Humanoid and Stakker). On to the other side where I'm greeted
by 'dirty shadows' and empty sense of electronic schizophrenia, but the
absolute standout was 'EGYPT', a simple arrangement gone wrong. 'Hot
Knives' wasn't what I expected at all, but I will say it caught everyones
ear when I broadcasted it over my answering machine. Women actually
thought I was singing...A cabaret singer-style voice repeating ''take me
home and love me tonight''.
This was followed by the classic Amorphous Androgynous dirge-of-sorts 'a study of 6 guitars' featured on a brief
history of ambient. And to close out ISDN was a bouncy 'an end of sorts'
which I have used over and over in my DAT mixes & as a filler between two
'epic' ambient tracks. A very twisted recording indeed, and ideal for
those long road trips...(I bounced my ltd edition copy to DAT & chilled
as I was taken to the northern part of Colorado during new years eve
between 2am and 4am.)
Other strong points:
short 'filler' tracks for DJ's-none over 6 min.
'Come fly the teeth of the wind, share my wings...'
I.S.D.N(I used to work at a phone co. & test circuits for ISDN lines)
(fsol@fsol.demon.co.uk)The Masters of Ceremony themselves...
(bug@optik.demon.co.uk)Buggy Riphead
CAVATINA-An excellent album from John Williams(I heard it last month)
The always haunting eastern vocals(EGYPT & HOT KNIVES)
The virgin records logo(I noticed only FSOL use this logo. Cool..)
And of Course...The Terminator 2-style Art-Morph on the inner cover
A Review of Out There...A Thread Through Time and Objet's D'Art to follow
soon(For those who haven't heard them...)
Derek Jordan