At 7:03 PM 6/6/96, Eylon Israeli wrote:
quoted 3 lines Lifeforms is an AMBIENT album. The kind that blends and bends and don't set
>Lifeforms is an AMBIENT album. The kind that blends and bends and don't set
>things in motion. FSOL used excellent production and underwater sounds to
>take you to journey, THEY HAVE NOT RE-INVENTED THE WHEEL!
really. i don't agree. i think this is a stunning breakout record. in
fact, i'm listening to it right now just to make sure i remember it
correctly and what do i find? the first track has beats. admittedly
they're not stomping floor fillers, but you can groove to it quite nicely.
then there's a lovely melody and some cool electronic noises. what else
sounds like this?? (really, i want to know who they are biting their style
from cos then i can go check it out).
let's move along then. "ill flower" - haunting strings and soaring vocals.
beautiful. abstract yet melodic. what else sounds like this?
"flak" : consistent 4 on the floor beat through the whole thing. beautiful
swirling melody. i can't think of anything that sounds like the melody in
this track. it's so THEM.
"bird wings": a little bit of filler, but so well executed. great
production. listen to how the wings flutter from channel to channel. it
makes me dizzy.
and now we come to one of the greats - "dead skin cells" with the beautiful
lazy meandering piano line. then a nice booming hip hop loop comes in
completely out of sync with the rest of the track, forming a complex
polyrhythm. where have you heard something so beautiful and yet so
contradictory executed with such flair and skill prior to this? if you
can't see tracks like this as part of a landmark work, you must be coming
to music from a totally different angle from me.
i've got to get back to work so i'll just hit the highlights on disc 2...
"spineless jelly": beautiful synth bleeps, sort of a homage to old school
tangerine dream style, maybe a little bit. (still uniquely fsol though)
"vertical pig": this track is monstrous. swirling seas of dark noise
punctuated with huge thunderclaps. you have to listen to this one really
loud. when the rhythm gets going with those little vocal "ah"s providing
the offbeat, it's just pure ecstasy.
and then from dark scary to "cerebral" with its melancholic plucked
guitars... another beautiful track in the "mountain goat" vein.
"vit" stomps along with a scary machine rhythm. but listen to the subtle
layers of detail that get added to the rhythm as it progresses... they just
never sit still, these boys. it's all sensory overload. but it all fits
together so nicely. and then the double-time 808 rhythm comes in and you
realize that they aren't just adding stuff for the hell of it; it's all to
a purpose...
"room 208" is super funky! i have never heard a drum machine rhythm like
that before, and then you get that smashing moogy bass. this one is
definitely a precursor to ISDN.
quoted 3 lines just had to get it off my chest and feel I filled my duties as a good
>just had to get it off my chest and feel I filled my duties as a good
>citizen. And yes, next time I drop an E (on january according to schedule),
>I'll give it one last listen.
listen to it REALLY LOUD on a really good stereo system. i'm listening to
it on my studio monitors right now and it is so wonderfully deep and
transparent. it's just beautiful.
--
Name: Jon
Email: jsd@cyborganic.com
Web:
http://www.cyborganic.com/bass-kittens/