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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Lizzard Crawl |
| 2. Hallucination |
| 3. Field of Flowers |
| 4. Enviroment - Birds |
| 5. Still Flowers |
| 6. Enviroments - Gong |
| 7. Woodland |
| 8. UU |
| 9. Turn Around |
| 10. Is This Real |
| 11. Mouth Muse |
| 12. Hazey Day Girl |
| 13. Wt Pavement |
| 14. Head Hunter |
| 15. Arrived |
| 16. Pale Moon |
| 17. Nuru Device Send |
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By Pob75
Format:Audio CD
Right, I'm going to review and compare all 5 of the "from the archives" albums so you can choose which, if any, to buy. I looked at the other reviews before I took the plunge but didn't really find any of them particularly informative.
Just so you have a point of reference, I'm a bit of a music geek and have 250 FSOL/Amorphous Androgynous tracks.
My favourite 5 tracks are "Papau New Guinea", "Cascade", "Lifeforms" (by FSOL) as well as "Fat Cat" and "Mountain Goat" (by Amorph.Androg.).
My favourite FSOL album is Lifeforms (and if you don't own that yet you really should buy it).
If you don't own all of the main FSOL albums yet, buy them before you buy any of these. The Amorphous Androgynous albums are (with the exception of "Tales Of Ephidrena"which is not bad) very different to FSOL stuff and I wouldn't recommend them without previewing them first.
So....."from the archives". You're not going to find any fantastic tracks on any of them, but some tracks are well worth having if you like FSOL. I'm going to give a few track names from each for you to find elsewhere and preview so you have some idea of what's on them.
I'm listing them best to worst and would strongly recommend you preview tracks somewhere else to decide whether they are worth your money. If you love FSOL, maybe try buying them one at a time in the following order, but there are no lost classics on these albums.
From The Archives vol. 5 is probably consistently the best of this lot. I'd give it 4 out of 5. (It's available on the Web, I haven't found a hard copy anywhere).
The best tracks on here in my opinion are "Tif Feetal", "Sendero Luminoso", "Fat Spat" and "Water Hole".
It's a bit more layered and textured than the others and is more cohesive. It has heavier rhythms (think remixes of "We Have Explosives" or "Quagmire") sometimes approaching older Drum & Bass. Overall it sounds like off-cuts from Accelerator, Lifeforms and Dead Cities and it's not bad at all. Worth a fiver at least.
From The Archives vol. 4 is OK with some mellow stuff and some more rhythm-led tracks. The best tracks are "Climbing" (a very short but pretty "Cascade"-like track), "Shingles" and "Mango Tree (Original)". It's probably 2nd or 3rd out of the five.
From The Archives vol. 3 is on a par with vol 4. The best tracks are "La 7" (like a very good bonus track from Lifeforms), "Long Shadow", "Mulleck Well" and "Popadom".
From The Archives vol. 2 and vol. 1 are the worst of the 5 without a doubt. Some of the tracks just sound half-hearted and unfinished. There are a few worth having but not many.
The best of vol. 2 are "Dark Matter", "Wanting" and "Nadir". It's a bit beatier and deeper than vol 1 but there is some rubbish here.
The best of vol. 1 are "Lizzard Crawl" which is very nice mellow, ambient stuff, "Head Hunter" annd "Hazey Day Girl". It's mainly quite mellow.
If you want stuff like FSOL that is polished, layered and textured try Beaumont Hannant's album "Texturology" - it's stunning. Or go and preview some Black Dog, Plaid, Sabres Of Paradise or Autechre rather than spending money on the FSOL "from the archives" albums.
Hope this was helpful...........
Just so you have a point of reference, I'm a bit of a music geek and have 250 FSOL/Amorphous Androgynous tracks.
My favourite 5 tracks are "Papau New Guinea", "Cascade", "Lifeforms" (by FSOL) as well as "Fat Cat" and "Mountain Goat" (by Amorph.Androg.).
My favourite FSOL album is Lifeforms (and if you don't own that yet you really should buy it).
If you don't own all of the main FSOL albums yet, buy them before you buy any of these. The Amorphous Androgynous albums are (with the exception of "Tales Of Ephidrena"which is not bad) very different to FSOL stuff and I wouldn't recommend them without previewing them first.
So....."from the archives". You're not going to find any fantastic tracks on any of them, but some tracks are well worth having if you like FSOL. I'm going to give a few track names from each for you to find elsewhere and preview so you have some idea of what's on them.
I'm listing them best to worst and would strongly recommend you preview tracks somewhere else to decide whether they are worth your money. If you love FSOL, maybe try buying them one at a time in the following order, but there are no lost classics on these albums.
From The Archives vol. 5 is probably consistently the best of this lot. I'd give it 4 out of 5. (It's available on the Web, I haven't found a hard copy anywhere).
The best tracks on here in my opinion are "Tif Feetal", "Sendero Luminoso", "Fat Spat" and "Water Hole".
It's a bit more layered and textured than the others and is more cohesive. It has heavier rhythms (think remixes of "We Have Explosives" or "Quagmire") sometimes approaching older Drum & Bass. Overall it sounds like off-cuts from Accelerator, Lifeforms and Dead Cities and it's not bad at all. Worth a fiver at least.
From The Archives vol. 4 is OK with some mellow stuff and some more rhythm-led tracks. The best tracks are "Climbing" (a very short but pretty "Cascade"-like track), "Shingles" and "Mango Tree (Original)". It's probably 2nd or 3rd out of the five.
From The Archives vol. 3 is on a par with vol 4. The best tracks are "La 7" (like a very good bonus track from Lifeforms), "Long Shadow", "Mulleck Well" and "Popadom".
From The Archives vol. 2 and vol. 1 are the worst of the 5 without a doubt. Some of the tracks just sound half-hearted and unfinished. There are a few worth having but not many.
The best of vol. 2 are "Dark Matter", "Wanting" and "Nadir". It's a bit beatier and deeper than vol 1 but there is some rubbish here.
The best of vol. 1 are "Lizzard Crawl" which is very nice mellow, ambient stuff, "Head Hunter" annd "Hazey Day Girl". It's mainly quite mellow.
If you want stuff like FSOL that is polished, layered and textured try Beaumont Hannant's album "Texturology" - it's stunning. Or go and preview some Black Dog, Plaid, Sabres Of Paradise or Autechre rather than spending money on the FSOL "from the archives" albums.
Hope this was helpful...........
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'd give it a full five, but it must be taken into account that this is refuse material nonetheless and nothing here is as epic as Papua New Guinea.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I am a total fan of FSOL.
That being said, I must recommend the purchase of this item to everybody else who ever had some love for albums like Lifeforms. The kind of thing you can find here is somewhat in the general direction of that album: some lulls, some easy beats, not too heavy as in ISDN and the same kind of foray into ambient sounds. It's true, the production does not catch up to today's standards, and neither do the choice of sounds and many other things, but then this must be considered as a new opportunity for the die-hard fan to go back to the "good old days". This is not a cd to get into this band.
For me, FSOL had me by their immensely evocative capacity and the fact that their music could take me to places in the dark. If that was the case with you, get this then.
Do not expect nothing in the vein of their latter releases, The Otherness and The Isness. This is the old stuff. In general, the quality is above average. I already bought the two other volumes which I will review in time, although I think they must be more of the same.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I am a total fan of FSOL.
That being said, I must recommend the purchase of this item to everybody else who ever had some love for albums like Lifeforms. The kind of thing you can find here is somewhat in the general direction of that album: some lulls, some easy beats, not too heavy as in ISDN and the same kind of foray into ambient sounds. It's true, the production does not catch up to today's standards, and neither do the choice of sounds and many other things, but then this must be considered as a new opportunity for the die-hard fan to go back to the "good old days". This is not a cd to get into this band.
For me, FSOL had me by their immensely evocative capacity and the fact that their music could take me to places in the dark. If that was the case with you, get this then.
Do not expect nothing in the vein of their latter releases, The Otherness and The Isness. This is the old stuff. In general, the quality is above average. I already bought the two other volumes which I will review in time, although I think they must be more of the same.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
finally a good "from the vaults...."
27 Sep 2007
By Raccoon Fist
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Wow! for true FSOL fans, this is a must have. there are LOTS of nuggets on all these Archives series. This is mostly ISDN/Lifeforms era stuff, not the lame psychedelic late era junk.
I bought all three, and I can't tell which one is the best, but a day later at least a third of the entire trilogy was on my mp3 player. With very limited space, I had no qualms making space for it.
Enjoy!
I bought all three, and I can't tell which one is the best, but a day later at least a third of the entire trilogy was on my mp3 player. With very limited space, I had no qualms making space for it.
Enjoy!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
!fsolid!
31 July 2008
By 0=0
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
Wow, impressive stuff here, and why shouldn't it be? This is FSOL after all, but after some lackluster reviews for the previously unreleased "Environments" lp, I was skeptical this could be just a hodgepodge of rough sketches. Instead we have a very strong, solid release, not quite as lush and airy as Life Forms, yet not as sad and dark as "Dead Cities". I wouldn't call this ambient music, or IDM for that matter. There are plenty of samples and beats and layers of exotic, electronic and organic sound, composed and produced expertly.
This is indeed a long-player, great for long drives. I wouldn't mind some tracks be shortened some however, but this stuff comes from a time, not so long ago, when it was okay to be a bit more indulgent and let the groove go on a while.
I'm amazed at how prolific this duo was and still is, and I can see why they've moved on to explore a more "organic", psych-rock sound, since they truly exhausted much of what was possible with this type of music, leaving no stone unturned. This first volume could be a lost FSOL lp, fitting nicely between ISDN and Cities perhaps. After this, I indeed look forward to tracking down and listening to the other three volumes.
This is indeed a long-player, great for long drives. I wouldn't mind some tracks be shortened some however, but this stuff comes from a time, not so long ago, when it was okay to be a bit more indulgent and let the groove go on a while.
I'm amazed at how prolific this duo was and still is, and I can see why they've moved on to explore a more "organic", psych-rock sound, since they truly exhausted much of what was possible with this type of music, leaving no stone unturned. This first volume could be a lost FSOL lp, fitting nicely between ISDN and Cities perhaps. After this, I indeed look forward to tracking down and listening to the other three volumes.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Future Sound Of London, The - From The Archives Vol. 1
14 April 2011
By scoundrel
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
I'm not ashamed to admit I'll take old Future Sound of London over most contemporary electronic music. Their sense of atmosphere and melody were stunning, and even on the unused and unreleased tracks on _From the Archives, Vol. 1_ have a delicacy that are beautifully realized. "Lizzard Crawl," for instance, drifts forth as if you're gliding on glass, while "Hallucination" shows what they can do with sonic density. So while many of the samples that appear here can be found in other works of theirs, the different arrangements and contexts recreate these sounds anew. So even if parts of "Turn Around" sound oddly familiar, the overall effect becomes unique. The rhythmic pull of "Still Flowers" belies its haunting grace; "Woodland" sounds like a trek across a Borean tundra; mechanical whirring and acoustic guitar meld together in "Hazey Day Girl." It's a welcome return to the heyday of the Future Sound of London, even if it's only cast-offs and fragments.
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4.7 out of 5 stars
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