Released on:
The Isness
The Isness & The Otherness
Runtime: 4:48
One of the tracks that changed dramatically between the two different cuts of The Isness, the two versions are actually in totally different keys, and feature different rhythm tracks. The final album version has a gently rolling breakbeat, making it the mellower of the two. Opening on organ chords, the track builds to include strings, flute, and a guitar solo from Gary Lucas. With various sounds coming and going throughout the track, often in the background, it’s one of the most FSOL-esque pieces on the album, and it’s no surprise that it was a comparatively early piece recorded for the record: this version was completed by 1999. A breakdown in the middle features chopped up breaks and deeper bass, plunging the track further into more obvious electronica territory; samples of Dif Juz and Gong are credited in the liner notes, suggesting it was recorded before the move from sampling to original composition. Max Richter is credited for outro strings; his work with the group was early on, and included orchestration and recording. In Gaz’s words: “we went round to Max’s where he developed all these high-end orchestra samples that we orchestrated up into full parts.”
The track – along with the 1997 sessions – gives an idea of what a psychedelic FSOL record might have sounded like; the breakbeat closely resembles The Beatles’ ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ and The Chemical Brothers’ ‘The Private Psychedelic Reel’, two tracks played alongside each other on various FSOL DJ sets, the latter of which Gaz was particularly inspired by, telling Remix Magazine “when I heard that, I heard a track that was made exactly like we made Dead Cities; the only difference was the nature of the sounds.”
Credits
Written by Cobain, Dougans, Curtis, Curtis, Thomas, Bromley, Howlett, Moerlen, Allen, BLake, Malherbe, Hillage, Smyth.
Produced by The Future Sound of London.
Engineered by Yage and Stone Freshwaters at The Galaxial Pharmaceutical.
Contains a sample of Dif Juz ‘Crosswinds’ licensed courtesy of 4AD.
Contains a sample of Gong ‘A Sprinkling of Clouds’ licensed courtesy of Virgin Recs.
Violin – Mike McEvoy.
Strings – Future Sonic Orchestra Limited.
Outro strings – Max Richter.
Electric guitar – Gary Lucas.
Fractional Difference 