2006 was a very quiet year for Brian and Gaz. A period of many months without release news, radio shows or even live performances went by, and fans began to speculate whether this was the end of things for the band. Had the press silence and low sales of Alice in Ultraland proved too disheartening? Was Brian even still in the group at all?
Then in June, two things happened to dispel the worries: firstly, news of a new Brian solo project called PartSubMerged, and secondly the announcement of a FSOL Best Of, entitled Teachings from the Electronic Brain. In 2003, the band’s management had asked, through the official forum, what people would want to see on a potential DVD release, and thus the expectation was that a DVD would come out alongside the Best Of. The release itself was stipulated in the group’s contract with Virgin, and after several years of discussions, arguments over rights, and tracklist curation, it came out as a simple CD with no DVD.
Promotion for the compilation started in July, with a website announcing the tracklist, as well as the opportunity to vote for the contents of a digital-only EP. Different versions of ‘We Have Explosive’, ‘Cascade’, ‘My Kingdom’ and ‘Lifeforms’, as well as a rarity, could be voted for on the Virgin website, with one lucky voter winning a pair of Sennheiser HD 250 11 Linear headphones. Of course, this being the internet, word spread, and even non-fans voted in order to have a chance of winning some free headphones; with the first track automatically selected, no thought even had to go into the vote, and unsurprisingly the final EP consisted of the five first tracks. What a waste of time. Eventually, the four options in the rarities list came out as a digital EP entitled Teachings from the Electronic Brain: Rare Tracks Edition.
Fans were initially surprised at the tracklist, which contains no material from the band’s magnum opus, Lifeforms – the single versions of ‘Cascade’ and ‘Lifeforms’ being worlds away from the album mixes – and seven tracks from Dead Cities, an album that received a kicking from Gaz in early ’00s interviews. The initial assumption was that it had been put together by the label; then an interview in Clash Magazine turned this idea on its head: “The label wanted to just put out a collection of tracks, but we freaked out,” says Brian, FSOL’s taciturn half, a man of many thoughts and few words. “We’ve always been pretty protective about our music and there was no way we were going to let them cast us off as some dinosaur dance act from the past. We took control…” Some time later, Gaz admitted that the large amount of Dead Cities material was partially due to it being a healing process for him, in which he was able to assemble his favourite works from the album and make peace with it in the process. What is surprising, however, is that it doesn’t sound like it was put together by the band. For a start, despite Amorphous records gradually shifting towards the tracks-linked-by-environments approach over its few releases, almost everything on Teachings from the Electronic Brain is separated by silence, which immediately makes it feel un-FSOLish. And these aren’t even unmixed studio tracks, with their original intros and outros; instead, they’re simply tracks cut from the albums and singles, with opening and closing environments faded in and out. Ultimately, making a genuinely immersive experience out of such a disparate selection of tracks would be next-to-impossible, but it feels like this wasn’t even attempted. Other than the Dead Cities material, the rest of the compilation is singles, albeit in a pretty comprehensive (and occasionally obscure) way: ‘Expander’ is present, in its remix form; ‘Smokin Japanese Babe’, from the Smokin ’94 12″; ‘The Lovers’ represents Translations; ‘Mountain Goat’, the most popular Tales of Ephidrina track, shows up as B-side from ‘Liquid Insects‘. Admittedly, the versions are sometimes off: ‘Smokin Japanese Babe‘ is the 1995 version, and ‘The Lovers’ is the Isness mix, credited to Amorphous Androgynous; ‘Mountain Goat’, at least, appears in its 12″ standalone version. Still, it’s a pretty comprehensive selection. Although some was initially sought out, no exclusive tracks made it through to the album. That said, for those compelled to buy it for their collection (which included me, but quite a long time after it came out – not something I ever imagined happening with a FSOL release), there are a few unique moments. ‘Everyone in the World is Doing Something Without Me’ and ‘My Kingdom’ are exclusive edits, albeit simply chopped in half and crossfaded; ‘Lifeforms’ is a new edit, running to 4:38 as a halfway version between the actual ‘Radio Edit‘ and ‘Path 4‘; ‘Yage’ appears in a subtly edited form; ‘We Have Explosive’ features a different outro to the version from the original single. None of these will appeal to the more casual fan, but they are at least of some value to trainspotters like myself.
The artwork has little in the way of new imagery, but does a good job of summing up the band’s style over the years. The cover comes from Dead Cities, with pictures from Tales of Ephidrina, Lifeforms, ISDN, ‘My Kingdom‘, ‘Papua New Guinea‘ and ‘We Have Explosive‘ sleeves present throughout the booklet, as well as numerous shots from the old EBV website. The back cover features scans of a couple of data floppies for ‘Papua New Guinea’ and ‘Lifeforms’. A couple of things turn up for the first time in more than a decade: microgramma as a font – on the cover at least – and the EBV logo, complete with ‘Electronic Brain Violence’ legend. Sadly, less fitting fonts are used elsewhere on the art, diminishing the style a little. Other than the designer being credited – some chap called Andrew Day – there’s no reference to Buggy, Olaf or indeed Brian and Gaz creating the actual images. A long, rambling history of the band written by Gaz runs throughout the booklet, full of odd anecdotes, long meaningless sentences, and of course numerous factual errors (‘Lifeforms’ did not reach #12, nor was it released in 1993; ISDN transmissions didn’t start until 1994; they didn’t released on Jumpin’ & Pumpin’ until 1991… they really should have got my in to proof-read!), but gives a good overall idea of the philosophies of the group’s 1990s approach. The liner notes end “Will they release material under the FSOL name again – who knows?” In the same month, Brian told Clash Magazine “It’s time to get back. We disappeared into the Amorphous tunnel for a while but I have always felt that FSOL was important and that we should look at it more than one time […] I’ve rebuilt my studio down here in Somerset to emulate more or less exactly how it was during the FSOL days. It won’t be the same sound of course, but it will be the same spirit.”
The compilation has not been particularly popular with fans. In fact, I’d go so far as to say I’ve never come across a fan with a good word to say about it. The gaps between tracks, the heavy Dead Cities focus instead of a more balanced career-spanning set, even the concept of trying to tie up tracks as disparate as ‘Expander (Remix)’ and ‘Max’ on the same album, none of it sits well. To be fair, as a collection of tracks, it’s excellent: I would argue that every track on it deserves to be on either a FSOL Best Of or Singles compilation, and anyone new to the band will get a good impression of whether they should explore further or not from listening to it. But it doesn’t really reflect what FSOL do best, which is immersive, gapless soundscapes. For a newcomer, I’d still suggest either Lifeforms or Dead Cities as a more worthwhile entry point, depending on their existing tastes. Still, for all its faults, the compilation plays a significant role in the history of the band: it gave fans a retrospective interview in 2006, the first time FSOL had been discussed in depth for many years; it provided means for the first properly FSOL-themed radio mix for nearly a decade; and most importantly, it got the band searching through their archives for worthy unreleased material, something that would help relaunch The Future Sound of London as an ongoing project once again. So for that, we should be grateful.
Astralwerks picked up the release for the US, with a Gala release in Russia. When added to streaming and download services, an extra five tracks – seemingly random selections from the voting page, jarringly not even faded in or out on the tracks from singles – were added to the end; ‘We Have Explosive (Part 1)’ features digital glitches as if it’s been ripped badly from a CD. Excellent quality control from EMI as usual.
Release date: 11th September 2006.
Tracklist
CD (0946 3 70522 2 8 / 0946 3 70522 2 8 | ASW 70522 / 0944637769324)
1. Papua New Guinea (12″ Version)
2. Max
3. Everyone in the World is Doing Something Without Me
4. My Kingdom
5. Smokin’ Japanese Babe
6. Antique Toy
7. Lifeforms (Radio Edit)
8. Yage
9. Expander (12″ Version)
10. Glass
11. Far-Out Son of Lung and the Ramblings of a Madman
12. The Lovers
13. Mountain Goat
14. Cascade (Shortform)
15. We Have Explosive (7″ Edit)
Download
1. Papua New Guinea (12″ Version)
2. Max
3. Everyone in the World is Doing Something Without Me
4. My Kingdom
5. Smokin’ Japanese Babe
6. Antique Toy
7. Lifeforms (Radio Edit)
8. Yage
9. Expander (12″ Version)
10. Glass
11. Far-Out Son of Lung and the Ramblings of a Madman
12. The Lovers
13. Mountain Goat
14. Cascade (Shortform)
15. We Have Explosive (7″ Edit)
17. We Have Explosive (Part 1)
18. Cascade (Part 5)
19. My Kingdom (Part 5)
20. Lifeforms (Path 6)
21. Hot Knives
Credits
All tracks written by Brian Dougans/Garry Cobain.
‘Lifeforms’ written by Elizabeth Fraser/Garry Cobain/Brian Dougans.
Produced by The Future Sound of London.
Engineered by Yage.
Recorded at Earthbeat Studios, London.
‘Mountain Goat’ recorded at The Analogue Room, London. Engineered by Yage. Directed by FSOL. Produced by Philip Pin. Reworked at Earthbeat Studios.
‘The Lovers’ recorded at The Galaxial Pharmaceutical. Engineered by Yage & Stone Freshwaters.
Compiled by The Future Sound of London.
Project coordinated by Paula Flack and Libby Jones.
Mastered by Ian Jones at Abbey Road Studios, London.
Design by Andrew Day in The Red Room, EMI.
Published by Sony Music Publishing.
‘Lifeforms’ published by Sony Music Publishing/Beggars Banquet Ltd.
‘Papua New Guinea’, ‘Expander’ and ‘The Lovers’ published by Skratch Music Publishing.
Fractional Difference 