FSOL - dud or complete shit?

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Imagine if you will a collaboration between Peter Gabriel, Yanni, and Mannheim Steamroller, produced by Bill Laswell, and that almost approximates the ghastly stench of 'ISDN'. Their other stuff is even worse. How did this festering discharge ever get any props in the first place?

― dave q, Saturday, 13 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

What's a 'Stakker Humanoids', is that like what you'd find in a mass open grave? Heh.

― dave q, Saturday, 13 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Papua New Guinea is surely classic, and Stakker Humanoid was terrific too.

― Martin Skidmore, Saturday, 13 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

their accelerator album made number 15 in muzik magazine's top 50 dance albums of all time but the narrative that went with it was quite amusing:

These days Garry Cobain and Brian Douglas of Future Sound of London walk around with faces like wet Wednesdays planning their next situationist techno prank and recording the sound of babies puking for a composition called 'We Are Asparagus'. But back in 1991 they knew what the world looked like outside the frame of their own sphincters and knocked out tons of great dance tracks under a number of monikers...

― matt, Saturday, 13 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i liked Dead Cities, but I can't remember what it sounds like past "We Have Explosive" which will always be remembered for that electronic discharge sound that was or supported the beat.

― Todd Burns, Saturday, 13 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I really like their reconstruction of Sylvian/Fripp's track called "Darshan (The Road to Graceland)" and decided to check out a few of their own releases, but was very disappointed with what I heard.

― brian, Saturday, 13 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

amazingly their remix of Prefab Sprout's "If You Don't Love Me" is actually good...

FSOL also the most hilarious Invisible Jukebox evah!
no one has ever sounded so silly, seemed so smug / full of themselves

"Papua New Guinea" vs "Radio Babylon" - FITE!!!

― Paul, Saturday, 13 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

How did this festering discharge ever get any props in the first place?

Anyone who has Papua New Guinea and Stakker Humanoid in their back catalogue can be forgiven anything, even that Far Out Son Of A Lung jazzno. Bloody hell, Stakker Humanoid - I'd buy anything subsequently recorded by anyone who made that simply because three quid is insufficient recompense for such timeless glory.

Also, the full single versions of Cascade, My Kingdom and That One With Her From The Cocteau Twins are quite good, if a bit "Hello, I'm a symphonic ambient masterpiece".

― Mike Ratford, Saturday, 13 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Papua New Guinea" vs "Radio Babylon" - FITE!!!

Without "Radio Babylon", "Papua New Guinea" would never have existed. There are very few acts out there who aren't trumped by Meat Beat Manifesto.

― Dan Perry, Saturday, 13 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

unequivocal DUD! by the way
hit 'em where it hurts: A WASTE OF TECHNOLOGY

― Paul, Saturday, 13 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Come on, you've being reading too much Simon Reynolds.

I think Joy Division are a completely overrated band, but Love Will Tear Us Apart makes them a classic pop band because it's an utterly classic pop single. I still maintain the rest of their back catalogue is unlistenably dreary toss, but there you go. We've got to pull ourselves out of that shit, it's not worth it and it's stupid and irresponsible to glamourise it.

NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER GIVE UP.

Likewise, PNG is one of THE the top pop tunes of the last 30 years, whilst the rest of FSOL's back catalogue is lamentable poop. IT DOESN'T MATTER. Those 4 and a half minutes of manic/blissful pop perfection are all that matter.

A thing of beauty, as the man said...

― Chris Sallis, Monday, 15 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Thanks, Chris. This thread does indeed reek of that full-blown Reynolds-ian sneer you speak of. Regardless of how pompous FSOL may have become by the mid nineties, rave absolutely SURGED with the magic of Mental Cube's "Q", Indo Tribe's "In the Mind of a Child" and Semi-Real's "People Livin' Today".

Maybe you could knock their high production values if you're anal enough, but these tracks were accessible to the mind and body, rather than being an aural spectacle that drew attention only to itself like FSOL's later work. These sounds irresistably MOVED ASSES for a while there, which by any critical standard is what the music was all about, right?

― Stephen Stockwell, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

We've got to pull ourselves out of that shit, it's not worth it and it's stupid and irresponsible to glamourise it.

What do you mean, 'we'?

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

If you can't sneer at rubbish records what can you sneer at?

"Papua New Guinea" = brilliant brilliant record. FSOL = bad band. No contradiction at all - it's a half-full/half-empty thing I suppose.

― Tom, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Come on, you've being reading too much Simon Reynolds.

naah - read that Invisible Jukebox long before Reynolds weighed in on 'em

besides, if i just wanted to stick the boot in (not that there's anything wrong with that... here)
why praise the Prefab remix (lovely tune) first?

― Paul, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

FSOL were a bit like the Ozric Tentacles of dance music. Undoubtably talented, but a little bit ludicrous.

Ambient doodling was extremely popular 1993-1995, btw.

― Alex G, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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