FSOL - ISDN

Label: Virgin
Catalog#: 2438403872
Format: CD, Album
Country: UK
Released: 1994
Genre: Electronic
Style: Ambient, IDM, Experimental

1 Just A Fuckin Idiot (5:39)
2 The Far Out Son Of Lung And The Ramblings Of A Madman (4:29)
3 Appendage (2:25)
4 Slider (7:22)
5 Smokin Japanese Babe (4:59)
6 You're Creeping Me Out (6:31)
7 Eyes Pop - Skin Explodes - Everybody Dead (3:45)
8 It's My Mind That Works (3:24)
9 Dirty Shadows (6:15)
10 Tired (6:31)
11 Egypt (4:11)
12 Kai (4:24)
13 Amoeba (5:20)
14 A Study Of Six Guitars (4:12)
15 Snake Hips (5:51)

Citat:

ISDN is not just a high-speed internet connection, it’s a compilation of live recordings that the Future Sound of London did, merged seamlessly into one another. It’s futuristic in the best way possible with sounds and textures and sonic images floating in and out of cyberspace. There’s the super-futuristic jazz of “The Far Out Son of Lung and the Ramblings of a Madman” (led in by a sample from Aliens) and “Smokin’ Japanese Babe.” “Slider” is as dark funk as any I’ve heard, while “Eyes Pop – Skin Explodes – Everyone Dead” sounds like electronic Baroque music. “Tired” starting with a delicate guitar before going into some chugging beats, then some icy synths. That’s what’s so wonderful about this album: it’s a journey in the best sense, with new things to hear and see around every corner. “Egypt” goes for ethnic electro, while “A Study of Six Guitars” has the guitars, definitely, but also some industrial percussion too. Plug in to ISDN today...This album, with its esoteric artwork and sleeve notes and track titles that explain so little, is often looked at the outcast of the FSOL catalogue. A lot of people say that this album is "creepy", or "evil", or that there is very little musically to grab onto (in stark contrast to their early work). I personally feel, however, that ISDN is the pinnacle of their work: a complete vision of the new and flavorful patchwork that these two guys wanted to bring at the height of their career.No one song on this album jumps out at you and grabs you, instead the album just slinks by in a flurry of bizarre vocal snippets, jagged drum loops, keyboard splotches, guitar stabs, muted horns and unsettling moments of clattering ambience. However, with repeated listens I find that this album really molds itself around you and demonstrates a stunning breadth of skill. "Smokin' Japanese Babe" holds up a broken mirror to Portishead and Massive Attack, "It's My Mind That Works" and "Dirty Shadows" walk a finer line than any track on the "Lifeforms" album, and tracks like "Kai" and "The Far Out Son..." interlock wildly disparate parts into a kind of gritty future hip-hop. All the tracks work splendidly together, and the best ones stand on their own as true gems of improvisation. Truly essential listening for people who want to know how far electronic music can really stretch itself.