brisk

Oh and there are some *brand new* Influx remixes on The Other Side of Darkness remix LPs (yes, plural) which come for free with the main album. I think it's his first completely new material under this alias since the 90s. They're great trax too!

Yep! He re-recorded the DAT's I believe and plans to have it all fully remastered. They sound really nice.

BTW, James is sitting on an absolute treasure trove of Influx/Cybertrax stuff from the early 90s. Literal albums worth of unreleased material and completely re-mixed versions of the Rising High records. It's incredible stuff. Hopefully he finds a label willing to release it all as a boxset, cos it needs to be heard. Oh and here's the limited edition transparent smoke vinyl (only 100 copies of this were made, because the plant is having severe difficulties sourcing transparent vinyl now) The main run itself will be black.

Awakened Souls are James Bernard and his wife, Cynthia Bernard (who records solo as marine eyes) James is a bit of a legend. He used to make techno/trance/idm type stuff in the early 90s. He had some really great tunes like these: He was also around for the 1994 ambient heyday, when he released the classic Atmospherics More recently, we've shared a label on A Strangely Isolated Place and that's where we first started talking to each other. He and his wife's Awakened Souls project is really lush. They wrote a song called Paint The Sky which I reckon was probably the best thing I heard last year. Just an incredibly emotional tune https://awakenedsouls.bandcamp.com/track/paint-the-sky This is actually 3 albums in one. It has the main album (full collab), a 36 remix album and a James Bernard/marine eyes remix album too. About 2.5 hours in total.

What's the solution though? Round up all the poc's and force them to make ambient music? It's a niche genre already and I know that Zach/Isaac (the guys who run the label) try very hard to get a diverse lineup, particularly when it comes to getting women's music released physically. You can certainly argue the reasons why it's a genre dominated by white men, but speaking for myself (who personally knows many of the most renowned ambient artists) it's a very welcoming, friendly community and there's certainly no gatekeeping involved. Beyond that, it's not like we're some monolith entity. The actual sound changes massively between all the artists on the label, each bringing their own unique experiences to the table. Dismissing artists cos of their skin colour? I'm sure there's a word for that.

Tales Of Ephidrina was a relatively unknown/non-mainstream album, at least compared to the Virgin FSOL albums in the 90s. I think the only ones who really knew/cared about the AA name were the hardcore fans, which I assume is why the boys decided to use that name rather than their much more popular FSOL alias. I think *all* USA copies of The Isness were released as FSOL though, presumably to help sell more copies. That undoubtedly caused a much bigger shitstorm among their fans, as the internet as a whole was a much smaller place in the very early 00s and misinformation was even worse than it is today. Most people (including myself) still bought their music in stores. Imagine being an FSOL fan who was patiently waiting for the follow-up to Dead Cities and you pop FSOL - The Isness CD in for the first time... It's no wonder the fans got confused/angry heh. It's a shame really, as I doubt anyone would really have cared much had the FSOL association been completely removed from the album and have it marketed purely as its own thing. Blame the marketing team I suppose.

Didn't those initial copies of The Isness have an FSOL sticker on the front? I think that's what probably confused/annoyed their fanbase the most, as they were expecting one thing and got something *very* different entirely.

I genuinely thought this was the album. Turns out it's a companion/prelude EP. And this EP also had a remix 12" that was released BEFORE the EP even dropped? Yeah, this whole thing is a little convoluted for sure, heh.

I genuinely thought it said "I'm the Obi-Wan" when I first heard it

Has the vinyl actually shipped yet for anyone? I keep seeing Mark retweeting Bleep's updates saying "shipping now" but I've got no dispatch notices as of yet.

Yeah, sadly postage prices rise every April here in the UK. I noticed that international postage in particular has risen dramatically in the last 12 months, likely due to current world circumstances/general Royal Mail greed. I see my invoices for records I sent to people 10 years ago and just laugh at how much more they cost now. I still think $35 isn't *that* bad for a heavy vinyl boxset from the UK to the USA, especially if it's tracked/signed-for. It's certainly much cheaper than it'd cost to send it from the USA to the UK. However, it's the big downside with having single stores have exclusive access to a record/release. USA and UK/EU should always have separate distribution, if at all possible. BTW guys, you'll also likely get hit with customs/import tax on this, so also bear that in mind before purchasing.

In terms of postage, do you guys really think $35 is expensive? It's a 7xLP boxset. These things are HEAVY yo. They'll also (hopefully) have a lot of packaging around them, which increases bulk/weight further. Let's put it another way: The guy who releases my music in the USA recently sent me 3 12" vinyl records and 2 12" test presses to me in the UK. It all fit in a musicmax mailer and weighed about 1.3kg (likely about half what this GC boxset will weigh). It cost $65. CD's from the USA to the UK also cost about $20 the last time I bought one.

Sounds great. When is the digital version out?

As someone who had their own hosting/site before Bandcamp (and sometime during) I'd say moving everything to BC still works out much much cheaper, especially once you earn enough to be on the 10% revenue share. Honestly, BC taking a 10% share is more than reasonable for the quality of life upgrades they bring. No more messing around with host cpanel's, store modules and making sure everything is tagged properly etc.. Just upload, add info, done. It also brings all the users on the BC platform to your attention too. Much easier for fans to be notified of new releases by people following you etc.. A no-brainer really IMO. Oh and they'd actually let people hear the tracks before they buy! That's kinda important, I think. As forward thinking as FSOL are/were, they are often held back by their net-boomer stuck in the 90's mentality.

FSOL, I love you, but I really wish you would move over to Bandcamp already

3 was ok, but felt like a completely different sound compared to the first 2 releases. Xerrox 1 & 2 are absolute classics.

It's pretty much how I feel every time I see electronic artists try to adapt their albums for live acoustic/classical ensembles. Most just come off as really cheesy and often highlights how simplistic the actual arrangements are. Weirdly though, the live version of 14 31 they performed as "Lament" was actually really good! Probably because it skipped the brass section, heh.

Pretty telling how you equate being less than middle class (aka working class) with being a "non-nice thicko bigot"

Mixcloud link I'd like a downloadable version too if anyone can upload it.

Lots of nice stuff inside, but the presentation is ruined by putting it inside an ugly cardboard box, that looks like it was designed to house oranges or something. I'm sure the music will be great as usual though, but way too expensive for what it offers IMO.

It's easy to make fun of Corey for all the stupid and cringey stuff he's done over the years, but I think it's quite clear that behind all this is a broken man who is clearly a victim of Hollywood. Whether this includes perverts is to be seen, but I think after the recent Weinstein drama and how he managed to keep it hidden for so long, he's probably telling the truth about his experiences. This crowdfunding thing to make a film about his life is absolutely the wrong way to go about it though. We don't need things like this turned into entertainment, especially if if takes years to produce, with no guarantee it'll even get finished. If he made a campaign saying he needed money just for legal protection/security (which he clearly will, if he's going after the Hollywood elite) and went to the police to name the people involved immediately, I'd be down to help him. Every second he waits, more people are in danger and the likelihood of the perpetrators destroying evidence increases. At this point, as bad as it sounds, I don't trust Corey to manage something as serious as this; It belongs with the police. Once names are out there (and assuming it's true), others WILL come forward, just like they did with Weinstein.

Talkin2u Mix2 is great. Sounds like an old Analord-era tune.

Still in stock according to Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/technicalequipmentsupply/photos/a.536318856555483.1073741828.536316363222399/721283141392386/?type=3

This is an insanely good compilation, with some of my favourite artists. Great price too for a 6xLP boxset.

I always start tracks with the melody as the focus. This hasn't really changed in about a decade. If my tunes ever could have a "chorus" in the traditional sense, then it's just whatever the melody is. I'll build around that, but never try to take the focus too far from it. That's probably why my stuff tends to keep to a relatively minimal pallet, especially in more recent times. If things start getting too muddy or take away from the heart of what I feel the tune is about, then I'll just remove it. I definitely do more subtraction than addition these days!