Anyone hear any of these? Seven volumes worth (and counting?) of previously unreleased material seems like overkill, even for the hardcore fan out there. Still, this is FSOL we're talking about, where even the noodly transitional bits in their albums were ofttimes interesting. Would like some info before making any rash decisions on these collections.

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Everyone has an opinion. Mine just happens to be a little more informed than most.
Electronic Music Critic: Near-Daily Ruminations Of Music I Own, In Alphabetical Order!

Get the Environments series first.

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Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Get the Environments series first.

On it. That's why I'm asking about Archives.

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Everyone has an opinion. Mine just happens to be a little more informed than most.
Electronic Music Critic: Near-Daily Ruminations Of Music I Own, In Alphabetical Order!

Well I’m a pretty hardcore FSOL fan and even I haven’t bothered with the Archives series, mainly due to the listening experience of the first Environments album. Stripped of the controlling ideas that bound together their ‘90s albums, the pseudo-psychedelic sample-frenzy sounded scattershot and uninteresting. Layering loads of far-out samples together is all well and good as long as it’s evoking something, but the first Environments album ultimately resembles like a collage where each individual snippet is interesting, but when you step back from the micro-nuances no larger picture forms out of the mess. From everything I’ve read the Archives would be a similar experience, and with loads of samples that we’ve already heard on the actual album removing a further layer of interest from the material. I’d wait ‘til Spotify hits Canada if I were you – it’s all on there.

By contrast, while the first Environments album sounds like an unfocused pastiche of ‘90s FSOL, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th iterations show a marked departure from their old methodology, with much more live instrumentation and modern classical touches blended into the sampling. There’s also a strong theme and ambience to each one.

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Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

Wasn't the first 'Environments' originally supposed to be the 2nd Amorphous Androgynous album from way back in the 90s? I have no idea whether they revisited it before releasing it under FSOL, but presumably that would explain the difference you hear in installments 2, 3 and 4.

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quote:

Originally posted by blackplasma Wasn't the first 'Environments' originally supposed to be the 2nd Amorphous Androgynous album from way back in the 90s? I have no idea whether they revisited it before releasing it under FSOL, but presumably that would explain the difference you hear in installments 2, 3 and 4.

Yes, it's listed in the Lifeforms cover with a plain black cover as an Amorphous Androgynous record that was presumably forthcoming. Confusion was furthered by tracklists for their radio shows which tended to list any transitional segments as simply "Environments". I'm pretty sure that the album was never actually recorded and the 2007 Environments is a "recreation" of what it might have sounded like.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/