REVIEW: The Future Sound of London, Lifeforms (Astralwerks) ****
- Scott Williams
Manipulating organic samples and conjuring vivid broths of others, neuromancers, Gary Cobain and Brian Dougans, paint interactive water- colors upon the fabric of consciousness. The sounds they compile invite the listener to engage the engines of imagination and flit above metaphysical plains of time and space. Likewise, appreciating Lifeforms is akin to gently wafting through a lush soundscape, touring a fantastic yet familiar place where notes drift along warm primordial streams.
Swirling in the ether between reality and imagination, this double CD demands to be listened to as a synergistic volume, rather than individual tracks. Some parts are peaceful, others are stormy, a few are a call to dance, and all provoke thought. Here, FSOL offers us access to the outer boundaries of perception, and to listen is to explore the infinite universe within one's self.
The volume simultaneously buries and rethinks the future of electronic music. Like the best techno, it rhythmically transports the participant to a state where music and philosophy interface seamlessly. The similarity ends, however, with an about face from techno's frenetic pace and disdain for the natural. Lifeforms is replete with sonic metaphor and simile -sonic poetry at it's best. A vehicle to the outworldly realm of dreams, call it a transcendental multimedia experience.
