Future Sound Of London, The - Dead Cities

Released in 1996, Dead Cities was Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans' fourth full length album as The Future Sound of London. Dead Cities was that very last record and then there was a torturing silence for six years. Even when the duo returned in 2002 with The Isness, it was ... not the same... How can one describe the layered dark samples with memorable vocal lines that are implanted in my brain? "I have killed a man. A man who looked like me." The album is an absolute classic, and its complex ambient and cinematic fragments continue to offer new insight into the minds of FSOL. Dead Cities was not received with as much success as my absolute favorite, earlier 1994 release Lifeforms [the latter climbed to 6 position on the UK Album Charts, while Dead Cities got up to 22]. The music of Dead Cities features more sampled beats carefully blending in big-beat and bringing trip-hop into the mix. We Have Explosive (which also came out as a single) features several samples from Run DMC's album Tougher Than Leather. The rest of the sounds [all very dear and familiar to my mind at this point] all convey the atmosphere of urban decay. An album from the future that rusted in the past. Like a empty feeling after watching a rerun of Blade Runner [and the sample off Mary Hopkin's vocals from the movie's soundtrack], the eerie nostalgia of revisiting a dirty old friend crackles in the hindsight. Oh, and how's this for a shocker for you. The album cover (and the two inserts that house the double vinyl) feature 3D graphics and digitally processed photography by Buggy G. Riphead. This is one of the albums to hold in your hands and marvel at its grandiose and epic stand in time.

Listening in retrospect of FSOL's career, this was the final realisation of a sound which started with Lifeforms, was nurtured with ISDN and finally matured with Dead Cities. It is without doubt the darkest, most emotionally-brittle album they made and clearly paints a picture of the frustrated, turbulent mindset of two artists who had reached a destination in their career, which perhaps wasn't where they wanted it to be. That's not to say the album is weak, as in fact it is probably their strongest, most cohesive work. Still, the overbearing downbeat mood of the music the track titles and even the cover art suggest that nothing more could be said and a time for change was needed.

Funnily enough, it happened and 10 years later, they returned with an optimistic, warm new sound as Amorphous Androgynous, which associated itself more with the sounds of the past than the future - almost like an inverted reflection of Dead Cities, which depicts a lonely, suffocating future. The irony is, after two AA albums, I feel myself yearning for a return to the Dead Cities. It will be interesting to see where (if anywhere) FSOL arrive to next.

You're laying down. The ligts are dimmed.

Then it hits, like a soundcheck to check your volume levels. You rise up to set the right level, and go back to your previous position. Futuristic beats cut the air for two minutes. Then.. an overly dark, omnious, EVIL bass surfaces. "I have killed a man..". Now we know. From there on, it's just unexplainable. Gates open, we see a field, summer air..

Maybe FSOL made their fame with dancetracks like "Papua New Guinea", but this is something completely different. Electronic records have the tendency to start sounding outdated, mostly because of the drums. That's where live drums and good production comes in. If there's a record in the pop-industry i could compare this to, it's probably Pink Floyds' "Dark Side Of The Moon".

If you're not usually a fan of electronic music, give this album a spin.

When forced to pick a favorite FSOL album, its a hard decision for me.. But I honestly think Dead Cities would be my choice. It combines everything they've done on earlier albums yet still brings new styles to the plate. First thing you'll notice on this album is how much more agressive it is then previous releases by them. The track "We Have Explosive" is a good example of this. Industrial techno I guess you could call it. There are chilled tracks on here too though (My Kingdom) but the noise seems to take over most of the CD. I also find the artwork to be pretty interesting. At first glance it might seem a little cheesey.. but if you look closely you'll notice the background is a REAL city, while that tunnel and man are CGI. If you're new to FSOL there is no better place to start then with Dead Cities.

Along with Pentatoniks "Anthology", Aphex Twins "I care because you do" and BoCs "Twoism", this album has to be one of the most influential Electronica releases in my life.
Breakbeat, Ambient, D&B and much more, all merged together to a fantastic musical journey I'm glad I made. Pack your bags, this is Electronica at it's best!