The Future Sound Of London – Lifeforms

Brilliant album, with Omnipresence, Lifeforms and Cascade as the stand out tracks. Both Lifeforms (especially track 4) and Cascade (just... all of it) EPs are excellent; I really feel FSOL were at their best at this time. However I might just be saying that because I stopped buying their music after being so disappointed with both ISDN and the My Kingdom EP. Papua New Guinea will forever live in my heart though!

Oh hell yeah, that's some of the best news I've heard so far! It's most definitely about time that this utter masterpiece was repressed on vinyl! It's sincerely one of the greatest pieces of IDM music ever composed. Can't tell you how long I've been waiting as well as equally wanting to get my hands on this without having to shell out a shit-ton of money for an OG pressing, if you know what I mean. The first time I heard this timeless album, I was completely blown away, if not so completely mesmerized to the point to where I couldn't help but just get lost in the sound and let it subsequently submerge me. Ahh, the memories!

The best ambient's album of this genre, good 1994 release...but, I think it's about time for a repress!

Discovered this album by way of Timothy Leary's recommended trip music from a later edition of 'High Priest'. At 0:58, "Among Myselves" blew my mind and countless friends's minds! I'd blast it right before that loud death ray sound and people would lose their shit. This album is still amazing and sounds like its from the future...(sound of london).

The genius of 'Lifeforms' is that it uses sounds and samples which are inherently man-made and artificial to create something which feels very organic,natural and free-flowing,and even conjures up images of lush plant life amidst running water and sunlight.In 2016 that may not necessarily sound like anything particularly new but in 1994 it was,and the extent to which FSOL achieved this,with no small measure of panache and style,remains unequaled to this day (in my opinion).

My copy has V2722 A(to D)-1-1-1 on the matrix. What version is this?

I think it's about time for a repress. :)

Anyone ever see the bootleg/counterfeit copy of this? I bought one YEARS ago on eBay from a shady seller who wouldn't refund my money. The bootleg is a scanned copy of the real thing and the original, round sticker was peeled off the cover before scanning but the glue residue shows up in the scan.

Time to review another classic ambient album: well, Lifeforms is THE classic ambient album. It's widely available and evokes the most wonderful of atmospheres. Really the magnum opus of FSOL, Lifeforms made the duo and is always referenced as their best.

The atmosphere conjured up by the album is stunning. Lifeforms really shows the oxymoron better than any other album - an organic, breathing jungle is being created purely with electronic sounds and some instrumentation. Cascades begins as such, with a guitar ed by an ambient landscape. Flak builds up the dense environment with magical chimes and plodding herds. Dead Skin Cells is the beautiful and sad call of a lonely animal. Lifeforms showcases the darker and more hostile side of the jungle. Amongst Myselves - the death of an explorer lost in glimmering caves below the rainforest.

Disc 2 should be listened to straight after Disc 1 since it's here that the journey becomes really exciting. Domain is a wonderfully fragile piece which borrows Pachelbel's Canon. Vertical Pig is apocalyptic - humans have come to raze down the jungle. Cerebral is the sad cry of the animals who are having their habitat destroyed. The layers slowly decrease and fold up - the lifeforms abandoning their dying realm. The end of Little Brother is the final call of helplessness from the forlorn creatures.

Truly one of the masterpieces of ambient since it achieves a special, ineffable kind of atmosphere with ease. I feel like an adventurer, exploring the rich textures of this beautiful album. Towards the end the lifeforms slowly die out as the forests are cut down by men in place of Dead Cities...

A treasure of chilled out sound experiments from FSOL, really lush, beautiful stuff that captures a lot of the millenary hopefulness of the early 90's that seems so far away these days....

Favorites include the title track, "Among Myselves", "Ill Flower", "Room 208"- hell, every track on here is a masterpiece. Trivia- check out what sounds like a lengthy sample of Kenny Larkin's "Lifeforms" (Pod EP off Buzz) in the second part of "Vit".