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Future Sound of London out did themselves with the Lifeforms and these remixes are the compliment to the album, if you have a brain in your head you'll scoop this up. the thing thats most exciting about these remixes are the additional vocals from singer Elizabeth Fraser, her gorgeous voice meshes perfectly with the earthen vibes present in the music. PEACE if you're a fan of Lifeforms or FSOL in general this is a must have. remixes of the title track from the album of the same name, paths 1-7.
This cohesiveness makes this single a joy to listen to from beginning to end, though with FSOL, you don't actively listen, you instead let yourself become engulfed in the alien soundscapes. The same is true here, but here the sound is more focused and coherent. Cracks of melody heard in track one will be heard again in track four, and meanderings heard in track three, will become full fledged ideas in track seven. FSOL CD single's are not just a compilation of remixes, they are medium length journeys of their own. This is an essential pick-up for anyone who enjoyed the Lifeforms album. I was looking for more of the same with "Lifeforms", and was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying this compilation even more than the "Cascade" single.On the Lifeforms album, this song didn't really catch my attention. I really enjoyed the "Cascade" CD single, where a good song was transformed into an epic mini-suite sprawling several tracks. It was one of the more uptempo/percussive tunes on the album, and it was less melodic than it was atmospheric.
It isn't simply a rehash playing off the successive of the album. more cohesive, to boot. This work stands on its own. This is what a single should be. Those of you who have the Lifeforms LP and have heard the title track, be forwarned that the other six efforts on here sound nothing like it whatsoever, instead creating a staggeringly varied and complex series of songs and cycling bits and pieces of the rest of the album into the mix.FSOL adds to the overarching beauty of this work by taking a great vocalist - Elizabeth Fraser - and instead of merely having her sing some catchy lyrics over the top like so many electronic artists do, they weave her vocals into the tracks (especially the opening number) and make them seamlessly fit with the rest of the album - a must in soundscapes.The end result is that this single does not get tiresome, and its timbres and sound collages are just as new and exciting as the album.
Her contribution to the album is but two or three phrases, and FSOL looped these afterwards. The sleeve notes of Future Sound of London's LIFEFORMS album credits Elizabeth Fraser, the Cocteau Twins vocalist about whose talent an NME review said "Surely this is the voice of God", for vocals on the track "Lifeforms". The first three mixes of "Lifeforms" are dark and rhythmic pieces featuring Eastern strings, and they are superior to anything on the LIFEFORMS album, except perhaps "Cascade." Mixes 4-7 are less listenable, but the first three mixes make this a solid single.If you liked LIFEFORMS, and want more of the same plus even more captivating material, the "Lifeforms" single is a good buy. However, I was pleasantly suprised by the quality of the music. Ironically, the album version of that track has no vocal at all. I immediately sought out this single, a CD with 7 different mixes of "Lifeforms", to see what kind of performance she lent to FSOL's ambient stylings.I found Fraser's performance, well, insubstantial.
It's overall just stunning. I got this CD about 2 years ago and it still is nothing short of amazing. Just plug in, and get swept away. track # 2 & 5 are my absolute favorites. The only reason I gave it 4 stars was because I didn't really like the chick's voice. But still that certainly wasn't enough to give this cd a healthy 4 stars.
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