Yage
The Woodlands of Old

When it comes to the Future Sound Of London, it's truly impossible not to highlight the boundless genius/creativity that has always placed the English duo several notches above other names in the scene. Precursors, experimenters, and with that unique and very personal sound that distances them from the usual labels and the "already heard," the duo's capabilities are now indisputable. The Woodlands Of Old, for which the mysterious alias "Yage" is revived (the imaginary engineer appeared throughout the duo's vast production), confirms more than ever this peculiarity: an absolutely new and never predictable sound, to be discovered in all its facets, listen after listen.

FSOL are now outside the "in" circles, despite not having released an official album under this name since 1997 (the last one being the immense Dead Cities). They have remained extremely active, especially with the valid rock-psychedelic-experimental project Amorphous Androgynous, (on which a lot of energy has been spent in this decade), but contrary to appearances and the initial post-dead cities period, the two have not at all abandoned their most famous creation. Quite the contrary: with the opening of the fsol digital portal and the choice of self-promotion, a shadowy hyper-productivity has characterized the recent years of Dougans & Cobain, which has seen them act on several fronts with: solo projects, experiments of all kinds, audiovisual creations for museums/exhibits, and especially old tracks and unreleased material collected in the excellent series "From The Archives" (already at vol.6 soon to be released), podcasts of the historic isdn broadcasts (the "The Electric Brain Storm" series, rich in electronic-experimental gems by various sacred monsters, is crucial), and if we stop here, the list would continue for a long time.

One of these projects that slipped under the radar (zero promotion and a live activity now involving them only as the band Amorphous Androgynous) is precisely The Woodlands of Old, released in 2008, and I dare say almost wasted for being a secondary project, given its level is far higher than many more publicized and hyped albums (perhaps even by big names you might well imagine) that are released nowadays. The quality is not so far off from the duo's other more polished works, like the iconic Lifeforms.

Yage is the meeting between the past and the future, the blending of the two main facets of Gaz Cobain and Brian Dougans, namely Future Sound Of London and Amorphous Androgynous: the dark visionary abstractism of the first, the acoustic psychedelia, ethnic references, and the inner exploration of the second, with the difference that here the positivism that so heavily influenced Cobain's mind (characterizing heavily releases like The Isness or Alice In Ultraland) after the famous revelatory trip to India, is absolutely absent. Not a single glimmer of light, nor hippy a-la-divinity digressions. A not too veiled mysticism and a sinister sound are what will be heard on this excellent work.

The project is certainly less complicated/articulated than most of the duo's production, but as widely predictable being FSOL, nothing is ever obvious, and therefore the album requires multiple listens to fully comprehend its identity, avoiding labeling it as "electronica-with-tribal-hints-nothing-new". Once the platters' intentions are assimilated, all its charm will become clear to the listener. Just think how they themselves present it with a significant "from the deserts of the Middle East to the rains of the Brazilian forests". Said so, it might almost make one laugh, but the album's sound doesn't stray at all from this suggestive label, much less from the scenario provided by the cover! It will seem almost a continuation of the musical-conceptual decay of Dead Cities, but with an "environment" variation.

A dense aura of mystery, the sound of percussion (ever-present and aided by ex-Propellerheads Will White), various oriental instruments, psychedelic virtuosities and numerous ambient hints in classic fsol style dominate the 74 minutes of the album. Electronic and non-electronic beats and the inevitable hyper-reverberated fluid samples, the duo's trademark, fit perfectly with the rest (mostly acoustic and percussive) of the sound tapestry. Bizarre weird hints make a work, already far from simple impact, even more sinister and incomprehensible in its 21 tracks. Refined is the term best suited to The Woodland Of Old.

To best represent the album overall is the splendid title track, supported by a spectacular bassline alongside reverse guitars and a dozen oriental instruments on a rich and layered arrangement. Threatening timpani, abundant reverbs, and a suggestive dark atmosphere characterize "From Thunder That Shakes" and the grand hypnotism of "The Yage Letters", the latter with the first inspired appearance of White on percussion. Unusual droning violins and minimal sounds mold "An Odd Question From A Forest Bird", while jazzy rhythms, psychedelic trombones, distorted guitars, and primitive tribal voices dominate tracks like "The Hunters Moon" and the visionary "Centipede".

In this context, the typical ambient digressions of their 90s repertoire work well on tracks like "Unsetting Sky", "The Mahogany Tree" (perfect musique concrète hints that have characterized Brian’s recent solo production), "Mountain Cloud Descending" (the surreal atmosphere+ wild drumming make it one of the most interesting moments on the album), and "The Dark Pines" (where it even borders on dark ambient).

Decidedly heavier and more digitalized, the track "Crow Hushing The Floating Woods" I consider the best track of the work, and "Dry Wind Blown" (a superb tribal hypnotic episode with hypnotic choirs and wild percussion), while secondly surprising are the ideas of "He Laughed Himself To The Centre" and "Humbled Before Your Presence" with those sick sounds and the weird hints already mentioned.

While awaiting the new album, an immersive trip that would not disgrace as a piece of the FSOL discography.