The Electric Word (LP)

The Electric Word (LP)

Debut album, released on 15th January 2024, via Zonedog Records, which features artwork from Ecstatic Geometry.

Background

The first thing that struck me when I discovered the poem “All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace” by Richard Brautigan was the similarity to The Future Sound of London’s albums of the early 90s.  Their second album "Lifeforms" sounds just like the "cybernetic meadow" that Brautigan describes. It's a deeply psychedelic affair all bathed in a constant chatter of sound effects where animal calls and robotic bleeps become indistinguishable.

I grew up listening to the The Future Sound of London. I first heard their hit “Papua New Guinea” on a tape my brother made of the John Peel show. I was so excited for what the future would hold. After I heard their eponymous third album, ISDN, I knew that the internet was going to shape my future. Long before it was popular to deride the "mainstream media", I looked forward to the demise of the British press. Once the Daily Mail was out of business we'd all be freer and happier. "Right now, please!" I can hear Brautigan say.

It wasn't just the Future Sound of London. Following the Acid House explosion of 1988 and the fall of the Berlin wall, the future was bright, if not dayglo. "There Will Be No Armageddon", the music assured me as a teenager. Like Stewart Brand's USCO shows of the 60s, raves let us experience the utopia that technology would bring. Through the music, the lights, the euphoria, we could picture a better world. And tomorrow we could build it. Well, may be the day after that.

I don't need to tell you how this story ends, because we all live in the world FSOL dreamed of. The live-streaming technology they pioneered on ISDN is now common place. But it hasn't improved the life of touring musicians. In the 90s touring was a loss-leader for bands. Just a way to sell more CDs. Now musicians make most of their income from touring, as Silicon Valley corporations refuse to pay decent royalties. I doubt this was what the FSOL wanted, and even the tech-bros don't think it is sustainable.

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An introduction to the psychedelic, cybernetic 90s.

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