The Future Sound of London

至少要有兩個(gè)條件才能塑造一個(gè)傳奇：過人的才華與神秘的距離。由Garry Cobain和Brian Dougans組成的The Future Sound Of London，不偏不倚地成就了電音領(lǐng)域近15年來最具影響力的傳奇之一。80年代末期相遇于曼徹斯特(Manchester)，兩人才開始對(duì)電子音樂進(jìn)行探索，相較于Brian對(duì)電子音樂的鉆研，當(dāng)時(shí)的Garry更注意當(dāng)時(shí)的獨(dú)立搖滾之聲，他們?cè)谠缙谏踔僚c英倫傳奇樂隊(duì)Stone Roses有過短暫的合作。80年代末期到90年代初期他們兩人更頻繁以各種不同化名發(fā)表風(fēng)格迥異的電音作品。他們的音樂風(fēng)格正如其名，是無法預(yù)測(cè)界定的，他們昨天踏出的每一步都將成為明日的潮流。首次以The Future Sound Of London為名發(fā)表首張創(chuàng)作大碟后，馬上獲得主流廠牌的加盟邀約，離開獨(dú)立廠牌Jumpin’＆ Pumpin’后，在Virgin的默許之下，他們開始進(jìn)行對(duì)電子音樂的實(shí)驗(yàn)，早期就以Amorphous Androgynous的化名發(fā)表作品Tales Of Ephidrina。之后于1994年發(fā)表的Lifeforms更一舉打入英國(guó)前十大排行榜，并名列九零年代最重要的電音/環(huán)境音樂之一。至此之后。1996年的Dead Cities更被譽(yù)為超越未來的巨作。樂隊(duì)本身卻感到自己迷失了方向，創(chuàng)作幾乎只是兩人炫耀才華天賦的媒界。2001年樂隊(duì)才再度以Amorphous Androgynous的名義發(fā)表融合世界音樂的迷幻電音作品The Isness。
 
by Sean Cooper
 
First recognized as the dance duo behind the club hits Stakker (as Humanoid) and Papua New Guinea, Future Sound of London later became one of the most acclaimed and respected international experimental ambient groups, incorporating elements of techno, classical, jazz, hip-hop, electro, industrial, and dub into expansive, sample-heavy tracks, often exquisitely produced and usually without easy precursor.
 
Notoriously enigmatic and often disdainful of the press, the groups Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans worked their future-is-now aesthetic into a variety of different fields, including film and video, 2- and 3-D computer graphics and animation, the Internet, radio broadcast, and, of course, recorded music. Although they usually disdain their earlier work as play-for-pay club fare not representative of their later musical vision, many of the thematic concerns of their earlier 12s and their first, heavily dance-oriented LP, Accelerator, followed them into their later work. Usually filed under ambient, that work is often much more than that, drawing from the history of experimental electronic music with a relentlessness that has helped to push the calmer elements of that genres reputation into decidedly more difficult directions.
 
The pair also grew in repute as remixers, obliterating tracks by Curve, Jon Anderson, David Sylvian and Robert Fripp, and Apollo 440, and rebuilding pieces of almost majestic complexity with the remnants. The duos works of the mid- to late 90s — Lifeforms, ISDN, and Dead Cities — were important stopping points on the road of rabid hybridization characteristic of post-rave European experimental electronica (ambient, jungle, trip-hop, ambient dub, etc.), and the pairs somewhat punk rock attitude (despite their success) did much to underscore the scenes underground roots. After a lengthy hiatus marked by rumors of mental illness and a cottage lifestyle, Cobain and Dougans returned in 2002 with The Isness, a record heavily influenced by 60s and 70s psychedelia.