After the release of "Dead Cities" in 1996 FSOL stayed quite for 10 years before releasing their Archives materials and Environments series. I always kept an eye on them but never actually checked the releases until recently. Thanks to Christmas and a good friend I received all 7 volumes of their Archive materials plus the 4 volumes in the environment series. And so I was ready to go through 11 albums all at once! As a favor the same friend asked for a "Best Of Selection" after I was done with my music marathon - you get some you give some back :)
As someone who enjoys FSOL's studio albums I wasn't too impressed with all the materials but I was expecting that beforehand. What I was hoping for was to find hidden gems in these series so in that respect it wasn't a letdown. The Archive series are a mixed bag, you get some very good tracks, some good and some Ok materials, but overall I didn't find anything that was awful - in fact many of these compilations are actually better than most artist albums coming out today. I liked the Environments series less than the Archives, the materials are really average compared to what these guys are capable of. I highly recommend checking the Archives compilations, I am sure everyone will have their favorites, but If you are lazy like my friend, here's a list to get you started. These are the standout tracks that I find myself coming back to for repeat listening pleasure.
Best Of Archives + Environments (FSOL Album That Never Was)
From The Archives Vol. 1 (2007)
1. Mouth Muse
2. Pale Moon
From The Archives Vol. 2 (2007)
3. Were Not Here
From The Archives Vol. 3 (2007)
4. Empires
5. The Teeth Of The Wind
From The Archives Vol. 4 (2008)
6. 5 Months 5 Acres
From The Archives Vol. 5 (2008)
7. Distant Memories
8. Tokyo Travel (longest track here, it's truly epic)
From The Archives Vol. 7 (2012)
9. Walls Of Thought (beautiful dark ambient)
10. War Machines (dark dark industrial sounds)
Environments II (2008)
11. Factories And Assembly (awesome electro track)
After the release of "Dead Cities" in 1996 FSOL stayed quite for 10 years before releasing their Archives materials and Environments series. I always kept an eye on them but never actually checked the releases until recently. Thanks to Christmas and a good friend I received all 7 volumes of their Archive materials plus the 4 volumes in the environment series. And so I was ready to go through 11 albums all at once! As a favor the same friend asked for a "Best Of Selection" after I was done with my music marathon - you get some you give some back :)