The Future Sound of London

The Future Sound of London (often abbreviated FSOL) is a British electronic music duo composed of Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans. They have been described as a "boundary-pushing" electronic act, covering techno, ambient, house music, trip hop, psychedelia, and dub.

While keeping an enigmatic image and releasing music under many aliases, the band found commercial success with singles "Papua New Guinea" (1991) and "Cascade" (1993), and albums Lifeforms (1994), ISDN (1995) and Dead Cities (1996). In recent years, the duo has become more candid with their fanbase online. Their later work include their series of experimental Environments and Archives albums.

Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans met in the mid-1980s while studying electronics at university in Manchester. Dougans had already been making electronic music, working between Glasgow and Manchester, when the pair first began working together in local clubs. In 1988, Dougans embarked on a project for a graphic studio Stakker, which resulted with a single "Stakker Humanoid" that reached number 17 in the UK charts, introducing acid house to mainstream audience. Cobain contributed to the accompanying album Global. In the following years the pair produced music under a variety of aliases, releasing a number of singles and EPs, including "Q" and "Metropolis", later featured on the 1992 compilation Earthbeat. They were initially signed to the British sub-label of Passion Music, Jumpin' & Pumpin'.

In 1991, Cobain and Dougans released their breakthrough single, "Papua New Guinea" on Jumpin' & Pumpin'. The song was based upon a sample from "Dawn of the Iconoclast" by Dead Can Dance and a bassline from "Radio Babylon" by Meat Beat Manifesto. It enjoyed great success, charting at No. 22 for seven weeks in 1992. The single was followed by their debut album, Accelerator, which included "Papua New Guinea" among other new tracks. After a few other releases on Jumpin' & Pumpin', they were signed by Virgin Records, with the free rein to experiment.

In 1993, the duo released an ambient album Tales of Ephidrina, the first under the alias Amorphous Androgynous. The focus on texture and mood, while retaining dance beats, was well received. The album was released on Quigley, the band's own short-lived offshoot of Virgin. The band begun experimenting with radio performance, broadcasting three-hour radio shows to Manchester's Kiss FM from their studio.

In 1993, the band released "Cascade," a nearly 40 minutes single which made the UK top 30. It was followed in 1994 by the album Lifeforms, released to critical acclaim and a top 10 hit on the UK album chart. The eponymous single featured Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins on vocals. The record introduced an array of exotic, tropical sound samples. Dougans' father's involvement in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop had a heavy influence on Lifeforms. Often asked whether Brian Eno was an influence, Cobain and Dougans said they were about looking to the future not the past. To them, Lifeforms was a new work not just another Eno-type ambient album.

That year, the Future Sound of London released a limited-edition album ISDN, which featured live broadcasts made over ISDN lines to various radio stations worldwide to promote Lifeforms, including The Kitchen, an avant-garde performance space in New York, and several appearances on BBC Sessions hosted by John Peel. The shows featured ambient soundscapes with previously released material performed alongside unheard tracks. One performance for BBC Radio 1 featured Robert Fripp. The tone of ISDN was darker and more rhythmic than Lifeforms. The band wanted to achieve something epic and grand, but no matter how much technological or personal support they had they never got to truly do what they envisioned. Cobain said that the 90s were a time of frustration because the technology didn't fit the band's ideas. In 1995, the album was re-released with expanded artwork and a slightly altered track list.

The band's interests have covered different areas including film and video, 2D and 3D computer graphics, animation in making almost all their own videos for their singles, radio broadcasting and creating electronic devices for sound making.