16-06-2009 Read more »
here are some nuggets of GOLD.
predictions for what the world has in store for us.
+ w/ in 2 decades we will have a detailed understanding of how all the regions of the human brain work.
+ we will have the requisite hardware to emulate human intelligence w/ supercomputers by the end of the decade.
+ we will have effective software models of human intelligence by the mid-2020's.
+ by the end of the 2020's artificial intelligence will be able to pass the Turing Test ( a test devised to distinguish machine intelligence from human/biological intelligence) as in A robot will be able to pass itself off as a BIOLOGICAL HUMAN.
+ having achieved this level of development computers will be able to combine traditional strengths of human intelligence with the strengths of machine intelligence.
+ once machines achieve the ability to design and engineer technology as humans do, only at far higher speeds and capacities, they will access to their own designs and the ability to manipulate them. machines will be able to build themselves free of human interference. essentially evolving themselves.
+ nanotechnology will enable the design of nanobots: robots designed at the molecular level which will have the ability to work inside our bodies in theory reversing human ageing.
+ nanobots will interact with biological neurons to vastly extend human experience by creating virtual reality form within the nervous system !!!!
+ as virtual reality from w/in the nervous system becomes competative with real reality in terms of resolution and believability, our experiences will increasingly take place in virtual environments. second life anyone?
+ in virtual reality we can be a different person both physically and emotionally. In fact, other people ( such as yr girl/boy/friend) will be able to select a different body for you than you might select for yrself.
These are just some thoughts from a Mr. Ray Kurzweil which i've paraphrased.
what do you think? will we become machine hybrids? do you care?
are our mobile phones and growing dependence on social networking sites like this the start of this next phase of human civilization?
well......anyway have a fun friday night everyone. i leave you with these words from old mate Winston Churchill:
"THE FURTHER BACKWARD YOU LOOK< THE FURTHER FORWARD YOU CAN SEE"
x

16-06-2009 Read more »
hey everyone
sorry for the lack of communication
do you remember us?
maybe if we had a Twitter we could fill yr lives with loads of dumb minutiae about our adventures in the kitchen, in the bed, in the head.
but we don't. yet.
we have been busy in the studio. mining through the hours and hours worth of material for this next record. only one track is nearing completion and it clocks in at over 8 minutes.
never fear filler trimmer is here. we are not gonna make a tropical prog record.
i have been writing lyrics.
edwin has been swimming everyday for months.
walter has been barbequeing.
jimmy is in Germany probably listening to the new Grizzly Bear record.
jack is ill again.
we'll upload some pix soon
s.o.s
x
13-03-2009 Read more »
Dave Ma ( who has now invited himself round and moved in with us ) and Jimmy
bashed out this rhythm on a tom which we recorded through some headphones in the
basement. It is meant to be walked to:
Dankrhythm..
Here is some old footage:
jack is ill. get well soon jack!
we have nothing to say.
other than have a good weekend
--------
xx
12-03-2009 Read more »
BRAINDROOL:
A NEW MYSTICISM, A FOREGOING OF PROOF,
RELINQUISH CONTROL, HELP YRSELF
HELP THE REST !!
AND IN THE TOW OF A DIRTY WAVE
HALO YOLK
MYRIAD COLOUR, MILLION HUED,
HYACINTHINE AND INFINITE
OUR HEADS UNITE
UNDER THE TREES, OVER THE EARTH,UNDER THE SUN AND INTO THE SEA.
ENDLESS SURF.
TOTAL LIFE FOREVER.
LET THE OIL BURN BLACK GOLD
INTO THE RAVING MAW
THE HEARTLESS HUSK
LET IT HEAL, ANNEAL
LET THE END
COME NOW.
8-03-2009 Read more »
here are some free things:
a version of
CASSIUS.. taken from a two-day session with Kieran Hebden manning the
controls. He basically conducted us, it was a bit like some Suffi meditation
session, an inner silent prayer, following the path of the heart etc etc etc. It
was one of the most liberating experiences of the last few years and i am
becoming a hippie. It sounds nothing like the single. Bon appetit.
two tracks from a Daytrotter session recorded sometime i can't remember last
year in Rock Island, Illinois. It was all done to tape and the place had a Real
Good Vibe. they're just meandering jams. two of us had flu:
and a more recent b-side from Olympic Airways which wasn't quite completed to
the standard we'd have liked but was headed somewhere. its called
UNTHINK THIS..
anyway i decided to stop smoking pot for a bit and now feel alot like this :
so in an attempt to relax i decided to crank out one of my old favourite records
"World of Echo" by Arthur Russell. It's so beautiful and reserved and private. I
recommend it to any/every/one who wants to have an uplifting sunday evening.
Sunday evenings are kind of awful aren't they? i think i've learnt to enjoy them
more recently but there is still that slight metallic, nauseous feeling of
'the-night-before- school-and-i-haven't-done-any-work
and-i-am-so-fucking-anxious-i-have-no-nails-left-to-eat". yeah chillin'.
Also in other news i've been reading up about sky-burials. A traditional Tibetan
practice where yr body is cut into hundreds of tiny pieces and left out on the
mountains for the condors and eagles to feed on. Apparently it evolved as a way
round the problems of dealing with the dead. The layer of permafrost just 2
inches under the soil layer means that the digging of graves was a massive pain
in the ass. And the scarcity of trees meant cremation was an equally flawed
option. Anyway it's pretty amazing and probably massively illegal over here.
Hope yr all well
the writing of the record is coming along nicely
peace + love
yannis
25-02-2009 Read more »
a while ago it snowed in england like it hasn't since about 1991. back then
when foot-long icicles dropped from windows and snowmen were built, melted, and
built again in the time it took to say "what's for dinner?", we were all very
small, and we didn't know each other, and quite frankly we were all a lot
happier than we are now. but that's beside the point. what is not beside the
point is snow. manifestly. it gets fucking everywhere.
for example.

pretty much white, huh. yep. me and jack got up early this one morning to
trample around in it.

and so this is me. jack insisted on me posting this photo. it's part of his
long-term strategy of making me look ridiculous while he looks... well, like
nothing, at least publicly, though in private he currently looks like a weird
ginger man-child with a chunk of hair missing from his head.
anyway. i look like captain fucking scott. about three minutes before he died.
probably. for those readers of this blog who are unfamiliar with captain scott.
he is one of that distinct and mostly extinct breed of rich white english men
who are famous and indeed eulogised for not quite being the first to accomplish
something, dying in the process of not quite accomplishing it, and as a result
of a good solid public school education that instilled the three sacred Rs of
reading, writing, and royal bloody arrogance, getting everyone else killed at
the same time.
i didn't make it to the south pole first either, but at least i didn't wipe out
myself and the rest of the band in the process of not getting there.
some trees.

in other news.
our house of supine athletics
is pretty grizzly. imagine the inside of a tour bus. imagine a tour bus after
weeks of solid and sweaty touring with several disgusting young men. then
imagine that tour bus veering off the road and crashing into a row of terraced
houses on an otherwise clean and cheerful oxford street. then imagine no-one
doing anything about it and letting nature take its course. that's what our
house is like. a sort of midway point between crime, carnival, and catastrophe.
our mascot/matron/mistress mimsy:

yannis' thirty-third eye:

oxford commas:

and our rose garden, in its holy heavenly benevolent glory:

we've been playing risk together. jack is terrible at risk. i am obviously the
best at risk--but, with some sweet sardonic irony, the worst person to play risk
with. i'm just a dick, pretty much. an over-zealous, deathly serious arsehole.
this has nothing to do with risk. and yet... everything to do with it.

tinhead came round and did some painting.

before you admire (a) his studious studio countenance or (b) his artwork
consider that before this he spray painted an enormous green cock on another
wall. it just goes to show.
a few friends of ours have been coming and painting/stencilling/muralising
various walls in our basement. more photos soon, hopefully.
what else.
well, we've been writing some songs. sometimes. mostly just kind of hanging out
jamming. jamming lose. kicking out the jams. and so on.
a bit like
this, i'd say.
sort of like that.
yep.
xx edwin.
19-02-2009 Read more »
some shows that we're playing.
april 7th - coventry - kasbah
april 8th - portsmouth - wedgewood rooms
april 10th - brighton - concorde 2
tickets available
here, tomorrow morning at 10.
don't sleep, as they say.
the idea is that we remind ourselves how to actually play rock and roll shows
before we support bloc party at olympia on the 11th and 12th. it's a difficult
job, playing a rock and roll show. you have to summon up the spirit of rock and
roll, for one thing, which involves all sorts of meditation on legacy and the
canon and so on and so forth, and then you have to have a couple of lagers, and
then you have to, you know, playing the fucking songs, all of which can be very
stressful. no doubt you'll see us in our local gym beforehand stretching and
groaning as we beat our flaccid little bellies into shape.
we will be playing some new songs. highly energetic excellent good time party
vibes. of course. if we didn't it'd be a fucking disgrace.
in other news i made a little brother myspace for our djing and remixing sides
(alter egos? i dunno). i have been djing a fair bit recently. and jack has
remixed both telepathe, and, more recently, bloc party.
www.myspace.com/foalsdjs
the myspace is a work in progress so please excuse the total lack of
individualistic wit and charm. oh, and the lack of foals remixes on the player.
i tried uploading the telepathe remix but i got slapped down myspace for
copyright infringement. a bit harsh, i think. anyway, i'm going to sort that
out. someone's going to sort it out. probably not me, if i'm honest.
i'm not very honest.
the most important thing is that you add us as a friend. otherwise i have to go
through our 72,501 (...?) friends and add each one. which will definitely break
me.
what else?
nothing else.
great.
xx edwin.
8-01-2009 Read more »
2008 leftovers
happy new year!
here are some photos that make me laugh/cringe

squeezy cheese in the nevada desert

our loving tour manager//lollapalooza

the last photo of edwin before he became addicted to gambling//VEGAS

giving in to my inner crusty//TOKYO

walter//TOKYO
more stuff to follow....
/jack xxx
7-01-2009 Read more »
Q: How do porcupines do it?
A: Carefully
Wrote these two tiny guitar fragments this morning other than that not been up
to much. Alot of people here have mumps here so i'm kind of avoiding.
after initially being wary of uploading stuff i feel like it breaks down the
wall if you know what i mean so thankYOU. i saw some people seem to think these
are actual album snippets so just to make sure here is a DISCLAIMER :
These are NOT completed songs NOR album samples NOR predictions for the future.
This IS stuff.
OLD
here is an old mix of Titan Arum
off the Red Socks Pugie 7". We recorded this at Dreamtrak back in February (?) i
think . It was fed on a diet of fruit pastilles, red wine, and wanting to make
something " turn Kraut " half way through. The lyrics are about my brother.
NEW
We promise: virtue w/out trying,
wisdom w/out struggle, sex w/out risk, luxury w/out effort, life w/out fleas,
God w/out teeth all provided that you agree to settle for love w/out passion.
BORROWED
We're gonna work on this some more It'll get better...
KrakowFunk
BLUE
This is also an earlier version of
Gold Gold Gold. It's pretty
much the same as the normal version i guess. it sounds warmer...there's more
tape echo in (n) it.
g'night
Y
xx
4-01-2009 Read more »
Hey guys
our last two shows of the year are upon us. these final nights are what remain
between us and hibernation, rejuvenation and the completion of a new album in
the spring.and ATP Woo Hoo!!! We are stoked.
Also Tinhead has designed some special numbered, hand printed posters so grab 'em
up at the merch stall.
there are still some tickets on the door for tomorrow. so that's yr night if yr
bored, heartbroken, or a Greek Policeman.
There is an afterparty at Bar Love. Edwin is djing as well.
sorry for those of you who have no interest in this Oxford-centric blog. this is
the the problem with global communication.
in Other news this is what Tinhead has been up to. watch to understand 'sweaty
nerd':
ENJOYENJOYENJOYENJOYenjoy
Peace Love Pot Pourri
xx
math
14-05-2009
Rockhouse
15-05-2009
Orange Box
17-05-2009
All Tomorrow's Parties
27-06-2009
Rockwave Festival
1-07-2009
Rockfeedback @ Lexington
2-07-2009
Hyde Park w/ Blur
11-07-2009
T In The Park
12-07-2009
Oxegyn Festival
16-07-2009
Slottssfjell Festival
17-07-2009
Melt Festival
18-07-2009
Benicassim Festival
25-09-2009
Heaven, London