Blogs & News

  • FUTUROLOGY>

    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

  • O O O O>

    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

  • FRUIT OF TODAY>

    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

  • RELEASE PRESSURE FROM THE BRAIN>

    12-03-2009 Read more »



    black copper gold 2_2 Pictures, Images and Photos
    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.

  • FREE YRSELF>

    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:


    HUMANATE..
    &

    FIG.3..

    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 :

    Mind if I pry into your third eye? Pictures, Images and Photos



    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

  • WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON>

    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.

  • SHOWS & & YES>

    19-02-2009 Read more »



    New Page 1

    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.

  • 2008 LEFTOVERS>

    8-01-2009 Read more »



    New Page 1


    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

  • SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLUE>

    7-01-2009 Read more »



    New Page 2

    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

  • TOMORROW AND...>

    4-01-2009 Read more »



    New Page 1

    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

Live