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Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!dreaderd!not-for-mail Message-ID: <music/flying-saucer-faq_1026384737@rtfm.mit.edu> Supersedes: <music/flying-saucer-faq_1023792251@rtfm.mit.edu> Expires: 24 Aug 2002 10:52:17 GMT X-Last-Updated: 2001/05/24 From: stutz@dsl.org (Michael Stutz) Newsgroups: alt.music.psychedelic,alt.noise,news.answers,alt.answers Subject: Flying Saucer Attack Frequently Asked Questions (FSA FAQ) Followup-To: poster Organization: http://dsl.org/ Summary: This posting answers questions about the musical group Flying Saucer Attack. Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Originator: faqserv@penguin-lust.MIT.EDU Date: 11 Jul 2002 10:53:21 GMT Lines: 1080 NNTP-Posting-Host: penguin-lust.mit.edu X-Trace: 1026384801 senator-bedfellow.mit.edu 3937 18.181.0.29 Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu alt.music.psychedelic:18588 alt.noise:24468 news.answers:233856 alt.answers:62844 Archive-name: music/flying-saucer-faq Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: 2001/05/24 Version: 1.26 URL: http://dsl.org/fsa/ Copyright: (c) 1996-2001 Michael Stutz Maintainer: Michael Stutz <stutz@dsl.org> Flying Saucer Attack Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Michael Stutz, <stutz@dsl.org> $Revision: 1.26 $ This document describes the band Flying Saucer Attack, aka ``FSA.'' ______________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1.1 Copyright 1.2 Acknowledgments 1.3 Document Versions and Revision History 1.4 Feedback 2. Band Information 2.1 Who are FSA? 2.2 What's the band's history? 2.3 FSA news and gossip 3. Releases 3.1 Flying Saucer Attack discography 3.2 I'm new to FSA. Where should I start? 3.3 Where do I buy this stuff? 3.4 What's this ``phase two'' stuff? 3.5 Who does the band's artwork? 3.6 The live CD isn't indexed. What's a DJ to do? 3.7 I like their music. Who else would I like? 3.8 What are FSA's musical influences? 4. Online resources 4.1 Sounds 4.2 Images 4.3 Album covers 4.4 Interviews 4.5 Reviews 4.6 Other fun links on the net 5. Musician Info 5.1 Has anyone transcribed lyrics to their stuff? 5.2 Where can I find guitar tablature for FSA songs? 5.3 What kind of guitars does Dave Pearce use? 5.4 How much processing and effects does it take to get the sound? 5.5 What does the guitar setup does Dave Pearce use? ______________________________________________________________________ 1. Introduction 1.1. Copyright Copyright (C) 1997-2001 Michael Stutz; this information may be copied, distributed and/or modified under certain conditions, but it comes WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; see the Design Science License <http://dsl.org/copyleft/dsl.txt> for the precise terms and conditions. 1.2. Acknowledgments Many people have helped piece together the information that appears in this document; in particular, special thanks go out to the following individuals for their help and expertise: Marc Brunet <mailto:pbrunet@netcom.ca>, Agent Cooper <mailto:agentc@flash.net>, Tony Dale <mailto:adale@tpgi.com.au>, Dan Fitch <mailto:dgfitch@yahoo.com>, Bill Kellum <mailto:vhfrecords@aol.com>, Gregor Kessler <mailto:kessler@zfn.uni-bremen.de>, David Miers <mailto:rudicollins@juno.com>, Fred Mills <mailto:Fmills3@aol.com>, Dan Parmenter <mailto:dan@lec.com>, Dave Pearce, Pete at Purple Records <mailto:purple.records@dial.pipex.com>, Timo Riitamaa <mailto:timo.riitamaa@kolumbus.fi>, Stephen Robinson <mailto:heiferboy@robinsonworld.freeserve.co.uk>, Michael Sussna <mailto:michael@simplenet.com>, Mark Beauchamp Taylor <mailto:mark.taylor@bris.ac.uk>, Kris Thompson <mailto:kthom@tiac.net>, troy <mailto:troy@eagles.bbs.net.au>, and anyone else I forgot. Many of the discography details in the discography were taken from Speed Kills #7. Every effort has been made to provide accurate information in this FAQ; any typos or mistakes in this FAQ are undoubtedly my own. 1.3. Document Versions and Revision History The canonical source for the latest version of this document is <http://dsl.org/fsa/>, where it is available in HTML, plain text, and PDF formats. It's also posted to the following Usenet newsgroups as an ASCII text file: o <news:alt.music.psychedelic> o <news:alt.noise> o <news:news.answers> The revision history section became too long, so as of 6 Nov 2000, the sources (available from above URL) now come with a ChangeLog file. TODO: put the record cover scans back online (anyone want to host them?), link to them in the discography, put up some pictures of the early days & various people involved with the Bristol scene; proof the earlier section for typos & add-ons, of which there are many. Find info for Various Beatz comp CD, Theatre of Sound, UK 1998. 1.4. Feedback Suggestions, improvements and comments are always welcome; email me at stutz@dsl.org <mailto:stutz@dsl.org>. You can contact Dave FSA at 60 Delavale Rd, Winchcombe, Glos, GL54 5YL, England. (Note from Dave: ``Apologies to all the people whose letters I've not answered.'') 2. Band Information 2.1. Who are FSA? Flying Saucer Attack (``FSA'') was a band from Bristol <http://www.saber.demon.co.uk/>, England that released its first single in January, 1993. Their music is a homebrew 4-track creation that is often described as a combination of pastoral English folk and noisy drone---hence terms like ``noisenik.'' One of the most interesting things about FSA is that it was essentially a one-man band. While David Pearce has had a number of collaborators over the years, both live and in the studio, he alone was basically responsible for what was FSA (in the early records, Rachel Brook was also a member of the band). He was assisted in a live show on 26 April, 1997 (``Terrastock <http://www.terrascope.org/ppp.html>'') by Jim O'Rourke and Bill Kellum. 2.2. What's the band's history? The history of FSA is intertwined with of bunch of other bands (Crescent, Movietone, AMP, etc.) that formed in or around Bristol. Here's the short version, according to Dave: ``I've played live with AMP once or twice, or Longfield or whoever, or some of Movietone, Crescent, Third Eye [Foundation] have played live with FSA on occasion---but in terms of who was ever really a member of whatever bands -> FSA = Dave + Rachel (and Rocker as honorary member), now FSA = Dave (+ honorary Rocker). Therefore Rachel in Movietone is the only true related band (in fact the 'Tone probably started before FSA, as did Crescent, AMP, and probably Third Eye). And the long version: back in approx. 1983-'86, Dave Pearce was involved with a school band called HaHaHa (an early name for the band that Dave had suggested was ``the Distance''). They released one EP in early '85. ``HaHaHa were, on occasion, far better than the EP we put out in early 1985. The main man was Robert who was (and is) a great talent. He supplied the genius Beatles-inspired songwriting, I supplied the attitude towards using distortion/feedback etc.---yes, Oasis-styled, 10 years before---although without the laddish bullshit. Incidentally, I've never been a Beatles fan at all. You may know that the Oasis bass player wrote a book recently about errant 70s English footballer Robin Friday. Book's called The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw <http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1840181087/michaelstutz/>---well, me and my Dad saw him every Saturday home game at Reading---we had season tickets---so there!'' After Dave left the band, they became Rosemary's Children, releasing a 7" mini-LP on Cherry Red. Dave went on to join a band called Mexican Embassy, whose members included Andy Revell on bass (``as in early Secret Garden line-up, and Philosopher's Stone LP track''). They played lots of gigs, and performed one or two early Dave FSA tunes. For five years beginning in 1987, Jon and Dave worked on a no-name, occasional recording project; there were no gigs, only recordings---see the Earworm 7" in the discography. When Dave attended Farnham Art College in the late 80s, he met a number of fellow conspirators, including Dave Mercer (Light), Richard and Guy (AMP), Gareth Mitchell (Philosopher's Stone), Andy Revell (Mexican Embassy, above), John (Summer Sang), amongst others (e.g., Alex and Jason). They formed a band called The Secret Garden, which, according to Dave, ``did not sound like what any guys have done since! ``All these people (ie, "Secret Garden" axis, "LSV" axis) knew each other before anyone was putting records out or really thinking seriously about putting records out. Hence the blurring of who is really in what---it's a bunch of friends, and so there's been a lot of helping each other out. You must remember that in '88--'92 when the social connections were being made, and musically it was all starting, there didn't exist all these small labels who were open to these kind of musical ideas (such as recording only guitar-based bedroom one/two person "bands," etc etc). So although we all had musical ambitions on a creative level, we were more interested in pursuing that side, rather than career ambitions. That's not to say that by trying to push the musical side we weren't aware that the resulting better quality (as in interesting/imaginative etc) would serve better in career terms (i.e. getting the foot in the door to start a career). ``The Secret Garden never recorded. There are rehearsal tapes (mostly Richard AMP has them safe and sound). Secret Garden played two gigs (first bottled off 5/10 invites at Farnham Art College dance event), second supporting those (TKTK?) Love in Coventry in 1989 (possibly 1990) as an audition for Alan McGhee/Creation. Richard was doing some sleeve design for Creation at the time, McGhee quite liked Richard's rehearsal compilation tape---didn't like the gig too much though! Secret Garden sounded fairly normal, tune-based---not too much whoosh!'' Then around 1991 or so, the Distance became another idea of a band---this time, between Dave and Richard. One demo tape of stuff was recorded, seperately apart from ``November Mist,'' as on FSA's Distance. The rest of the demo tapes have cropped up on FSA or AMP releases (see the noise at the start of ``My Dreaming Hill''). Between 1991 and 1992, Dave, Rachel, Matt Elliot and Kate Wright (later of Movietone) also recorded---rehearsal tapes only---under the moniker Lynda's Strange Vacation, which later became the name of Elliot's label (later changed to Linda's Strange Day). The band was already formed when Dave joined; he ``chimed or played guitar for a while. It was obvious they were a talented bunch even then.'' Dave then co-founded FSA with Rachel Brook, his girlfriend at the time (she played bass; Dave did everything else). Their first recordings were in the summer of 1992. Eventually Rachel went on to concentrate on her Movietone project, and as of now the band is ``just'' Dave. Although various albums and sources have listed the following names as bandmates at one time or another: Simon, Sam (live), Deb (live) and Matt Elliot (live), according to Bill Kellum of VHF Records <http://www.vhfrecords.com/>, ``Those people have played live with Dave once or twice, but there's never been a consistent live line up and not that many live shows to begin with anyway. Movietone is really the only band with any FSA members in it.'' In the early days, Third Eye Foundation ``was a bunch of people including self [Dave], Rachel, and indeed Matt "Elliot," banging bongos. Not much to do with current Third Eye I'd say.'' Here are Dave's claims to fame: ``I saw Robin Friday play football in the 70's. Saw the Jesus and Mary Chain "riot" gigs in London (ie North London Poly, Electric Ballroom) ... they were riots, in fact all their other early gigs were apparently far more violent. Er, that's it.'' Here are FSA claims to fame: ``People who once claimed to like FSA include Patti Smith, Tom Rapp, Robert from Main, Edward from Legendary Pink Dots, Colin Newman, er, er, er, Stephen from Pavement, er ... oh well. Oh yeah, I liked the Sex Pistols in '77.'' In a note from Dave posted on the FSA mailing list, dated 29 Sep 2000, he wrote, ``I still do feel the old band name makes no sense nowadays.....it always was a bit of a silly name, but when we started, that kind of space/UFO thing wasn't around musicwise, in fact it took a bit of nerve going with a name like that as it stood out like a sore thumb...even things like the X-Files weren't on TV at that point! So for a year or so people put our records in the 'F' section in stores and then suddenly I noticed they were putting them in new sections called 'Space Rock' that were popping up in stores, and of course the name suddenly fell right in with that, to the extent that now it's impossible to shake that off.... I've never been doing Space Rock anyway, such as I understand it; just been trying to do my own thing, as I was before there was a genre that came along and swamped it (names-wise). So, that's another reason to make some kind of a break. Try and get some identity back.'' Apparently the Rezillos <http://www.comnet.ca/~rina/rezillos.html>, a Scottish punk band from the 1970s, had a song called ``Flying Saucer Attack.'' Could this be the origin of the band's name? 2.3. FSA news and gossip 24 May 2001 Rumor has it -- new LP in the works ... 06 Nov 2000 This is probably it for FSA. Dave Pearce has basically decided to call it quits for the project. But I think this is positive, good news -- the Bristol scene has long been history, and when those early records came out in the mid-1990s it was a very special, great thing; but FSA was a time and a place that is history now. The end of the FSA project will, I think, give Dave Pearce the space he needs right now as an artist. I think we can expect much more from him over the coming years -- ``who knows which way the wind blows.'' 30 Mar 2000 The talk is all about the upcoming live album to be released on Staalplaat <http://www.staalplaat.com/> ... meanwhile, waiting for the good word on Lands End. Subliminal messages to TV droners: several folks have reported hearing ``Oceans'' in a Saturn commercial last autumn, which Beau says was ``about a guy whose Saturn was crunched by a 18 wheeler.'' 10 Dec 1999 Finally, a definite release date for Mirror: 25 Jan 2000. Not in time for Christmas, but you'll be able to buy it online at Amazon <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00003XAJB/michaelstutz/> as soon as its out. 09 Dec 1999 Mirror should be out any day now (waiting on the pressing plant). Meanwhile, FSA has begun recording work on the next LP, which might be an all-acoustic album called Land's End or (says Dave) "maybe a `modern' job -- I'm starting on both ideas, so we'll see." 18 Nov 1999 The new album is still called Mirror, although the song of that name (first one on side 2) has been changed to ``Winter Song'' (no relation to the Insect Pests <http://dsl.org/insect_pests/> song of the same name. ;) There's a chance the release may be delayed until early December, depending on whether the pressing plants are behind schedule. 27 Oct 1999 Bill Kellum at VHF Records <http://www.vhfrecords.com> says that the release date for Mirror is Nov 22. It will be on Drag City in the USA, while in the UK it will be on ``FSA/Heartbeat,'' like the first two seven inches and the first LP, and distributed via Cargo UK. ``Both formats for both countries, far as I know.'' 26 Oct 1999 Everybody wants to know when the new FSA is coming out. I want to know too! Word is, the Bristol "scene" is in a sad state of affairs---it seems fashionable there to dis FSA, accusing Dave of "selling out" just because his music reached a wider audience. Meanwhile, a reader has reported hearing "Oceans" on a Saturn commercial ... as of earlier this month, Drag City has stated that Mirror will be be coming out in '99. 24 Oct 1999 ``Space (1999)'' is the first track to the latest, still- unreleased album. No word as to when it will come out, but it does sound much better than New Lands. 12 Mar 1999 It's rumored that one of the tracks off the new record, ``Space (1999),'' is going to come out as an mp3 file first. Does anyone have a URL for this? 14 Feb 1999 The big news is that the new album will be out some time in 1999. Called Mirror, it has 11 songs and is 55 minutes long. Will it have Nick Drake-style finger picking stuff on it? Wait and see... There should be an FSA track on a new Skip Spence tribute LP. A new collaboration with Jim O'Rourke can also be expected; in speculation is a collaboration with Robert Hampson. Dave: ``All the slagging on the reviews of New Lands didn't get the joke in the title of the last song---of course it drones on and on and on and on for ever... More Dave: ``There is satire in some FSA stuff---most obviously of course the cover of Suede's "The Downers." It's not all meant to be doom & gloom (although the song "Hope" certainly is doom & gloom---deliberately). Even more Dave: ``[The song] "Respect" [means] respect for My Bloody Valentine. [FSA was] always accused of ripping them off in the past, thought I might as well really do so! Anyways, Debbie from MBV told me she didn't think FSA was an MBV ripoff (she kissed my cheek!).'' 1998 Nike has just started an eight-week television advertising campaign (March 1998) in the US and Canada which uses "mood music from underground artists," including FSA. 1998 UK indie Earworm have started a Singles Club, and the first release is a limited-to-500, colored vinyl single of an early FSA recording (when the band was Jon and Dave): ``Land Beyond The Sun'' [two track, Oct 1987]/``Instrumental For Silence'' [four track, Apr 1989]. 1998 ``Land Beyond the Sun'' was in the Gregg Araki film, Nowhere <http://us.imdb.com/Title?Nowhere+(1997)>, and ``Popol Vuh III'' can be heard on the background of a Hollywood movie called The Maker <http://us.imdb.com/Title?Maker+The+(1997)>; both films were released in 1997. 3. Releases 3.1. Flying Saucer Attack discography The following differs from a discography in the traditional sense of the word in that it includes live radio broadcasts, known recording sessions, and Dave Pearce's non-FSA releases. This extraneous material is listed in hope that it will be of use to the serious FSA collector. o HaHaHa, HaHaHa EP, early 1985. Self-released, with picture sleeve. Main track: "Up & Down"; some tunes co-written by Dave FSA. o Jon/Dave, ``Land Beyond The Sun'' / ``Instrumental For Silence'' 7", Earworm 1998. Two-track recording from Oct 1987 and four-track from April 1989. o Gareth Mitchell 7" EP, Secret Heart, 1992. Picture sleeve. o ``Soaring High'' / ``Standing Stone'' 7", FSA (FSA-6), 1/93. 500 copies, numbered, with hand painted labels & fold-over sleeves; 1-15 hard outer cover, sleeve with poster, 16-100 hard outer cover, book sleeve, 280 copies in soft outer cover, book sleeve, 100 copies in non-copyright infringing sleeve for USA and 20 copies in pencil sleeve design (``Talkin to J'')-fake US import. o ``Wish'' / ``Oceans'' 7", FSA (FSA-61), 6/93. 700 copies, numbered, with hand painted labels & fold-over sleeves + band photo insert; 1-15 with poster, 501-700 surplus copies with no surface noise. o ``Soaring High'' / ``Standing Stone'' 7", VHF (VHF-9), 8/93. 700-copy US reissue of FSA-6, on either dark or light purple marbleized vinyl, most with sticker on front of bag + VHF insert; sleeve duplicates ``non-copyright infringing sleeve.'' o Flying Saucer Attack LP, FSA (FSA-62) 11/93. 1000 copies, numbered, with hand painted labels & fold-over sleeves + booklet insert; 1-15 spray painted, rubber stamped and signed inner bag, numbered on front sleeve, 16-100 spray painted and rubber stamped inner bag, 900 copies with rubber stamped inner bag. Keep vinyl alive fsa 62 o Flying Saucer Attack LP, FSA (FSA-62) second issue 2/94. 923 copies, in different design full color sleeve, with printed labels + insert. keep vinyl alive (Also reported 1000 copies on blue vinyl in plain white sleeve, numbered in blue ink, sticker with faux-stamped FSA logo in blue in the upper-right corner, and photocopy insert of a picture of blue clouds which reads ``FSA 62 The Farewell Edition'') Scratched into the runout groove is: ``fsa62A / rural psychedelia / keep vinyl alive / kev / at the townhouse'' with a ``little drawing of a star, flying saucer, a moon, star'' and ``DFI- 95-11- FSA A 62''; on side B, along with the matrix number as on side A is ``The best new band on mars''. o Flying Saucer Attack LP, VHF (VHF#11) 2/94. 3000 copies, US release of FSA-62 with the full color design sleeve + part of ``pencil sleeve design'' from FSA-6 used on CD face. Rural Psychedelia 1. my dreaming hill 2. a silent tide 3. moonset 4. make me dream 5. wish 6. popol vuh 2 7. the drowners 8. still 9. popol vuh 1 10. the season is ours o ``Crystal Shade'' / ``Distance'' 7", FSA (FSA-63), 4/94. 1,000 numbered copies with printed labels in big fold-over printed sleeve; 1-15 potato printed inner bag + poster; 16-100 potato printed inner bag; 900 copies with plain inner bag. o ``All About Dreams'' on The Polite Cream Tea Corps 7" EP, POT (POT 16). Free with Ptolemaic Terrascope magazine, vol. 4 no. 4; all copies in black inner bag, with no labels, 3,000 copies with magazine, with inserts of 60's newspaper clippings, 1,500 copies with magazine, without insert, 25 copies of these had picture sleeve made by FSA for family & friends. o ``Soaring High'' / ``Standing Stone'' 7", VHF (VHF#9), 5/94. 100 copies, US second issue of FSA-6 on blue marbleized vinyl, but no sticker on outer sleeve, VHF mailorder only. (An issue numbered as part of 200 copies has also been reported.) o ONE FM John Peel Session (BBC radio broadcast), 5/94. Five tracks recorded exclusively for the session, released in DC87. o Live recordings from a few Bristol shows, 1994. o Flying Saucer Attack LP, FSA (FSA-62), 10/94. 500-only vinyl LP 3rd issue, same as second issue except labels reversed. o ``Land Beyond The Sun''/``Everywhere Was Everything'' 7", Domino (Rug 23), 10/94. 2,000 copies in card picture sleeves + printed labels; 490 copies (Rug 23x) have back sleeve potato print by FSA & numbered 10-500, 20 copies potato printed, signed & dedicated (numbered out of 15) for family and friends, 40 copies painted on back sleeve for Revolver Shop (Bristol). o ``Land Beyond The Sun'' / ``Everywhere Was Everything'' 7", Drag City (DC59), 10/94. 2,000-copy US issue of Rug 23; 1,000 copies in color photograph sleeve, 1,000 copies in silver minimalist sleeve. o Distance LP/CD, Domino (WIG12), 10/94. Compilation of FSA-6, FSA-61 (omitting ``Wish''), FSA-63, and extra tracks previously unreleased; all vinyl copies have textured sleeve, printed labels + insert. 1.Oceans 2.Standing Stone 3.Crystal Shade 4.Instrumental Wish 5.Distance 6.November Mist 7.Soaring High 8.Oceans 2 o Distance LP/CD, VHF (VHF#14), 10/94. US issue of WIG12. o ``Beach Red Lullaby'' / ``Second Hour'' 7", Planet (PUNK008), 4/95. 1,300 numbered copies. o Further LP/CD, Domino (WIG20), 4/95. home taping is reinventing music 1. rainstorm blues 2. in the light of time 3. come and close my eyes 4. for silence 5. still point 6. here am i 7. to the shore 8. she is the daylight o Further LP/CD, Drag City (DC69), 4/95. US issue of WIG20. o ``February 8th'' 10" EP, Speed Kills (SCP007), 9/95. Free with Speed Kills magazine no. 7; 6000 copies, includes offset-printed foldover jacket, 3000 copies with black ink, 3000 copies with brick red ink, 1-1000 numbered with stamped inner sleeve. o ``Outdoor Miner'' / ``Psychic Driving'' 7"/CD EP, Domino (Rug 41). Includes Rug 23. Text in runout groove, side A: ``LINE UP THE CONNECTIONS, DAYDREAMERS'' 1. Outdoor Miner 2. Psychic Driving 3. Land Beyond The Sun 4. Everywhere Was Everything o Light, ``Turning''/``Presence'' 7", Wurlitzer Jukebox (WJ12), 7/96. 1000 copies on black vinyl (first pressing), 470 copies on transparent vinyl. Dave appears on the B-side. o Teenagers in Trouble vs. Fat Paul CD. Dave is rumored to be on this CD. o Chorus CD, Domino (TK?), 1995. Promo copies exist with custom sleeves? o Chorus CD, Drag City (DC87), 1995. Includes John Peel Session, PUNK008, SCP007 and extra tracks previously unreleased. Always Beach Red Lullaby February 8th Feedback Song Demo Feedback Song Light in the Evening Popol Vuh III Second Hour There but not there There Dub o ``Instrumental Wish'' on Excursions in Ambience: The 4th Frontier CD comp, Astralwerks, 27 October 1995. o ``Bare Trees'' on Succuor <http://www.terrascope.org/succtxt.html> 2-CD, Flydaddy (FLY020), 1996. Benefit disc for the Ptolemaic Terrascope <http://www.terrascope.org/>. o ``At Night'' split 7", Enraptured (RAPT4505), 1996. 2,500 copies, 500 on clear vinyl; split 7" with Jessamine. o In Search of Spaces CD, Corpus Hermeticum (Hermes017/018), 1996. Live tapes from early '94; see ``The live CD isn't indexed. What's a DJ to do?''. o ``These Things'' on free EP included with Hayfever <http://www.hayfever.de/> issue 2, 4/96. 1,000 copies. o ONE FM John Peel Session (BBC radio broadcast), 5 April 96. Five unreleased tracks recorded exclusively for the session as well as three songs from the 1995 Reading Festival. Jeff Mills Blues Heartbeat Guitar Blues I can take you to the sun Resolution Island Soaring high Wish Standing stone o Distant Station CD/12", Drag City (DC 117). Two long ambient tracks composed by Tele:funken (Tom Fenn) using FSA samples. o Sally, Free and Easy CD EP, Drag City (DC109), 1996. Originally not issued in vinyl because of mastering problems with a piano that had lots of phase/reverb. o Sally Free and Easy 12" EP, Drag City (DC109), late 1996. ``Previously issued in late 1996 only on CD, Sally Free and Easy has now been brought to vinyl in the mono format, the only way possible to keep the needle in the grooves. The stereo mix found on the CD version is out of phase and could not be pressed into vinyl without causing havoc on the turntable.'' Side one is ``Sally, Free and Easy,'' rectified for vinyl by Jim O'Rourke, while side two's ``Three Seas'' is in stereo. Limited pressing. o ``Since When'' on Harmony of the Spheres 3-LP boxed set, Drunken Fish (DFR-25), 12/96. o "Gone" on Waiting to be Old CD compilation (Opprobrium 01 CD) included with Oppprobrium <http://www.info.net.nz/opprobrium> zine. Recorded early 1997. o ``Goodbye''/``And Goodbye''/``The Whole Day'' 12"/CD, VHF (vhf #26), 1997. With Roy Montgomery. Red vinyl. o "Space (The Man who Fell to Earth)", on For the Dead in Space CD compilation (Magic Eye Singles MES012), 1997. Compilation is a tribute to the music of Tom Rapp and Pearls Before Swine. 1,000 copies. o New Lands CD/LP, Domino (TKTK?), October 1997 (?). o New Lands CD, Drag City (DC137), October 1997. Vinyl with gatefold sleeve. LP Side 1 LP Side 2 --------- --------- Past Whole Day Song Present The Sea Up in Her Eyes Forever Respect Night Falls o ``Coming Home/Hope'' 7", Domino (RUG57), October 1997. ``Coming Home'' a cover of an early-80s Prisoners tune, credited to Graham Day; ``Hope'' is an FSA original. 1,000 copies. o ``September the 25th, 1997 part one'', in 7" comp with Dutch zine Rebound, number 5. o ``Last Dream Song'' on Ptolemaic Terrascope Benefit EP 7", Flydaddy (RAPT-4513). o ``Land Beyond The Sun''/``Instrumental For Silence'' 7", Earworm. Limited-to-500, green colored vinyl; these are early recordings from when the band was Jon and Dave; ``Land Beyond The Sun'' was recorded on two track in Oct 1987, while ``Instrumental For Silence'' was done on four track, Apr 1989. o ``Grey / Afro'', on More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album CD, Birdman Records. Skip Spence was a founding member of both Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape and passed away around the time of this release. July, 1999. o Mirror CD/LP, Heartbeat Productions (FSA-64), 01/2000. UK self- release. 1,000 copies on clear vinyl, with blue line drawings on brown card sleeve. 2,000 CD copies. Side 1 Side 2 ------ ------ Space (1999) Winter Song Suncatcher River Islands Dust Tides Rise Chemicals Star City Darkwind o Mirror CD/LP, Drag City (DC177), 01/2000. US release of FSA-64 with completely different colour sleeve by Savage Pencil; vinyl with gatefold sleeve. o Mirror CD, Japanese import (?). Same artwork as DC177 but with lyrics inside. o Mort Aux Vaches CD, Staalplaat, (?), 04/2000. Live VPRO radio tracks on guitar comp (also features Main and White Winged Moth). o ``Land's End'' on comp cd with next issue of Ptolemaic Terrascope (number tktk?), autumn 2000. Says Dave: ``A very old messaround done with Rocker as a kind of Neil Young/Crazy Horse pastiche. Not related to possible new LP idea of the same name.'' tk o ``Cruisin' for Love'' on Yr Agog CD, Oggum, 10/2000. Charity comp CD to benefit the homeless in Wales; song is ``the first outing of my alterego Kursaal Flyers coverversion band'' (wasn't really supposed to've been credited as by ``FSA''). o Land's End unreleased acoustic recordings, 2000. A Sven Skjer maintains a rather detailed discography <http://www.mtek.chalmers.se/~m96sven/disco.htm> that is organized by format. Drag City also have a discography <http://www.dragcity.com/bands/fsa.html>, listing the official releases, and Domino Records maintain a nice page of releases made on their <http://www.dominorecordco.com/art/flyi/disc.html> label as well. Soundchaser has a discography of FSA singles <http://www.soundchaser.co.uk/Flying_Saucer_Attacks.html>, with illustrations. Finally, also see the discography at Heartbeat Productions <http://www.heartbeat-productions.co.uk/flying/default.htm>, Simon Edwards' label for the earliest (and now, the latest!) FSA releases. 3.2. I'm new to FSA. Where should I start? It used to be that most people recommended the Distance album as a good intro, although Mirror, the last full-length album, is as good an intro as any. That's also the one Dave suggests as being most ``accessible.'' Personally, I really like Further (whose namesake was Ken Kesey's famous psychedelic bus, Furthur) . And Chorus, and ... 3.3. Where do I buy this stuff? You can also order some of these releases directly from the label or zine that put it out; otherwise, try your local indie music shop. If you don't have have one of those, try Used Kids Records <http://usedkids.com/>, Aquarius Records <http://www.aquariusrecordssf.com/>, Twisted Village <http://www.twistedvillage.com/>, Vinyl Ink <http://www.vinylink.com/>, or Midheaven Mailorder <http://www.midheaven.com/artists/flying.saucer.attack.html>. I've dealt with all of these folks and can personally vouch for them -- great people, excellent service. Additionally, Soundchaser has a ton of FSA and related rarities for sale <http://home.clara.net/soundchaser/Flying-Saucer-Attack.html>. Some of these things can also be bought with your credit card directly online from Amazon (buying from these links supports the FAQ author): o Chorus <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000019RS/michaelstutz/> o Distance <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000037PB/michaelstutz/> o Distance + 4 <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004Z3B1/michaelstutz/> (import disc on Phantom) o Distant Station <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000082OO/michaelstutz/> o Excursions in Ambience: The 4th Frontier <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000003RX3/michaelstutz/> CD comp with ``Instrumental Wish'' o Flying Saucer Attack <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000037PA/michaelstutz/> o Further <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000019QH/michaelstutz/> o Further + 3 <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005048Z/michaelstutz/> (import disc on Phantom) o Goodbye <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000037PJ/michaelstutz/> o Mirror <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00003XAJB/michaelstutz/> o More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000JCBU/michaelstutz/> CD comp with ``Grey / Afro'' o New Lands <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000019R4/michaelstutz/> In addition, Amazon also stocks the Day and Night <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000019SG/michaelstutz/> CD by Movietone. Forced Exposure <http://fe.org/> carry the Tele/Funken CD <http://www.fe.org/artists/telefunken.flying.saucer.attack.html>. The Tom Rapp tribute compilation can be ordered directly from Magic Eye Singles, Box 6165, Baltimore, MD 21231 USA. magice19@idt.net <mailto:magice19@idt.net> Information about the Oppobrium music zine can be found on its Web site, at <http://www.info.net.nz/opprobrium>. The postal contact address is Nick Cain, PO Box 3913, Christchurch, NZ. That Hayfever zine can be obtained from their website <http://www.hayfever.de/> or from Ajax mailorder <http://www.ajaxrecords.com/>, who carry other FSA releases as well. 3.4. What's this ``phase two'' stuff? It was rumoured that the band broke up after Chorus came out, when in the liner notes it had said, ``this marks the end of FSA phase one ... when we return with phase two---who knows where the wind blows.'' Meanwhile, a number of interim releases came out, including last year's ``Sally, Free and Easy'' EP and Tele:funken's Distant Station. Dave has called the phase business ``just a windup, a joke'' [Puncture interview, mid 1997], but said that it did give him something to think about in terms of musical directions. Liner notes in New Lands say, ``this is phase two.'' Now, Dave and others (including the author) feel that Mirror is a good coda to what was finished with Chorus. 3.5. Who does the band's artwork? It's mostly the work of Dave and friends. 3.6. The live CD isn't indexed. What's a DJ to do? This message from Kris Thompson offers advice: From kthom@tiac.net Tue Dec 10 22:03:47 1996 Date: Tue, 10 Dec 1996 21:24:47 -0500 (EST) From: kthom <kthom@tiac.net> To: [unnamed list] Subject: Radio: Don't Fear the Saucer I'm not completely caught up with all the recent posts, so I don't know to what extent the new Flying Saucer Attack live CD (on Corpus Hermeticum) has been discussed. If you haven't heard it, the gist is that the band gave Bruce Russell live drone-out audience tapes from '94, which he proceeded to weave into a largely seamless 50-minute whole. Needless to say, it's quite great, but it hurts to think that even adventurous college-type DJ's will largely pass it over because it's an album-length piece with no individually indexed sections. It's understandable to a degree - I remember a German import CD like that (Algebra Suicide) from my college radio days. That one was needlessly non-indexed, though, because it was full of fairly short songs with spaces between them anyway! So for the jockeys who care, here's my fave sections on the new F.S.A.: start end duration ----- --- -------- 4:51 (fade after) 7:15 2:24+ 10:39 (fade after) 21:15 10:36+ (great "workout"!) 37:07 (fade after) 46:00 8:53+ or 40:25 (fade after) 46:00 5:35+ 47:47 50:25 (end of CD) 2:38 45:40 47:34 1:54 0:01 4:31 4:30 Too bad you can't dispense nitrous oxide over the radio, Kris Thompson 3.7. I like their music. Who else would I like? Bands somehow involved or usually grouped with FSA (but not necessarily sounding like them) include AMP, Crescent, Movietone (Rachel Brook) and the Third Eye Foundation. Also Rachel: Drag City (Sea Note) put out a 7" by a Canadian band called the Sundowners called ``Singing death chants to the stars.'' You might enjoy some of the seven inches put out on the Wurlitzer Jukebox <http://www.riverrun.demon.co.uk/wj/> label. Certainly check out the Ptolemaic Terrascope <http://www.terrascope.org/> magazine for info on these and other droney bands of their ilk. Another site worth checking out is <http://www.post-rock.com/>. The DroneOn mailing list FAQ <http://www.no-fi.com/droneon_faq/> is an older source of information on early influences such as 70s Krautrock. In the early days, droneon was the place for talking about this music as it was happening. Now more than half a decade later (whew!), it continues to be a place of active discussion for this kind of music. Stephen Robinson notes that in the FSA John Peel session, ``he read out a note from FSA that said that Jeff Mills Blues was dedicated to the Techno man himself.'' 3.8. What are FSA's musical influences? Dave's top five influences are Syd Barrett <http://www.pink- floyd.org/barrett/>, Nick Drake <http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Music/Bands_and_Artists/D/Drake,_Nick/>, Roy Harper <http://www.royharper.com/>, Nigel Mazlyn Jones <http://www.isleoflight.co.uk/>, and John Martyn <http://www.hillarby.freeserve.co.uk/>. A noted influence on Dave Pearce is the band AR Kane. He also likes the Dickies (!). Here's an FSA collectible to print out: a list of all-time favorite albums <http://dsl.org/fsa/favorite-albums.jpeg>. 4. Online resources 4.1. Sounds As far as getting sounds from published albums, I'm told they're all out there, if you know where to look. Use Napster <http://napster.com>. Or Gnutella <http://gnutella.wego.com/>. From Mirror: ``Suncatcher <http://fitch.yi.org/mp3/Flying Saucer Attack/Flying Saucer Attack - Mirror - 02 - Suncatcher.mp3>'' [2.6MB mp3]; ``Chemicals <http://fitch.yi.org/mp3/Flying Saucer Attack/Flying Saucer Attack - Mirror - 05 - Chemicals.mp3>'' [3.2MB mp3]; ``Space (1999) <http://207.166.192.135/~stutz/FSA-Space_1999.mp3> [3.1MB mp3] As-yet-untitled track from the upcoming live album on Staalplaat, in RealAudio format: <http://www.staalplaat.com/sound/PRE1298_03.ram> 4.2. Images Here is a photo of Dave Pearce from January 1998, courtesy of Drag City [42k GIF] <http://dsl.org/fsa/dave-fsa-97.gif>, as well as an older picture of Dave and Rachel from the Spunk interview (below). [24k JPEG] <http://dsl.org/fsa/dave-rachel.jpg> Also online are logos: their old one [29k GIF] <http://dsl.org/fsa/flying_saucer_attack.gif> as well as their more recent one [8k GIF] <http://dsl.org/fsa/fsa-logo.gif>. 4.3. Album covers Many of the album covers are online at Sven Skjer's FSA discography <http://www.mtek.chalmers.se/~m96sven/disco.htm>. Anyone want to take a stab at making an FSA album artwork gallery? 4.4. Interviews An expanded version of the Fred Mills chat from Magnet appears in the latest (tktk number?) Ptolemaic Terrascope <http://www.terrascope.org/>, which also includes a compilation CD with an old, rare, and previously unreleased FSA track on it. An interview and article about Dave is one of the features in the April/May 2000 issue of Magnet. By permission of Fred Mills/Magnet, you can read the full text of the article online: <http://dsl.org/fsa/magnet.2000> The oldest FSA interview on the net is the nice interview <http://www- personal.usyd.edu.au/~mwoodman/spunk/interviews/fsa.html> in Spunk, but also check out this interview <http://www.onramp.net/TheMet/musica420.html>, taken after Further came out. More recently is an interview <http://dsl.org/fsa/interview- australia> by radio station 2SER-FM in Australia. Needless to say, along with their rising popularity in the past year or so, a number of FSA interviews have been published, and I can't keep up with them all. If you have any info to add to this section, by all means let me know. 4.5. Reviews Mirror revieed in Ink Blot Magazine <http://www.inkblotmagazine.com/rev-archive/FSA_Mirror.htm>. Pitchfork reviewed Mirror <http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record- reviews/f/flying-saucer-attack/mirror.shtml> and New Lands <http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/f/flying-saucer- attack/new-lands.shtml >. FSA review themselves in the Terrascope: <http://www.terrascope.org/terra_FSA.html> There are a few reviews of FSA releases at both the Edge of Obscurity Music Database <http://www.spies.com/cgi-bin/kfjcdb- list?artist=Flying+Saucer+Attack> and Review Addict <http://dsl.org/review/search/f.shtml>; Further was reviewed <http://www.bunnyhop.com/BH6/reviews.html> in Bunnyhop #6. Finally, reviews of Crescent's debut <http://exclaim.shmooze.net/9610/nf/reviews/rev/03.htm> and Movietone's Day and Night <http://www.nonverbal.com/konketsu/reviews/movietone/day_and_night.html> both make mention of FSA. 4.6. Other fun links on the net David Miers started a Flying Saucer Attack mailing list which has become a great way to stay abreast of FSA news and talk to fellow FSA junkies. To subscribe, either send email to fsa-list- subscribe@topica.com <mailto:fsa-list-subscribe@topica.com> or visit <http://www.topica.com/lists/fsa-list> on the Web. David notes: ``Hopefully it will become a convenient way for fans to get and share the latest news and views about the band.'' The 4AD FAQ archive hosted by the Evolution Group's nice public-domain Internet server has a page for FSA notes <http://www.evo.org/4ad- faq/artists/flying-saucer-attack/> which contains an interesting must- read about vinyl politics <http://www.evo.org/4ad-faq/artists/flying- saucer-attack/flying-saucer-attack.txt>. Drunken Fish have put up the liner notes <http://www.sirius.com/~dfr/fsahos.html> for the Harmony of the Spheres boxed set. You can change <http://pc93.chm.bris.ac.uk/cgi- bin/screen?flying_saucer_attack.gif> the root window on Mark Beauchamp Taylor's <http://dougal.chm.bris.ac.uk/~mbt/> X workstation to display the FSA logo. But he tells me that it spends nearly all its time on the FSA logo now, so maybe you might want to change it to something else <http://pc93.chm.bris.ac.uk/cgi-bin/screen> to give him a little variety instead. 5. Musician Info 5.1. Has anyone transcribed lyrics to their stuff? The lyrics for Mirror are available at: <http://dsl.org/fsa/mirror.lyrics> Also available are the lyrics for FSA's cover of Cyril Tawney's ``Sally, Free and Easy,'' at: <http://dsl.org/fsa/sally-free-and- easy.lyr> 5.2. Where can I find guitar tablature for FSA songs? No longer on OLGA, I'm afraid. This monumental, community-built resource was destroyed as the result of corporate terrorism -- see <http://www.wired.com/news/news/culture/story/12937.html>. But you can get a minimal chord chart of ``Soaring High'' at <http://dsl.org/fsa/soaring-high.crd> and ``Land Beyond the Sun'' at <http://dsl.org/fsa/land-beyond-the-sun.crd>. David Miers made an excellent transcription of ``My Dreaming Hill,'' which is up at <http://dsl.org/fsa/my-dreaming-hill.tab>. Dave P. offers some suggestions for budding noiseniks who want to play FSA on the guitar: ``Learn the basic chords such as: D, G, C, F, Em, A, Am, Bm. Practise adding/taking off some of the fingers, getting different variations on the chords.'' 5.3. What kind of guitars does Dave Pearce use? Right now, it's a Gibson copy electric, and a 70s Martin acoustic (``recently bought -- not used yet''). 5.4. How much processing and effects does it take to get the sound? Not much, actually -- Dave just uses a distortion pedal and/or a digital echo box. 5.5. What does the guitar setup does Dave Pearce use? Better yet, here's a two-part chart <http://dsl.org/fsa/how-to-play- fsa.jpeg> [a 110k jpeg file] that Dave made, which shows you a) how to play an FSA song on guitar and b) how to record an FSA song on 4-track. Make your own in the privacy of your own home! Dave recently (May 2001) produced a better version of this chart, available as an 86k jpeg file <http://dsl.org/fsa/how-to-play- fsa-2.jpeg>. At Guitar Geek <http://www.guitargeek.com/>, they've published a diagram <http://www.guitargeek.com/layouts/display.php3?id=22> of Dave's guitar setup and a diagram <http://www.guitargeek.com/layouts/display.php3?id=311> of his studio setup.