Mumbo jumbo
Mr. R. Baker | Leeds, England | 03/24/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"As the track's my second favourite number from 'The Isness', I was very happy to hear this would be the first single from the album. In the usual FSOL style, the EP comes in the form of several different versions of the track, mostly done by themselves.
It begins with Yo-yo, one of the early demos before it became Mello Hippo, which has obviously been greatly updated, as it now sounds like an alternative version of the track (what with full lyrics and all). The Jacknife Lee Mix is a very nice IDM-esque version, full of loud beats and glitchy sounds, and Hippo-Drone is bass-heavy instrumental version. There's an edited version of Trying To Make Inpermanent Things Permanent, the very first incarnation of the track, premiered live back in 1997, and a fantastic orchestral version, entitled The World's In Transience. For those of you who picked up the final version of The Isness, the last track, Life's A Flow, is the original promotional version of Mello Hippo which never made it onto the final Isness release.
The only disappointing moments are She Sells Electric Ego and Slo-Mo, which are both too long for their own good without going anywhere.
The EP is, with the exception of the very occasional guitar and sitar, very electronic, so should be a lot more to the liking of those who found The Isness too much of a step back.
As ever, the artwork is gorgeous. This EP is a must have for any FSOL fan, and indeed any fan of weird and slightly psychedelic music."
Another great FSOL single
Joseph Geni | Evanston, Illinois United States | 01/16/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"the most important thing when doing a single is: DON'T MAKE ALL THE MIXES OF THE SONG SOUND ALIKE! FSOL turned their singles into EPs, made them into flowing units that mixed in all manner of sounds and explored every corner of the song and then some, bringing in elements from the rest of the album and all manner of new samples as well.This one's just like that. It fades a bit with the ambient weirdness in the latter stages and the reprise at the end, but the first four or five tracks more than make up for it, especially the IDM-esque Jacknife Lee Remix. This one's right up their with Cascade and My Kingdom in my book."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1