Label: fsoldigital.com
By Derek Howie
“We Persuade Ourselves We Are Immortal Remixes” is a sonic screwdriver of a L.P. that time travels back and forth across the decades with input from legendary names like Peter Hammill (Van der Graaf Generator) and Paul Weller (The Jam/The Style Council) amongst a throng of other collaborators and forecasted stars of the future, that produces what are 14-different pieces, but 1 long trip!
Debuting on Record Store Day 2020, this is the first new material to surface from The Amorphous Androgynous since 2013's “The Cartel” series. A wait that has been far too long for me, so long in fact I decided to queue up with other R.S.D. enthusiasts from 00.35, just to makes sure of my copy. Before I go any further be warned, this (and I) are from the realm of musical oddities, a very leftfield inhabitant. Also, this isn’t currently available on any of the Streaming behemoths, the Vinyl has completely sold out and you’ll only be able to purchase it Digitally from one site, www.fsoldigital.com Good luck in tracking down a copy, #0582 is clearly off the resale market!
The opening exploit, Future Children – The Lutine Bell, features some of the key elements of the title track, Peter Hammill’s vocals, Paul Weller’s Grand Piano, The Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir and Brian Hopper’s Saxophone, all pinned to a layback, dreamy groove before morphing into a more electrified, Psychedelic version with the vocal talents of Jane Reeves, at the helm.“If a man is convinced, he’s going to die; he simply slips away and dies”, is the stark quote to opening a Rockier passage of Side One. Cobalt Chapel, The Amorphous Androgynous and Higher Peaks all merge and twist their material together, before the cinematic prowess of Yamil Rezc’s alias, Las Trompas De Falopium, closes the first half of this monstrous psychedelic bubble.
Side Two, explodes into our ears and minds with Ray Fenwick’s guitar riff, but only briefly as Stoned Freshwaters (AKA long time, friend and collaborator, YAGE) sets the pace for the second half. Atomic Simeo continue the upbeat vibe with their typical mixture of Psych Jazz and Space Rock on “Gravity Bong”, while Richard E Further Out and Steve Cobby’s Sweet Jesus successfully brings it down a notch or two. The closing segment sees The Amorphous Androgynous, The Flying White Dots and The Cuckoo Clocks all collect and craft together new and previous constituents of the original track, but a Dubbier side emerges in these latter pieces, that gives me racing thoughts of where the, yet unreleased album “Listening Beyond The Head Chakra” might go. Just to make it perfectly clear, this IS a single song as stated on the rear sleeve.“All tracks deconstructed / reconstructed / reimagined / built on / composed from sounds & themes of original track ‘We Persuade Ourselves We Are Immortal’ by The Amorphous Androgynous & Peter Hammill”
This is not for the masses, or for the minorities, this is for the amorphous androgynous,
this is for us!
Words and pictures by Derek Howie
Derek is from Aberdeen in North-East Scotland. Music has been with Derek, and has helped in every facet of his life, creating some exceptionally good times and providing an escape during some very bad times! It has also seen him try make it professionally as a musician and a former D.J. Now it’s just purely pleasuring as an avid music collector and a blogger on a new venture, Audioidua.
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