On Future Sound of London's Lifeforms

The year is 1994. It has been two years since a youthful Aphex Twin released his debut Selected Ambeint Works 85-92. Elsewhere in electronic music, the appeal of rave is waning as the police put the frighteners on the organisers of illegal parties, but jungle is just beginning to increase in popularity and is evolving into the drum & bass behemoth that we know today. 
Going against the grain entirely, it is in this year that Future Sounds of London release their sophomore effort Lifeforms. A double disc set of pounding bass drums and organic-sounding synths, Lifeforms was both entirely uncompromising in its vision but also ambient and easily listenable, without at any point becoming mere background music. The album took cues from Aphex Twin but also a more eclectic range of influences, including Grangemouth’s Cocteau Twins (whose singer Liz Fraser provides sparse vocals on a few track here) and minimalist composer such as Steve Reich. The Manchester duo of Brian Dougans and Garry Cobain were also known for producing rock under the moniker Amorphous Androgynous, but it was on this synthetic release that they really shone. 
Whilst it has always been Aphex Twin’s ambient work series that has garnered praise in this area of the music world, listening around shows a more tangible influence of the work of Future Sound of London. Whilst many ambient and techno artists wold claim to have been influenced by Twin, it is more often the sounds of Lifeforms to which their albums display a more obvious likeness. Hopefully in the future, this will be an album which receives the canonical status which it deserves