Forrest Fang - Animism

[Septober Energy]

I just discovered that Forrest Fang has a newish CD out. I have almost all of his albums (including his first three, which have never made it to CD). The samples on the Projekt web site make it seem like he's struck a nice balance between melody and atmosphere this time, where his last couple of albums have been mostly about atmosphere. Does anyone have this album who can compare to his other recent CDs?

http://www.projekt.com/projekt/product.asp?sku=PRO00274

[soundsweird]

I bought this at the Austin Record Convention last fall for a buck!! I just gave it a third listen the other night (the first two listens were inconclusive). I do like a few tracks, but overall I wouldn't rate it as high as Gongland, the last one I bought, and I didn't think that one was as good as most of his earlier releases. This may have to do with the fact that I have so many of his albums, and it's all starting to sound alike. Also, he feeds everything through so much reverb and echo that the sound is too diffuse (I fell asleep the first time I played it). I have Wolf at the Ruins, World Diary, Folklore, Blind Messenger and Gongland. The samples of Phantoms didn't do much for me, and I haven't heard any of the other albums/side projects/collaborations mentioned on his website, though I do have several albums by others that he guests on.

[Digital_Man]

I only have world diary. I need to get more.

[soundsweird]

I didn't mention it previously, but I think my favorite is Folklore, just in terms of the number of great tracks. All are worth having. The only other artist I can think of who uses instruments from so many different cultures is ECM artist Stephan Micus. The big difference is that Micus has never used electronics on any of his albums, whereas Fang has used them on every one of his albums.

[Septober Energy]

Hey, thanks for the responses! I was beginning to think I was the only one here who listened to Forrest Fang.

I agree that much of his more recent work is all starting to sound the same. Allow me to recommend Invisibility, which he did with guitarist Carl Weingarten about 5-6 years ago. This was the album that got me into Forrest Fang, and it's my second favorite. The label went belly up a couple years ago, but Wayside still has the CD for a mere $8.00. I haven't listened to this lately, but it's really wonderful.

My very favorite Fang album is his third, called Migration. It's a very different affair from just about all his other albums, with clear influences being minimalist composers like Reich, Riley and Hamel. It's much more musical than the atonal, floaty stuff he's done over the last few albums. I can't believe this hasn't been released on CD, because it's so good. For those of you with the capability to play vinyl, Wayside also has a sealed copy of this rare album for sale at the moment.

[ffcal]

Hey guys,

Hope I'm not spooking you, but this page turned up on Google. Thought I'd let you know that this August, Projekt will reissuing my third and fourth releases, "The Wolf At The Ruins" and "Migration" as a limited edition two-fer of 300 copies with 4 bonus tracks from that period of recording. My second album, "Some Brighter Stars," is being released digitally for the first time via Projekt at the same time as the two-fer, and should be available from the usual suspects. The original master tapes were baked, transferred to digital and remastered by Robert Rich (who did a great job cleaning up the artiifacts).

Here is a link to the two-fer (no mp3 samples yet):

http://www.projekt.com/projekt/produ...0&sku=PRO00290

Thanks for listening, even if you didn't like everything. Yes, "Animism" is more overtly melodic than some of my recent releases. Hope to work in more acoustic mojo into my projects to come.

Regards,
Forrest Fang

Hey, thanks for the responses! I was beginning to think I was the only one here who listened to Forrest Fang. My very favorite Fang album is his third, called Migration. It's a very different affair from just about all his other albums, with clear influences being minimalist composers like Reich, Riley and Hamel. It's much more musical than the atonal, floaty stuff he's done over the last few albums. I can't believe this hasn't been released on CD, because it's so good. For those of you with the capability to play vinyl, Wayside also has a sealed copy of this rare album for sale at the moment.

[Septober Energy]

Awesome news, Forrest! The only thing disappointing about this is that Migration/Wolf at the Ruins is limited to 300 copies. More people need to hear this stuff. I will definitely try to buy a copy.

[spacefreak]

"Music From The Blackboard Jungle", "Wolf at the Ruins" and "Migration" are three albums I oftenly revisit.

[ffcal]

Hello again,

The CD reissue of my third and fourth albums, "Migration" and "The Wolf At The Ruins" is now available as 2-CD two-fer limited to 300 copies (with 4 bonus tracks) and digitally through the Projekt label, iTunes, Amazon and the usual suspects:

http://www.projekt.com/store/product/pro00290/

The digital reissue of my second album, "Some Brighter Stars" is also available, too (with a bonus track that dates back to the late 70s):

http://www.projekt.com/store/product/arc00101/

Thanks for the support and encouragement, guys.

Forrest