Brian the Fotled

Well...

2009-09-06T10:33:00.001-07:00

It continues: http://sleepingglass.blogspot.com/

Dog Days

2009-07-22T11:26:00.000-07:00

It's raining outside. I've spent the summer reading and being outside thus far. And the nights I've spent in front of synths and pianos and behind computers. I'm sitting on some strong new material right now (though recovering from a super saddening Audacity crash) but don't expect anything soon. I'm saving up to get some pedals and things to recreate my studio sound live at some point in the equidistant future.

But oh do I love yoooooooou

Peace, Brian, Fotled

Download my latest album, Sun Water!:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?odbtwzdtzmd

Fotled - Sun Water. New Album, Free Download

2009-06-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

DOWNLOAD LINK: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?odbtwzdtzmd

Tracklisting:

1. Beams Of Light Fell From The Sky

2. Like The Severed Spinal Cords Of Distant Rotting Stars

3. Cancerous Was The End Of Times

4. When The Darkness Of The Sun Was Only Matched By Our Hearts

5. But Light Still Glowed Beneath Your Eyelids

6. I Held Your Hand For Its Warmth Was God

7. As The Shockwave Overtook Us

8. Only Bones Are Left Upon The Scarred Soil

9. Yet Our Voices Sometimes Echo Through The Void

10. Peacefully, Unafraid

Here's your tl;dr summary: this is the most recent Fotled album, the lovechild of the early winter and spring. 10 songs, 40 minutes of beatless soundscapes with pretentious red sparowes song titles. yeehaw.

And here's my nerdy indulgent summary:

I took a lot of new approaches with this album. While a lot of it is mainly synthesizer, I tried to take sounds and make them sound as little like what they originally were. "Cancerous...", for example, is just an old piano reverbing over and over itself, "But Light Still..." is just my voice in various four part chords, "Peaceful, Unafraid" is just guitar, textured to sound smoother than buttah. I think they're very much experiments in sound, while still being coherent, listenable songs. I tried to cover many moods and textures. "Beams Of Light..." or "But Light Still..." are very brooding and almost dark, while tracks like "When The Darkness..." and "Peacefully, Unafraid" contain a kind of waxing joy. Overall it captured the nostalgic melancholy the song titles convey; that of facing the end of the world in the irrational bliss of love

So download, put on some headphones, and give it a listen. All I'm asking. And hey, it's free.

Love,

Brian, Fotled

oh hey

2009-05-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

I'll post a link to download Sun Water on monday, June 1st. Yay.

Also remind me to never take a nap again, I feel like shit

Also, I hate the rain

enjoying lately: Jawbreaker, new Coalesce, Emancipator, Bear vs. Shark, Tangerine Dream, etc.

love, Brian

Normalcy

2009-05-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

Normalcy from Brian Sopher on Vimeo.

Just click the link and view it in full screen/full quality, plz.

-Brian.
And hey don't forget to download my music, "Naked" and "Skuldra" by Fotled, and don't forget "Sun Water" is out June 1st!

Naked: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?n0dyqdydlyj
Skuldra: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?lkzezm0ijim

peacefully

2009-05-02T22:07:00.000-07:00

All those below were cover art ideas. But I've settled on something different.
Don't feel like upping it now. new album will be titled "Sun Water," btw. I just finished up a new song. Shit sounds tight.

-

2009-04-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

I am the water, the boiling beings with silicon wings. I brought the sun's scars to your bowls, and you ate them like bread. I am water.

On The Node Again

2009-03-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

Yeah I've officially gotten into new album writing mode. I've got about 4 tentative tracks down at the moment. OS can hear a mostly solid version of a new song on the Fotled myspace. The stuff I have so far is much more varied than past stuff. I'm taking my time on this so don't expect anything soon. Although I've got a few ideas for cover art and concepts going...

Been enjoying lately: Benoît Pioulard, Daïtro, Scale the Summit, I Hear Sirens, the sound of the rain at night...

And if you haven't, download "Naked"
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?n0dyqdydlyj

Peace!
Brian.

Through The Double Helix

2009-03-17T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hey it's my birthday. That's not really why I'm posting because that would be douchey of me right? I'm mostly posting to say hey hi to all the people who downloaded Naked. In fact, since March 1st it's been downloaded 100 times. Fuckin A. I've begun working on new music so w00t. I've also got to make a video/poetry/music multimedia mindfuck for school. Hell yes. But now I've also got to go read and do a book report. Sadface.

Enjoying lately: Telefon Tel Aviv, SUNBEARS!, Sunny Day Real Estate, Emeralds, new If These Trees Could Talk.

Download the new EP "Naked:"
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?n0dyqdydlyj

Peace!
Brian

Naked - New EP, Free Download

2009-03-01T09:36:00.000-08:00

Naked is a short collection of short songs I wrote throughout February, and the best of those I submitted to FAWM. Given the nature of the contest, these songs are simpler, stripped down, softer. The result are some great, meditative, crystalline ambient tracks. For the first time I used my voice in two songs. Get it son. It's free.

Tracklist:
1. Flowerborn
2. All The Doors Are Locked
3. Campfire
4. New Eyes
5. Sleep In Your Arms
6. Stars Melt
7. Naked/Flowerseed

LINK:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?n0dyqdydlyj

_Brian

nekked

2009-02-16T14:42:00.000-08:00

A quick update on FAWM: As of last night I finished the 14 songs. I'll probably put up a few more, and then compile them into a new e-release in March. Check out the songs. They're a bit stripped back, more minimal, more spur-of-the-moment type things as opposed to the more layered, noisy approach of Skuldra.

http://fawm.org/fawmers/fotled/

And also, download my first full length: Skuldra http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?lkzezm0ijim

I'd also like to tell you how amazing the new Irepress album is. In a world full of Isis/Neurosis clones this is the "Post-Metal" (barfbarfbarf) band that crushes all those clones. I remember last summer getting a hold of a little record called "Samus Octology" and loving the deliciously playful mixture of math-rock, post-rock, and sludge held therein. I knew these guys would be huge. And this is where it starts. This record (Sol Eye Sea I) is much more solid, bringing together deliciously smooth ambient passages with the heaviest fucking riffs and breakdowns I have ever heard. Sometimes it straddles with electronica and jazz but almost always brings it back to the beat you in the face heavy. This is finally some competition for Merriweather Post Pavilion and An Imaginary Country. Go download/buy it NAO.

Also enjoying lately: Black Dice, Pig Destroyer,

Fartistic Frustration

2009-02-06T18:31:00.000-08:00

I decided to stay home and listen to jazz tonight. I'm applauding this decision so far. I want to write (words, not music this time) and I'm stuck as hell. My thing is, I never just go in and start writing, changing that work a million times before I'm satisfied, that's gay as hell. I have to plan out the story in my mind until I know exactly what's happening. And at the moment I'm formulating this dark, post-apocalyptic piece (let me say I hate that word, because it carries a certain stigma that turns off a lot of people, maybe me included) with two plotlines. You know how hard that is? How both of them have to end at the same point and have to be the same length ultimately. Rawr. But I'm sticking with this. I have to get up early tomorrow for a solo competition with my school choir and when that's done I'm spending all day working on songs for FAWM. Woo.

Download Skuldra!
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?lkzezm0ijim

Enjoying lately: Tord Gustavsen Trio, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Tapes 'n Tapes, new Cynic, et cetera.

FAWM

2009-02-01T14:05:00.000-08:00

I decided to join up with February Album Writing Month. Link: http://fawm.org/ The challenge is to write 14 songs in one month. I doubt I'll win but it's worth a shot. should be fun, right. You can view my profile at http://fawm.org/fawmers/fotled/ and in fact I already have a song up. I know I just released Skuldra last month (download it if you haven't) but I'll compile them and release the new songs I write officially.

Enjoying lately: new Animal Collective, Woe of Tyrants, Starfucker, Slowdive, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Jackie-o Motherfucker, Asobi Seksu, and so forth....

Skuldra - Debut Full Length Release. Free Download!!!11!

2009-01-22T14:57:00.000-08:00

Yes, after months and months I finally finished it. I've spent most the winter and fall working on this and I'm rather proud. The album is very moody and ambient, thick tones drenched in pulsating sound. It switches feelings and styles throughout which is what I was going for. There's noisy formless tracks that ooze with notes begging to break free and minimalistic noise-drenched piano pieces and quiet, soft tracks all thrown in. I rather enjoy listening to it while walking home in the snow. I hope you do too.

track listing:

1. Gun Lung (2:00)

2. The Mall of Faith (5:31)

3. Underwater Hibernation (6:26)

4. Glasgow Smile at Grandpa's House (4:56)

5. The Curvature of Silence (5:29)

6. Artemia Salina (4:33)

7. As Planes Crash, We Embrace in The Wreckage (3:39)

8. Empty Clouds (7:46)

9. False Raw (2:33)

DOWNLOAD LINKS:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?lkzezm0ijim

prognoz

2009-01-21T14:27:00.000-08:00

I'm, sitting here listening to the Evaptoria Report (awesome, by the way) and watching the news on mute. Kind of hard to believe we've got a new president. I find a lot I have too high expectations of thing, because for some reason seeing the -elect get removed from Barack's name doesn't seem to have sunk in with me. I'm a moderate. The past eight years have been suck but I can't say I'm enjoying how the pendulum seems to be swinging, but I'm interested to see where everything goes with my fingers crossed.

Anyhow, while you can read the story below while you wait for Skuldra. I'll be uploading it tomorrow.

Peace.
Brian

Dying Wish

2009-01-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

He sat with his head in his hands. He’d been this way all night, painfully tired yet unable to sleep. This had been the routine for almost a week now. It had been a week since his son disappeared in the middle of the night.

The kitchen table his elbows rested upon was covered in a thin layer of dust. Chipped plates, broken bottles, and scraps of paper lay upon it. Outside the sun was beginning to rise, and slivers of light cascaded through the curtains over the windows, and the cracks in the walls, illuminating dust motes as they floated carelessly about. A faint smell of sulfur and sweat permeated through the room, empty save for that table, a few chairs, and a cracked mirror hanging on the far wall.

His wife would have cleaned this all up if she didn’t know how futile it was. The bombs in the distance shook the ground harder and harder every day. She knew they were getting closer. He, however, wouldn’t clean up anything in the first place, couldn’t put his mind to it. Ever since his son had gone, nothing was worthwhile in the slightest bit.

He lifted his head at the sound of footsteps upstairs. His wife had woken up. In the mirror he saw his face, cut into two by the crack in the glass. His gray hair now bore tufts of white, and large bags were forming under his dark green eyes. The wrinkles on his forehead and around his mouth seemed deeper than before; as if as his misery deepened they sought to deepen along with it.

Slowly his wife descended the stairs, entering the room in her night gown. It had once been silky white, but now shades of gray and brown had overtaken the beauty of it. Her slim figure still failed to fill it. She smiled as her eyes met her husband’s, but he did not, could not smile back. “Frank, would it kill you to let some light into this room?” she asked, pulling back the curtains. Frank glanced out the window, eyeing the orange tree standing in the front yard. The entire street was gray and hopeless, lined with houses equally as dilapidated as his, but that tree stood almost victoriously, its bright fruit swaying in the slight wind.

“He’s not back yet, Gloria,” Frank said in a tired, raspy voice.

She sat in the chair beside him, rubbing his back. “I’m sure he will be soon. Carl was always a resourceful kid. He’s smart enough that I’m sure he knows what he’s doing. I’m sure he’s safe, wherever he is.” She tried smiling at him again, but even her relatively youthful face, outlined by her smooth, dark hair couldn’t give Frank solace.

“He was…he was always smart,” Frank began, “but this war has taken so many lives, Gloria. Hal down the street still has a working radio, and he was telling me the reports. ‘Five hundred thousand dead,’ he said, ‘and over a quarter of a million missing.’ He said those came straight from military headquarters.” His troubled eyes gazed at his wife. “How can you tell me of those missing, that one of the dead isn’t my son, Gloria? How can you beat those odds?”

“Oh, honey. You don’t need to be listening to Hal. He’s going on 90 and bat shit crazy. You should know you can’t trust him for anything other than putting worry in your head.” She stroked his hair fondly. “And you don’t need to worry.”

“I don’t need anything but my son,” he said quietly. “I don’t want to worry, hell, I don’t need to worry. But I can’t help it. The war has taken so much. What if the enemy took him, Gloria, and is performing their sick experiments on him? What if they’re torturing him in some camp across the border, prodding his body and burning his skin? We don’t know that, but we do know chances are he ain’t frolicking in the fields during a war.” He paused, taking a deep, gasping breath. “The fields are all burnt, the crops are ruined, the capitol has been razed, the skies have been blackened with the smoke of a thousand burning corpses, and we just sit here and await our death like cattle. Maybe Carl is lucky, because he doesn’t have to wait anymore.”

“Don’t say that!” Gloria almost shouted. She looked around as if someone may have heard her.

“I just want to see him. I’d give anything just to see Carl’s face before I die.”

“Honey, where is this worrying going to get you. I would assume that if—“ She stopped as the sound of gunshots cracked from down the streets. The hair on the backs of their necks stood up immediately, and a sharp pain shot through Frank at the shrill sound of a woman’s shriek.

“We should hide,” Gloria whispered.

“Where? There’s nowhere to go. They will find us. If not, they’ll burn the house. It’s hopeless to—“

Just then, a woman burst through their window, falling upon the floor in a pile of broken glass. Blood began to seep from beneath her body clad in a light blue bath robe. A glistening puddle of the vilest crimson began to form beneath her. Gloria and Frank watched in shock, unable to move, as she tried to lift her arm, moaning incomprehensibly. Her head turned slightly, her messy brown hair falling to the side in a clumpy mess.

“Frank, is that your sister?” Gloria asked cautiously.

“My god…Cindy!” he shouted, pushing back his chair. He knelt by her side, gently trying to turn her over. She screamed in pain at the slightest touch, and he lay her back down. He felt, as his sister died before him, he should be far sadder than he was. Yet his eyes were dry and his heart felt no heavier than before. “Cindy,” he croaked, “what happened?”

“They…the soldiers,” she mumbled, looking up at him. “They’re here. The soldiers...in black.” With that she gave one last heaving breath, and ceased to move.

From above came the sound of whistles, growing louder and higher; the sound of falling bombs. Frank looked at Gloria, a longing, loving look, as their house was hit. All was chaos, and all they could see was a swirl of gray dust and red fire, burning debris all aflutter in a grand tornado of destruction. The sound split their eardrums, wave after crushing wave of dry noise.

And then, there was calm. There was silence.

As thought slowly began to creep back into Frank’s mind, he lifted his head. Rubble was falling from the sky, ash and pebbles of what was once a home raining around him. The sky above was gray and cloudy, as if it were a grand mirror of the ground beneath it. He began to regain feeling, finding his legs to be in searing pain. A warmth surrounded his left hand, and he lifted it to find that he was missing several fingers, and that where they once were, fountains of blood existed.

His next thoughts were preoccupied by his wife. He turned his head frantically, trying to find her. This led him to realize that he was lying on the sidewalk, which led him to see that the entire street had been leveled. Every house was a smoking pile of rubble, and fire spread to wherever it willed. An eerie silence took hold of the scene, only the faint whistle of the wind to be heard. Dozens of his neighbors now were but corpses in the street, seeming anonymous and faceless.

And there, lying in the center of the street was the face he was looking for: his wife. But alas, it wasn’t much more than a face. Her severed head lay alone in the middle of the cracked street, covered in ash and blood. Her eyelids remained open, and the glossy orbs behind them were turned back into her head, a bright beacon of pure white in the most impure of places.

Then the footsteps began. Frank turned his head, whose eyes were still dry of tears, to see them marching. The soldiers in black marched down the street in rows, all stepping in unison. Their rifles were held close to their chest, close to their heart. Their faces bore no emotion, and were covered in soot and grime. It was obvious this was not the first scene of its kind they had marched through.

Frank began to feel his heart slow down as they walked along past him. His lungs strained to pull in any more polluted air, and his eyes strained to remain open. He felt calm, and for the first time in a week, he felt sleepy. Looking up at those walking by him, one face stood out. At first he thought he was looking in a mirror, but he realized quickly who this was; his son, Carl, marching along with the enemy. The nostalgia was almost overwhelming, for he looked just like his father when he had marched into war: prominent cheekbones and deep-set eyes. His once blonde hair was now died black.

The smile that spread across Frank’s face felt both foreign and welcome. So he closed his eyes and allowed himself that sleep. He could sleep soundly now, for a very long time. His dying wish had been granted.

Belt

2009-01-19T10:34:00.000-08:00

Skuldra, she is finished. For the most part. I'm just listening to the final mixes and going over certain other things. But for the most part it's done, and you should see a digital release soon.

In other creational news I finished up a short story I might post here. Also have been redoing a bit of a random psychedelic video for "Underwater Hibernation." To be even gayer I'm gunna bake cookies later...

Enjoying lately: El Ten Eleven, This Town Needs Guns, Sabrepulse, múm's latest album. Can't quite explain the unusual shift to music that doesn't sound dark and doomy....

Peace. Brian out.

Recording

2009-01-16T15:41:00.001-08:00

The Inspiration

The Space

Eating Moons

2009-01-11T10:29:00.000-08:00

Sundays are t00 fucking depressing. So I'm sitting here listening to Slowdive (who am I really into at the moment, such gorgeous stuff) and typing this, doing nothing otherwise.

I spent last night remixing and editing tracks from this full length I keep spewing shit about. It just keeps getting better. I have a name and some cover art for it, (if only for the sake of having something to look at, since I'm releasing it digitally fo frizzle), and I suppose I could announce that in a bit. Just keep your eyes on the prize, chillin.

Loving lately: Yppah, Slowdive, Jaga Jazzist, Knut, Exotic Animal Petting Zoo, Final, etc. Especially listening to these while watching the snow fall and sipping some vegan hot cocoa. Winter is the best.

20/20

2009-01-04T09:16:00.000-08:00

oh look, 2009.

Everyone seems so bitter about 2008 but I don't understand it. Didn't seem that shitty overall. But that's the selfish me talking who just sticks in his little bubble. Not that I care, it works for me. But yeah. I suppose I should look back. Begining of that year I felt incredibly terrible and was really cynical and misanthropic and overall a terrible person. Not much has changed except that now I know this girl that I can be a cynic and a misanthrope with. I found some great music in 08, caught some great shows (saw BTBAM twice!!) and had some great times with great people. Not that bad to me.

I'm really looking forward to this year to expand musically and artistically. You can definitley expect that full length from Fotled soon. I have about 8 tracks recorded at the moment. I'm sure I'll change them and mess with them a million times and record a million more and nix them all before I'm satisfied, but it'll work out. Hopefully, also, I can move on to bigger things, musically. Problem is no one I know has good taste that I can collaborate with.

So peace, chillins.
Brian

the curvature of silence

2008-12-23T23:49:00.000-08:00

Fuck it's late...I'm pulling an all nighter tonight because I feel like it. Having finished another track I feel rather complacent at the moment. What was that? Yes, there's a new song done and up on the myspace...for now. It's up on the Fotled myspace <http://myspace.com/fotled> if you want to hear it...and you do. A nice layered, dynamic piece.

Right now I'm listening to the new song by Greymachine. I knew Justin Broderick and Aaron Turner wouldn't fail me. The song ("Vultures Descend") is fucking incredible. A pummelingly gorgeous assault of thick, heavy noise. Awesome. I'm officially stoked for the release of this...as well as new stuff from Isis anyhow.

Anyway, Idunno if I'll update this till after Christmas. So chill youngins, and keep on rockin in the free world...

Gun Lung

2008-12-22T21:32:00.000-08:00

It's past midnight and I've finally gotten back into the creating mood. I recently just finished up a little track that I've been working on for a few weeks now. Sharpened it up, added some more layers and it sounds real smooth. A few lovely piano chords awash in a sea of sound and white noise. Chill yet disturbing in a short little package. Now that I've learned from recording the demos and exploring new avenues of music, and with what I've done with this track, I'm really stoked for what this album could turn out to be.

I may be posting a little video of recording and stuff. Stay tuned and don't forget to spay and neuter your pets.

Kettle More in Metalcore

2008-12-22T12:35:00.000-08:00

Y hllo thr

I guess I started this as an outlet for my various artistic projects, a way to just ejaculate it all simultaneously onto the web. Music, Video, Writing, mayhap some photography if I stop sucking at it. So grab yourself a woman, hold her tight around the waste, and let the sewage groove pump through your veins like a bat outta hell.

that sucked
~Brian