Before signing to Virgin and releasing such plaudit-defying works as ISDN and Lifeforms, Brian Dougans and Gary Cobain spent the first couple of years of the 1990s operating undercover. The pair turned out an array of EPs under a fistful of pseudonyms including Mental Cube, Semi Real, Yage, Intelligent Communication, Smart Systems and Indo Tribe - all of which are long since deleted. Originally released in 1991, Accelerator acted to collate the more memorable moments from this period with a scattering of exclusive tracks and although the straight-up techno orientation of the album is perhaps not as experimental as their later output, the material is well constructed with occasional interludes, clinical production and a fastidious attention to the finer details a pointer for what was to come. The inclusion of "Papua New Guinea" accepted by many as one of dance music's finest moments, ensures the recommendation. --Kingsley Marshall
Review by Ned Raggett
Compared to where most of the band's career would later go, Accelerator is a fairly conventional debut from the duo. Certainly it's the most explicitly commercial-minded the duo ever was, slotting in well with many other early-'90s U.K. dance/techno outfits. As such it's also arguably the least-cryptic and most-approachable release for newcomers, holding up well a decade after its original appearance. Rather than focusing on ambient experimentalism or industrial noise destruction, here Future Sound of London sounds like a straightforward, if at times inspired, act whose tendencies to push the envelope are secondary to keeping the beat going. The main reason to listen remains its awesome single "Papua New Guinea," blending a treated vocal sample from Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard with a slightly sped-up James Brown drum loop and other, more shadowy touches like echoed piano. The result combines exaltation, energy, and atmosphere into a dramatic result, as danceable as it is subtly threatening. At various points on Accelerator, FSOL shows an inspired focus on breakbeats as much as acid pulses; while nowhere near as frenetic as other early hardcore/jungle creations, the music clearly leans toward those records in inspiration. "Expander," which also appears in a remix at the end, makes for a good start for the album along those lines, while "Central Industrial" plays around with more distorted rhythms. At other points FSOL follows in more conventional veins -- "Stolen Documents" is practically an early 808 State track in all but name -- while throwing in odd noises and background quirks which in later years would dominate their own compositions. "It's Not My Problem," in particular, is a fun little creep-out, a flat semi-robot voice declaiming the title as needed while buried synths create a darker mood amidst the regular beat and additional, echoed percussion hits. [Another version was released in the U.K. with the bonus tracks "Expander" and "Moscow" as well as a second disc featuring ten remixes of "Papua New Guinea."]
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