Foals | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Foals emerged in the late 2000s with an off-balance indie rock influenced by catchy new wave, math rock, and atmospheric post-rock. It proved a successful formula; their first album, 2008s Antidotes, reached number three in their native U.K. Over the next decade, they developed a distinctive balance between jittery dance rock and spacy atmosphere on albums such as 2013s Holy Fire, which marked their Billboard 200 debut. Formed in Oxford, England, by longtime friends Yannis Philippakis (guitar) and Jack Bevan (drums), along with Andrew Mears on vocals, guitarist Jimmy Smith, and bassist Walter Gervers, Foals -- whose name is a play on the etymology of Philippakis name -- began as a way to protest against the proggier sounds that were both popular in Oxford and in Philippakis and Bevans former band, the Edmund Fitzgerald. After releasing the single "Try This on Your Piano" in 2006, Mears left Foals in order to more fully concentrate on his other group, Youthmovies (formerly Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies), and Philippakis -- who had lived until he was seven in a tiny Grecian village -- added the role of lead vocals to his guitar-playing duties. Edwin Congreave, a fellow Oxford student the frontman had met when they were both working at the same bar, and who introduced the group to techno, soon joined in on keyboards, despite the fact he had never played the instrument before -- nor ever been in a band -- and the full lineup of Foals was completed. The quintet worked on perfecting its complex sound by playing house parties around the area, and soon the group was signed to Transgressive Records, which released the singles "Hummer" and "Mathletics" in April and August of 2007, respectively. Foals picked up quite a buzz in the U.K., and in June 2007 they went to New York to record their debut album under the guidance of producer and TV on the Radio guitarist Dave Sitek. The sessions went well, but the bandmembers ended up not being happy with the final mix, choosing instead to remix it themselves, and issuing the full-length, Antidotes -- which, incidentally, included neither "Hummer" nor "Mathletics" -- in March of 2008, while Sub Pop picked up the album in the U.S. and gave it an April release, adding the two neglected singles as bonus tracks. Two years later the band returned with its sophomore album, Total Life Forever, released by Transgressive Records. After having songs appear on shows like Entourage and Misfits, the band returned in early 2013 with its third album, the expansive Holy Fire, Foals first record to chart outside of Western Europe, cracking the Billboard 200 in the U.S. and topping the album chart in Australia. A concert DVD/Blu-ray, Live at the Royal Albert Hall, followed that fall, and picking up where Holy Fire left off, What Went Down arrived in the summer of 2015. They toured Europe and the U.S. in 2016, including shows with Everything Everything as support, and returned to the studio in 2017. Early the next year, the band confirmed that founding member Gervers had left the group on amicable terms. Other members filled in on bass in remaining sessions. Foals re-emerged in 2019 with their fifth and sixth studio LPs, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, Pt. 1, which arrived in March, and Pt. 2, which followed later in the year. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 13 Title: Foals: Live Released: 2007-03-05 Tracks: 6 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 XXXXXX (?) 2 The French Open (?) 3 Hummer (?) 4 Balloons (?) 5 Two Steps Twice (?) 6 Mathletics (?) |
 | Album: 2 of 13 Title: Antidotes Released: 2008-03-24 Tracks: 11 Duration: 46:48 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 The French Open (03:45) 2 Cassius (03:49) 3 Red Socks Pugie (05:09) 4 Olympic Airways (04:18) 5 Electric Bloom (04:54) 6 Balloons (03:01) 7 Heavy Water (04:32) 8 Two Steps Twice (04:39) 9 Big Big Love (Fig. 2) (05:47) 10 Like Swimming (01:58) 11 Tron (04:53) |
| Antidotes : Allmusic album Review : Although Oxford, Englands Foals didnt release their debut full-length, Antidotes, until the spring of 2008, they had already begun to make quite a name for themselves, thanks to the British singles "Hummer" and "Mathletics," and successful dates in the U.S. the preceding fall; meaning, of course, that the anticipation for the record had plenty of time to grow. Fortunately, Antidotes is able to live up to the hype. Frontman Yannis Philippakis uses his limited vocal range to his greatest advantage, moving from yelps to half-whispered singing depending on the intensity of the piece. In fact, the one drawback of the album may be that Foals have only two types of songs: the fast(er), punchy ones and the slow(er), spacier ones. For bands whose sense of songcraft isnt strong, this would certainly be a detriment, but as Foals keep melody and hookiness at the forefront of their minds, the fact that much of their work sounds very similar (and is all practically in the same key) just adds a sense of cohesion to the record, shows that the group has a very clear idea of what it wants to sound like. This sureness can also probably explain the bands dislike of producer Dave Siteks final mix, which differed from what they had imagined (and therefore prompted their own mixing of it, and the one they ultimately released). But Sitek should be credited for introducing at least the saxophones, if not the more ambient keyboards and occasional electronic element, to the Foals arrangements, which end up working quite well and prevent the tracks from completely bleeding into one another, also allowing for the bands instrumental sections to play out in an interesting groove, like during the very NOMO-ish "Like Swimming" or the close of "Heavy Water." The two guitars pick out cascading notes -- never chords -- against one another, the bass borrows from both Interpol and Gang of Four, and Philippakis voice cries out in repetition wonderfully, but its these occasional horn bursts, the electronic chops and blips, that truly complete the songs, making Antidotes not merely a lesson in post-new wave noodling, but evidence of the power and excitement of the genre and music itself. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 13 Title: iTunes Live: London Festival ’08 Released: 2008-07-11 Tracks: 8 Duration: 38:09 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 XXXXX (04:20) 2 The French Open (04:10) 3 Olympic Airways (03:32) 4 Balloons (03:43) 5 Heavy Water (05:02) 6 Two Steps, Twice (05:09) 7 Red Socks Pugie (04:19) 8 Electric Bloom (07:54) |
 | Album: 4 of 13 Title: Gold Gold Gold Released: 2008-09-09 Tracks: 6 Duration: 36:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Olympic Airways (remix edit) (03:59) 2 Dearth (03:02) 3 Gold Gold Gold (05:50) 4 Titan Arum (05:11) 5 Red Socks Pugie (Henrik Schwarz remix) (07:09) 6 Cassius (Kieran Hebden version) (11:01) |
 | Album: 5 of 13 Title: Total Life Forever Released: 2010-04-07 Tracks: 26 Duration: 1:16:11 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Blue Blood (05:16) 2 Miami (03:42) 3 Total Life Forever (03:18) 4 Black Gold (06:26) 5 Spanish Sahara (06:49) 6 This Orient (04:02) 7 Fugue (00:48) 8 After Glow (06:08) 9 Alabaster (04:00) 10 2 Trees (05:15) 11 What Remains (04:37) 1 Bloo Blood (01:00) 2 Bloo Blood 2 (00:45) 3 TLF (00:39) 4 TLF 2 (01:00) 5 TLF 3 (01:31) 6 TLF 4 (01:01) 7 TLF 5 (01:26) 8 Black Gold // (02:53) 9 Black Gold 2 (08:30) 10 Spanish Sahara (sonar) (01:20) 11 ---- (00:35) 12 Alabastr (01:31) 13 Two Trees (00:49) 14 Two Trees 2 (01:37) 15 Remains (01:13) |
| Total Life Forever : Allmusic album Review : After Foals scrapped the mix of their debut, Antidotes, by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, it was clear that they were a band that was interested in creating their own sound. That sentiment may be why their follow-up, Total Life Forever, sounds more like a reaction to their first record than a continuation of it. Many of the elements that drove Foals into the spotlight in the first place are definitely still in place. There’s plenty of cascading, Minus the Bear-style guitar work and funky Talking Heads influence in their math-pop-meets-the-dancefloor rhythms. What’s missing is the edge. Total Life Forever is considerably more subdued than its predecessor, lacking much of the uptempo thump found on Antidotes. In its place is a mellower, more spacious sound. While this new sound is still danceable, it’s far more refined than the angular post-punk riffing that fans might be expecting. Right from the beginning, the album-opening, “Blue Blood” makes it clear that Foals are taking a different, more patient approach to songwriting, letting the song build and build on itself as it methodically works itself into a frenzy before leaving the way it came in. Because of the changes here, fans of the early, pre-Antidotes singles may find Total Life Forever to be too restrained, lacking the youthful vigor of their debut. Where some see restraint, others may very well see refinement, and those who appreciated Antidotes more spacy passages will find that Foals reinvention of their sound is a calculated risk that definitely pays off. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 13 Title: iTunes Festival: London 2010 Released: 2010-07-08 Tracks: 6 Duration: 33:10 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Total Life Forever (05:04) 2 Miami (04:00) 3 Balloons (03:30) 4 Alabaster (04:49) 5 Electric Bloom (10:23) 6 Two Steps Twice (05:24) |
 | Album: 7 of 13 Title: Tapes Released: 2012-07-02 Tracks: 22 Duration: 1:13:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Variations (02:36) 2 Ted (Bibio remix) (02:40) 3 Tropical Hands (02:06) 4 Confusion (Ma Afrika) (03:34) 5 London Girl (03:55) 6 Way Savvy (Gatto Fritto remix) (04:57) 7 Dinner (02:05) 8 B Side (01:56) 9 Cheaters (John Talabot’s Classic vocal Refix) (03:35) 10 Superflight (Maurice Fulton remix) (03:25) 11 Effective Placebo Affect (01:34) 12 Kilode (Carl Craig remix) (03:45) 13 We Call Love (04:39) 14 Give Me Love (Frankie Knuckles remix) (02:35) 15 Take Some Time Out (02:13) 16 OAR003-B (01:48) 17 Every Day of My Life (Jimmy Edgar remix) (02:51) 18 Mushrooms (Justin Martin remix) (05:21) 19 Battle for Middle You (Maurice Donovan dub) (03:26) 20 Sun (Midland edit) (04:35) 21 Paradiso (06:50) 22 Yes God Is Real (03:18) |
 | Album: 8 of 13 Title: Holy Fire Remixes Released: 2013-01-31 Tracks: 7 Duration: 48:41 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Late Night (Solomun remix) (08:24) 2 My Number (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs remix) (07:10) 3 Inhaler (Tom Vek’s Wheezemix) (05:21) 4 My Number (Hot Chip remix) (09:54) 5 Late Night (Koreless Purple Cowboy remix) (04:00) 6 Bad Habit (Alex Metric remix) (08:07) 7 Out of the Woods (Kulkid remix) (05:45) |
 | Album: 9 of 13 Title: Holy Fire Released: 2013-01-31 Tracks: 11 Duration: 49:42 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Prelude (04:07) 2 Inhaler (04:52) 3 My Number (04:00) 4 Bad Habit (04:40) 5 Everytime (04:02) 6 Late Night (05:27) 7 Out of the Woods (03:24) 8 Milk & Black Spiders (05:17) 9 Providence (04:07) 10 Stepson (04:48) 11 Moon (04:53) |
| Holy Fire : Allmusic album Review : While there are lots of bands dealing in either danceable rock or navel-gazing pop, few bands combine the two quite like Foals. On Holy Fire, the third album from the English band, the post-punk revival is given a newfound sense of depth, creating songs that are rhythmic enough to draw listeners, but hypnotic enough to leave listeners lost in their wide-open spaces. This combination of atmosphere and momentum find Foals growing out of the shadows of titans like the Talking Heads and into a spaced-out, dance-punk niche thats all their own. Though a lot of the bands charm comes from the delicate interplay between the guitars and keyboards, the real star of the album comes by way of the massive, stadium-ready "Inhaler," which takes the sparkling, slow build used throughout the album and turns it on its ear with an eruption of massively fuzzy, Muse-esque guitars (and, to some extent, their bombast), creating one of the albums biggest and most rousing moments. Now that theyre three albums deep, it feels as if Foals have found a nice middle ground between funk and feeling, making Holy Fire an album that is just as likely to get a room moving as it is to send its inhabitants into a fit of introspective conversation. This kind of duality is something thats hard to find, and its a quality that could take Foals a long way if theyre able to hold onto it. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 13 Title: CCTV Sessions Released: 2013-11-29 Tracks: 6 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Milk & Black Spiders (?) 2 Bad Habit (?) 3 Stepson (?) 4 Late Night (?) 5 Bluebird (?) 6 Moon (?) |
 | Album: 11 of 13 Title: Live at The Royal Albert Hall Released: 2014-04-19 Tracks: 8 Duration: 51:57 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Blue Blood (05:33) 2 Providence (04:51) 3 Spanish Sahara (06:23) 4 Red Socks Pugie (07:26) 5 Milk & Black Spiders (07:20) 6 Late Night (06:49) 7 Inhaler (06:09) 8 Two Steps, Twice (07:26) |
 | Album: 12 of 13 Title: What Went Down Released: 2015-08-21 Tracks: 10 Duration: 48:26 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 What Went Down (05:00) 2 Mountain at My Gates (04:04) 3 Birch Tree (04:21) 4 Give It All (04:47) 5 Albatross (05:23) 6 Snake Oil (04:21) 7 Night Swimmers (04:44) 8 London Thunder (04:14) 9 Lonely Hunter (04:37) 10 A Knife in the Ocean (06:52) |
| What Went Down : Allmusic album Review : After the international chart success of 2013s Holy Fire, Foals officially embrace that albums rich, atmospheric post-punk revivalism over the rawer math rock tendencies of earlier LPs for their fourth full-length, What Went Down. Only ghostly traces of math rock remain on the album, such as when sustained synths wash over interlocking drum-guitar meters on the closer, "A Knife in the Ocean." The majority of the record avoids any prior levels of intricacy, opting instead for intense airiness in the form of passionate, danceable ruminations. Above all, the album is driving; even at relatively sleepier moments, drums kick in as if on cue and set any lost momentum back on track ("Give It All"). Vocalist Yannis Philippakis pushes his voice harder than ever before here, both in terms of range and strain, and his ability to at times resonate like Ian Curtis and soar like Bono is no small feat. The sparkling, rockin title-track opener introduces his yowl with a clamoring swagger throughout the instrumentation, and with lyrics like "I buried my guilt in a pit in the sound/With the rust and the vultures and the trash downtown." Also vigorous, the particularly post-punky, motoric "Snake Oil" later plows straight into the lighter but rhythmically locomotive-like "Night Swimmers." There are calmer moments, like the slower, more spare "London Thunder ("Im on the red-eye flight to nowhere good"), but the albums intensity and pulse remain. Ultimately, What Went Down should please fans of Holy Fire, and they may not be the only ones drawn to its gloomy and persistent energy. | ||
 | Album: 13 of 13 Title: Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost: Part 1 Released: 2019-03-08 Tracks: 10 Duration: 39:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% TrackSamples AlbumCover | 1 Moonlight (02:39) 2 Exits (05:57) 3 White Onions (03:05) 4 In Degrees (04:57) 5 Syrups (05:28) 6 On the Luna (03:12) 7 Cafe D’Athens (04:06) 8 Surf, Pt. 1 (00:44) 9 Sunday (05:54) 10 I’m Done With the World (& It’s Done With Me) (03:02) |