Audiopile Review: The original UK post-rock scene was largely based in London, but it had outposts in Birmingham (Broadcast, Pram, Scorn) and Glasgow (Mogwai, Long Fin Killie). A scene also developed in Bristol, and it was a scene that clearly reflected that city’s fierce independence from the capital. Bristol post-rock was more insular and organic, and it was largely made by record store nerds. The type of people who search for inspiration in the dusty nooks and crannies of music history. The type of people who could list the ten best albums by the godlike Peter Hammill without even having to pause for thought. No band epitomized the spirit of Bristol post-rock better than David Pearce’s Flying Saucer Attack. Later FSA took on the electronic side of post-rock, but the band started out with the stated intention of producing ‘rural psychedelia’. This reflected Bristol’s position on the edge of western England’s agrarian backwaters. In practice, it meant Nick Drake’s wistfulness combined with My Bloody Valentine’s wall of fuzz, all recorded on a semi-functioning four-track (‘home taping is reinventing music’ was another slogan). Perhaps the best encapsulation of the very early FSA sound is ‘Distance’, from 1994. Like Stereolab, Pearce pumped out a steady stream of limited-edition singles, which were later collected on compilation albums. ‘Distance’ is the first of these compilations, but it also features exclusive tracks, never available elsewhere. It’s a beautiful and unique album, which stands apart even from the outlying wing of an outlying scene that spawned it. Oh, and this is another record that sounds peeerfect in the autumn.

First ever US vinyl of the second album by Bristol’s Flying Saucer Attack. This edition of the LP is produced in full collaboration with FSA / Dave Pearce.
Originally released on VHF as a compact disc at the end of 1994, this was the second FSA album, compiling five tracks from impossible-to-get seven-inches with twenty minutes of previously unreleased (and good) material. Similar in blend to the band’s first LP (also newly issued in the USA on deluxe vinyl), the songs hang together as a collection that improves on the individual singles.
The two proper singles that make up half of Distance — “Soaring High” / ”Standing Stone” and “Crystal Shade” / ”Distance” were instant collectables upon their release, so this album was compiled to make the songs permanently available. “Soaring High” and “Crystal Shade” are jagged bits of fuzzed-out pop genius; tracks like the mutant concrete “techno” of “Distance” and the two lengthy glissando workouts on “Oceans” and “Oceans II” offset the more conventional tunes, upping the overall impact as a whole album.