Substrata (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Substrata
Type = Studio album
Artist = Biosphere


Released = 1997
Recorded =
Genre = Ambient
Length = 58:33
Label = All Saints Records
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:pq7tk65xwkrg link]
Last album = "Insomnia" (1997)
This album = "Substrata" (1997)
Next album = "Cirque" (2000)

"Substrata" is an ambient music album by Biosphere, released in 1997 by All Saints Records. It is considered to be a classic ambient album, consistently in the top 5 in surveys on the Hyperreal ambient mailing list [http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/1999_recommended_ambient.html] [http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/2001_classic_ambient.html] [http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/2003_sleepy_music.txt] .

Biosphere's first truly ambient album, it has a theme of cold, of mountains and glaciers and running water. Sounds of howling wind and creaking wood, although infrequently employed, create a chilling soundscape interrupted by sonorous but quietly suspenseful music.

In 2001 the album was re-released in a digitally-remastered format with a second disc featuring a soundtrack for Dziga Vertov's 1929 film "Man with a Movie Camera". See Substrata 2.

Track listing

# "As The Sun Kissed The Horizon" – 1:47
# "Poa Alpina" – 4:10
# "Chukhung" – 7:34
# "The Things I Tell You" – 6:28
# "Times When I Know You'll Be Sad" – 3:44
# "Hyperborea" – 5:45
# "Kobresia" – 7:12
# "Antennaria" – 5:05
# "Uva-Ursi" – 3:00
# "Sphere Of No-Form" – 5:47
# "Silene" – 7:54

ample sources

Many of the vocal samples employed are taken from the TV series "Twin Peaks" by David Lynch.

The Twin Peaks sample on 'The Things I Tell You' is from the Giant waking agent Cooper in his hotel room:

"Sorry to wake you... I forgot to tell you something... The things I tell you will not be wrong..."

The Twin Peaks sample from 'Hyperborea' is from Major Briggs explaining his dream to his son, Bobby. The whole text is as follows:

"A vision I had in my sleep last night, as distinguished from a dream, which is mere sorting and cataloguing of the day's events by the subconscious. This was a vision, fresh and clear as a mountain stream, the mind revealing itself to itself. In my vision, I was on the veranda of a vast estate, a palazzo of some fantastic proportion. There seemed to emanate from it a light from within, this gleaming, radiant marble. I'd known this place. I had in fact been born and raised there. This was my first return. A reunion with the deepest well-springs of my being. Wandering about, I noticed happily that the house had been immaculately maintained. There'd been added a number of additional rooms, but in a way that blended so seamlessly with the original construction, one would never detect any difference. Returning to the house's grand foyer, there came a knock at the door. My son was standing there. He was happy and carefree, clearly living a life of deep harmony and joy. We embraced, a warm and loving embrace, nothing withheld. We were, in this moment, one. My vision ended and I awoke with a tremendous feeling of optimism and confidence in you and your future. That was my vision of you. I'm so glad to have had this opportunity to share it with you. I wish you nothing but the very best in all things."