As The Sun Kissed The Horizon, is one of my favorite Biosphere tracks. It's a recording of (what to me sounds like) the empty fields after a bustling summer's day, as the sun slowly sets and people leave for home. It reminds me of my summer's youth, and every time I listen, I picture myself in that exact field, the same field I spent my summers playing football in, hanging with friends and generally enjoying my childhood. Music has the power to reinvigorate lost memories and despite me never hearing this until years later, this track brings back memories every time.
Biosphere's, The Hilvarenbeek Recordings were released last week and capture a similar emotional response. Across the four pieces, we're treated to a similar summer's day in 't Schop, which then develops into a warm, repetitive analog piece. Pipistrellus descends deeper into the grass and gives life to the small ticks, tweaks and sounds of the undergrowth as insects and birds come to life. Audax forms a more traditional Biosphere ambient piece with hollow expanses and a subtle melody as bass intertwines with a gaseous exchange, very similar to his N-Plants release. Strigiformes closes the release, with a vivid night-time landscape, featuring the shriek of birds and Owls amongst crumbling twigs and leaves.
Biosphere is known for his field recordings, but they are sometimes lost amongst his more electronic productions, or in some instances, slightly too focused on extremely obscure sounds. This EP is the perfect middle-ground and defines the Biosphere I enjoy the most. A subtle mixture of beautiful ambient formed from some of natures finest textures - sounds that have the power to transport from your own relatable experiences.
“In 2013 Biosphere was invited by the Incubate festival in Tilburg to spend one week doing field recordings at the organic farm Boerderij ‘t Schop in Hilvarenbeek. These recordings were going to be released as a single-sided limited edition vinyl EP (100 copies) “for reviews/media/relations only! Unfortunately Incubate never managed to get it out. Last month, this record was suddenly released by the Dutch label New York Haunted without the artist´s knowledge and written consent. Nor did the artist get any chance to approve the artwork and the quality of the vinyl pressing. In fact, the artist has not even seen the record. ”
The Hilvarenbeek Recordings are available on the above mentioned limited vinyl and digital through Bandcamp.
