todos: Ten Years of A Strangely Isolated Place

The impossible task. Find a way to summarize the last ten years of music featured on the A Strangely Isolated Place blog and website.

First off, we have created the ‘tagged’ project, listing some of the hundreds of artists featured on the blog for you to explore over here. And pretty soon, we’ll have a special release for you all.

But I also wanted something that was closer to our blog beginnings, and a story told through a mix. What better way than tasking our favorite journey-maker, todos.

todos and his Kilchurn Sessions have been a staple of ASIP over the past ten years. We’ve even collected them all in one place, given how many posts they ended up spanning. I don’t need to add many superlatives about him here, but they are some of the best recorded mixes I have ever heard. And I mean it. You can hold-up (my personal favorite) professional mixed CD’s by Sasha, or James Holden for example, and I would be just as pleased listening to some of todos’ Kilchurn Sessions. He has a knack, a perfection and an obsession with mixing unique journeys that span everything from ambient, electronic, techno and instrumental elements, alongside a unique use of samples and movie quotes. He creates familiar and emotive narratives that need multiple revisits to appreciate the detail, skill and passion he put in.

Once todos agreed to my ask (nearly a year-ago now) I sent him the archive of posts from the old site, and a list of all the tags used across both new and old. My only criteria was that he needed to select tracks from artists or albums that were a part of that list - an attachment to ASIP and the blog. He had hundreds to sift through, some known, some new to him.

I don’t know how he did it.

I do know it was a headache for him, for months, but what he turned in, was something well beyond my expectations. He went through many iterations and different approaches, trying to do one chronologically in the order they were featured on ASIP for example, sending me revisions up until the very last minute, but in the end, he managed to find a selection of tracks that truly reflect the past ten years of discovery here on ASIP. And in a style only he knows how to execute.

A big BIG thank you to todos for soundtracking ASIP all these years. And for this, a superb piece of no-doubt painstaking work to help us celebrate ten-years of existence.

Once you’re done listening here, check out our ‘tagged’ project to explore even more.

Download MP3

Download WAV

~

Ten years of A Strangely Isolated Place - mixed by todos

Tracklist:

1. Minilogue - ‘Yesterday Bells’ edit (2008)/ Grzegorz Bojanek - A Huge Explosion After The War’ edit (2017)

2. Altus - ‘Virgo’ edit (2013) / Little Dragon - ‘Twice’ edit (2008) / Lights Out Asia - ‘Except Europa’ edit (2010)

3. Herbstlaub - ‘Softly hidden she.’ (Stray Theories remix) (2016)

4. Stellardrone - ‘Pale Blue Dot’ (2010)

5. Freescha - ‘Kite High’ (2009)

6. Benjamin Dauer - ‘Harmony Bound’ (2011) / Rhian Sheehan - ‘Standing In Silence Part 1’ edit (2010)

7. Jon Hopkins - ‘Private Universe’ (2008) / Opus III - ‘It’s A Fine Day’ edit (2009)

8. Sasha - ‘Broadcast’ (2016)

9. Umber - ‘Tomorrow We'll Throw Out Some Old Shoes’ (2011)

10. Kiyoko - ‘Sea of Trees’ (2012)

11. Bjorn Rohde - ‘Forest of Forgotten Hearts’ (2013) / Nils Frahm - ‘Peter’ (2013)

12. Jason van Wyk - ‘Eyes Shut’ (2017)

13. Roel Funcken - ‘Android Robson’ (2016)

14. Synkro - ‘Midnight Sun’ (2015)

15. Martin Nonstatic - ‘Open Minded’ (2015) / Aphex Twin - ‘Rhubarb’ (2009)

16. Sonitus Eco - ’Storegga Slide’ (2015)

17. Vermont - ‘Übersprung’ (2014)

18. Ocoeur - ‘Resonance’ (2013) / Sigur Ros - ‘Takk’ (2011) / Carbon Based Lifeforms - ‘Intro’ / ‘Hold’ (2014)

19. Donnacha Costello - ‘That Empty Feeling’ (2011)

20. Rhian Sheehan - ’Sileo’ (2013)

21. Markus Guentner - ‘Baryon’ (Feat. The Sight Below) edit (2015) / Porya Hatami - ‘Fen’ (By Segue) edit (2015)

22. Tegh - ‘Down’ (2014)

23. Arovane - ‘Woven’ (Peter Benisch Remix) edit (2015)

24. John Beltran - ‘Seasons Go’ (2013)

~

Includes audio recordings taken in and around USA, Germany, UK, Italy, Poland, Australia, Netherlands and Japan.

Special thanks to Ryan, Marcel, Eiko, Spencer and James for the support and sending me snippets of your own strangely isolated places. It was a pleasure incorporating them into this mix.

*Years indicate when tracks were featured on ASIP, not necessarily when they were released*

Artwork by ASIP, containing elements from Mario Morales and Nick Brzostowski.

ASIP - Deep Electronics Ambient Sessions #27

Honored to have a mix included in the brilliant Deep Electronics podcast - a steadfast mix series for great ambient curators for some time now. Check the series out on Soundcloud. Thank you to Jeroen Smulders for hosting me.

My introduction to the mix: 

I rarely approach mixes with a concept in mind and often find them developing organically in the process. I did however, want this mix to be a deep journey, which was hard, as I've been listening to lots of melodic synthesizer music recently, so I had to get in the right mind-set for it. I started to picture space, and was partly inspired by this video for an Alva Noto track which is a spectacular combination of imagery and sound. The mix ended up being an accompanying soundtrack to some kind of failed rocket launch - starting with optimism, becoming more intense, experiencing glitches and more dramatic moments along the way, and finally falling back down to earth and more recognizable, familiar ground. It's a little cliché for an ambient mix- but I find it extremely relaxing to picture a journey along the way and felt this one came together quite nicely if listened to as a whole. I called it 'Familiar Ground'.

Hope you enjoy it.

Download (also available in the ASIP iPhone App)

Tracklist:

01. Moby - Long Ambient 3 (Excerpt) (Self released)
02. Steve Hauschildt - A False Seeming (Kranky)
03. Abul Mogard - The Purpose Of Peace (VCO Records)
04. The Black Dog - Phil 3 to 5 (Dust Science Recordings)
05. Phaeleh - Absence of Light (Undertow)
06. Casino Versus Japan - Miano: A Pink Night For The Snowmen (Attacknine)
07. Ben Guiver - Ex Machina (Silent Recordings)
08. Alva Noto & Blix Bargeld - Bernsteinzimmer (Kompakt)
09. Alva Noto - The Revenant Theme (Alva Noto Remode)
10. Tangent - Perceived Horizon (n5MD)
11. Carbon Based Lifeforms - RCA (Leftfield Records)
12. Phaeleh - Visions (Undertow)
13. Merrin Karras - Isolation (A Strangely Isolated Place)
14. Lav - Freedom & Joy (Amone Recordings)

todos - Kilchurn Session XIV

It's been just over a month since todos treated us to a dub-techno themed mix in Komunizm, but now he returns with his staple Kilchurn Session series, and its 14th edition. 

Back comes the euphoric, constructed build-ups, flawless mixing and programming; the well-placed samples, and considered track choices. Rare edits, and double-mixes featured alongside a variety of artists; from the mighty Sasha, to our very own Arovane and his colab with Porya Hatami and Darren McClure.

Always perfected, and always brilliant, keep 'em coming, todos.

Download

Tracklist
1. KRTS - ‘Sealed’ (Intro)
2. Danny Scrilla - ‘Cryosphere’
3. Darshan Atmosphere - ‘Vishuddha’
4. Frostbite - ‘The Spirit Stirs’
5. Dessin Bizarre - ‘Eidfjord’ / Memotone - She’s a Killer’ Edit / Dessin Bizarre - ‘Pressure’
6. Sasha - ‘Modcon’
7. DSR Lines - ‘Uitval’ / Dessin Bizarre - ‘Daylightmast’
8. Sasha - ‘Scarpa Falls’ / Boards Of Canada - ‘Trails’ (Recordssectionclip Slight Edit)
9. Cliff Martinez - ‘The Moon’s Light’
10. Dalhous -‘Response To Stimuli’
11. Rezo Glonti - ‘Line In’
12. Dessin Bizarre - ‘Air Frais’
13. Matt Dunkley - ‘Cycle 5 (Clint Mansell Remix)
14. Anders Brørby - ‘The Knives in Her Eyes’
15. Sophia Loizou - ‘Order of Elements’ / Carbon Based Lifeforms - ‘Endospore’ (Remastered)
16. Zahn | Hatami | McClure - ‘Vhaundt’
17. Leafar Legov - ‘Years’
18. Solar Bears - ‘Longer Life’ / Nils Quak - Future Mistakes’ / Dessin Bizarre - ‘Flow’
19. Melokind - ‘The Forester’ Extended Edit

This mix also features various field recordings collected by @soundexmachinaSpecial thanks to @KLoukovikas. Please visit http://soundexmachina.com

Portals: Music For Sleeping

The easiest way to describe ambient music to somebody who isn't aware of it, is often to explain it as background music, or music that puts you to sleep. I find myself in that situation regularly, be it with taxi drivers asking about the show I'm heading off to ("so you don't dance - you just listen?!") family members asking about the music I put on the label, or pretty much anyone who only listens to nothing but pop music and think this stuff doesn't exist... However, when you explain it as "music for sleeping", it doesn't do the genre any justice whatsoever. Just take a look on Youtube, or Google "music for sleeping"; it's packed full of generic new-age type material that probably does the job for the many mums out there, but isn't a true reflection of some of the amazing coma-inducing music available. Let's open this world up a little more.

Music for sleeping doesn't necessarily mean music with the least obtrusive manner, or the most unnoticeable of noise. In my experience, you can probably fall asleep to any music you personally enjoy, feel comfort in, and can zone out to - be it full-on techno, subtle field recordings, ancient chanting or never-ending guitar loops. I think I've fallen asleep to all of the above at some point. 

During this exploration, I found several themes or styles of music that I enjoy falling asleep to. So instead of listing out individual tracks in a random order,  I've separated out the music by the five stages of the sleep cycle and given them each a theme / style of music that matches. 

Sleep cycles are apparently 90-minutes long, so you'll find two mixes accompanying this feature, (two cycles each consisting of 90-minutes) with each mix made up of the five sleep stages. The selection includes some of my favorites, as well as suggestions from a few readers via Facebook and Twitter. Thank you to all who suggested albums, and made compiling this feature a new journey for me in many instances. 
 

Stage 1 "Fragmented Visuals" 

“Light sleep; we drift in and out of sleep and can be awakened easily. Our eyes move very slowly and muscle activity slows. People awakened from stage 1 sleep often remember fragmented visual images. Many also experience sudden muscle contractions called hypnic myoclonia, often preceded by a sensation of starting to fall”

For stage one, I've chosen music that creates detailed and immersive textures. Music that's been crafted with pictures in mind, often including field recordings, giving you the sense of something happening, painting the world you're about to enter. These tracks have just enough detail for you to tune into whilst awake, but enough texture and unknown space to zone out to.

These types of tracks are often in the purest of ambient form consisting of simple textures made famous by many of the early ambient pioneers, such as Brian Eno, Aphex Twin, The KLF and Biosphere. 

To help keep things interesting in this stage, the veterans sit alongside some more recent ambient/experimental artists such as Robert Rich, Gallery Six and Sage Taylor (Textural Being's more ambient guise). 
 

Stage 2 "Slowly floating"

“When we enter stage 2 sleep, our eye movements stop and our brain waves (fluctuations of electrical activity that can be measured by electrodes) become slower, with occasional bursts of rapid waves called sleep spindles. ”

By now, I start to drift off and for this stage I've chosen the purest of ambient music focused on soft melodies and colorful textures - the easiest type of ambient music to fall asleep to due to its cloud-like feelings. It can range from simple synthesizer music, to orchestral scores, all uplifting and comforting in tone and texture; nothing too dark, and all very welcoming. 

This type of music ranges in style, from a more electronic feel to more instrumental. Kompakt's Pop Ambient Series is a great place to start (pretty much any of their stuff) and Pass Into Silence feature here alongside more soft electronic processing from Altus,  Home Normal's, Chronovalve, the widely regarded Disintegration Loops from William Basinski, one of my favourite tracks from Helios and perhaps my most played album at bedtime by Jonas Munk's Billow Observatory project. 

Some of the more instrumental pieces that offer gentle, drifting lullabies include Hammock's inviting guitar drones, or beautiful soundtracks from Jon Hopkins and Stars Of The Lid's, Brian McBride - each a delicate balance between comforting melodies and a poignant attention-grabbing movie score. 
 

Stage 3 "Rhythmic waves"

“In stage 3, extremely slow brain waves called delta waves begin to appear, interspersed with smaller, faster waves.”

After drifting, comes the gentle trance-like repetition. For this stage I've chosen tracks with subtle rhythm, ambient pulses, or the gentle enveloping warmth of beats. It's hard to find music that doesn't disrupt within this style (an art it seems). Some will find this style too busy, whilst some will find the repetition soothing and comforting. 

This stage includes my personal favourite bedtime album from Yagya, the undercurrent of Wolfgang Voigt's, Gas project and fellow german Markus Guentner's pulsing ambient, the ethereal, angelic progression of bvdub and one of Loscil's finest ambient projects to date, Fern & Robin, taken from his album Endless Falls. 

Stage 4 "Into The Deep"

“By stage 4, the brain produces delta waves almost exclusively. It is very difficult to wake someone during stages 3 and 4, which together are called deep sleep. There is no eye movement or muscle activity”

The second stage of deep sleep requires indulging atmospheres, so the theme of this stage suited more intense sounds, erring on the side of drone music in many instances. These are the washes of sound that remove the finer details and blanket you with color and texture to confirm your paralyses. 

This stage includes the deep electronic experiments of Alva Noto, Line's Tu 'M, and Thomas Koner, alongside the drone gods of Rafael Anton Irisarri and the infamous Stars Of The Lid.  

Stage 5 (REM) "The Other Worlds"

 

“When we switch into REM sleep, our breathing becomes more rapid, irregular, and shallow, our eyes jerk rapidly in various directions, and our limb muscles become temporarily paralyzed. Our heart rate increases and our blood pressure rises. When people awaken during REM sleep, they often describe bizarre and illogical tales – dreams.”

By now, you're starting to dream, which calls for new worlds and vivid landscapes. This is perhaps one of the more popular styles of sleep music looking back at what's out there already. The psychedelic worlds and space-like ambient music is often the stereotype for escapism and outer-world experiences and along with meditation and relaxation. 

For this stage I've chosen the space-like sounds of Global Communication, Biosphere, Neel, Carbon Based Lifeforms, Solar Fields and Stellardrone, alongside the eery melody of Aphex Twin's Blue Calx - potentially the softest-ever travel pillow.

~

The list, and the mixes could have gone on forever but I had to stop somewhere, so maybe there will be a time for future sleep cycles if you enjoy them. For now, here's two to see you through a couple of horizontal sessions. 

As described previously, the mixes are split into the above sleep stages in a hope they mirror the overall sleep cycle. I'm no doctor or expert in sleep, so this is by no way mean't to actually be a prescriptive sleep session! It was just a nice way to structure the approach, and you never know, it might work for you. 

Once you've listened, feel free to comment below with your experience and if the mixes did the job. Of course, you probably wouldn't know if they did... 

Cycle 1 (90 mins) Download

astrangelyisolatedplace · ASIP - Portals Episode 3: Music For Sleeping (Cycle 1)

Tracklist:
Stage 1.1 Brian Eno - Drift (Apollo A&S) 
Stage 1.2 Aphex Twin - Rhubarb (SAW II)
Stage 1.3 Sage Taylor - Raintime Ten (Raintime)
Stage 1.4 Gallery Six - The Frozen Lake (The Fogbound Island)
Stage 2.1 Pass Into Silence - Iceblink (Pop Ambient 2006)
Stage 2.2 Chronovalve - The Gravity Of Dreams (Trace of Light)
Stage 2.3 Billow Observatory - Pankalia (Billow Observatory)
Stage 3.1 Gas - Pop 3 (Pop)
Stage 3.2 Yagya - Rigning tiu (Rigning)  
Stage 4.1 Tu M’ - Monochrome #01 (Monochrome Vol.1)
Stage 4.2 Alva Noto - Xerrox Radieuse (Xerrox Vol.3)
Stage 5.1 Carbon Based Lifeforms - Somewhere in Russia (Twentythree)
Stage 5.2 Global Communication - 9.39 (76.14)
Stage 5.3 Neel - The Secret Revealed (Phobos)
Stage 5.4 Biosphere - Kobresia (Substrata) 
 

Cycle 2 (90 mins) Download

astrangelyisolatedplace · ASIP - Portals Episode 3: Music For Sleeping (Cycle 2)

Tracklist:
Stage 1.1 Biosphere - ’t Schop (The Hilvarenbeek Recordings)
Stage 1.2 Robert Rich - Summer Thunder (Echo Of Small Things)
Stage 1.3 The KLF - Six Hours to Louisiana, Black (Chill Out)
Stage 2.1 William Basinski - The Disintegration Loops 3 (The Disintegration Loops)
Stage 2.2 Helios - Vargtimme (Eingya)
Stage 2.3 Brian McBride - Girl Nap (The Effective Disconnect) 
Stage 2.4 Jon Hopkins - Campfire (Monsters OST)
Stage 2.5 Hammock - Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow (Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow)
Stage 2.6 Altus - Sodium Glow (Black Trees Among Amber Skies)
Stage 3.1 Markus Guentner - Dockside (Talking Clouds EP)
Stage 3.2 bvdub - I Would Have Waited (Songs For A Friend I Left Behind)
Stage 3.3 Loscil - Fern & Robin (Endless Falls)
Stage 4.1 Rafael Anton Irisarri - Persistence (Unsaid EP)
Stage 4.2 Thomas Koner - Nuuk Air (Nuuk)
Stage 4.3 Stars Of The Lid - The Artificial Pine Arch Song (The Ballasted Orchestra)
Stage 5.1 Solar Fields - Silent Walking (Origin #1)
Stage 5.2 Stellardrone - Nightscape (Echoes)
Stage 5.3 Aphex Twin - Blue Calx (SAW II)

Spotify playlist featuring a majority of music from this post:

Feature image by Dorian Denes. T-shirts with the Music For Sleeping design are now available on his website.

If you're new to ambient music or would like more of the same, try our in-depth feature, Neither Scene Nor Heard : a journey through ambient music

Interview: Amigas, Soundtracks and remastering with Carbon Based Lifeforms

Carbon Based Lifeforms have been a big influence on me over the years and I stay close to their every move in a hope to hear another genre-defining, psychedelic ambient album. The duo's releases are few and far between considering how long Johannes Hedberg and Daniel Segerstad have been producing music, and we were lucky enough to get an exclusive production on our Europe Compilation recently (and even an isolatedmix). But, any news of another full-length soon has left their many fans crossing fingers in anticipation.

I recently caught up with Johannes and Daniel to see what they were up to, and whilst any new album might not be on the immediate horizon, the pair are busy in the studio remastering some of their classic albums for our listening pleasure. I also took the opportunity to get to know the duo a bit better and talk Amiga games, soundtracks, production techniques and Notch.

Hi guys, it’s been a while since we last spoke (2011!) I see that you’re busy remastering your albums?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: Yes, we decided to remaster the first three albums. Our aim was to get a more coherent sound between them. A lot happened between Hydroponic and Interloper, so we felt there was a lot of details waiting to be heard, especially on Hydroponic.

I'm sure your fans will be happy to have some of your albums on vinyl (me included). Why did you decide to remaster and press on vinyl?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: We've been wanting to release the albums on vinyl for a long time. Last year we were contacted by Blood Music, and we felt the time was right to do it. It's also a good new start for us as an independent band.

Did the support or encouragement of your fans help this decision?

Carbon Based Lifeforms:  We got a lot of questions about vinyl from our fans over the years so when Blood music asked us it was a no-brainer.

How comes we haven't seen any of your previous albums on vinyl before? Was this mainly because Ultimae Records didn’t support vinyl? (I see they are, only now releasing some)

At the time we were releasing on Ultimae they were too busy to bother with vinyl releases and back then there wasn't that big of a demand for vinyl.

So some other labels will be helping out with the remastered releases. Can you tell us how that came about?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: Since we went independent, we were discussing doing vinyl releases ourselves and then Blood Music contacted us. Given their track record of really special releases we were immediately intrigued to work with them. Also we felt it would be interesting to work with a label that isn't not really deep into the electronic scene.

You’re also revisiting the artwork for the releases, who do you have on board to do this and why did you choose them?

Carbon Based Lifeforms:  As we're aiming for a consistency between the albums sound wise we felt it was a great opportunity to update the graphics to reflect that notion.

We are working with Mattias Fredriksson who is an old friend and graphics/photography collaborator of ours. He's done a lot of stuff for us over the years. He also happens to make music, look out for a remix we did of his track "Snö på hisingen" on an upcoming compilation we're working on, release date tbd.

I always find artwork to be one of the most valuable, and time consuming pieces of a release - how much do you value packaging and artwork in your releases?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: For us the music is front line and center, however the packaging and graphics really help convey the mood we're aiming for, so in that sense it's really important. One of the really great things about vinyl releases are that the graphics can be really impressive.

Has the remastering process been painful? Can you tell us how you approached it and who is doing this for you?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: Yes!! It was hell for a while there :) especially Hydroponic. Since we did not do a proper job of exporting everything in a good format back in '02-'03 we had to get the old Cubase projects up and running which meant we had to spend way way way too much time tracking down really old plugins, most of which are not available anymore, so there was a lot of hunting the dark corners of the net.... and once we got everything up and running there was a lot of hours spent making sure the old plugins were doing what they were supposed to be doing.

Once we got everything up and running in Cubase we got the stems over to Vincent Villuis (Ultimae Studios) for mastering. We found some more bugs in the stems once we got the test masters back, but we sorted it out and Vince did a really awesome job with the tracks.

Getting the tracks ready for Hydroponic Garden was also a pain, especially MOS6581. Once we revisited the mastered files the first time, we realized that all the delays were missing...

What would you say is the biggest difference in your production technique now, versus back then? Has it changed much?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: We thought that we worked in pretty much the same way we’ve always done but we discovered during our remastering sessions, opening old projects from Hydroponic, that our method had changed significantly over the years. Back in the old days we relied heavily on effects such as delays and filters and we used a realtively small number of tracks and a lot simpler sounds. These days we tend to use much more complex sounds and a lot more of them.

I’m, intrigued to know more about your early work as Notch in the 90’s. Is it true you used the Amiga computer to produce? 

Carbon Based Lifeforms: Yes, we started out using Trackers on the Amiga in '91 and switched to Fasttracker II on PC a few years later. Not long after that we started using MIDI. Notch was us two, and our friend Mikael Lindquist. We shared our first hardware equipment and moved the rig to one another every three months.

I loved the Amiga - what was your favorite game? Mine was either Cannon Fodder, Speedball or Chaos Engine!

Carbon Based Lifeforms: There were tons of cool games, some favs were Hired Guns, Stunt Car Racer, Battle Squadron and Silkworm. Great times :)

If Carbon Based Lifeforms could soundtrack an old Amiga game, what would it be?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: That would probably be Elite or Syndicate :)

Will there ever be more music as Notch?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: No that will probably never happen. That was a different constellation of people and a lot of what we did back then was just getting to know the machines and the processes of writing music. That being said, we’ll probably make tracks in the vein of that era but that will most certainly be done under different monickers…

You were at the front of MP3 sites back in the day, what’s your opinion on the evolution of these today? And what about the likes of Spotify - is it something you support?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: Being geeks we embrace the new technology. Thanks to mp3.com we were discovered by Ultimae. Thanks to Youtube our music is found by new people. We love Spotify, both as users and as musicians. Spotify is actually our top source of income.

You have quite a special following, so I'm not entirely surprised! Have you seen a decline in downloads or sales since Spotify, or has it always had a positive impact on your album sales as far as you know?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: If anything we’ve seen an increase. Spotify is a good source of income, providing you have a good deal with your label/distributor. We feel that a lot of the crap that spotify gets is because of old school record deals. If you just go through a good aggregator, such as record union, you get a very good percentage. The shares that labels tend to take from digital sales is really odd, especially for older releases, since they have basically no expenses for those kinds of distribution systems.

You mentioned in your 2011 interview that you hope to work with a singer in the future - is this Ester? Can you tell us a bit more about that?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: Yes, we work with two singers, Karin and Ester. Ester being our newest find. Both are very talented and we hope to work with them both in upcoming projects.

How do you incorporate singing into your (mostly instrumental) ambient music? Is it hard?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: We tend to use it like another synthesizer most of the times. It requires that you work with good talent that hears/sees things the way we do though. 

The only album you’ve produced since 23 has been your soundtrack for Refuge. I would love to know how you approached this - how did you find the experience of writing a ‘score’?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: We were contacted by the director who gave us free reign, but of course with some input. Our take on it was to find a theme and to incorporate it in different moods. We used characters and chapters in the movie as basis. For the album we added more structure and sounds to make the tracks more interesting.

What would be your dream movie to score?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: A cross between Tron (1982) and Mullholland Drive maybe? :)

I noticed you recently posted a picture composing on a train! Is this a regular occurrence? Can you name any track you’ve made whilst on the move like this?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: hehe nope, first time:) That's Daniel trying to find time for music between work and family life:) Worked great though. The track is still an embryo, unnamed. A possible candidate for the new album.

It looks like you’re set to play/ have played a few festivals this year, Symbiosis Festival in September, Earthcore in November. How do you approach live set-ups for festivals? Will you do anything different?

Carbon Based Lifeforms: We have a very flexible setup in Ableton using two iPads running TouchOsc with several controllers for effects and other ways to manipulate tracks. We have several pages with tracks, controllers and additional samples, and the two iPads have the same setup. This way we can do pretty much whatever we want and follow the vibe of the crowd. No set sounds the same. We usually bring one TT-303 and a OP-1 for additional layers.

And so… will we see Twentythree on vinyl anytime soon?!!...

Carbon Based Lifeforms: We're focusing on Hydroponic, World Of Sleepers and Interloper for now. Depending on the outcome we might consider 23 :)

(Header photo by Aneta Hudzik)