The first of two collaborations between biosphere and higher intelligence agency, polar sequences was composed using sounds gathered from Geirs hometown of Tromso. Using sounds from ski lifts, water, ice etc they played the resulting composition to an audience on in cabin on top of a mountain.
Tromso, 70 degrees north, in the artic region, in the middle of the most active northern light zone. In the summer time, the land of the midnight sun, in winter, total darkness. It is clear that this kind of setting would seem like the perfect place for producing ambient music and this album does a great job of transporting you into the mountains.
Polar sequences is a great work of ambient and the collaboration between these two artists works very well, biosphere has previously managed to transport you to the mountains of Norway in substrata which is regarded by many as a masterpiece of ambient music. This album continues that tradition very well these piece’s aren’t compositions in the conventional sense the songs lack any real structure or melody, instead they have chosen to create and atmosphere, they create images of the mountains, the first track reminds me of the time on a mountain when it is getting dark, the sense of isolation you feel during this time when the setting sun casts huge shadows and the wind begins to chill you. This album use’s a lot of these ambient sounds with synths being used to add to them and the steady pulsating beats of bird’s beats. The synths on polar sequences manage to sound very natural they have Cleary put a lot of time into getting the right sounds a lot of ambient music can be criticised for doing very little and simply using droning repetitive sounds and crappy sounding synths that seem to do very little. The beats on this are also very delicate they don’t interfere with the atmosphere and do a lot to add to it they seem to dictate a lot of the urgency of the situation or emphasize the slowness of glacial movements and the melting of ice into streams. The beats manage to sound more like the heart beat of the mountains sometimes delicate and up beat, sometimes slow and unrushed and sometimes demonstrating the magnificent power of these natural wonders.
I’d recommend this album along with substrata to any one interested in ambient music or for some one who enjoys intelligent electronica that is designed to transport you to other place’s rather than to be danced to. Please critique my review I would like to be able to improve on these so far lacking reviews.
