Customer Reviews

Substrata

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

What truly makes music timeless - any music, any genre or style - is feeling. This album (minus track 5, that is, which falls short of the quality level of the rest of the album) is pure feeling/ pure deepness, free of ego. It is so amazingly organic, thick, warm, and analog, speaking the voice of nature, and furthermore the voice of the universe. It takes one's open mind/heart thru the fractal, the schematic of time and space, thru the sacred geometrical structures that create the universe, into the void - primordial emptiness, nothingness and yet at the same time complete fullness. It is utterly spine chilling, and so powerful that it brings tears to my eyes every time I listen to it.

Some people may confuse the pure feelings of universal balance, truth, and beauty channeled thru this music, as being cold, distant, or empty. This is because its power is so stark and profound, that it goes beyond what many people can grasp. This can often happen with music that is repetitive and hypnotic, because of the mind's resistance to let go, and allow the spirit to feel purely. Therefore it's completely missed. There is no darkness (as related to ego) in this album - only balance.

This album is incredibly hypnotic, bringing you into a tranquil, meditative state, perceiving the moment and the oneness of all that is. The music takes you thru many different aspects of the natural world - murky depths of the Arctic's frozen waters, dark caverns and bottomless crevasses, serene lakes, clear blue skies, across mountaintops, cloud formations, and a bird's eye view of the terrain below, as echoes of ancient chants, bells, and instrumental drones morph into an ever distant future of perfect experience - birth, death, transformation, growth, and ultimately, love - resonating eternity. In turn, these compositions open you to the cosmos and other dimensions.

If you are having trouble understanding this album, a visual counterpart often helps it sink in. In this case, and also for an ultimate audiovisual awakening experience, rent the movie Koyaanisquatsi (from the director of Baraka), and play Substrata as the soundtrack instead of the soulless Philip Glass soundtrack which takes away from the powerful, transformative inner eye-opening messages within the visuals, that will be reinforced tenfold with the aid of Substrata. This album is so perfect for the movie, you'd think it really was the soundtrack for it.

Of all of Biosphere's albums, although many are great, this is definitely the 'deepest' all the way thru. I would also recommend Nordheim Transformed (with Deathprod), Polar Sequences (with HIA), Man With a Movie Camera (Substrata 2), Cirque, and the Insomnia soundtrack. And for those looking for music with similar hypnotic feelings, I would recommend the Chain Reaction and Basic Channel labels from Germany, Thomas Koner, Pole, and Arovane to name a few - some of this is more on the rhythmic tip.

This album continues to blow me away more and more every time I listen to it, as I receive a more perceptive message thru it every time. It is amazing how intensely Geir Jenssen tapped in here. Substrata is truly among the deepest, most beautiful music ever created on this planet. These words I write cannot do it justice. It must be *felt* thru the ears.

Biosphere is Geir Jenssen, former keyboardist for the Norwegian band Bel Canto. Since leaving that group to pursue solo projects, he's just kept getting better and better. _Substrata_ is his best effort to date, and easily the finest ambient recording of 1997--even better than Brian Eno's (whose voice, I would swear, appears on a couple of tracks even though his name isn't in the credits).

The techno beat which characterized many tracks on earlier Biosphere offerings (the hard-to-find imports _Patashkin_ and _Microgravity_) is gone in favor of a smooth, clean blending of electronics and spare, delicate guitar lines. One also hears sampled voices, bells, and indeterminate environmental sounds suggesting the high-latitude cold of Jenssen's home town of Tromso, north of the Arctic Circle.

If you like ambient music, don't miss this! A veritable cascade of sound. The absence of anything harsh, abrasive, or distracting makes this a good meditation cd, too. Very highly recommended.

I have to admit, Im a skeptical when it comes to highly praised music, so I was very critical of this album as soon as I got a hold of it. Praised as one of the best ambient compilations of the 20th century, I was sure I would be disappointed having my expectations so high. Well, for once, I was wrong. Substrata deserves all the worship it's received and more. This is a soundscape like no other, merging organic, psychoacoustic, and drone minimalist together into one, incredible journey. When I played track 1 for the first time, I thought there was a distant jet flying past my house, only to realize it was actually a ploy of the cd.
The cuts from Lynch's Twin Peaks series feature the "giant's" visitation to Cooper in his sleep, along with the Major's discussion with Bobby at the RR. I was amazed to hear clips from this (also mind-blowing) early-90's masterpiece, and they fit perfectly.
While I cant praise some of Jenssen's other more techno-ish albums, this single piece makes up for them and more. If you're an electronic music lover, than you had better purchase Substrata.

Lots of people are calling this the greatest ambient album ever made. Put me in league with lots of people. This album creates a pensive, brooding atmosphere that lends itself nicely to deep contemplation. The first four tracks alone are worth the price of the album. Put it on in a pitch black room with a good set of headphones, and prepare to transcend . . .

Geir Jenssen successfully delves deep into forgotten places, and creates a new reality with his soundscapes. Substrata is the best ambient album period. The lush textures and lucid pads mixed expertlly with natural atmospherics stream out, encompassing your mind and sends you to another place.
This CD is absolutely beautiful. No other album has more of an effect over me. Every molecule of this album is forever engraved in my mind....

Beautiful Production. Biosphere at it's best. Without a doubt, my most prized CD.

What first caught my attention on this CD were the samples from Twin Peaks: "Sorry to wake you, I foregot to tell you something: The things I tell you will not be wrong."

A lot better than Patashnik, much more of a whole. There is no single track that stands out, to me it is just a single work, and it really grows on you the more you listen to it.

Remember: The owls are not what they seem.

deep blue, echoing sounds, total isolation, beautiful simplicity. this is the best i can attempt to describe biosphere's "substrata". this is the most organic ambient music i have ever heard. unlike other pathetic attempts to recreate nature that simply come off sounding cheesy, Geir Jenssen has accomplished something truely amazing here. you see, Jenssen does not use very many "nature" sounds at all. some rain or wind here and there, but the dominating sounds are pure electronic. what Geir does WITH these otherwise unnatural sounds is equivalent to what any great painter does with paint. Jensen uses deep blips, echoing sounds, pings, and other simple sounds to create such incredible soundscapes as i cannot describe them here. its just amazing. the opening track is simply the sound of an airplane engine, heard from a distance, as you would hear on a quiet summer evening. the title of that song is "as the sun kissed the horizon". i cannot possibly think of ANY other sound that reminds me more of the emotion of watching the sun set. that is Geir's strength. he doesnt emulate nature. he uses sounds and patterns that hit you subconciously and cause you to REMENISCE of experiences you've had. thus, this album has a very human feel to it. if you are the type of person who enjoys putting some music on some headphones and slipping into other worlds, this is a must. enclosed headphones should be a requirement for this album. it is absolutely stunning, however, your brain will be too busy hovering in the stratosphere to worry about it.

This is truly wonderful "stuff". I'd first heard Biosphere several years ago, my impression was that it was a step above and beyond much of what was being churned out with the ambient/trance/techno label stamped on it, but I have no desire to compare the past with the present.

Substrata is highly recommended. It works as both an environmental wash (which I believe was one of the original intentions of "ambient", at least according to Brian Eno, just one it's forefathers) and as a more traditional piece of music in which to sit down and listen to.

It's a little dark at times, very cold at times, a little "spacy" at times. But always interesting. Tracks such as Poa Alpina, Chukhung, and Antennaria are wonderfully chilly and damp, while The Things I Tell You is more space-electronic (and maybe not as good). There's a nearly cheerful moment with Times I Know You'll Be Sad, then you're back in the cold with the remaining few tracks. A very good listen.

The things I tell you will not be wrong.

I only got my hands on substrata today and I have to say that its fantastic. If your'e looking for a TRUE ambient masterpiece look no further. The album is silence in its most beautifull form ... haunting ... emotional ... soothing.

After listening to the album for a whole day i cannot get the music out of my head and to top it off, there is no way to sing it , or even whistle it ... its pure audio bliss ...



Its been 9 years since the first release of Substrata and it sounds perfect!