Carbon Based Lifeforms – Hydroponic Garden

A brilliant ambient album, and I’m so happy I randomly as hell downloaded this thing. It was Released on Ultimae in June 2003 and been out for some time before I discovered it. Just glancing at the cover of this, I had a feeling it would be a beautiful experience. This was a true headphones album, but it went one step further…it was a headphones and an eyes closed album. With your eyes open listening to this kind of music, you can get distracted without even knowing it. When you’re listening to rock and the such, you’re too busy, well, rawkin’ out to really focus on the music itself. It’s a form of energy more than anything else. And on an ambient album like this, you need to reduce all other senses except for your auditory sense only. The sound is much more fragile and delicate, and each tiny thing that goes on needs to be absorbed by the human mind as a part of the overall atmosphere.


That’s really where the dividing line of ambient music comes in. You have those who just pass it off as boring background music, which is shame. On the other hand, if you actually set your mind to it and listen carefully, you’ll realize how amazingly intricate these songs are. The album is entirely electronic, and various electronic instruments form wonderfully layered songs that are absolutely stunning. Whether it be a blips in the center of the song, with constant drum beats in the backgrounds surrounded by an overall ambient aura, or just random sounds, almost like they’re taken from nature; it forms the perfect chillout music that takes the very trouble that is hindering your soul, and throws it out deep into the woods somewhere. Electronic psychedelic rhythms are good for the soul.

But the depth of this music is absolutely stunning. The title track was one of the songs that I kept my eyes closed on throughout the entire song. The song starts with the sounds of the ocean, or strong winds or something, and soon a constant synth beat takes over. Then more artificial nature sounds peak in; most of which resemble a bird singing in the morning. With all of these things taken into account, plus a whole ambient atmosphere to top off the whole thing, your mind gets seriously fucked. With your eyes closed, you almost suspect what’s happening less, so you seem more vulnerable. I could feel my heart racing at different points in the song, as I drifted in and out of consciousness. I nearly had an out of body experience, where my other half lept out of my body and aimlessly wandered deep into the unknown. He soon found himself in a jungle, with no clue of where he is, or the way back home. Although he realizes that he is lost, he gets a certain feeling of comfort in his new environment (thank God this is psybient. If this was dark ambient, he’d go into the woods be raped by a gang of gorillas out in the bushes somewhere).

With those types of feelings felt on all of these songs, you get a sense of comfort, and once the music stops playing, you feel afraid of your surroundings. Why do you feel afraid? Because Carbon Based Lifeforms isn’t there to coax you back into your happy place.

Simple as that.

Buy Carbon Based Lifeforms – Hydroponic Garden @ Amazon