Carbon Based Lifeforms ‎– Hydroponic Garden

Carbon Based Lifeforms surprised everyone in 2003 with this release. CBL quickly rose from relative unknowns to having an ambient cult following; this is definitely one of the very best ambient albums in the past decade.

Central Plains and Tensor conjure up traditional ambient images of walking through peaceful gardens, except with more emphasis on the acid. Both of these tracks are totally beautiful and enough to hook me from the start.

MOS 6581, typically the fan favourite, is one of those tracks which you won't forget. A spooky sample overlaid with some great synth lines make this another wonderful track.

Neurotransmitter makes me feel like a giant, walking in the countryside and taking huge, regular footsteps. This is really the peak of the album before drifting off into an ambient second half.

Most of the second half isn't nearly as exciting as the first; in fact sometimes I feel tempted to start again when I get to Hydroponic Garden, the title track. It's got some wailing voices which tread a very fine line between lush and annoying.

Anyway, Exosphere and Comsat are nice sleepy tracks which begin to pick up again, before Epicentre, which sounds like classical on acid - this is another beautiful track. Artifical Island is sort of haunting and makes you think what an Artifical Island is... does this music create an Artificial Island, for you to enter another realm?

The album ends with Refraction 1.33, a complex and profound ending to a complex and profound album. Like really good ambient albums, this manages to create its own world - the Hydroponic Album, a land of floating trees and untouched beauty.

Not being a fan of current electronic ambient productions (do we really need yet another Pop Ambient, for example?), this album by CBL is a very pleasant surprise. Nothing like the "laptop ambient" so popular amongst some German labels, Hydroponic Garden harks back to the warm, analogue sounds of mid-90s ambient techno such as Higher Intelligence Agency, Mat "Gas 0095" Jarvis, and Global Communication. But with more 303s.

Lots of simple but effective arps and melodies, set to soft breakbeats or 4/4 beats, shuffled hihats and so on (the first 6 tracks especially - but don't miss the 6/8 piece Silent Running, very hypnotic). Later on the beats take a back seat or don't appear at all, and even some vocals slither their way in. The best example of this would have to be on Epicentre (First Movement) - a very powerful, melancholic vocal line in this.

Stunning stuff, overall. Best track = MOS 6581

An album that never seems to grow old. The first half of CD has a lot of acid beats over ambient vibes, while the 2nd half seems to lean more towards ambience. I've had this CD for over 2 years now and it still gets weekly play from me usually. 2 tracks have female vocals in them (Hydroponic Garden), but honestly, my favorites are the non-vocal ones (Central Plains!)

Pure ambient release. The pattern of most tracks is the classic mid 90s ambient one.
Though there is a track that is really different from the others: 'MOS 6581'. The track has amazing flow and the whole feel is excellent. For me it's like it narrates a story, an exotic one from the past that you view it in a smooth & slow way.

Album that shows me how beautiful music can really be and although I've been listening to it almost two years now, it still sounds as fresh, when I first discovered it. When spacey, soft melodies start, they stay in the air and let you float with them in perfect harmony, although they sometimes they can sound kinda childish. There isn't a single bad song on this, which is the case with most of the Ultimae Records artist releases. I use this when I'm feeling down and want something to cheer me up or when I just want to relax on my beanbag with a cup of green tea. Wonderful ambient meditation at its best.

I'm seriously into ambient stuff now, so I spend much time listening to it (esp. while designing some work in AutoCAD) and much time composing in this style and experimenting with the substance of sound. Hydrophonic Garden became an interesting and surprising discovery for me. I realized that popular TB-303 which is widely known for participating in different trance, electro and acid tracks can sound perfectly as well in the most beautiful ambient I've ever heard. Album looks solid and it's too hard to name the "leading" titles. But I think, 'MOS 6581 (Album Version)' is recognized as a truly masterpiece, another favorites here are 'Refraction 1.33' and 'Comsat'.
I want finally thank the CLF for such beautiful work and wish them good luck in producing more hi-q ambient...

Alexander. Saint-Petersburg. Russia.

This is a solid ambient cd. It took a little while to grow on me, but all these 5/5 ratings are well deserved. Standout tracks for me are the self titled "Hydroponic Garden", I don't think a song can get much more complete than this. Very lush sounding, with soft breaks. Also "Artifical Island" is a wonderful song. Very different, minimal, cool use of sounds and a strange robotic voice repeating "artifial island" several times. It's hard to make out that's what is being said, but you can decipher it after a while.

Ambient acid. Good melodies, though perhaps a little too long. Think of Global Communication with a 303. Definitely one of the better ambient releases out there.

Another evidence for the high quality A&R of Ultimae Records. CBL perfectly adds to the portfolio of them. The atmosphere built by the soundscapes within this records are so peacefully relaxed and you feel like the music is surrounding you tightly, yet smoothly with its sonic arms. Great stuff for extended walks through a sunset lit forest. Or maybe just floating away lying on your sofa.