Biography
Swedish ambient duo Carbon Based Lifeforms originated in Gothenburg during 1996 when Daniel Ringström and Johannes Hedberg established the project as a spin-off from Notch, the trio they had formed alongside Mikael Lindqvist. Their initial full-length effort, The Path, appeared in 1998 first under the Notch name and blended atmospheric synthesizers with downtempo rhythms, acid basslines generated by a Roland TB-303, didgeridoo textures, and field recordings. The same material surfaced online in 1999 under the CBL name via the releases The Phat #000001 and The Phat #000002.
In 2002 the pair joined the French ambient and trance imprint Ultimae Records, which issued their official debut Hydroponic Garden the following year. That downtempo acid ambient collection quickly developed a devoted following, prompting the 2006 arrival of its successor World of Sleepers. November 2009 brought two sold-out performances at the IMAX dome and planetarium Cosmonova within Stockholm’s Museum of Natural History. After abandoning earlier recordings planned as a third album, the duo issued the comparatively restrained Interloper in 2010, the year Ringström adopted the surname Segerstad.
The 2011 release of fourth album Twentythree, together with the hour-long drone composition VLA, marked a decisive move toward purely beatless ambient music. Their debut soundtrack, composed for the suspense-thriller Refuge, emerged on Leftfield Records in 2013. Two years later the artists moved to Blood Music, which began remastering selected earlier titles for vinyl editions.
In 2002 the pair joined the French ambient and trance imprint Ultimae Records, which issued their official debut Hydroponic Garden the following year. That downtempo acid ambient collection quickly developed a devoted following, prompting the 2006 arrival of its successor World of Sleepers. November 2009 brought two sold-out performances at the IMAX dome and planetarium Cosmonova within Stockholm’s Museum of Natural History. After abandoning earlier recordings planned as a third album, the duo issued the comparatively restrained Interloper in 2010, the year Ringström adopted the surname Segerstad.
The 2011 release of fourth album Twentythree, together with the hour-long drone composition VLA, marked a decisive move toward purely beatless ambient music. Their debut soundtrack, composed for the suspense-thriller Refuge, emerged on Leftfield Records in 2013. Two years later the artists moved to Blood Music, which began remastering selected earlier titles for vinyl editions.