Carbon Based Lifeforms at Kontiki

Carbon Based Lifeforms have long been one of the finest names in ambient music. Strangely enough, despite calling Gothenburg home, they rarely perform here. Having been lucky enough to catch them several times over the years, I can only hope more people get the opportunity, because their music is nothing short of insanely great. It’s not something you simply listen to, it quietly surrounds you until the outside world fades away.

Johannes Hedberg and Daniel Vadestrid have been creating electronic music together since 1991 through a variety of projects. Alongside Carbon Based Lifeforms and Thermostatic, they’ve also explored their own sonic territories with DigiDroid and Sync24, both well worth seeking out.

Carbon Based Lifeforms live at Kontiki.

Their fourth album, Twentythree, have been out for a couple of years. Compared to Hydroponic Garden, World of Sleepers and Interloper, it drifts even further into ambient territory, trading rhythms for vast and slowly unfolding soundscapes. It’s also become one of my favorite albums, a record that somehow manages to feel both cosmic and deeply human at the same time.

Tonight’s venue, Kontiki, proved to be the perfect setting. Surrounded by a small forest of bamboo, Johannes and Daniel gently built layer upon layer of shimmering textures while the audience was hypnotized by the music.