Indishia

Artist: Biosphere
Album: Insomnia (soundtrack)
Released in: 1997
Seen the Film?: Yup

Even though Insomnia was released around the same time as Substrata, it's not as enjoyable. The sound palette is much the same, but there are a few reasons why it doesn't measure up.

1. The songs are shorter. Almost all are less than five minutes long and many are less than two. This timing works for pop and rock, but is not enough space for the thoughtful, reflective, ambient themes that Biosphere explores. In Substrata, the songs are good and long and provide ample room for the establishment of a motif, repetition, deviation, return. The short songs on Insomnia are like one-off, throwaway ideas.
2. It is creepy, and we all know how I feel about creepy ambient/idm. Granted, this music has a better motivation for creepiness than, say, Aphex Twin just being his creepy self. The movie Insomnia is meant to be deeply unsettling, and the music meets this challenge well. It's just not as nice to listen to on its own.
3. It's a soundtrack. This is not the same as Reason #2. Some soundtracks sound half-finished without their movie accompaniments (yes, counterexamples abound, see one of the first posts on this blog). Insomnia is like this.
   

I don't mean to criticize Biosphere too harshly, though. He has many other excellent later albums (although I don't own any of them... if necessary, I mooch off the significant other). On to new pastures tomorrow!

The Virgin Dishes

Artist: Air
Title: The Virgin Suicides
Released in: 2000
Provenance: most likely the Amherst music store, Mystery Train, purchased for $4 (!)

This album is the soundtrack to the Sofia Coppola film of the same title, which in turn was adapted from Jeffrey Eugenides' excellent novel. It is one of the most successful soundtracks I own in that it perfectly reflects and amplifies the mood of the film (and novel): essentially, the feel of a languid summer afternoon in 70's suburbia that has been permeated with a strange, unsettling darkness. The single "Playground Love" is one of Air's best tracks, and its bittersweet reprise "High School Lovers" is a personal favorite. This was a very nice listen on a warm, overcast, lazy Saturday afternoon.

Update: I flipped the page in my CD book and found the Playground Love single. The majority of the single is non-memorable, but there is one particularly bad remix (the slo-mo electro Nosferatu Remix, which mangles the vocals in a highly unpleasant way) and one particularly good remix (Highschool Prom - Rob Remix) which transforms the song into an uptempo, bright, 70s pop hit.