.gif)
Nostromo (album)
Encyclopedia
Nostromo is the debut album by dark ambient
artist SleepResearch Facility
. The original release in 2001 was a limited edition (only 1000 copies were manufactured), and has now sold out. However, a re-issue was released on 5 December 2007, which includes a new bonus track called "Narcissus".
. Kevin Doherty, the single member of SleepResearch Facility
, has described this film as "a masterpiece of dark atmospheres and brooding suspense", adding that it is "my all time favorite film". At the beginning of the film, the ship is travelling through deep space, and its seven human crew members are unconscious in hypersleep. The ship is dark and quiet, but not silent – all manner of mechanical and electronic systems are slowly ticking over, producing a ceaseless flow of low background noise.
The album Nostromo explores this shadowy, haunting atmosphere, taking the listener on a deep aural journey through the ship's decks. In the film, the Nostromo has three decks (A, B and C), but the album adds two more fictitious decks, D and E, with one CD track per deck. Each track flows smoothly into the next, with no gaps of silence in-between, and as with all of SleepResearch_Facility's music, Nostromo is very sleep
-conducive if played at low volume.
The bonus track Narcissus on the 2007 reissue is named after the fictional spaceship in Alien
; the Narcissus is the lifeboat of the Nostromo.
The album's main aural components are: loops of deep pulsating bass (especially in "a-deck" and "d-deck"), washes of smooth industrial noise, mysterious droning
synthesiser
chords
(particularly in "b-deck" and "c-deck"), electrostatic
crackling, and other deep mechanical sounds. Kevin Doherty has said that the creation of Nostromo involved "synthesisers and such to generate things, lots of studio equipment like effects machines, radios, waves of feedback from analogue equipment looping back on itself and a big mixing desk to bind it all together on." More detailed information about the album's creation and inspiration can be found in the three known interviews with SleepResearch_Facility.
The CD booklet contains the following text:
The third sentence is a variation on the well-known tagline from Alien
: "In space no one can hear you scream."
(*) Bonus track on 2007 reissue.
During the first minute or so of "a-deck", a recording has been hidden which sounds like an unaccompanied female (or high male) voice, singing in a major key, in a space with a long reverberation time (eg. a cathedral).
At 5:14 in "a-deck", a recording of the Greenwich Time Signal
has been hidden:
A copy of "Narcissus" and a 6-minute edit of "c-deck" are available on the official SR_F page on MySpace.
A 6-minute edit of "e-deck" is available on the Cold Spring page on MySpace.
A sample of the first 60 seconds of "e-deck" is available from the Cold Spring website.
. All four known reviews available on the Internet
are extremely positive, and the artist's official guestbook (now inactive) contains many compliments about the album.
Dark ambient
Dark ambient is a subgenre of ambient music that features foreboding, ominous, or discordant overtones. Although it had its roots in the 1970s, Dark ambient emerged in the 1980s and 1990s with the introduction of newer, smaller, and more affordable Effects units, synthesizer and sampling technology...
artist SleepResearch Facility
SleepResearch Facility
SleepResearch_Facility is a dark ambient artist from Glasgow, Scotland, specializing in sleep-conducive beatless ambient music which is both artistic as well as functional.-Overview:...
. The original release in 2001 was a limited edition (only 1000 copies were manufactured), and has now sold out. However, a re-issue was released on 5 December 2007, which includes a new bonus track called "Narcissus".
Overview and inspiration
Nostromo is mainly inspired by the fictional spaceship of the same name in the 1979 science fiction/horror film AlienAlien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
. Kevin Doherty, the single member of SleepResearch Facility
SleepResearch Facility
SleepResearch_Facility is a dark ambient artist from Glasgow, Scotland, specializing in sleep-conducive beatless ambient music which is both artistic as well as functional.-Overview:...
, has described this film as "a masterpiece of dark atmospheres and brooding suspense", adding that it is "my all time favorite film". At the beginning of the film, the ship is travelling through deep space, and its seven human crew members are unconscious in hypersleep. The ship is dark and quiet, but not silent – all manner of mechanical and electronic systems are slowly ticking over, producing a ceaseless flow of low background noise.
The album Nostromo explores this shadowy, haunting atmosphere, taking the listener on a deep aural journey through the ship's decks. In the film, the Nostromo has three decks (A, B and C), but the album adds two more fictitious decks, D and E, with one CD track per deck. Each track flows smoothly into the next, with no gaps of silence in-between, and as with all of SleepResearch_Facility's music, Nostromo is very sleep
Sleep
Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than...
-conducive if played at low volume.
The bonus track Narcissus on the 2007 reissue is named after the fictional spaceship in Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
; the Narcissus is the lifeboat of the Nostromo.
The album's main aural components are: loops of deep pulsating bass (especially in "a-deck" and "d-deck"), washes of smooth industrial noise, mysterious droning
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
synthesiser
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
chords
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
(particularly in "b-deck" and "c-deck"), electrostatic
Electrostatic discharge
Electrostatic discharge is a serious issue in solid state electronics, such as integrated circuits. Integrated circuits are made from semiconductor materials such as silicon and insulating materials such as silicon dioxide...
crackling, and other deep mechanical sounds. Kevin Doherty has said that the creation of Nostromo involved "synthesisers and such to generate things, lots of studio equipment like effects machines, radios, waves of feedback from analogue equipment looping back on itself and a big mixing desk to bind it all together on." More detailed information about the album's creation and inspiration can be found in the three known interviews with SleepResearch_Facility.
The CD booklet contains the following text:
- "Deep within Mother's mass the seven slept, frozen in caskets of ice..."
- "Quietly, she made her way home, only the quake and rumble of her mighty engines breaking the silence of endless vacuum..."
- "Shhh... In space no one can hear you dream..."
The third sentence is a variation on the well-known tagline from Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
: "In space no one can hear you scream."
Track listing
| Track | Name | Duration on 2001 issue |
Duration on 2007 reissue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | a-deck | 14:01 | 14:00 |
| 2 | b-deck | 11:52 | 12:03 |
| 3 | c-deck | 11:57 | 11:46 |
| 4 | d-deck | 12:37 | 12:37 |
| 5 | e-deck | 11:21 | 11:04 |
| 6 (*) | Narcissus | — | 7:52 |
Hidden sounds
At a few points in the album, different sounds have been "hidden" (ie. recorded at extremely low volume, so that they are inaudible during normal listening).During the first minute or so of "a-deck", a recording has been hidden which sounds like an unaccompanied female (or high male) voice, singing in a major key, in a space with a long reverberation time (eg. a cathedral).
At 5:14 in "a-deck", a recording of the Greenwich Time Signal
Greenwich Time Signal
The Greenwich Time Signal , popularly known as the pips, is a series of six short tones broadcast at one-second intervals by many BBC Radio stations to mark the precise start of each hour...
has been hidden:
Free audio
Complete copies of "a-deck" and "c-deck" are available from the Audio Project Archive page of the official website.A copy of "Narcissus" and a 6-minute edit of "c-deck" are available on the official SR_F page on MySpace.
A 6-minute edit of "e-deck" is available on the Cold Spring page on MySpace.
A sample of the first 60 seconds of "e-deck" is available from the Cold Spring website.
Response
Nostromo has been very well received, both by fans of dark ambient music, and by people with sleeping disordersSleep disorder
A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder of the sleep patterns of a person or animal. Some sleep disorders are serious enough to interfere with normal physical, mental and emotional functioning...
. All four known reviews available on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
are extremely positive, and the artist's official guestbook (now inactive) contains many compliments about the album.
Reviews
- AmbiEntrance (another copy available here)
- Ortus Obscurum, rescued using Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
(another copy available here) - darkambient.org, rescued using Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
(another copy available here) - These three reviews are also archived here
- Amazon.co.uk customer review