In Polar Sequences, HIA and Biosphere confront the boundaries of location-based composition and electronic music. The performances, staged in October 1995 in a mountain cabin above Tromsø, drew directly from the surrounding landscape—a process documented in the recordings themselves, where local noises crop up amidst sweeping synth washes and subtle rhythmic structures. Blurring borders between live event, environmental soundscape, and studio improvisation, the six extended pieces move with both tension and delicacy: opening with the cavernous “Cimmerian Shaft,” Bird and Jenssen explore pulsing low frequencies underlaid by the rumble and hiss of real cable machinery, giving the music a material and kinetic presence. This approach continues in “Snapshot Survey” and “White Lightning,” where the interplay of responsive field recordings and drifting melodic lines sets a distinctive, meditative tone.
