4xLP 160g audiophile black vinyl. Housed in a wide spine jacket. Full color center labels. Black poly innersleeves. Shrinkwrapped. Pressed, manufactured, and assembled in Warsaw, Poland. Edition of 200.
Past Inside the Present is proud to reissue James Bernard’s landmark 1994 ambient masterwork, Atmospherics, remastered and packaged with a brand new, track-by-track interpretation of the entire album by friend and collaborator, bvdub. While these versions are separated by an ocean of musical and technological change, together they form a cohesive image of adventurous musicianship, melodic and textural richness, and stylistic timelessness.
released September 26, 2024
James Bernard x bvdub – Atmospherics [30th Anniversary Edition]
Originally issued by legendary UK imprint, Rising High – home of the seminal Chill Out or Die and Secret Life of Trance series, as well as early works by Luke Vibert, Pete Namlook, and many others – Atmospherics quietly earned cult classic status in an era when ambient music was just getting its legs as a cultural movement, and as a response to the burgeoning rave scene. Bernard himself was creating acid trance pieces under the names Influx and Cybertrax, but was “in a fragile state of mind, searching for [a] center, and many of these tracks began as meditative sketches to help with getting to sleep at night.” He hints at this in some of the album’s enigmatic samples, like on “Phosphorus”, where a narcotic, echoing voice repeats, “The most difficult thing I’ve ever tried to do, is to clear the mind.”
For Bernard, the creation of Atmospherics was an immersive process of self-instruction, discovery, and experimentation with comparatively minimal means. Using only a keyboard, sequencer, 12-bit sampler, drum machine, and bass guitar, he recorded each movement in real time, with no overdubs or edits. Because he was toggling sequences, tweaking synth and sample parameters, and playing bass concurrently with the DAT rolling, any misstep meant having to restart from scratch. Knowing this, complex, meticulously layered journeys like “Euph” and “Odyssey” become all the more impressive, as they push the limits of the tools of the era.
Bernard further notes, “Listening to the album now with fresh ears, I can remember how excited I was to explore different ways of shaping feelings into sound. Learning about synthesis and different audio production techniques, I was truly getting lost in it, and I’m still just as excited to learn about new modes of expression and creation.” Fittingly, across the 76 minutes of Atmospherics, the listener is taken through a constantly morphing world of lush, analog forms, mesmerizing arpeggiations, and fully-realized environments that were well ahead of their time.
One early disciple of the album was bvdub (aka Brock Van Wey), who discovered it by pure happenstance during his days as a DJ, when a copy arrived at his local house record shop by mistake. Van Wey was drawn in by the album’s aura, remembering, “From its black, monolithic, strangely endless physical form, to the infinite worlds within, I was hypnotized, transported, and altered. I knew I would never be the same again.” He still considers it the most important record in his musical history, and that deep love is the drive for this reissue’s second half: a full-length reenvisioning of the original.
The bvdub versions of tracks like “Helix” and “Lost In It” take the staccato elements of their source material, and explode them into reverberating nebulas with thick blankets of granular detail. He treats the spirit of each piece with the utmost care, while venturing into different dimensions and refractions with a trademark tinge of melancholy weight. In short, James Bernard’s Atmospherics gives us liftoff and the journey beyond Earth’s gravitational pull, while bvdub’s iteration offers us the Overview Effect, looking back on the fragility below with a sense of splendor and blissed-out majesty.
The two artists have now been friends for many years, previously collaborating on the album Departing in Descent (Past Inside the Present, 2022), so it was natural that Bernard would ask Van Wey to be a part of this very personal project. Van Wey was honored, stating, “Never did I dream that I, some random DJ kid making punk-ass raver music, would ever have the opportunity to work in this way with the most important ambient album ever made.” Atmospherics is a totem of his existence that has seen him through numerous transformations – both musically and geographically – and his treatments of these tracks pay homage to those decades in a fascinating, stereoscopic vision.
Van Wey summarizes, “Fear, ecstasy, exaltation, and millions of memories flood every rendition I made, telling the story of those thirty years all at once. I will never know how James managed to produce Atmospherics, but it doesn't matter. Throughout our friendship, I’ve learned how much of our personal histories, both in and outside music, basically amount to one life experienced by two people in different physical spaces, each unknown to the other.”
Written, recorded, and produced by James Bernard, 1994 Tracks 10-18 produced and reworked by Brock Van Wey (bvdub) Mixed and remastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard, 2024 Design and layout by zakè
"Past Inside the Present looks back to a classic ambient work here from James Bernard. His 1994 ambient masterpiece, Atmospherics, has been newly remastered and paired with a fresh track-by-track reinterpretation by bvdub, a friend and collaborator, for this new reissue. A lot has changed in terms of music and technology (and much more, to be honest) since the original version was made and these new versions were crafted by the timeless musicianship and textural richness still shine through. Amongst those who know, Atmospherics achieved cult status during the rise of ambient music and was created using only a keyboard, sequencer, 12-bit sampler, drum machine, and bass guitar. It was all crafted in real time with no edits and bvdub's tasteful reinterpretations honour the original while exploring new dimensions with a melancholic touch."
-Juno Records
✦✦✦
"James Bernard’s Atmospherics is one of the best ambient works of 1994. My favorite year in electronic music. Some of the most excellent ambient and trance during this time period and beyond. This album is widely known as one of the best.
Euph starts the CD with a deep, ominous and eerie beginning to what will be a wonderful trip into space. Complete Nonsense changes that. Your ship just went on remote auto pilot and you get redirected into a sci-fi interference like you landed on the wrong planet. Last minute of that song bridging to Helix sounds like Brian Eno Apollo release.
Helix takes you out of harm’s way and back on your original mission. As it floats you about in awe it then cuts and Phosphorous begins to build. More eerie sci-fi melodics and voice samples like “it just won’t stop singing in my head” and “the most difficult thing I’ve ever tried is to clear the mind“. Acid line comes out over bassline nearly making this a trance track without the beat.
Mars Rain is exactly how it sounds. As the song progresses the thunder sounds like bombs a little bit which makes the track even more eerie. Odyssey gives you time to reflect and recount your journey in your journal."
-Halcyon Days
Customer Reviews
Overall rating: 4.8 / 5 from 266 reviews.
I got the mystery tape box specifically the "your getting tons of tapes" tier
and it didnt disappoint at all packaged securely overdelivered in the best way in terms of content and didnt take long to get here ,it was exciting to finally see what i got, genuinely made my day when it came in the post, a massive 22 tape package and so far every tape ive listened to has been really really good! Quality all the way, and if anyone was on the fence about getting it, well dont be, go for it you wont be disappointed .
Major respect to whoever curates the box, excellent choices!!
I Usually never leave reviews of things but this was worth doing it for.
I will definitely be buying this again no doubt about it and yeah just awesome really, very happy with it :)
It took a long time to arrive ( mainly because i put the wrong address😅) but overall its an amazing track. Thanking Cory from inner Amazing website and will buy more records from here.
The vinyl itself is very beautiful, and the sound is very punchy and clear! Of course all the tracks slap hard. Really great pressing, really great album!
I discovered the Bless Vol. 1 compilation a few years ago. Some of my favorite lo-fi artists were featured on it, and last year I reached out to the label hoping to get some of their releases.
Cory got in touch with me and personally made sure the record arrived safely. It sounds incredible, and the editions are beautifully produced.
Now I'm eagerly waiting for Vol. 1
Greetings from Argentina!
Really big fan. It’s a solidly built player and I think the aux-in recording function and ability to pair Bluetooth headphones/speaker is really unique, especially on the same device. I can’t speak to the Bluetooth pairing as I haven’t tested it out. I specifically was looking for an aux-in recording cassette player and this fit the bill perfectly. I tested this function and it sounds really great without completely losing the charm of a mic recording.
It was packaged perfectly! Everything that it came in was great, too!
HOWEVER, the page for this product does have a preview of all the songs ASSUMED to come with the album. This is not the case. This album comes with everything EXCEPT: September Rain (English Version)
With the previews available, I thought it'd be there. I was apparently missinformed. That is the ONE AND ONLY issue I have with my purchase. I wish they gave you the EXACT track list on the webpage. But like I said, that'd the only issue I had. Everything else was great.
I've been looking for an original copy of this album for a while at a price and quality that I was happy with. I was thrilled to find this on your website and couldn't pass up the opportunity to support you and support my unhealthy collection.
Excellent, can not recommend highly enough. My new go-to for Japanese import vinyl. Reasonable price, fast ship time. Will definitely be telling all 1 ½ of my friends interested in vinyl about Inner Ocean.
This album is truly fantastic. I have the cassette as well, it's so dynamic and interesting to listen to on both the turntable and in my case the player with headphones! blips is also just a very talented artist and incredibly kind person, sent me a short to make up for the shipping delay with the vinyl.
I can't say enough nice things about inner ocean and the artists on here. Interesting work from very talented people, great deals on buying multiple tapes and records, professional and kind customer service, I've honestly never had a bad transaction from inner ocean and I look forward to my next purchase! Thanks all!
Legit and amazing quality!!! These are my very first two vinyl albums and I just love how these two turned out! Would definitely recommend Inner Ocean Records to those who enjoy collecting vintage Japanese albums.
Most beautiful cassettes on earth as always. Every Inner Ocean release is an instant classic and everything I’ve ever ordered (cassettes, vinyl, merch) always comes quick and very well packaged. Best record label out!
Absolutely PHENOMENAL transaction, adding a piece of Casiopea history to my collection. Shipped fast, packed well, and Always a pleasure to do business with. Not my first Inner Ocean order, and FAR from my last! Again, many thanks to the IO crew!
I’m so glad to be able to have my favorite casiopea album on vinyl and it play wonderfully. Would say it got here quickly but alas the Canadian post strike happened not too long after I ordered it. But all in all I will definitely be ordering more from here.
Favorite Miki album. The added posted was wonderful surprise. Inner Ocean Records shipping and customer support is top notch. Can’t wait for my next purchase!
This is my first entry into the Lofi Snacks series after bumbling into the Inner Ocean label on Bandcamp and looking up their website. And my, what can I say other than it has been a delight! Really fresh vibey beats that sound great digitally on on my desk cassette player. The art is also fantastic and I love the print on the cassette itself. I've had this album on repeat since it arrived Monday. Look forward to exploring more of the Inner Ocean catalogue.
One of the greatest records in my collection! There are few legendary records that scratch the sonic itch this one does. Love the addition of the obi strip. Inner Ocean delivers greatness yet again!
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