Indonesian Soundscapes is an audio journey composed from field recordings, but it's more than any mere academic presentation of sounds. It's a ray of light shining through a keyhole, an unexpected flower-perfumed breeze in the middle of the night, a sudden shower of rain over a grove of bamboo.

Indonesian Soundscapes was recorded in Bali and Java by Loren Nerell ("Lilen Dewa", Side Effects DFX 26) and Dale Strumpell, between June 1992 and September 1997. It was mixed and assembled by Loren Nerell in December 1997 at Earthbound. Loren Nerell writes: "This recording came about as a byproduct to fieldwork I was conducting in Bali for my masters thesis in ethnomusicology. When I first arrived in Bali I came armed with a portable DAT recorder and microphones to record the music of my study (temple ceremonial music called lelambatan), but almost immediately I found myself attracted to other sounds, what one might call environment or 'ambient' sounds, the sounds of everyday life. I began to record these and other sounds that I found to be interesting, more for my own edification and enjoyment then for anything else." Indonesian Soundscapes is the result of these recordings.