Origo Sound

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Origo Sound is a Norwegian independent record label founded in 1990 by Harald Lervik. The label began after a colleague decided to close his own label, Cicada, which had released Erik Wøllo’s music. Origo launched two albums in autumn 1990, including a new release from Wøllo.

The label is best known for Biosphere’s early work, especially Microgravity and Patashnik, which helped popularize the idea of ambient techno. It also released Biosphere’s Substrata and the soundtrack for the film Insomnia. Through the 1990s, most releases were by Norwegian artists, with the Finnish duo Dystopia’s The Second Dawn in 1998 as a rare exception. In 2010, Origo issued its first CD of original music since 2004.

Origo Sound has released music across a wide range of electronic styles, from New Age and world music to techno, ambient, and experimental forms, often with melodic elements. In 2007, the label was merged into Planet Origo, an Estonian company owned by Norwegian investors including Lervik. That year, Planet Origo released a sampler as a precursor to future releases. In 2013, Origo Sound was re-established as an independent Norwegian label.

Selected discography highlights include Erik Wøllo’s Images of Light (1990); Biosphere’s Microgravity (1991) and Patashnik (1994); Biosphere’s Substrata (1997); Dystopia’s The Second Dawn (1998); Current’s Enter the Dream (1997) and Communion (2003); the Planet Origo sampler (2007); Nemesis’ Gigaherz (2010); SynthX’s Noxia (2013); Pertti Grönholm’s Winterplanet (2013); and Super Fata’s Structural Tendency (2013).