Biosphere

Artist: Biosphere
P: 1997 / 2007
Soundtrack for Erik Skjoldbjaerg film of the same name.
Urban Sounds, USA: "Insomnia was released at roughly the same time as Geir Jenssen's debut Biosphere recording for All Saints, Substrata. Because of its label's obscurity (the Norwegian Origo Sound), however, it hasn't received half the attention. Shame, since it's a gorgeous album, in line with Jenssen's recent work with Higher Intelligence Agency's Bobby Bird on the collaborative PolarSequences and the more subdued of Substrata's glacial movements. As that implies, you won't find quite the track development here that the best of Jenssen's work is known for (Insomnia is mostly drones, repeating figures, and occasional sparse, non-acoustical percussion). But then take into account that it's a soundtrack recording (for the Erik Skjoldbjaerg film of the same name) presented in vignette form and it should be clear the music is meant to serve a different, less diffuse purpose. Nonetheless, the material -- split into 17 tracks ranging from 1.5 to 5 minutes, with most hanging around the mean -- is uniformly accomplished, and is on the whole an engaging, dynamic listen, even without the reference of the film to fill out its sparse framework. With Substrata and Pulusha's "Isolation," among some of the best (mostly) pure ambient to appear this year.
Mia Kaarinadotter - Vocals
Geir Jenssen - synths, samplings, electronics, composer, producer

Artist: Biosphere
P: 1991 / 2007
"Microgravity" is the first Biosphere CD and it's awesome. The blend between atmospherics and beat is perfect in just about every single track. "Baby Satellite" is danceable and dreamy, and even tracks without much of a beat, like the opening title track, have a movement to them that few other artists can emulate.

Most outstanding is "The Fairy Tale." The opening sample--where does this come from? A radio-voice describing a square full of burning tourists: "Look at them out there, all those little figures dissolving in light. Rather like fairyland, isn't it--except for the smell of gasoline and burning flesh." Chilling! And the song is great, wonderful beat, minimalist melody, beautiful ending.

Artist: Biosphere
P: 1995
In 1995, Levi Strauss & Co. was searching for a new angle to add to their television advertisement campaign (which up to that point had never featured electronic music), and they decided to use the uptempo track "Novelty Waves" from Patashnik. Shortly thereafter, "Novelty Waves" was released as a single (featuring remixes by various other artists), and managed to chart in several countries, reaching #51 in the United Kingdom

Artist: Biosphere
P: 1994
In 1995, Levi Strauss & Co. was searching for a new angle to add to their television advertisement campaign (which up to that point had never featured electronic music), and they decided to use the uptempo track "Novelty Waves" from Patashnik. Shortly thereafter, "Novelty Waves" was released as a single (featuring remixes by various other artists), and managed to chart in several countries, reaching #51 in the United Kingdom

Artist: Biosphere
P: 2002
With Shenzhou, Geir Jenssen has crafted him most refined ambient work to date. It's been a long journey for Jenssen, from the chamber pop of Bel Canto, through Bleep's house music, then spaceward to the ambient techno of his first two Biosphere releases. Don't expect a return to the beat-driven territory of Patashnik; Shenzhou continues in the purely ambient vein of Biosphere's previous two albums for the avant garde Touch Label, although it is neither as overtly pretty as Substrata, nor as earthbound and naturalistic as Cirque. Shenzhou, named after a Chinese spacecraft, is a subtle work continuing Jenssen's tradition of simultaneously evoking deep space's stillness and the icy expanse of his Norwegian home.
Ten of Shenzhou's twelve tracks are based on the orchestral works of French composer Claude Debussy. Jenssen's choice of source material seems almost serendipitous given that Debussy (along with close friend Erik Satie) is considered by many to be the father of modern composition.By rejecting the dominant classical forms of the late nineteenth century, Debussy pioneered a music of impressionistic atmospheres and textures that helped clear the way for contemporary ambient music. And like Jenssen today, Debussy's compositions took inspiration from nature, be it water ("La Mer") or space ("Claire de Lune").
Unlike Wendy Carlos's Switched On Bach or William Orbit's Pieces in a Modern Style, Jenssen eschews simply creating synthesizer arrangements for the existing scores. Instead, he loops small samples of Debussy performances, then uses the treated loops as a framework onto which he carefully grafts and weaves his electronic ambience. Rather than a clumsy collision of styles, the results sound perfectly balanced and natural, with the orchestral and electronic elements blending into a new form; the resulting texture brings to mind a less dense version of Wolfgang Voight's Gas project, but without the beats. And while taken individually, each of Shenzhou's tracks may sound simple and slight, the album builds an enveloping atmosphere when listened to as a suite. By absorbing elements from ambient music's past, Jenssen has nudged the genre a bit further into its future.

2002. © The Robot

Here the last copy!

Artist: Biosphere
P: 2009
Live At The Arnolfini, Bristol.
Geir Jenssen's dark minimal pulsations were in recent efforts condensed into a frigid boil, a threnody of interstellar space. With this effort, originally designed for live performance, with space built in for rhythmic and melodic improvisation, the ambient techno dimension reappears, though significantly slanted toward the maverick, marginal and minor.
Jenssen appears to be interested in a kind of generative music on this occasion; a shape-shifting mobile whose linked series of sub-movements allow tension to slowly accumulate through measured release.

Artist: Various Artists
P: 1999
Remixes by Biosphere with other artists.

Artist: Biosphere, Global Communication u.a.
P: 1995
This is a very good ambient collection of the ambientmusic scene mostly from Great Britain around 1995.