BIOSPHERE - Cirque

06'02

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BIOSPHERE
Shenzhou
(TO55) Touch 2002
12 Tracks. 56mins38secs.
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After ten years of recording as Biopshere, Tromso born Geir Jenssen has firmly established himself at the forefront of experimental ambient music. Although his early releases still bore the marks of dance music, his music has now evolved towards more atmospheric structures, where beats are scarce and environmental sounds are essential. Patashnik, his second album, was already shaping what would become the Biosphere sound, but it is not until his third opus, the seminal Substrata, originally released on All Saints Records in 1997 and recently reissued by Touch as a double album, that Jenssen really started exploring the immense possibilities of ambient music the way Brian Eno did in the eighties with his Ambient series. He now comes back after two years of silence with a new album, almost entirely based on orchestral works by French classical composer Claude Debussy.
One of the most important French composers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Claude Debussy was very often associated with the impressionist movement and symbolist writers, and his non-conformist tonal structures still inspire many musicians. Probably better known for his orchestral works, including Prélude A l'Après-midi D'Un Faune and La Mer, Debussy was very influenced by the work of Russian composers such as Borodin or Mussorgsky, and traces of eastern music can be found in a few of his compositions. Geir Jenssen experiments on Shenzhou with similar elements, weaving his distinctive near-beatless soundscapes around recurring patterns throughout, superposing them on Debussy’s own orchestrations. The title track, which opens the album, slowly introduces the multiple elements of this work, reverently contrasting them to establish a perfect balance of impressions. These diverse components are echoed in turn in each track, placing them in different perspectives. Jenssen acts as an impressionist painter himself, applying little touches which, heard individually, do not equal to them heard in context, contributing to producing sonic effects and auditory illusions. If Houses On The Hill or Path Leading To The High Grass confront these warm soundscapes with isolationist percussions, the remaining tracks are entirely devoid of rhythmic structures, Jenssen relying instead on more subtle sound organisations to create movement.
With this visionary record, Geir Jenssen proves once more that he is the most talented musician around able to create such beautiful and intense music out of arid sources. By associating himself with the musical genius that was Debussy, not only does he emulate his own work, but also give a whole new dimension to the work of the French composer.

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TRACK LISTING

01	Shenzhou	07	Thermal Motion
02	Spindrift	08	Path Leading To The High Grass
03	Ancient Campfire	09	Fast Atom Escape
04	Heat Leak	10	Green Reflections
05	Houses On The Hill	11	Bose-Einstein Condensation
06	Two Ocean Plateau	12	Gravity Assist

07'01

BIOSPHERE
Substrata 2
(TO50) Touch 2001
20 Tracks. 108mins52secs.
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Substrata, released in 1997, is one of the finest purely ambient record ever released. From his remote part of the world, Geir Jenssen, better known as Biosphere, has slowly become an artist in the true meaning of the word, as his work for art galleries or moviemakers took him to explore sound in a different way. Substrata was the result of this new direction, and Touch now releases a remastered version of this masterpiece, together with the soundtrack for Man With A Movie Camera, commissioned by the Tromso International Film Festival that same year.
Substrata is inhabited by the vast spaces spreading across the artic region, endless nights and midnight sun, sub-zero temperatures and Northern lights. Never a record had been so intimate with nature, so close to the sounds, colours and smells of its environment. Jenssen emphasises the intensity of these elements by bringing them into his beat-less compositions, allowing them to take control of this new organic world. From time to time, more urban sounds come into the spectrum, when voice samples telling abstract stories, or a melancholic guitar offering support to an unlikely song emerge, but always, these components get swallowed in by the magma-like ambiences. The listener becomes a helpless witness of the beauty and cruelty of life. Jenssen’s unusual vision, similar to Eno’s,
In the year Substrata was released, Geir Jenssen was commissioned by the Tromso International Film Festival to write a new soundtrack for 1929 Man With A Movie Camera film, by Russian director Dziga Vertow. Jenssen worked with fellow Norwegian Per Martinsen, aka Mental Overdrive, from Vertow’s instructions for musical accompaniment. Each musician worked on every other part. There are numerous similarities between Substrata and Jenssen’s compositions for this soundtrack. Elaborating from common samples, he creates equally intense sound structures. However, Man With A Movie Camera is not as arid as Substrata. Field recordings collide with orchestras, accordions, beat patterns and samples from old French movies to create a multicoloured patchwork of incredible diversity.
The second CD composing this release also includes two tracks originally only available on the Japanese version of Substrata. If The Eye Of The Cyclone is an upbeat affair, evoking more Jenssen’s composition on Microgravity or Patashnik, Endurium reaffirms that Biosphere is now turned towards cinemascope horizons and natural ambiences.
As Geir Jenssen continues to work on various projects, all more or less related to music, Substrata 2 is a healthy definition of the work he has produced over the last five years. This second Biosphere release for Touch is an essential record.

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TRACK LISTING

Substrata		Man With A Movie Camera
01	As The Sun Kissed The Horizon	12	Prologue
02	Poa Alpina	13	The Silent Orchestra
03	Chukhung	14	City Wakes Up
04	The Things I Tell You	15	Freeze-Frames
05	Times When I Know You'll Be Sad	16	Manicure
06	Hyperborea	17	The Club
07	Kobresia	18	Ballerina
08	Antennaria	19	The Eye Of The Cyclone
09	Uva-Ursi	20	Endurium
10	Sphere Of No-Form
11	Silene

08'00

BIOSPHERE
Cirque
(TO46) Touch 2000
11 Tracks. 47mins30secs.
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Geir Jenssen’s career started with fellow Norwegian band Bel Canto. But soon, it appeared that Geir was to explore other grounds, and he left to release his first solo album under the name Bleep. And then, it was Biosphere. A name he would appropriate to make people dance. The high point of his commercial success came in the shape of the ubiquitous Novelty Waves, taken from his second album as Biosphere, Patashnik, and most famous for being the soundtrack of a Levi’s advert. But this sudden exposure didn’t suit the man. He moved back to his native Tromso, reflected on his fame, and decided it was time to move on. And he did. The next proper Biosphere album would take three years to come out. And Substrata was the antithesis of Patashnik. It was an album of intense atmospheres, of long cold nights and hazy days, using pure sounds, unusual samples and no beats at all.
Cirque is different. It is not a rebellious album, more of a reflective work. Organic sounds, pieces of conversations put together and, on some tracks, drums, cohabit in the most harmonious manner. It is almost an extension of his work with Higher Intelligence Agency, or a continuation more like. Cirque is to perfection what Champagne is to alcohol: a must. There are certainly no other artists like Geir Jenssen. The transformation from pop to dance to art act has taken him over ten years, but he has accomplished the journey with pride and determination. Cirque is the result of it. Not the end of the road, more the beginning of something major.

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TRACK LISTING

01	Nook & Cranny	07	Iberia Eterea
02	Le Grand Dome	08	Moistened & Dried
03	Grandiflora	09	Algae & Fungi part 1
04	Black Lamb & Grey Falcon	10	Algae & Fungi part 2
05	Miniature Rock Dwellers	11	Too Fragile To Walk On
06	When I Leave

V/A - Arctic Circles 2

BIOSPHERE DISCOGRAPHY

MICROGRAVITY R&S Records 1993 Buy it on line now		Microgravity Baby Satellite Tranquillizer Fairy Tale Cloudwalker II Chromosphere Cygnus-A Baby Interphase Biosphere _
PATASHNIK R&S Records 1994 Buy it on line now		Phantasm Startoucher Decryption Novelty Waves Patashnik Mir Shield Seti Project Mestigoth Botanical Dimensions Caboose En-Trance _
INSOMNIA Origo Sound 1997 Buy it on line now		Proem Lounge Forum Field Probe Yard Shade Ride Chamber 2nd field Rush Transit Visit Gate Quay Tunnel Insomnia Alania Mix _
SUBSTRATA All Saints Records 1997 Buy it on line now		As The Sunn Kissed The Horizon Poa Alpina Chukhung The Things I Tell You Times When I Know You'll Be Sad Hyperborea Kobresia Antennaria Uva-Ursi Sphere Of No-Form Silene _
BIOSYSTEMS THE BIOSPHERE REMIXES Beatservice 1999 Buy it on line now		Nicolette No Government In The Biosphere Alania L'Eglise (Deuxieme Partie) Biosphere Trekking Mix Download Attalal Remixed By Biosphere Illumination Hope To God Biosphere Remix Front Line Assembly Circuity Rmx By Biosphere Motion Control Digits 3 Biosphere's Astragalus Remix Mind over Midi It's Gonna Be Alright Biosphere's Angulaq Remix James She's A Star Andrea's Biosphere Mix _
CIRQUE Touch 2000 Buy it on line now		Nook & Cranny Le Grand Dome Grandiflora Black Lamb & Grey Falcon Miniature Rock Dwellers When I Leave Iberia Eterea Moistened & Dried Algae & Fungi Pt.1 Algae & Fungi Pt.2 Too Fragile To Walk On _
SUBSTATRA 2 Touch 2001 Buy it on line now		Substrata As The Sun Kissed The Horizon Poa Alpina Chukhung The Things I Tell You Times When I Know YouÕll Be Sad Hyperborea Kobresia Antennaria Uva-Ursi Sphere of No-Form Silene Man With A Movie Camera Prologue The Silent Orchestra City Wakes Up Freeze-Frames Manicure The Club Ballerina The Eye Of The Cyclone Endurium _
SHENZHOU Touch 2002 Buy it on line now		Shenzhou Spindrift Ancient Campfire Heat Leak Houses On The Hill Two Ocean Plateau Thermal Motion Path Leading To The High Grass Fast Atoms Escape Green Reflections Bose-Einstein Condensation Gravity Assist

BLEEP DISCOGRAPHY

THE NORTHPOLE BY SUBMARINE
SSR Records 1990

A Byte Of AMC
The Operator
Mr. Barth In The Sahara
A Fading Dream
The Conway Saddle
The Snake
Cycle 92
In Your System
Sure Be Glad When You're Dead
A Byte Of AMC
Wrong Floppy Mix

BIOSPHERE/PETE NAMLOCK DISCOGRAPHY

THE FIRES OF ORK R&S/Apollo 1993 Buy it on line now		The Fires Of Ork I Gebirge Talk To The Stars The Facts Of Life The Fires Of Ork II _
THE FIRES OF ORK 2 Fax 2000 Buy it on line now		In Heaven When The Night Was Black Sky Lounge A Way To Focus The Mind Nouvelles Machines

BIOSPHERE/DEATHPROD DISCOGRAPHY

NORDEIM TRANSFORMED
Runegrammofon 1998

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Trasparenza
Journey To The Centre Of The First 1.1
Katedra Botaniki
Warp/Warble
Les Fleurs Du Mal
Twin Decks
Journey To The Centre Of The First 1.2

BIOSPHERE/HIA DISCOGRAPHY

POLAR SEQUENCES Beyond Records 1997 Buy it on line now		Cimmerian Shaft Snapshot Survey White Lightning Countdown To Darkness Corona Meltwater _
BIRMINGHAM FREQUENCIES Headphone 1999		Cannon Hill Gas Street Basin Narrowboat The Rotunda Augusta Road Daddylonlegs Midpoint

THE SURFER'S GUIDE TO BIOSPHERE

BIOSPHERE
Official Biosphere web site. Comes complete with biography, discography, photos and links.

SKYLOUNGE
Until recently known as Appolo Project, this excellent fan site provide a good insight into the world of Geir Jenssen's Biosphere project.

BIRMINGHAM FREQUENCIES
Official site for the Birmingham Frequencies project. Everything you need to know is there.

BEATSERVICE RECORDS
Excellent Norwegian record label that has released a few Biosphere tracks on different compilation.

BIOPHON RECORDS
Geir Jenssen's new record label. Only one release so far, but you'll also find stuff about Biosphere.

TOUCH RECORDS
The new Biosphere is released through Touch in the UK. Great label for everything to do with electronic, home of some of Richard H Kirk records, as well as S.E.T.I. and other odities.