Geir Aule Jenssen from Tromsø (within the Arctic Circle), Norway is an electronic musician & composer who records as Biosphere. He is primarily known for ambient / ambient house pieces, inspired by the Arctic or the mountain settings where he lives. using sounds from nature as well as employing loops & peculiar samples from science fiction.
Jenssen was part of the Norwegian group Bel Canto before going solo. Microgravity is his first release under the name Biosphere. Ambient soundscapes are mixed with House rhythms & extensive sampling. Microgravity is considered a classic in ambient house. It was released in 1991 on the Norwegian label Origo Sound, then received wider release via the R&S Records subsidiary Apollo in 1992. This dates it before the ambient/techno boom in the same year both Orbital & The Orb put out their debut albums. This marks Jenssen as one of the godfathers of Norwegian (& beyond) electronic music.
Microgravity / Baby Satellite
Tranquillizer
The Fairy Tale
Cloudwalker II
Chromosphere / Cygnus-A / Baby Interphase
Biosphere
No Government (In the Biosphere mix) - Nicolette
L'eglise (Deuxième Partie) (Biosphere Trekking mix) - Alania
Attalal (Biosphere remix) - Download
Hope to God (Biosphere remix) - Illumination
Circuitry (Biosphere remix) - Front Line Assembly
Digits 3 (Biosphere's Astragalus remix) - Motion Control
It's Gonna be Alright (Biosphere's Angulaq remix) - Mind over MIDI
She's a Star (Andrea's Biosphere mix) - James
At one with my surroundings,
NØ
Microgravity
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Biosystems-The Biosphere Remixes
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And yet another excellet post - thanks a lot!
ReplyDeleteThank you, my friend. You know I value your judgement immensely.
DeleteBeautiful album, thank you.
ReplyDeleteCan I request? Cam you do a cycle on Zoviet France, The 2 22 Horizon and Rapoon?
Thanks, Richard. I'll give your request to the Committee for advisement. They are a slow moving bunch, so it could take a bit. I myself have a treasure trove of Zoviet France & Rapoon, so I'll put in a good word.
DeleteMany thanks for the Biosphere shares! Ambient has been my favourite muscial genre since being a teenager in the 80s, esp. the classic EG / Obscure / Opal era: Brian & Roger Eno, Harold Budd, Jon Hassell, Michael Brook, Laraaji, etc., and also the German side of things: Cluster, Popul Vuh, KS & TD. Also love the atmospheric electronics of Vangelis, Pete Namlook, FSOL, The Orb, and releases from the labels Hearts of Space, Mirage, Cryo Chamber label.
ReplyDeleteOne artist I can think of who seems pretty unsung is the Australian sound artist Lawrence English. Everything I've heard of his has been interesting.
I love how the "ambient" strategy means different things to different people, and how it is endlessly able to mutate and blend into pretty much any other form of music (ambient metal, ambient jazz, ambient house...) The genre has many roots (Satie, Cage, Wendy Carlos' Sonic Seasonings album, of course Brian Eno, etc.) and this unobtrusive tree has quietly grown into a huge forest of different sound worlds.
Anyhow, I love this month's theme, and I'm looking forward to discovering some new (old?) sounds to "reward all levels of listening." :0)
Thanks for all the work you do on this blog!
Hey, :0), thanks for the fantastic comment. Hope you find some things to your liking as we continue on. I tried for an interesting blend of various Ambient. Coming up mid-month is the Twelve Days of Namlook with a special X-Ambias present to all on the 25th. Take care & enjoy.
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