2022 reissue

reissue

reissue, original album was recorded in 1997

decks tipp

experimental lp

biosphere from norway

the new album from norwegian musician geir jenssen aka biosphere on double vinyl, housed in a gatefold sleeve.

experimental sound from normway

limited reissue , a remastered version of shenzhou on triple vinyl ...
great soundscapes / ambient / drone field

biosphere is the main recording name of geir jenssen (born 30 may 1962), a norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. he is well known for his works on ambient techno and arctic themed pieces, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. his 1997 album substrata was voted by the users of the hyperreal website in 2001 as the best all-time classic ambient album.

this reissue contains the bonus 12-track album patashnik 2. allmusic review by ned raggett: one reason why jenssen s work stands out from the flood of early 90s ambient/techno releases is his strong sense of the quirkily creepy not in an aphex twin mode, but in his own particular way. the contrasting samples of a child quaveringly saying, we had a dream last night,-followed by a rougher sample saying, we had the same dream, gives opening number phantasm an unsettling feeling. intensified by the, on the one hand, pretty, on the other, disturbing music, buried synth strings and a soft pulse accentuated by clattering noises deep in the mix, it kicks off the striking patashnik very well. though not as openly dark as acts like lull, for instance, biosphere still has an edge which isnt just melancholic, its downright ominous at point. there s the slow crawl of startoucher, for instance, with its buried vocal snippets and deep bass drone, or the blend of the space signal atmospheres of mir into the low, brooding intro to the shield. not everything is so shadowy, though, patashnik is primarily a relax and chill listening experience, but not without its gentle high points. novelty waves, which became a crossover single in some quarters, has a good dancefloor sharpness to it even as jenssen slyly sneaks in odd drones and samples through the mix. the opening snippet talking about an extraterrestrial disc jockey on seti project is good for a smile, as well as acting as a sharp lead-in to a fast rhythm track. mostly, though, things continue on a deliciously unnerving pace throughout, gentle enough to go down easy but still just off enough to ensure you cant call this new age folderol for the rave generation.

trap music boasts itself as some of today s most tightly sequenced hip-hop music, but slug christ s loose, drug-induced delivery has helped him establish his own style within the genre. if you miss the rawness that rap feels like it s missing these days, then look no further than slug christ.

ambient album

reissue, original album was recorded in 1997

experimental sound from normway

a remastered version of shenzhou on triple vinyl and double cd with the bonus album-the samphire tower. paul cooper, pitchfork: shenzhou, aside from being the name of the chinese manned-spaceflight vehicles, means magic vessel, and i cant imagine a more apt description for geir jenssen s latest excursion into ambient deep listening. after following an aphexian trajectory with his releases on apollo, the ambient sublabel of belgiums r&s records, jenssen veered from the padded sci-fi-inspired techno of microgravity and patashnik with 1997s substrata, a genre-defining exploration of drifting soundscapes. substrata remains for many the album that perfectly expresses the serenity and intensity of arctic wildernesses, a landscape jenssen knows intimately, having spent much of his life in the norwegian arctic circle. in 2000, jenssen nearly eclipsed the success of substrata with cirque, a frequently frosty submerging of excerpted conversations and found environmental sounds that rivals wolfgang voigts gas project in its rumbling, gauzy beauty. jenssen again relies on found sound as source material for shenzhou, but this time, the found sound is old vinyl recordings of the orchestral works of french impressionist composer and ambient precursor, claude debussy. jenssen lifts fragments of these scratched records in a similar manner as he did for cirques black lamb grey falcon and iberia eterea