Biosphere Cirque (Reissue with bonus album)

Biophon Records (Norway)

£28.80

Format: Vinyl LP
Catalogue No.: BIO26LP
Barcode: 7090029000214
Release Date: 5th February 2021
Genre: Electronica/Dance (Ambient Techno)

01: Nook & Cranny
02: Grandiflora
03: Miniature Rock Dwellers
04: Le Grand Dôme
05: Black Lamb & Grey Falcon
06: When I Leave
07: Iberia Eterea
08: Moistened & Dried
09: Algae & Fungi, Pt. 1
10: Algae & Fungi, Pt. 2
11: Too Fragile to Walk On
12: When I Leave (Finely Tuned Version)
13: Algae & Fungi (Candelaria Version)
14: Minuarta
15: Hoodoo
16: Slowly Etching
17: B9

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.

Cirque - originally released in 2000 - was Biosphere's first album for the UK label Touch. This new re-issue comes with a 6-track bonus album and new artwork.

Mojo (UK): Fourth full album from ambient pioneer. Coming to prominence with 1992's Microgravity - which along with the first couple of Aphex/Polygon Window CDs, defined the genre ambient - Geir Jenssen as Biosphere has made three of the '90s' best albums, culminating with last year's near beatless Substrata. The idea - as it always was thanks to Eno's On Land - is music as environment (reflecting, creating): working from his base in Tromso, Arctic Norway, Jenssen offers a polar, Apollonian exploration of the human psyche. Cirque is a perfectly constructed 47-minute sequence: cold clarity up against real depth of field, synth cycles dissolving into sudden moments of sonic revelation that sound like a waking dream - try the first 20 seconds of Black Lamb and Grey Falcon. (And if you think that's pretentious - your loss). Inspired by the story of a young American, Chris McCandless, who walked alone into the Alaskan wilderness and perished, Cirque balances the tightrope between warmth and unease, resolving into a moon melody that leaves you a peace. What a good record! [Jon Savage].