BIOSPHERE
12 Dec 2003
Music
Presented by The Alphabet Set and Pavlov’s Dogmedia
Tickets €16.50Presented by The Alphabet Set and Pavlov’s DogmediaComing to prominence with 1992's Microgravity - which along with the first couple of Aphex Twin/Polygon Window CDs, defined the genre ambient - Geir Jenssen as Biosphere has made some of the genre's best albums. The idea - as it always was thanks to Brian 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.2000's Cirque (Touch Records) is a perfectly constructed 47-minute sequence: cold clarity up against depth of field, synth cycles dissolving into sudden moments of sonic revelation that sound like a waking dream. Inspired by the story of a young American, Chris Mc Candless, 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 at peace.
Steeped in echo, 2001's Substrata 2 (Touch Records) uses a healthy dose of ambient noise (aeroplane buzz, street sounds, bird calls) to flesh out its quiet lyricism; it treads the line between music and sound, but errs just on this side of music, returning again and again to deep resonant melodies. But elsewhere Biosphere's temporal suspension, via cycling arpeggios and a long, blurred sustain, update classic ambient music's indeterminacy with string-laden pastoralism.
For his Dublin show, Biosphere will perform a laptop set, showcasing these albums and also new tracks, which are set for imminent release on Touch Records.
12 Dec 2003
Music
Presented by The Alphabet Set and Pavlov’s Dogmedia
Tickets €16.50Presented by The Alphabet Set and Pavlov’s DogmediaComing to prominence with 1992's Microgravity - which along with the first couple of Aphex Twin/Polygon Window CDs, defined the genre ambient - Geir Jenssen as Biosphere has made some of the genre's best albums. The idea - as it always was thanks to Brian 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.2000's Cirque (Touch Records) is a perfectly constructed 47-minute sequence: cold clarity up against depth of field, synth cycles dissolving into sudden moments of sonic revelation that sound like a waking dream. Inspired by the story of a young American, Chris Mc Candless, 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 at peace.
Steeped in echo, 2001's Substrata 2 (Touch Records) uses a healthy dose of ambient noise (aeroplane buzz, street sounds, bird calls) to flesh out its quiet lyricism; it treads the line between music and sound, but errs just on this side of music, returning again and again to deep resonant melodies. But elsewhere Biosphere's temporal suspension, via cycling arpeggios and a long, blurred sustain, update classic ambient music's indeterminacy with string-laden pastoralism.
For his Dublin show, Biosphere will perform a laptop set, showcasing these albums and also new tracks, which are set for imminent release on Touch Records.
