Name: Autour de la Lune
Brand: Biosphere

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

BIO38CD

Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2023-01-27

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Kudos

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

7090029003819

Total Cap

CDx2

Artist

Biosphere

Genre GB

Electronic

Label GB

Biophon Records (Norway)

Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen, a Norwegian musician known for his ambient electronic music. With a notable catalogue of releases, Biosphere has gained recognition for his unique styles including "ambient techno" and "arctic ambient." His music incorporates loops and samples from sci-fi sources, creating a distinct sound. Notably, his track "Novelty Waves" was featured in Levi's 1995 campaign. Additionally, his 1997 album Substrata has been recognized as one of the all-time classic ambient albums by www.hyperreal.org.

With influences ranging from *sad boy with a laptop* to *City Girl*, Biosphere's music resonates with fans who appreciate atmospheric and introspective compositions. His ability to create immersive sonic landscapes sets him apart within the genre.

Experience the captivating soundscape of Biosphere and explore his extensive discography that showcases his talent as an influential figure in ambient electronic music.

Biosphere's Geir Jenssen knows from cold. Residing as he does near the Arctic Circle in Norway, Jenssen understands the psychological implications of a sun that, like a lamented deadbeat parent, routinely disappears for months at a time, and the absence of that essential lifeforce takes an inevitable emotional toll that informs Jenssen's art. It's tempting to say that Biosphere's bleak music sounds as it does for the same reason countries of Norway's approximate latitude make the world's best Vodka. The vacuum of space gets pretty close to absolute zero, cold's recognised ideal, so it makes sense that the conceptually minded Jenssen sets albums there. 

His latest trip into the beyond started when French radio commissioned Jenssen to create a piece using their archives. He selected sounds from a radio dramatisation of Jules Verne's space travel story De la Terre à la Lune ("From the Earth to the Moon") and pulled additional material from recordings made at the MIR space station, then combined the fragments with his own new music. The result is Autour de la Lune, a single 74-minute piece in nine movements. The samples are used sparingly throughout, and the beat-driven side of Biosphere is completely absent. Mostly, the record is a showcase for long and impossibly deep drones. The 21-minute opener "Translation" is an exception here, as a cluster of midrange notes that braid to form a definite melody. Rather than referencing found sound or environmental recordings, "Translation" seems inspired by film music, with tense throbs and horn-like synth lines that suggest captured images of a spacecraft leisurely moving in front of stars.

Autour de la Lune

Music GB