1. Nook & Cranny 2. Le Grand Dome 3. Grandiflora 4. Black Lamb & Grey Falco 5. Miniature RockDwellers 6. When I Leave 7. Iberia Eterea 8. Moistened & Dried 9. Algae & Fungi part 1 10. Algae & Fungi part 2 11. Too Fragile to Walk On


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Biography of Geir Jenssen

Biosphere had quite an impact with his first CD in 1992 on R&S Records, Microgravity. Perfect for the rave scene. The follow-up, Patashnik, was even more successful, with one track, 'Novelty Waves', being chosen as the soundtrack to a Levi's ad. Everything looked good for Biosphere, now poised to join techno's premier league of Orbital, Aphex and Underworld, but Geir Jenssen decided this was not for him and chose mountain climbing over trainspotting. Three years later, Substrata showcased a sound whose dimensions evoked the luscious quality of Brian Eno's On Land, Arvo Pärt and even the best of Ennio Morricone. Certainly beyond "Ambient".

Another three years, and so to CIRQUE. Here, the space&endash;shifting world of Substrata is fused with the liquid electronic rhythms of Biosphere's earlier work. The outcome is almost addictive - layers of detail revealing themselves as you listen and appreciate the convergences deep within the music, between classical and pop, the soundtrack and its voiceover.

CIRQUE is inspired in part by the story of Chris McCandless, who in April 1992 hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness, only to be found dead four months later having made a tragic error with his food supply (see Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild, Pan Books 1998). For some, those too busy with the daily chore of being 'normal', McCandless' quest represented ultimate folly, but to others, rare idealism in his solo rebellion of stepping off the treadmill to go living in the wild.

CIRQUE reflects this idealism, but also the danger lurking in paradise. The music plays like a film, one scene dissolving into the next. Codas pinpoint the action like spotlights, and location recordings weave in and out of the sound giving it the dramatic tension of a great documentary. There is nothing old-fashioned, however, in the outcome. CIRQUE is future music. Cinema for the spirit.