Let’s go back to a time when electronic music was on the cusp of its defining years. A time when I wasn’t even really aware of electronic music (being just seven years old). A time when nobody knew that the artist they were listening to (probably in a chill-out room somewhere) would end up defining an entire genre, and 14 years later, still be pushing ahead.
in 1991, Geir Jenssen released his first ever album under his renowned Biosphere name. Inspired by the likes of Brian Eno, New Order, Depeche Mode and titled Microgravity, it would go on to be a cult classic. And it would be the first of many from Geir that did exactly that - define ambient music as we hear it today. Geir’s sound took techno, acid, and psychedelic /drug induced music to a whole new level; a deeper level; and was undoubtedly the spark to many of the greatest electronic musicians we hear today.
The years surrounding Biosphere’s debut release in 1991 witnessed the likes of Global Communication, The Orb, The Future Sound of London, Autechre, and even Aphex Twin birth classic albums. That’s not to say that each of these artists were a result or influenced entirely by Biosphere’s sound, but I’d put a wager on it that Biosphere is respected as a pioneer for many of those guys.
The relationship is more obvious in some than others. Take Global Communication for example and one of their aliases Reload, who remixed an entire Biosphere EP. Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works is packed full of the sound you hear in Biosphere’s Microgravity too - the warped samples, the acid-lined bass and the warm analog sound.
I’m not writing this to compare, or to say who influenced who - that would be a never-ending debate I'm sure. Let's just say, Biosphere’s first album, Microgravity was a seminal and defining piece of electronic music. And I’ll get to the point... it’s now available to buy in all its remastered, extended, vinyl, CD and digital glory alongside a bunch of unreleased tracks, following a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Not bad for an album which was originally rejected as unmarketable by Geir's original record label.
Satellites, baby, Satellites.
You may also want to check out Patashnik 2, also available on Geir's Bandcamp - more unreleased greatness.
