DROPSONDE

I'm glad to see Biosphere here on the archives. Geir Jenssen has put out a consistent stream of great ambient records, from his earlier techo influenced stuff to a softer, pure ambient later style. His stuff is usually glacial and frosty in mood, as you'd expect from a guy who lives in northern Norway. This latest album, however, as the cover would indicate, offers a warmer sound. Jenssen has dropped his earlier habit of using lots of vocal samples of disjointed conversations in the background, which suits me, since I didn't really enjoy that. This is a CD of moody instrumentals, often beatless, although a couple of tracks feature some nice jazzy drumloops. It's hard to select highlights from an album of perfectly relaxing atmospheres, but suffice it to say that this guy's only getting better as he goes along. Fans of Eno and Fripp's Equatorial Stars and Fripp's soundscapes will enjoy this album immensely. Biosphere is at the top of the ambient heap with Robert Rich and Steve Roach, in my book. An excellent purchase.