Cirque

Unsurprisingly, the geography-oriented ambience of Geir Jenssen's Biosphere project proves a tight fit with Touch, the label launched by former travelogue writer Jon Wozencroft. Cirque collects 11 short Biosphere pieces, each evocative of a photo included in an accompanying booklet. Though the subjects range throughout Europe (from New Year's Eve on London's South Bank to a rocky meadow near Jenssen's native Tromso, Norway, to rural Hampshire to a mountain on Crete), the music sticks mostly to either soft, textured rhythms -- if Jenssen were a drummer, he'd be using his whisks -- or deep dub/techno with soothing synthesizers over-arching most of the work. One of the highlights, "Black Lamb & Grey Falcon" is ambience of a dark, crackly nature with the melancholy repetition of a guitar and whispers of light classical music in the background. It's difficult to tell whether Jenssen incorporated field recordings into Cirque, and if there are any present, they're in heavily processed form; except for a few vocal samples, there's no explicit environmental feel. In keeping with much Biosphere material, Cirque owns a sense of grandeur and quiet beauty that once again reinforces Jenssen's immense talent in creating evocative electronic music. ~ John Bush