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 Tromsö, 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