Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen, a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his works on ambient techno and arctic themed pieces, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His 1997 album Substrata was voted by the users of the Hyperreal website in 2001 as the best all-time classic ambient album.

Inland Delta contains nine new musical pieces recorded from 2022 to 2023, featuring mainly improvised performances on newly restored vintage keyboards. More

Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen, a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his works on ambient techno and arctic themed pieces, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His 1997 album Substrata was voted by the users of the Hyperreal website in 2001 as the best all-time classic ambient album.

Inland Delta contains nine new musical pieces recorded from 2022 to 2023, featuring mainly improvised performances on newly restored vintage keyboards. More

CD!

Substrata was the third studio album by the Norwegian electronic artist Biosphere, released 25 years ago by All Saints Records in London.
In 2016, Pitchfork ranked it at number 38 on its list of the 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time.
Here are ten alternative versions picked from the Substrata recordings sessions that took place between 1995 and 1996.

David Stubbs´review of the original album in Melody Maker ,July 12th 1997.

Biosphere, aka Norwegian Geir Jenssen, is transmitting from a cold, polar outpost of the imagination. "Substrata"
is the best ambient album I've heard in an ice age, an album of terrifying, desolate and all-enveloping beauty, the
music of a man who's stared too long and too hard at the Northern lights, a music of distant rumbles, tremors
underfoot, stray radio signals, yawning chasms and indistinct, grainy images in the half-light when the mind begins to play tricks. "Poa Alpina" reminds me of recent, frightening TV footage of vast chunks of iceberg cracking and falling away into the sea under the duress of global warming. As for "The Things I Tell You", imagine what Oasis would have sounded like had they been born Eskimos. "Sphere Of No Form" is shot through with a frantic peal like the Mayday song of the world's last whale and, best of all, "Kobresia" looms with a vast, mournful, symphonic motif, like the ghost of the Titanic. Chill out has never been this chilling. More

Substrata was the third studio album by the Norwegian electronic artist Biosphere, released 25 years ago by All Saints Records in London.
In 2016, Pitchfork ranked it at number 38 on its list of the 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time.
Here are ten alternative versions picked from the Substrata recordings sessions that took place between 1995 and 1996.

David Stubbs´review of the original album in Melody Maker ,July 12th 1997.

Biosphere, aka Norwegian Geir Jenssen, is transmitting from a cold, polar outpost of the imagination. "Substrata"
is the best ambient album I've heard in an ice age, an album of terrifying, desolate and all-enveloping beauty, the
music of a man who's stared too long and too hard at the Northern lights, a music of distant rumbles, tremors
underfoot, stray radio signals, yawning chasms and indistinct, grainy images in the half-light when the mind begins to play tricks. "Poa Alpina" reminds me of recent, frightening TV footage of vast chunks of iceberg cracking and falling away into the sea under the duress of global warming. As for "The Things I Tell You", imagine what Oasis would have sounded like had they been born Eskimos. "Sphere Of No Form" is shot through with a frantic peal like the Mayday song of the world's last whale and, best of all, "Kobresia" looms with a vast, mournful, symphonic motif, like the ghost of the Titanic. Chill out has never been this chilling. More

Iconic Norwegian producer and composer Biosphere follows up his evocative 'Angel's Flight' release with a new album set for release early in 2022. Shortwave Memories is an album inspired by the post-punk electronic music of the late 70's and early 80's, especially the productions of figures like Martin Hannett and Daniel Miller. "The last few Biosphere albums have all been made using samples and software, but Shortwave Memories is a return to vintage analog hardware from the late 70s and early 80s. Most of these instruments do not have any presets or memory storage, so all the sounds were programmed from scratch. The idea was not so much to make music that sounds like it was written in the same period. It's more like what would happen if I had the chance to use the same instruments, and applied the same meticulous attention to detail as the producers mentioned above." Presented as a continuous sonic journey, this stunning record unequivocally manifests a world of it's own and al. More

Iconic Norwegian producer and composer Biosphere follows up his evocative 'Angel's Flight' release with a new album set for release early in 2022. Shortwave Memories is an album inspired by the post-punk electronic music of the late 70's and early 80's, especially the productions of figures like Martin Hannett and Daniel Miller. "The last few Biosphere albums have all been made using samples and software, but Shortwave Memories is a return to vintage analog hardware from the late 70s and early 80s. Most of these instruments do not have any presets or memory storage, so all the sounds were programmed from scratch. The idea was not so much to make music that sounds like it was written in the same period. It's more like what would happen if I had the chance to use the same instruments, and applied the same meticulous attention to detail as the producers mentioned above." Presented as a continuous sonic journey, this stunning record unequivocally manifests a world of it's own and al. More

Dropsonde was originally released by Touch (UK) in 2006. This is a reissue with seven previously unreleased recordings. More

Dropsonde was originally released by Touch (UK) in 2006. This is a reissue with seven previously unreleased recordings. More

Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen, a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his works on ambient techno and arctic themed pieces, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His 1997 album Substrata was voted by the users of the Hyperreal website in 2001 as the best all-time classic ambient album.
"The Senja Recordings" is a collection of various outdoor recordings and studio improvisations recorded on the island of Senja, Arctic Norway, between 2015 and 2018. More

A remastered version of Shenzhou on triple vinyl and double CD with the bonus album"The Samphire Tower. More

Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen, a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his works on ambient techno and arctic themed pieces, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His 1997 album Substrata was voted by the users of the Hyperreal website in 2001 as the best all-time classic ambient album.
The Petrified Forest mini-album is inspired by the movie of the same name, released in 1936 and directed by Archie Mayo.
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Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen, a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his works on ambient techno and arctic themed pieces, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His 1997 album Substrata was voted by the users of the Hyperreal website in 2001 as the best all-time classic ambient album.
"The Senja Recordings" is a collection of various outdoor recordings and studio improvisations recorded on the island of Senja, Arctic Norway, between 2015 and 2018. More

A remastered version of Shenzhou on triple vinyl and double CD with the bonus album"The Samphire Tower. More

Slug Christ is a rapper-producer based in Atlanta, Georgia. "My style is very 808 heavy. I'm very trap influenced, I´d like to consider myself doing the next version of trap music, more abstract." Trap music boasts itself as some of today's most tightly sequenced hip-hop music, but Slug Christ's loose, drug-induced delivery has helped him establish his
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In association with DJ Amir and 180 Proof Records, BBE Music proudly presents ‘Strata Records – The Sound of Detroit – Reimagined by Jazzanova’, a brand new celebration of the iconic imprint.

How does the Berlin-based production collective Jazzanova find itself reimagining songs from the iconic, Detroit record label Strata? “I couldn’t think of a more perfect band to do this work,” DJ Amir says about Jazzanova, a combination of DJs, record collectors and musicians, “because they brought passion and love to the project, because they know the music and love the music. And on top of that, they know how to play.” This unlikely, yet ideal pairing is the result of years of work and passion from Amir Abdullah, the crate-digging, DJ and label- head for 180-Proof Records which in 2011 began reissuing the groundbreaking Strata Records back catalog and unreleased gems from the vaults. On Strata Records – The Sound of Detroit – Reimagined by Jazzanova, DJ Amir and Jazzanova breathe new life into eleven hand-picked tracks from the Strata catalog for fans of the label’s historic recordings and new ears alike.

Strata Records rose from the ashes of Detroit’s tumultuous 1960s decline. Motor City famously burned in 1967 and then again in 1968, leading to mass exodus of those who could afford to relocate out of the city. “The people of Detroit don’t call it the riot,” Barbara Cox, the widow of label-founder Kenny Cox says, “they call it the insurrection.” From the ashes of the insurrection, Kenny Cox founded Strata as a community organization that initially ran food drives and jazz programs.

Not unlike the original Strata collective, Jazzanova is a creative musical community in a constant state of evolution. Founded in 1995 in Berlin, the original five members came together as a collaboration between DJs and producers to create future-focused dance music inspired by their shared love for “funk, jazz, disco, Latin… all kinds of things – but mostly old records,” founding member Stefan Leisering explains. Never content to stand still, in 2009 Jazzanova also started to play live with their own band, reinterpreting classic sounds and creating new songs, all leading to this latest collaboration with DJ Amir. It only makes sense in today’s bizarre music landscape that the better-known Berlin-based Jazzanova is celebrating the legacy of an obscure jazz label from Detroit. For Leisering, there’s no contradiction, “because we aren’t just musicians and remixers, we are also record collectors, and I love rare records, and I love listening to stuff that isn’t even available, because it’s obscure and lost.”

Their versatility and breadth of knowledge is also what makes Jazzanova the perfect partner to reintroduce Strata to a contemporary audience who may not have ever heard the original records. “I would say there’s definitely a ‘Strata sound,’” Leisering says, pointing to the use of a Mellotron (which was gifted to the label by John Lennon & Yoko Ono) that graces many of the label’s releases, adding ambient string and flute arrangements. “But at the same time,” Leisering continues, “musically it has a small output, but it also has a wide range . . . some records have an avant-garde, modern-jazz twist, others have Latin jazz, or even a soul vibe.” To remix a single song by a single artist is one thing, but to capture the diversity of styles and vibes across a family of creative musicians is another, requiring versatility, sensitivity and superb chops. “In the past we were working more like producers,” Leisering says, but with help from unofficial bandleader Stefan Ulrich, they’re now “recording layer by layer with the live band. It’s a new experience and we can also let our experience of making remixes enter that process.”

This is no covers album, as Jazzanova’s take on Lyman Woodard Organization’s musical manifesto ‘Creative Musicians’ makes clear from its Afrobeat inspired horn arrangements, drum track and syncopated tempo. The vocalist for these sessions is Sean Haefeli, who originally hails from Indianapolis, and brings a relaxed urgency to his contributions, sounding like a young Gil Scott-Heron.

On the Malauwi tune, ‘Root in 7/4 Plus’, Jazzanova stretches out for ten minutes, transforming the original into a deep, dense meditation. The rhythm section extends the original’s outro vamp with pulsing horns and Haefeli’s urgent vocals, making the listener feel the mantra: “the blues are all around me.”

“I really tried to combine my knowledge of club music and electronic music with a soundtracky and funky vibe,” Leisering says about their reimaginations. For ‘Saturday Night Special’, Jazzanova’s take on The Lyman Woodard Organization’s lo-fi jazz funk classic sounds more like it’s soundtracking the excited strut into the club on a Saturday night, than the original’s moody, afterhours vibe. “When I was working on it I approached it like I was doing a remix,” Leisering explains. “I started at my computer, thinking about a rhythmic structure, bassline and everything, then I gave this to the band, to develop organically”.

Opening with a circular guitar pattern and electric keyboards before a polyrhythmic groove lays the rhythmic foundation, Sphere’s ‘Inside Ourselves’ is transformed into a searching jazz gem. On this beautiful interpretation, Jazzanova finds a sweet spot melding elements of African highlife, Latin jazz and spiritual jazz for this reimagination of the original.

The album’s closing track ‘Loser’ is a “seventies street blues with a soul-jazz vibe to it,” Leisering explains, “and we thought we could give it a nice modern twist.” Sam Sanders’ original is a melancholy jazz dirge, an unlikely inclusion for this album, but, “Stefan [Ulrich] and I were considering the song because we thought it offered a lot of space to make the song happen in the studio” Leisering insists. The reverb-drenched opening guitar chords combined with Haefeli’s off-center vocals create a woozy vibe, somewhere between gloomy and dreamy.

Re-emerging, reimagined in Berlin fifty years later, DJ Amir and Jazzanova translate the diverse sounds and styles of the Strata Records legacy into a soulful and cohesive musical statement that honors the label’s community of creative musicians. More

A heavyweight classic! 'Don't Laugh' is one of those records, you know you've heard it, you may not who, what or where, but you know it! The original Winx mix is a classic, often imitated, never bettered, but the real gem here is Richie Hawtin's manic, almost borderline sinister 15+ minute reworking. Monster doesn't do it justice, tweaked out, narcotic, minimalist jacking gear. A dope combination of severe LOW end and some bracing sine waves that cut straight through. This one will surely test any club sound-system, if the venue is built for it you will know! This is one for the real heads, pure late night business oft overlooked for the more famous A-side, but trust us - Hawtin's mix will smash any dance! Oh, and there's an insane laughing acappella for those who want to mix and blend! Reissued, remastered and re-sorted for 2017 by Above Board Records with the full involvement of Nervous Records NYC. More

Repress!

The dynamic NZ brother duo known from Mule Musiq, Rhythm Section and their own In Dust We Trust impresses with a superb collaborative EP of highly emotional music!

‘Emotional Intelligence’ fills the A side seeing them team up saxophonist and fellow kiwi jazz legend Nathan Haines and South London’s own Dave Koor aka. Modified Man. On the flipside they join forces with Chicago’s Lee Pearson Jnr (known for his writing for Larry Heard), K. LaDawn on vocals and rising star Joe Armon-Jones on keys. A blissful experience throughout and another demonstration of Chaos In The CBD’s maturing, amazing production skills. More

Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen, a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his works on ambient techno and arctic themed pieces, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His 1997 album Substrata was voted by the users of the Hyperreal website in 2001 as the best all-time classic ambient album.

Inland Delta contains nine new musical pieces recorded from 2022 to 2023, featuring mainly improvised performances on newly restored vintage keyboards. More

Dark Entries has a surprise delivery! Malebox brings us six previously unreleased funk-fueled jams from the archives of the cybernetic disco titan himself, Patrick Cowley. Best known for his chart-topping disco anthems, Cowley left us with an incredible body of work before his tragic death in 1982 due to AIDS-related illness. Since 2009, Dark Entries has been working with Cowley’s friends and family to uncover the singular artist’s lesser-known sides, including his soundtracks for gay pornographic films on compilation albums School Daze, Muscle Up, and Afternooners.

But Malebox gives us more of the Cowley we know and love: churning disco-funk and hi-NRG tracks that are spacey and sleazy, gritty and sublime. Recorded from 1979-1981, these six tracks illuminate what was one of Patrick’s most creatively exciting periods. “If You Feel It” and “Love Me Hot” were both early Paul Parker demos; the former is a peak hour hi-NRG bomb, while the latter dips into Cowley’s zoned-out space disco sound. Jeanie Tracy’s soulful vocals feature on the demo version of “Low Down Dirty Rhythm”, which was later re-recorded by Sarah Dash. The slower, less-varnished rendition here hits with a wild psychedelic edge. Meanwhile, Patrick’s gifts for careful orchestration and infectious melodies shine on “Floating” and “Love and Passion”, which were likely demo tracks for Loverde. The songs on Malebox display the vitality and inventiveness of a brilliant composer taken from us too soon.

Malebox sleeve design was by Gwenaël Rattke, and features a hyper-color retro collage. Also included is an air mail envelope containing a letter from Patrick Cowley to French disco producer Pierre Jaubert as well as liner notes and hand-written lyrics. Malebox will be released on November 12th , which is the 40th anniversary of Patrick’s passing. More

4 To The Floor is committed to delivering seminal house music to wax, making sought after heritage tracks readily available on vinyl for crate diggers to add to their collections. Classics Volume 2 kicks off with a slice of Defected 2012 goodness; ‘Around (Solomun Vox)’ by Noir & Haze. When Solomun took his turn at remixing this Ibiza anthem, it was heard everywhere from Hackney warehouses to Pacha Ibiza, and showed a different side to the heavier original. On the B-Side is the Moodymann Edit, where he makes subtle changes to Solomun’s mix by interweaving tribal drums and stripping back some of the techier elements, followed by Chicken Lips’ electro banger ‘He Not In’ which thunders through. An instantly recognisable record, even if they’re not aware of its name or who wrote it, with an unmistakable bassline that has truly stood the test of time. More

Iconic Norwegian producer and composer Biosphere follows up his evocative 'Angel's Flight' release with a new album set for release early in 2022. Shortwave Memories is an album inspired by the post-punk electronic music of the late 70's and early 80's, especially the productions of figures like Martin Hannett and Daniel Miller. "The last few Biosphere albums have all been made using samples and software, but Shortwave Memories is a return to vintage analog hardware from the late 70s and early 80s. Most of these instruments do not have any presets or memory storage, so all the sounds were programmed from scratch. The idea was not so much to make music that sounds like it was written in the same period. It's more like what would happen if I had the chance to use the same instruments, and applied the same meticulous attention to detail as the producers mentioned above." Presented as a continuous sonic journey, this stunning record unequivocally manifests a world of it's own and al. More

Tracklisting:
A1 Knitring A2 Breakaway B1 Rett Fra Levra B2 Shortie
Info:
Mats Frantzvaag is a highly-talented young producer from the far northhailing
from Oslo, Norway. This is his first release ever on vinyl and we are
happy to have him on board.
Fuck Reality!

All tracks w&p by Mats Frantzvaag in Akersgata
Mastered by Lopazz at mixmastering.de
Vinyl Cut by Helmut Erler, Dubplates & Mastering
Drawing & Typography by Stefan Marx
Full Cover, printed Discosleeve More