Biosphere – Patashnik

Classic ambient-techno release of the early 1990's.
But I never could, and still can not stomach "Novelty Waves" It is just a gimmick track (and that is what Levis picked for a commercial).
For listening, rather replace it with Cloud X-3 from the SETI Project EP

Just a few quick words about the 2016 reissue. Clearly remember falling for this when it came out back in 1994 on R&S subsidiary Apollo. But now, I found it overwhelmingly underwhelming, even though it features his biggest hit (‘Novelty Waves’). Also really needed the original (brilliant) Designers Republic artwork.

Patashnik is Origo Sound's biggest commercial success ever, with sales of over 100,000 copies. The CD was Geir Jenssen's second under the Biosphere banner, and like the debut Microgravity is seen as an absolute ambient classic.





After a careful and minimalist start with Phantasm, the album continues with Startoucher, a touching and soaring ambient melody with a magical sample, and where in a typical Biosphere way you get the ultimate calm through the headphones. Decryption is somewhere between calm and uptempo, before entering track 4, Novelty Waves. This song was used as music for a Levi's commercial, and was in that connection released on CD single with remixes by, among others, Aedena Cycle. The scenario from the commercial was taken from the 30's, and was called DRUGSTORE. The launch of Novelty Waves was supported by a completely professional music video produced by Lysverket in Oslo.





Mir gives the listener pictures on the retina of the Russian space station, while The Shield, which was written for the multimedia project Work In Progress, opens calmly before a "tough" rhythm enters and takes with it almost commercial features throughout the 9 minutes the song lasts. Seti Project has an insanely intense rhythm and a super-energetic soundscape, while Mestigoth is short, soaring and almost a bit Deep Forest-like with its calm and harmony. Botanical Dimensions contains samples and sound images from Karsten Brustad's Intarsia album, arranged and remixed by Biosphere. An interesting meeting between Brustad's synth sound and Jenssen's rhythm programming. The penultimate cut is Caboose, before the last song En-trance starts with its acoustic guitar sample which goes brilliantly with the "weightless" sound.





Patashnik was the last album (with the exception of the soundtrack Insomnia) where Geir Jenssen explored the rhythmic electronic music. Biosphere's albums from Substrata onwards has to a greater extent been based on ambient and rhythmless music. Therefore, Patashnik is an important document in the history of both Biosphere and Origo Sound.





-Jon Aanensen, 2004

Im sure its common knowledge but The Shield has a sample from the movie 2010 where the newer Hal 9000 says 'will I dream'?
Also Patashnik has another 2010 sample where the Russian man takes the probe to the monolith

My stylus (if you have a manual tt) at end of sides on this edition, ran through the dead wax and on to the label, beware.

The samples " The risk is great, the decision of course, is yours " and " Can we make it back to earth ? " Come from the British TV series - Space 1999. :-)

e-release with a companion disc of contemporary material: June 10th, 2016.

Geir Jenssen is Biosphere, Biosphere is the soundtrack to the mountains, the frozen sea, the looming winter forest. Cold landscapes and brilliantly crafted waves of sound pour out of this album.

One of his earlier works, Patashnik is full of excellent samples that fit perfectly into the world he has created for this music to live in. In his earlier works as BLEEP he worked with a lot of beats in the material, this is still evident in his earlier work as Biosphere. Not saying that all the songs have a driven line of beats, many are dreamy ladscapes that tug at your imagination.

This is defenitly a must have for any Biosphere fan, and highly reccomended for anyone into Ambient music.