Biosphere - "Shhoctavoski", live in London 23/01

old gregg

bonoestente,
folks who are on the Touch mailing list will probably already be aware but take a look at this for the bones of an excellent evening out in London.

http://roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/productions/london-contemporary-orchestra-4099

I've tix bought and wondering if any other Experimental music types around here plan on making the trip?

Scubadevils

That looks mighty attractive alright. Would seriously consider getting over but not sure with the timescale involved, funds etc... gonna feckin try though, the chances of it ever being in Ireland, slim-to-fck all I'd say.

old gregg

cool. Ryanair flight over, and the concert tix are almost free ... the only real downer is accommodation which is always a major expense in central London.

Let me know if you decide to go and we can sink a few and if he's there I'll introduce you to Geir and the guys from Touch.

Scubadevils

Nah it's definitely not an option, mentioned at home here and was reminded of family visits etc this weekend

I wonder if Geir is likely to perform anywhere else in Europe over the coming months, or even any other concert of real worth attending. With good notice, flights are so cheap - going to start looking at what's coming up over the next few months and just book something I reckon.

Edit - would have been great to meet Geir or the guys from Touch Defo have to see if something comes up again in the near future.

old gregg

Well his new music was wonderful. Full orchestra, the works ... seated in the Roundhouse.

And the funny things is that he was in unusually chatty form afterwards. I met him at the bar and he was happy to talk about the music and was genuinely thrilled that people would fly in from another country to hear his music. I'd first met him at a workshop a few years ago and shared some of my own stuff with him (his recommendation was that I never introduce the 'didge' into my Australian recordings).

Not sure whether he's planning anything in the short term. I tried to get him over here last October but ran up against a bunch of incompetents who were running a festival so dropped the thing. He did an amazing performance in Krakow last October for the Unsound festival where I'd played the year before so he'll be around again.

I'd forgotten to drop the guys from Touch an email before leaving so never ran into them. Mike from Touch is pretty active in attending these things and in particular if it's a Chris Watson event/workshop.

Scubadevils

Sounds great, really would have loved to have got over. Try get him over here again, I'm sure there would be enough of an Irish following to warrant a visit?

Next gig not to be missed is Reagenz on the 12th of Feb in Belfast... no doubt I'll miss it though :rolleyes:

http://www.myspace.com/moufang

John

old gregg wrote: »

He did an amazing performance in Krakow last October for the Unsound festival where I'd played the year before so he'll be around again.

What name do you perform under? I've never been to unsound but wondering do I know your stuff?

old gregg

John wrote: »

What name do you perform under? I've never been to unsound but wondering do I know your stuff?

Hiya John,
for the last many years I've been recording/performing under the name miXile - http://www.mixile.com . Prior to that and going back to the mid 80s I was doing mostly performance/sound art work under my own name Michael Shanahan. Most of the live work I've done in Ireland will have been in art galleries (Project, Triskel, Garter Lane, etc) and cathedrals (St. Fin Barres) and the ocasional festival such as Life (08, 09). Outside of Ireland it's been mostly festival (Krakow, Transylvania) stuff over the last few years.

Currently finishing the 6th album which is part of a series of based around field recordings I've been making while travelling in parts of Australia when I can get away from Waterford every year or so.

I've never been comfortable with blatant self promotion but am happy to post a free download link to the last album and some of the new work as it comes back from being mastered. I'm quite happy to share the music on Boards but again have been reluctant to make a big deal of it.

And now on to more important things:

---

OK for the Biosphere aficionado types among us, check out the latest Touch newsletter where you'll find a link to download (for free and legal):

Biosphere

01.02.10 - Live in Den Haag - 37:05 - 192 kbps

Born in Tromso (Norway), Geir Jenssen is better known as Biosphere, a key figure in contemporary Norwegian music. In 1992, Jenssen shot to fame with his Biosphere-debut album "Microgravity", becoming one of the pioneering ambient artists from the 90's. He was one of the first to come up with the mix of soundscapes, voice samples and atmospheric noise with trancey melodies and solid beats.

Touch Live on September 26th 2009 at Todaysart 09, Den Haag featured Biosphere, Philip Jeck, Hildur Gudnadottir, Jana Winderen & The Eternal Chord. Biosphere gave an intimate performance in the Lutherse Kerk, a very small church.

Recorded straight from the mixing desk to an Ares Pll Nagra digital recorder.

and the link: http://www.touchradio.org.uk/touch_radio_48_biosphere.html

KCAccidental

must say that biosphere show in krakow was outstanding. great space for it as well.

old gregg

KCAccidental wrote: »

must say that biosphere show in Krakow was outstanding. great space for it as well.

it's moving slightly off-topic but what do you think of Krakow as a city? I thought it one of the most beautiful European cities I've ever been to.

Were there events at the Manggha Centre this year? I saw Max Richter there in 08 and it worked very nicely.

Scubadevils

old gregg wrote: »

it's moving slightly off-topic but what do you think of Krakow as a city? I thought it one of the most beautiful European cities I've ever been to.

Were there events at the Manggha Centre this year? I saw Max Richter there in 08 and it worked very nicely.

What was Max Richter like live? Would love to see him.

old gregg

Felixdhc wrote: »

What was Max Richter like live? Would love to see him.

Richter was pretty cool actually. He comes across as being a very confident performer, loads of credibility. The act that opened for Richter - Hauschka (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauschka) was great too.

old gregg

not trying to flog anything to death here but that free Biosphere track is lovely stuff. Grab it now if you've not already:

http://www.touchmusic.org.uk/touchradio/Radio48/denhaag.mp3

never passing up an opportunity to spread the magic of Biosphere

Scubadevils

I've got back into listening to CDs with headphones lately at home and really discovering some albums again and also only fully appreciating others for the first time. I have 'Shenzhou' in a queue at the moment as I didn't really get into it before, found it almost too quiet at times but I reckon a dedicated headphone listen might solve that.

What's your opinion on 'Nordheim Transformed' with Deathprod... I never bought that one but have been often tempted. That and 'Autour De La Lune' are the only albums of his that I'm missing - oh and the latest live one too.

Microgravity, Patashnik and Substrata would be some of my most frequently listened to albums, 3 absolute gems.

old gregg

ah man, you're talking to a fanboy here so I'll 'big-up' everything that Geir does. Hell, he could do Eurovision and I'd still rave about his music

I like 'Nordheim Transformed' though don't listen to it that often. At the same time, I'd much prefer his collaborative work with Higher Intelligence Agency or Pete Namlook for that matter. Maybe it's 'cos I'm not a big fan of Deathprod but am of the other two. ... That sentence started to become complicated at some point.

An interesting Geir Jensson/Biosphere project to listen to is Cho Oyu 8201m – Field Recordings from Tibet which is purely field recordings made while climbing Cho Oyu. It was done on a basic mini-disc recorder. He told me that he had a single set of batteries to cut down on the weight and had to preserve them for the climb. The sounds of the wind howling recorded from inside his tent are pretty cool when you consider that 'THE WIND' can be the biggest pain in the arse while doing field recordings, makes me want to bring a tent with me every time I go out with a microphone .

The recent live album is pretty interesting in that a live album of almost greatest hits is an unusual one for an ambient musician. I know plenty of people who felt he was being too safe and should have pushed the boat out a little further with the music, and they are sort of right. It was recorded in Bristol as part of the 25th anniversary of Touch in 07. I was not at the performance but was at the previous few nights in London including when he played the traditional Touch event at The Bedford Arms, Balham, London ... imagine a Biosphere gig in a rugby pub with everyone lashing back the beer and wolfing down the jazz fags .. O that was a buzz for sure, by the end of the night I didn't know whether to crash out or play a game of darts. Anyway, on those nights he tried out a lot of new stuff including music for Tuba which only features lightly on the live album. That was the time when Touch ran the field recording workshop with Biosphere, Chris Watson and BJNilsen ... which was how I came to meet them for the first time.

'Autour De La Lune' is a fave while out walking, actually they all sound great on headphones while walking. It becomes abstract here but Substrata sounds great while under water.

If you're interested in very, very early Biosphere stuff and happen to have a Dimeadozen.org account then for the past 1 1/2 years I've been helping to seed 'Bel Canto - live in Rotterdam - Nighttown - 24/11/1988' while Geir Jenssen was still with the band'. It's poppy but Bel Canto had a charm.

O crikey, I could go on and on about Biosphere all day. The question for you Felix is, can we make it back to earth?

Scubadevils

Never seen that Tibet one, did he actually release it? And actually I don't have 'Dropsonde' either come to think of it!

Sounds an interesting mix alright what you describe in London, not what you'd expect for Biosphere.

Would love to hear more of his much earlier stuff - I do have a 'digital' version of 'The North Pole By Submarine', an enjoyable album but nothing mind-blowing.

And the answer to your question... the risk is great, the decision of course, is yours.

old gregg

yea he released the Tibet one. I know you can get it direct from the Touch shop: http://touchshop.org/product_info.php?cPath=19&products_id=158

great artwork and the booklet is cool. here's the story: http://www.biosphere.no/cho_oyu.html
and http://www.ashinternational.com/editions/ash_71_geir_jenssen_cho_oyu_8201m.html

Dropsonde is great, a bit more jazz in place, nice.

yea, I love that Tranquillizer track from Microgravity, one of my faves.

Scubadevils

old gregg wrote: »

yea he released the Tibet one. I know you can get it direct from the Touch shop: http://touchshop.org/product_info.php?cPath=19&products_id=158

great artwork and the booklet is cool. here's the story: http://www.biosphere.no/cho_oyu.html
and http://www.ashinternational.com/editions/ash_71_geir_jenssen_cho_oyu_8201m.html

Dropsonde is great, a bit more jazz in place, nice.

yea, I love that Tranquillizer track from Microgravity, one of my faves.

Forgot to reply to you here... thanks for that, I only ever check discogs for releases for some reason, forget to check the labels!

Must pick that up and Dropsonde, when funds allow of course

old gregg

Felixdhc wrote: »

Forgot to reply to you here... thanks for that, I only ever check discogs for releases for some reason, forget to check the labels!

Must pick that up and Dropsonde, when funds allow of course

surely it would be a deductible business expense for a Mod

Scubadevils

old gregg wrote: »

surely it would be a deductible business expense for a Mod

Aha, yeah... or better still, I should write to touch and explain I am a mod on boards and can they please provide FOC copies of all their releases