Titus writes:
Now,
if I were to ask you why I am talking about music made by Richard
David James (Born Limerick, but brought up in Cornwall) and Geir Aule
Jenssen (Born & brought up in Tromso, Norway, which is within the
Arctic Circle), I’m sure most of you would think I’d taken leave of my
senses, although maybe a few would recognise those names. In fact
they’re both well established icons of electronic music, and use the
names Aphex Twin and Biosphere respectively.
During
the punk & post punk era, it was difficult for various genres of
music to not only stay afloat in the U.K. but to obtain much air time
on National radio or television. as I’m sure many would agree.
In
the main during the “progressive era” we got used to hearing longer
and longer tracks, and I won’t name some of the artist(e)s but it did
get a little silly with some penning such crazy things as e.g. 40 minute
Space Operas. Electronic German bands like Tangerine Dream and
Kraftwerk resolutely stuck to their roots, but at this time, the return
of the 3 minute single became the norm........until the end of 1989,
when John Peel played what was then a big change to his normal nightly
fayre. This was by a band called The Orb, who had been experimenting
since the birth of acid house, with improvisational sounds &
ambient music, and they produced a single track lasting 22 minutes “A
huge ever growing brain that rules from the centre of the Ultraworld”.
Peely’s listeners loved it, and in traditional JP style, he quickly
unearthed other electronic works from many countries.
Aphex
Twin released a number of albums, and it all began for him, by
producing sounds via his Sinclair home computer. He began DJing at clubs
and raves in Cornwall, with some donations allegedly taken in
cannabis! He is largely self taught and has no formal musical training.
His first release was a 12” called ‘Analogue Bubblebath’ in 1991, and
since then has released 6 studio albums. He was once described as “one
who has constantly pushed the limits of what can be accomplished by
electronic equipment” and has always lauded the acid house / techno
movement. He is still an active performer.
In
the case of Geir Aule Jenssen a.k.a. Biosphere, I was first alerted to
his work inevitably by Peel. Like Aphex Twin he produced ambient
electronic music, and his 1994 album release entitled ‘Patashnik’ is
fascinating to me, as it employs the idea of a lost cosmonaut, aimlessly
drifting through space. Counting compilations, re-issues & one
E.P, Biosphere’s discography totals 18, and notably a track called
‘Novelty Waves’, was used by Levi Strauss in an advertising campaign.
Again like Aphex Twin, Biosphere still performs to this day. I could
write pages and pages about this type of music plus modern techno where
a DJ creates and re-mixes, but I’ll keep this minority taste brief.
The
track I am requesting lex to play, is Biosphere’s ‘Phantasm’, from the
‘Patashnik’ album , and within this track there is a short extract
from the film ‘The Krays’, of the twins having had the same dream.
