Biosphere is very well known in the EDM community for his later works Substrata and Shenzou, but I feel his debut album, Microgravity, is very close to the two more recent works in terms of style and presence.
The one thing that stands out about Microgravity is the mood it takes on, one of a sinistral beauty. Much like later albums, Biosphere creator Geir Jenssen weaves a natural sensibility with a slightly foreboding element, a stark intensity probably developed through his upbringing within the Artic Circle in Norway. The end product is a fusion of choral synths, sci-fi twirps and housey beats and basslines that engages, as well as unsettles.
In a way, Microgravity is a precursor to Board of Canada's Music Has the Right to Children. You can sense the nostalgia and contemplation, an air of lonely memories. The peak of these feelings emerge on the song Baby Interphase, which is one of the most innocuously evil sounding songs I have ever heard, a journey through a snowy forest at dusk, astray and consciousness of your situation, and like a being a lost child, everything around you is malevolent.
The rest of the songs aren't intended to stand out as individuals, but rather continue a tone. The Fairy Tale introduces a heavy beat, Cygnus-A provides a touch of pseudo-yodeling, and Biosphere provides a sedate end to the album.
It's rather sad that quite a lot of Biosphere's catalog, and specifically Microgravity, is hard to get a hold of and is usually quite expensive, but if you do happen upon a copy of Microgravity, you will be in for an aural treat.
Here's a link to Baby Interphase:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Daq5THSqmnc
