''Dropsonde'' is an
ambient
Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to:
Music and sound
* Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds
* Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere
* ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby
* ...
album by musician
Biosphere (alias Geir Jenssen). Unlike his previous output, there is a notable
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
influence present on this album.
Overview
The title refers to a
dropsonde
A dropsonde is an expendable weather reconnaissance device created by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), designed to be dropped from an aircraft at altitude over water to measure (and therefore track) storm conditions as the devi ...
, a device designed to be dropped at altitude by parachute to collect data as the device falls to the ground (on Earth or sent to another planet.)
A ''Dropsonde'' sampler was pre-released on vinyl as a mini album on 27 September 2005 and the full album released on
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...
in January 2006 (though the track "In the Shape of a Flute" remained exclusive to the vinyl sampler).
Unlike Jenssen's previous output, there is a notable
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
influence present on this album (such as on the tracks "Birds Fly By Flapping Their Wings" and "In Triple Time"), evocative of
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
's 1970s jazz fusion works. Some tracks also integrates material Jenssen recorded in late 2001 during his climbing of the 8,201 meters mount
Cho Oyu
__NOTOC__
Cho Oyu (Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the ''Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalangur ...
in Himalaya. (The raw material itself was released some months later as ''
Cho Oyu 8201m – Field Recordings from Tibet
''Cho Oyu 8201m – Field Recordings From Tibet'' is an ambient album released by artist Biosphere under his real name Geir Jenssen. Recorded in 2001, it was released in 2006.
Overview
Geir Jenssen is an active climber and mountaineer, a hobby ...
''.)
Track listing
LP pre-release
Side A
#"Birds Fly by Flapping Their Wings" - 6:24
#"Fall In, Fall Out" - 7:13
#"Daphnis 26" - 6:44
Side B
#"Altostratus" - 5:11
#"Sherbrooke" - 5:41
#"In the Shape of a Flute" - 6:17
CD release
# "Dissolving Clouds" – 4:28
# "Birds Fly by Flapping Their Wings" – 6:35
# "Warmed by the Drift" – 6:50
# "In Triple Time" – 5:50
# "From a Solid to a Liquid" – 5:19
# "Arafura" – 5:10
# "Fall In, Fall Out" – 7:10
# "Daphnis 26" – 6:45
# "Altostratus" – 5:11
# "Sherbrooke" – 5:55
# "People Are Friends" – 10:39
Credits
All tracks written and performed by Geir Jenssen. Photography by Jon Wozencroft. Mastered by Denis Blackham.
[CD notes]
Notes
References
* ''Dropsonde'' CD notes, Touch Music, TO:66CD
{{Authority control
2006 albums
Biosphere (musician) albums
Touch Music albums