Circular

Emerging after the ambient house and techno surge that marked the beginning of the 1990s, Circular drew primary influence from the experimental fringes of ambient music. Their output featured uniquely shadowy, frequently rhythm-free sonic environments, reflecting influences from compatriots like Biosphere and additional contemporary ambient reference points. In Bergen, their hometown, longtime associates and collaborators Bjarte Andreassen along with Jostein Dahl Gjelsvik established the project during autumn 1995. Following inclusion of one piece on Hypnotic's 1996 compilation Psychedelic Ambience, the duo issued their first full-length effort, Nanotopia, via Origo Sound the subsequent year. Favorable critical reception led to commissions for Norwegian television and commercial soundtracks. Beatservice put out the follow-up album Divergent in 1999. Separately, Gjelsvik issued recordings under Neural Network, a venture that paused after Circular's achievements, as well as through his individual endeavor Debris, appearing on Beatservice's Arctic Circles series.