JEAN-MICHEL JARRE

In 1977 JM Jarre stunned the musical world with his synthesizer oriented hit single Oxygene IV, this inspired so many people to buy a synthesizer and make electronic music, including me, a Roland Juno 106. But not until 2016 I finally witnessed a JM Jarre gig, during the Electronica World tour. It was a mindblowing experience, not only musically (he played most of my favorite tracks and the Edward Snowdon tribute Exit was exciting) but also visually, at the level of Pink Floyd! But I noticed too that JM Jarre his musical taste has switched more towards modern music styles. And that is even more the case on this new JM Jarre 2024 live album, released as a 'hommage' to 400 years Versailles.

Listening to the music on Versailles 400 I get very mixed feelings. On one hand I am impressed by a very inspired, creative and cheerful JM Jarre with his high-tec equipment and sound (including vintage synthesizers and organ, and Mellotron choirs), and the way he delivers inventive re-arranged versions of his best known and most popular compositions. But on the other hand the musical atmosphere is strongly influenced by house, trance and techno, culminating in collaborations with Jeff Mills (pioneer of the Detroit techno scene) on The Architect and with Dutch pride Armin van Buuren (once the #1 DJ in the world playing progressive house and trance music) on Stardust. For me the most interesting collaboration is with Tangerine Dream on the track Zero Gravity, very pleasant electronic music featuring wonderful sequencing and synthesizer flights.

But in general it is Let's Dance with JM Jarre, the king of Versailles, for a moment France is no republic!

'Oxygen, Part I' a spatial aquatic beginning, where when water flows from a black hole at the end of its life; the sound so unique at the time, remember, apart from VANGELIS, TANGERINE DREAM or Klaus SCHULZE, it was still quite rare to have 'prog related' albums, yes that makes me laugh; look, the solemn ascent is coming, you remember it of course, it crackles everywhere; Today I find it simplistic, but yesterday... 'Oxygène, Part Ii' goes on of course, one side at a time, more than 20 minutes without stopping, that too was prodigious and innovative; well we feel that it's going to go, we don't know when if with this form of synthetic storm, we see the notes coming out, it looks easy..... avant-garde and simplistic for who touches a little different sequencers now; but the melody is quite unique; 1/3 third and we pass the second, more velvety, creamy, we are in cotton wool; the declension then declines on synthetic choruses which hide these bip beep gimmicks a bit; it looks like a wave of hyperspace in fact 'Oxygen, Part Iii' therefore follows for a short, solemn, dantesque moment, the basic thing that you dreamed of typing on a keyboard, on a musical saw, on ... quite simply a Theremin, phew how time flies when you goes back in the future to 1976 'Oxygène 4' well you know, yes the A4 of course, the radios kept advertising it, to go faster; we are on one of the rare radio hits that has pierced the curves, beautiful, sensual, metronomic, hypnotic, dancing, notes that wriggle; the interplanetary tube 'Oxygen, Part V' literally cuts with bubbles taking us back from hyper space to deep chasms; throbbing, pink noise or almost, a hymn, a hymn, a song based on contemplation; 4 minutes before leaving on a more worldly, more solemn, more majestic Part2; so yes we can criticize, talk about the basic side, but when are you going to settle down and accept to listen to beauty without grumbling? Halfway through and you're getting up to adjust your Hi-Fi system, I hope it's running well in every way; when you can go into syncopal trance, when you move without realizing it, when time stops, immutable moment; phew the waves are coming, we know that the water will bring us back to earth with a little oxygen 'Oxygen, Part Vi' waves, oxygen, seagulls and a synth and the home stretch with a more muffled sound but not necessarily better in itself; little more personal this sound of rolling waves, yes it's just a synth sound but what was it well done, what does it still resonate well!

JMJ released a unique album in its time; don't forget it, that's all; don't forget these standard albums without which we wouldn't be here listening to music now.

Five years after the passing of Pierre Henry, his mentor and teacher during his tenure with the Groupe de Recherche Musical, Jarre is dedicating now his twenty-second studio album to pay homage to this man (certainly one fundamental pioneer in the development of the electroacustic approach to avant-garde music in the 20th Century), and this is done by a renovated resort to a lot of musique concrète (the brainchild of Henry) elements.

The resulting trip not only transcends the vast sphere of the electronica we got accustomed to expect from Jarre over the years, but also tread a new path, mixing purely electronic with electro-acoustic materials, such as modulated voices, and all sorts of real-world physical noises heavily treated with electronic effects (including reverb) and organically integrated in the seemingly endless flow and loop of beats, sequences and mutating rythm patterns, in order to produce a crepitating, palpitating cosmos, successively constructed and then frayed at its seams.

But there is more than just rythms and effects here: there is an acute sense of harmony and melodic design taking place as a whole that evolves and grows (helped by "natural" processed sounds of breathe, air, water, etc) into some kind of immensely heavy dome and archs, the sonic analogs to the ones in the album cover picture. That demented architecture (probably our world's own) is immense and infinitely claustrophobic at the same time, in symmetric opposition to the cover picture of Jarre's debut Oxygène, where the world appears scorched and peeled, but still open to space.

If you wish to put on your EVA suit and go out there, you may enjoy the trip, as I did.

Created after the Iinaguration of the V.I.P Room, Jarre's Geometry Of Love surely is an interesting rarity. This album follows Jarre's Downtempo/Chilltempo phase of the late 90's and early 2000's, being like the "Premium Edition" of Sessions and Interior Music due to its exlcusive context (being the first edition only available on 2000 copies).

For those that are fan of the easy stuff, want something to put on the background while messing with your friends or for those that are looking for some music for their bar, this album surely is for you. Most of the tracks are either Ambient songs with a lot of textures and easy melodies or slow beats with tons of synths going on both channels but without being too invasive. So, in a nutshell, you can put "chillout music" on Youtube an you will not be missing anything from this album, as it is your typical chill music with a touch of Jarre's sound and exclusivity.

My selection of songs are Preasure Principle, Geometry Of Love Part 1, Skin Paradox and Velvet Road, the other ones are a little too "meh" and the second part of Geometry Of Love is totally unnecessary as it is a variaton of part 1 but with vocals added.

I will give it 3 stars, don't get me wrong, is a good album, but not essential for your typical listener. Jarre fans who want to complete their collection, people that already knew the album or people that are really into downtempo and chillout should get this album, for them is worthy the time.

A notable part of Jean-Michel Jarre's output has been compiled on the Legacy label's "Original Album Classics" 5-cd sets. This is the first one of their Jarre sets, the second was released a year later and it consists of Oxygene (1975), the double live album Concerts in China (1982), Chronology (1993) and Métamorphoses (2000).

Often these boxes with cardboard replicas of the original vinyl sleeves have a little practical problem: without a magnifying glass one may not be able to read the track lists and other information from the back cover. This set doesn't have that problem, because each album here has the track list with lengths printed in a big enough font size.

"Magnetic Fields" (1981) contains some of Jarre's finest music. The nearly 18-minute 'Pt. 1' is absolutely gorgeous and very adventurous. Unfortunately the four shorter parts are uneven, the fifth part being mere kitsch in its danceable entertainment music feel. 3½ /5.

"Zoolook" (1984) starts with an exciting epic 'Ethnicolor' (11:47). As the album in general, it incorporates a lot of samples -- often made of or at least resembling human voices -- but the opener grows to be a progressive composition loaded with drama and adventure. On the more ambientish piece 'Diva' one hears the voice of Laurie Anderson which I have always liked. The rest of Zoolook is rather crappy to my ears. Funky, noisy pop electronica. 2/5.

"Rendez-Vous" (1986) is perhaps the best Jarre album of the 80's, more even than Magnetic Fields but on the other hand missing the ultimate highlights comparable to 'Magnetic Fields Pt. 1'. Sonically it's a safe choice for a casual Jarre listener as it returns to the more cosmic and melodic approach of the 70's classic albums. 4/5.

"Revolutions" (1988) was a disappointment. Relatively short pieces of pop influenced electronic music, fairly listenable but quite forgettable. None of its ten tracks notably impressed me. 2/5.

"Waiting for Cousteau" (1990) was inspired by Jacques Cousteau and his undersea world, globally familiar from TV to a whole generation. In theory, the three 'Calypso' pieces are fresh and fairly enjoyable, but they just don't have enough musical substance for their extended lengths of 6-8 minutes and therefore become a nuisance in the halfway. The merriness of the first 'Calypso' makes me think of Disney animations featuring mermaids and fish. The massive title track (46:45) is serenely atmospheric and minimalistic ambient, something that Jarre had not done before. You can either just relax and float with the music or get terribly bored. I appreciate it more than the Calypso pieces, but for me the album whole is no more than 2½ /5.

This set is a reasonable and economical way to expand your Jarre collections into the eighties if you only have a couple of 70's albums. By choosing the best albums from the two Legacy 5-cd sets one would have almost an ideal package of Jarre's music (from here I'd take only Magnetic Fields and Rendez-Vous), but then again the fun is to find gems among less interesting stuff.

Jean-Michel Jarre has provided us with 50 years of mind blowing electronic musical magic and now we can treat our ears to this outstanding collection on one album. It's actually 2 CDs with an intriguing booklet to pour through as you listen to 41 tracks that will haunt you. I still can't get Equinoxe 4 out of my head. It's a magnificent collection set out inventively into 4 distinct sections.

Soundscapes section opens magnificently with Oxygene 1 unedited in all its 7:39 glory. Then straight into the more recent Oxygene 19 and the greatness of Rendez-vous 1. There are tracks from a majority of the studio releases such as Waiting For Cousteau and it encapsulates the haunting beauty and awe of JMJ.

Section 2 is Themes and of course has the most recognisable tracks such as the indispensable masterpieces Oxygene 2, 4, and Equinoxe 4, 5, Zoolookologie, Magnetic Fields 2 and Rendez-vous 2 (Laser Harp) and 4, closing with Chronology 4. Each track is something to wrap your ears around. They've appeared on heaps of other compilations but they are his masterpieces so they had to be here.

The next CD is where it gets interesting with many tracks never appearing on compilations. It begins with section 3 Sequences with the awesome Coachella Opening. The synth lines of Arpeggiator and Automatic Part 1 are infectious and then it gets hyper techno with Exit that jars (no pun intended) the ear but not in a good way. Then the wonderful Equinoxe 7 and Oxygene 8 transfix with their melodies. It gets ethereal with Stardust Composed by Jarre and Performer Armin van Buuren, a track I had not heard but glad I have. Deep bass synth lines with sequencer driven Herbalizer and hypnotic electro track Revolutions closes this segment.

After this it gets bizarre as we move into the section Explorations & Early Work. A lot of these tracks have been released in some form in rarities compilations but I had not heard a single track before so it held my interest. Some of these tracks should come with a warning not to listen to after dark. It opens with some lovely pieces but very different including Ethnicolor and Souvenir Of China. Next it's repetitive sound waves and vocal samples on Blah Blah Cafe; are they saying vegetables fresh vegetables? It should be a supermarket if so not a cafe. Talking of supermarkets...... here it is finally in decent sound quality, Music For Supermarkets (Demo Excerpt). It's only 2:04 of this rare work but it's great to hear it. The legendary tracks of this were released as a single copy only then Mr Jarre destroyed the masters. It was broadcast once on some obscure radio station and sneaky Jarre fans tape recorded it. So to hear it in decent quality is a treat. But so short! This is followed by the strange and disquieting Roseland = Le Pays De Rose, La Cage and Erosmachine that are musique concrete experimental works which are intriguing for at least a sample of what Jarre was doing in the late 60s to early 70s. I think it might stun a few listeners as this is dark disturbing stuff. Erosmachine sounds like lovers kanoodling in a dark forest ending in a scream of ecstasy, at least I hope it's ecstasy. The high strangeness is at a level that might prove a bit intense but this is where Jarre began. Hypnose, The Song Of The Burnt Barns = La Chanson Des Granges Br'l'es and Happiness Is A Sad Song are equally off the wall and darkly unnerving pieces. I do not think it gets much darker than Happiness is a Sad Song reminding me of the nightmarish works of Scott Walker or Toby Driver. It sounds like the interior of an insane asylum and might be more at home as the soundtrack to Hereditary or Eraserhead. Things thankfully settle down with Last Rendez-Vous that is mesmerising in its beauty and majesty.

So we have here a through opus of samples encapsulating 50 years of Jarres works, all tracks carefully chosen to showcase the genius of one of the quintessential pioneers of the electronic musicsphere. It is a brilliant career and I haven't heard anything like it. This compilation deserves 5 stars as it has everything I adore about Jarre and so much more. It also forces you to crawl through Jarres massive back catalogue for more. It's addictive music that conjures up all sorts of emotions. It can take you up or bring you down. It has the power to transfix you and once you are exposed to it you are hooked for life. After all I was listening to him on vinyl in 1976 and here I am in 2019 and still listening. No matter who you are, Jarre somehow is able to tap into your conscious and his music is impossible to ignore.

Jean Michel-Jarre returns to one of his greatest well known albums Equinoxe released in 1978. 40 years later in 2018 he presents us with Equinoxe Infinity.

It opens with an atmospheric spacey wash of Mellotrons and synths The Watchers (Movement 1) and this segues into Flying Totems (Movement 2) with a majestic herald of trumpet synth melody. Things get nice and up tempo with Robots Don't Cry (Movement 3) that has a great percussion sound and very cool melody, along with his trademark Oxygene breathing sounds. This is one of my favourite JMJ tracks.

All That You Leave Behind (Movement 4) follows, with sparkling synths and a measured analogue keyboard and whale screeching synth sounds. The atmosphere is intense here and is augmented by spacey swirls and drones. It breaks into a glorious high pitched synth tune with buzzsaw synths layered beneath. If The Wind Could Speak (Movement 5) is a short 1 and a half minute transition with other worldly vocals and a strange melody.

Infinity (Movement 6) is extremely different with vocal intonations, and a very pronounced dance rhythm. It is a pop dance track, and a step in another direction for the Jarre catalogue. Really it sounds like something from 2 Unlimited or a techno group; I prefer it if JMJ steer clear of this style as it is a bit out of place on this album.

Machines Are Learning (Movement 7) is a short piece and it is back to business with a fabulous sequencer maintaining a steady pace and more vocals that are more robotic. I love the rhythms and how they progress seamlessly to The Opening (Movement 8), a hypnotic beat consistently building with grandiose melodic keyboards.

Don't Look Back (Movement 9) is a jumpy track with cello synths and echoing glockenspiel sounds. It gains in pace and then is joined by deep groaning synths and hypno trance beat and those swishing spacey washes.

Équinoxe Infinity (Movement 10) is a 7 and a half minute piece with very patient synths building gradually with a spacey ethereal atmosphere. The music is wet with splashes and waves as a mesmiric tempo ensues.

The album is unlike anything found on the original Equinoxe, so it is perplexing as to how this is a sequel, though I would say it is simply attempting to build on the success of the first. Overall it is an energetic and synth heavy lively release that has a lot of terrific music scattered here and there. Some moments are not up to standard but it is still a very spacey atmospheric album, and one that tends to grow on you on each listen.

First there was the masterpiece in 1976, then the followup in 1977, and now in 2016 the latest Oxygene instalment for our ears to be caressed yet again. I love how the tracks follow on as one long 3 album epic, for on this release there are tracks 14 to 20. The noteable thing about this instalment is that it does not try to be anything more than an inspired work, with many sections reminiscent of the same sounds and effects as heard on the original. The instruments are a wall of synthesizers, Korg Polyphonic Ensemble, Metasonic, Animoog, Analogs, Cognosphere, Spire, Serum, Mellotron D4000, and a swag of drum machines to present some other worldly music to mesmirise you.

It opens with a bouncy melodic rhythm and synth echoes that clearly resonate on the percussion layers. The music is very spacey and symphonic. At about ten minutes in the synth tempo quickens and a synth pad enters with wave swells as were heard on the 1976 release. It gets rather creepy with a howling ghostly sound and a low synth drone.

The atmosphere changes with some industrial sounds as are heard on the latest Gary Numan albums such as Savage or Splinter. It is a very dark sound but JMJ brings in a melodic chord progression that is pleasing to the ear. Synth layers create a wall of sound then a percussive tempo enters around the 13 minute mark. All of the tracks merge into one another as one seamless track. The music is wondrous and this is definitely a few notches above the previous Oxygene album.

Everything gets darker and a drone howls at the 17 minute mark, like an icy planetary scape. Very low synths buzz a new chord progression over this atmosphere. I love the darkness in this section. A tempo cranks up and spreads the light rays of bright synths across the icy plains. Layer upon layer of synths continue the upbeat melody and massive waves breathe in and out as they did on the closing track of the original album.

The pace slows down for a while until the spacey swooshes melt the atmosphere 26 minutes in. Bouncy synths create a quick tempo, then a beautiful melody and techno rhythm lock in. Some chord progressions are similar to the 1976 Oxygene which is pleasing. The weird crunching chords at the 32 minute mark sounds like a cathedral organ in reverse. It gets quite creepy here, with snipping scissor sounds over a stormy weather. Then a very familiar melody is heard not unlike the closing track of the 1976 release. It closes with a slow building synth wash ascending to a high register; very majestic and atmospheric.

Jean Michel Jarre has really hit on an intriguing and imaginative soundscape with this latest Oxygene and what a way to go out if this is the last in the series. It certainly delivers some outstanding instrumentals and the synth sounds are wonderful. It is a definite treat for fans of the original and one of the best releases from this masterclass composer.

Jean Michel Jarre has to be one of the most undisputed pioneers of electronically based musicspheres. Indeed the Oxygene original vinyl sat proudly on my turntable as I grew up as an impressionable teen and it had an enormous impact on my music tastes and ushered me into the world of electronic music and especially Mellotron soaked and Analog driven instrumental music. Oxygene 2 and 4 are still quintessential Jarre treasures and I did not expect anything on his latter followups to measure up to this genius. I was hoping to have my ears caressed with the gentle warmth of Jarre's synthesizers and in this case I was not disappointed.

There are layers of synths on offer here such as the 2600 ARP synthesizer, VCS3 synthesizer, and Theremin sounds among the majestic Mellotron M400 and Digisequencers. The sound has a crystalline clarity that simply throbs in the ears and by the time Oxygene 12 and 13 entered I was entranced by the beauty and captivating rhythms.

It is an album that deserves the Oxygene title though of course it is not the masterpiece of the original. As a follow up it is worthy of listening from start to finish and has some mesmirising passages and recognizable Oxygene nuances such as the breathing effects and droning Trons that are an eargasm in themselves. Definitely check this out and treat your ears to some heavenly sounds.

Legendary French electronic icon Jean-Michel Jarre returns with a `sequel' to one of his most highly regarded works in 1978's `Equinoxe', and even if it's rarely ever too challenging or ground-breaking, and doesn't actually remind of the original much at all, 2018's `Equinoxe Infinity' still has plenty to offer. Jarre brings his army of digital and analogue keyboards to deliver a punchy and endlessly melodic set of bubbly electronica, sleek synth-pop, spacier dramatic themes, New-Age/ambient touches and one or two dancier spots, and like many of Jarre's past works, the pieces (all subtitled with `Movement') seamlessly segue into each-other forming an ever-evolving aural collage...or kind of like a cool spacey mix-tape!

The first half/side A is particularly strong, and `The Watchers' is a suitably announcing opener with fizzy electronics and the first use of a stirring main synth melody that will pop up elsewhere in the disc, sounding reliably like the Jarre albums of the Seventies. The twinkling electronica of `Flying Totems' teems with life with a victorious and dramatic theme, and the moody `Robots Don't Cry', one of the strongest moments of the disc, is a slinking head-nodding electronic brood with seductively clipping programming bringing a buoyant energy, and scratchy Mellotron and ringing electric piano motifs rise up out of its lush ambient caresses. `All That You Leave Behind' is an uneasy ambient interlude with tolling bells that lurches into a spacey heavy grind, but the brief `If The Wind Could Speak' wraps the first half with glitching synth-pop and slightly kitsch female voice samples flitting in and out.

However, the flip-side's `Infinity' is going to be the breaking point for some listeners! The catchy dance piece, all inane wordless vocal samples and clichéd repeating synth theme is probably the closest the artist has come to delivering something as obnoxiously cheesy and lightweight as a `Summer Dance Anthem', but while the track is not really surprising considering Jarre's diversity and desire to keep one foot in the door of commercial relevance and modern dance music culture, it's still a little grating (although some will probably appreciate its uplifting positivity). Thankfully the disc fully recovers with `Machines Are Learning', a mix of darting sequencer programming and whirring cut-up robotic voices, the superb `The Opening' has a confident and defiant recurring dramatic theme over pulsing beats (lovely ambient outro as well) and `Don't Look Back' elegantly weaves cello-like samples over glistening electronic trickles. The unhurried seven minute closing title-track `Equinoxe Infinity' is unexpectedly subtle and subdued, reprising earlier musical themes and revealing slowly unfolding ambient passages of Tangerine Dream-modelled deep-space atmospheres and fusing them with a Vangelis-flavoured cinematic soundtrack-like sophistication.

While there's often not a lot of depth to it, and Jean-Michel clearly slapped a fancy arty Hipgnosis/Storm Thorgerson-like cover on it and used the 'brand name' title to attract more fans even when there's not much to suggest this has any proper connection to the earlier album at all, `Equinoxe Infinity' is a classy work with a slick polished production from a legendary electronic artist that's easy to enjoy, with several moments that lift to real greatness, and plenty of Jarre fans should get exactly what they want with it!

Four stars.