One record at a time: 214. Jean Michel Jarre - Amazonia

The music contained on this album was created as the background score for a 2021 media exhibition about the Brazilian Amazon region.  

As this is a 'score', the album doesn't contain the themes or melodic pieces that you might normally expect to encounter on a Jarre record. What we are presented with is an ambient soundscape created from a combination of electronic instruments and field recordings. If you can imagine Deep Forest with toned down beats and no melodies, you're about there.

Like the majority of Jarre's more recent output, "Amazonia" is also available as a binaural or Dolby Surround recording. The predominance of these spacial mixes indicates to me that this is is intended to be a listening experience rather than a 'pop album'. Which begs the question why release it as an album? Like AIR's "Music for Museum" (sic) this would probably have been better left as an exhibition piece. Anyone who isn't a Jarre fan or collector can give this one a wide berth. 1/5

One record at a time: 213. Jean Michel Jarre - Welcome to the Other Side

I'll be honest, this record is unopened and unloved. When I first watched the virtual reality 'concert-event' this music is taken from I had no idea what was gong on. 

This 'event' occurred on New Years Eve 2020 in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and seemed to involve Jarre performing with IMU sensors attached so that a virtual reality performer could be animated. For some unknown reason Notre-Dame cathedral was chosen as the backdrop for both the real images and the VR representation. 

The music was even more puzzling as Jarre seemed to want to recreate a rave by playing a series of EDM influenced tracks and remixes. The fake applause and audience noise was ridiculous and it didn't take Einstein to work out nothing was being played live.

As a Jarre fan of 35 years I was pretty disappointed by the whole thing. I guess the concept for this event must have passed me by as I just thought it looked and sounded second rate. This record is basically a Armin van Buuren DJ set dressed up with some Jarre tunes. I'm off to listen to "Equinoxe". 2/5

One reord at a time: 212. Jean Michel Jarre - Equinoxe Infinity

In 2018 Jarre decided that revisiting "Oxygene" wasn't enough and it was about time he set about creating a sequel to his other seventies masterpiece "Equinoxe". Rather than rework the themes and ideas of the original, Jarre set out to create a new work which had little musical connection to the original album. 

Whilst "The Watchers (Movement 1)" features a small echo of the Eminent strings from "Equinoxe Part I" it is nothing more than a cursory reference. Tracks like "Flying Totems (Movement 2)" are in the old tradition of uplifting and anthemic pieces, but there is no doubt this is a new approach. This track is also the closest Jarre has ever come to sounding like his contemporary Vangelis. 

"All That You Leave Behind (Movement 4)" is a darker, brooding piece that has some very seventies touches harking back to the earliest material Jarre recorded on "Deserted Palace" and "Les Granges Brûlées". "Infinity" is another strong and jaunty theme that sounds almost like the classic Jarre of forty years ago. Another favourite of mine is the atmospheric "Don't Look Back" which sounds like it was recorded by a string quartet that has been wired up to the mains. Weird but good.

When I first heard this album I have to admit I dismissed it as being rather disappointing and haven't listened to it much. When I posted my initial thoughts on this blog, I went as far as describing some tracks as "cheesy" and "less than convincing". As I sit listening to these tracks today, I can see I was too hasty in my evaluation. 

I think I rushed to a conclusion due to the sheer volume of music I have access to. I am only limited by the amount of time I can spend listening to music and it feels like everyone is vying for my attention. Back in 1985 when I bought the original "Equinoxe", I only owned a few LPs and tapes. These four or five albums were my world and I listened to them over and over until I almost lived within them. In 2023,  I don't seem to be able to devote time to albums that might need repeated listens to make an impression. Going back to this record today has certainly made me appreciate it more and I now intend to listen to it far more often. 3/5

One record at a time: 211. Jean Michel Jarre - Planet Jarre

I knew I had a lot of Jean Michel Jarre records, but I'm beginning to think I might never reach the end of them. This feeling is caused, in part, by the fact that I' don't enjoy his more recent material. I've posted before about the inexorable decline in the quality of Jarre's output and with every step away from his eighties pomp, things move further away from the things I enjoy. 

Happily this "50 years of music" compilation box set brings together the cream of Jarre's output and might serve to remind me why I was such a fan in the first place. 

This is a four disc set where the tracks are divided into "Soundscapes", "Themes", "Sequences" and "Explorations and Early Works". 

"Soundscapes" presents a largely predictable selection of nine of Jarre's more minimalist tracks from albums such as "Waiting For Cousteau", "Equinoxe" and two selections from "Oxygene 3". There are a few edits and tweaks but this material is largely faithful to that heard on the parent albums.

To my eternal surprise the "Themes" disc doesn't start with "Oxygene Part IV" but rather goes for the second part of "Industrial Revolution". Whilst all of the familiar tracks are contained on this disc, there are some surprises as "Zoolookologie", "Magnetic Fields 2", "Rendez-Vous 4" and "Chronology 4" are all presented as new remixed versions. The mastering on the beginning of "Equinoxe Part IV" is very strange to my ears as it is over compressed and sounds like it is in mono, but this seems to resolve when the main theme begins.

"Sequences" kicks off with a new track called "Coachella Opening" that would go on to be included on the "Equinoxe Infinity" album later in the same year as "The Opening (Movement 8)". The fantastic "Arpegiator", new track "Hebalizer" and "Equinoxe Part VII" are the standout tracks on this disc with "Oxygene 8" also given a new mix for the occasion. Less satisfactory is the Edward Snowden collaboration "Exit" and the mix of "Revolution, Revolutions" is pretty dire compared to the original album mix from 1988.

Collectors and Jarre fanatics would probably have been most pleased to see a "Explorations and Early Works" disc that saw the first release of "AOR Bleu" and a "demo" of "Music For Supermarkets Part 1". The remainder of the disc was taken up with material already released on the "Rarities" compilation (which probably explains why the "Essentials and Rarities" collection hasn't been repressed).4/5

One record at a time: 210. Jean MIchel Jarre - Oxygene 3

Jarre was inspired to revisit "Oxygene" in 1997 by Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells II". Just like Oldfield, Jarre went back for a third bite of the cherry and ended up creating an album that was so far removed from the original it doesn't live up to its name.

Unlike its predecessors, this album isn't driven by melodies or themes; it is largely based on a series of grooves. In itself this approach isn't a bad idea, but the title of the album sets a different expectation that the record can never fulfil.

Opening track "Part 14" is a good piece of electronic music, but doesn't really catch the ear in any meaningful way. The iconic Eminent Strings introduce "Part 15" but even the resurrected Korg Mini Pops 7 sounds a bit flat and lifeless. "Part 16" is more of the same with a sequenced bassline and a four-on-the-floor kick drum, but there's not much else here in terms of ideas.

My favourite piece is "Part 17" as it is the first time we hear a lead line and a tune. "Part 18" has a dreamlike quality but isn't given enough time to expand and breathe. So many tracks on this album are overly long and it seems a real shame that an interesting idea isn't afforded the same space. "Part 19" is a bit like a trance song without a rhythm track and doesn't really hit the mark. The finale is "Part 20" which tries to be epic with its building chord progression and eight minute runtime, but in truth the time would have been better spent on "Part 18".  As an album of electronic music, this is a good effort, but ultimately it can't live up to its name. 2.5/5

One record at a time: 209. Jean Michel Jarre - Electronica 2 - The Heart of Noise

The second volume of the "Electronica" project was titled "The Heart of Noise" and featured a further fifteen collaborations and three new solo compositions. By far the best track on this album is "Brick England" which is a collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys. In my youth I would often wonder what would happen if my favourite artists were locked up in a studio together and here we have the answer. This song is magic and I wish there were more.

"Here for You" with Gary Numan is another highlight along with the Siriusmo collaboration "Circus" which both have strong melodies and a distinctive sound. Equally distinctive is the voice of Dieter Meier which means "Why this, and why that" sounds just like a Yello record (this is a good thing).

Jarre's stated his aim was to create something new by merging his sound to that of the artists he worked with, but in the case of Primal Scream, all we ended up with was a remix of a twenty five year old single. Predictably The Orb have just layered a load of speech over a track in an attempt to make it sound "ambient" and the collaboration with Edward Snowden sounds like someone is preaching to you at a bad rave. Like the first instalment, this record is a mixed bag with some gems in amongst a whole pile of mediocrity. 3/5

One record at a time: 208. Jean Michel Jarre - Electronica 1 - The Time Machine

I posted about this album when it was released in 2015 so I have rehashed the post rather than reinvent the wheel.

For this collaboration album, Jarre stated he chose artists that have influenced him and who have helped shape the face of electronic music. On examining the list of collaborators my first thought was "Vangelis turned him down", closely followed by "I bet he didn't even bother asking Kraftwerk".

Only a handful of the tracks actually succeed in conveying the styles of the contributing parties and remain entertaining. "A Question of Blood" sounds like classic Carpenter and you can spot the aural DNA of Vince Clarke all over "Automatic". "Zero Gravity" is exactly what you would expect of a Jarre / Tangerine Dream collaboration and "Stardust" with Armin van Buuren is an undoubted success. For me the standout track has to be "If...!" with Little Boots; a truly sublime slice of pop electronica.

Less successful tracks are those recorded with people whose links with electronic music are more tenuous (or dare I even say none existent).  "Train and the River", a collaboration with the pianist Lang Lang is dull beyond belief. I can't even begin to describe how bad Pete Townshend's vocals are on the track "Travelator Part 2". Everything else on the album is just middling. 3/5