Commodore Remix

In fact the laser harp's sound was the Elka Synthex synthesizer.

Some good info on the Laser Harp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_harp

I like this particular part:
"However, the harp at the Manchester venue of the Europe in Concert tour was certainly fake, as the laser failed during the performance but the lead line, actually played on stage by Francis 'Bunny' Rimbert, continued."

Aye thats one thing i couldn't fault mr jarre for, he did give you value for money as far as live went (though im still not convinced he was as "live" as he'd like to make us think).

Anyway anyone heard alec empires new stuff? the drugs are strong in his house at the moment... quite clearly

I think the main problem with Jarre's stuff is that in his desire to remain relevant he's forgotten what it takes to do so. The more recent work is too polished and glossy, removing the grit and randomness evident in his very early work. He's also not making best use of the technology, offering fairly standard sampled mush instead of genuinely exciting sound.

For any Jarre fans wanting to hear something along the same lines, but something that's also contemporary and exciting, check out Lobe's two albums on Swim: Lobe and Hibernation. While not along the same lines, the debuts from Toucaen, Aurelie and Symptoms may also appeal. ('Burn' and 'You' on the last of those are two of the finest instrumental pieces I've ever heard, full of fire and passion.)

I just poped up the forum after some times and found this thread.
As a fan of Jarre i was very happy that a new album was released. I got my copy and i have to say :

It is not Oxygen, not Equinox.. and not Zoolook....... Chronology....nope..... maybe ..... no, it is very different.
For sure i was fixed about the fact that no Jarre album sounds like any other he did befor. And it proofed in here.

This one is different, but all in all it is Jarre. Maybe some of the tracks sound like very common stuff right out of the clubs. But they are produced with some more perfectionism in them then other people do.
I think if Jarre had done a album that sounds like Randevouz today, the people would say, he can´t go further than that... he missed the nerve of time...

And i must say : I never get it how crispy his mixes are. Very clear and punchy at all times, in every second. If i could do this.....damn, I would be proud.

There was a concert and here is a review of it.

http://www.sean.co.uk/photography/rocka ... jarre.shtm

I wish he'd do small shows like this in North America.

Personally I'm still a great fan of Jean Michel Jarre, even though I almost exclusively listen to the first albums he made (Oxygene, Equinoxe, Rendevous and Magnetic Fields)... The long version of Waiting for Coustau is also a great one (the long dark underwater thingy... only piece of music I can fall asleep to )... but then again, occationally on his other later albums, I from time to time hear his old style build up now and then, only to be destroyed (my opinion) rather fast with another style of music... just listen to some tracks on Metamorphoses; right after that awful tune with the giant bells, and on the same album approx. 22 minutes into the CD... takes me right back to something I can only raise both thumbs at, and being TOTALY Jean old-style ... I've read many people complaining it's because of not using old analog gear etc. but I don't believe in that ... the style has a lot to say too, but agreed, the analog gear helps getting that dirty unstable old sound

This makes me think... is it Jarre that I like, or is it the style of music? ... I believe it's the style, and I'm certain, that he got his fame from that early style he created, so for me he could get his fame right back immediately, if he just went back to that style... and I think many artist could IF THEY WANTED TO.

But then, being a musician myself, I'd hate to be locked in style, and why would Jean want to?... sadly, this is just the way fans work... so... if Jean Michel Jarre is a REAL artist, He'll not give a damn about the fan's opinion, and just do what he really want... I'd do the same if it meant I'd sell nothing, and I consider myself an artist... an artist should represent himself and expres himself, not what others want the artist to be like the whole recording business works these days... sad

Maybe it's time to hand over the "title belt" of "Arcane Synth Wizard" to some new talents, with the old style? ... must certainly be others that try to replicate the old style Jean did back then... and thus stop seeing Jarre as getting "worse", as all he's doing is basically changing...

just my 10 cents

Regards, Razmo

ARGH!... how could I forget to put ZOOLOOK on the list of my favourites list ... aside from a few tracks it's really cool too.

And after listening a bit to the new Teo and Tea tune... I'd have to say, that I'm impressed that Jean finally managed to fix up some decent dance drum tracks ... I've not been the greatest fan of his percussion on later albums, so thumbs up for that, but when it comes to the style, he'ss venturing into territory, where he does not have as much footage as many other skilled newer artists, and he just is not "the best" in this field.... guess it'll be a great challenge for Jean... maybe this is why he's doing it?

Jean is "Changing snake hide", and may the gods be with him!

Regards, Razmo

I was in the U.S. Last week, I went to every single music store and they had the usual Yanni, Vangelis in the New Age section. They didnt have Jarre or even Kitaro as a matter of fact.

So when I got back to Canada, I went to the Local Music store. They had told me that they would have it on April 10 and its now April 19th and they still dont have it. They are supposed to call me when it comes in.

In the mean time I did some reading on what Jarre has been up to since the "metamorphosis" album. Aside from Aero. He did a Limited promotional album "Sublime Mix" for the Jaguar Car company. So I tracked it down and let me know tell its not Oxygene or Equinoxe or Teo and Tea...but Its Jarre!!!

The First track which I have on continuous play is "Pleasure Principle" what a great track.

I discovered Jean Michel Jarre when excerpts from Oxygene where used in the Gallipoli (1981) film directed by Peter Weir. If I recall correctly it is used when Frank Dunne (Mel Gibson) is running to past on instructions to tell the troops not to go 'over the top'.

I finally had an extensive listen to Teo & Tea. It's nice to listen to, but nothing I would buy or even keep in my collection.

What has happened to good ol' J.M. Jarre?

omoroca wrote:What has happened to good ol' J.M. Jarre?

The day ol J.M.J went wrong was, when during an interview he made the comment that too many people use samples of Ethnic Chants and such and he said it was a gimmicky thing.

That is the day I realized he has gone nuts. Wasn't Zoolookologie full of Ethnic Chant samples? and a great album because of it?

Analog-X64 wrote:

omoroca wrote:What has happened to good ol' J.M. Jarre?

The day ol J.M.J went wrong was, when during an interview he made the comment that too many people use samples of Ethnic Chants and such and he said it was a gimmicky thing.

That is the day I realized he has gone nuts. Wasn't Zoolookologie full of Ethnic Chant samples? and a great album because of it?

It was actually full of international vocal snippets rearranged as music: sampling Monk choirs I guess would have been a bit easy for him

I think, that the problem Jarre has, is that he has become directly LAZY when it comes to making music, and it afects his sound... I've heard countless samples in his recent music from sample CD's by for example Eric Persing from Spectrasonics etc... he simply use preset sounds on much of the new stuff, and thereby not introducing his own twist in the sounds... this is a bit related to Chriss Abbot's earlier note on not having the "Geiss sound" anymore...

Jarre can easily get as popular again if he WANTED to... all he needs to do is put himself back at som old analog modular sound synthesis, and start doing what he did back then: Make Jazz'y/Classical music using synthesizers.

The earliest albums was ripe with an atmosphere that none of his newer stuff has... they were set up in "chapters", and they mingled into each other, making the experience one long "journey" into space...

Jarre is slowly making music to please the market, and in my opinion is forgetting to make music to please himself... he should stop judging what is right and wrong, and jut do what he feels for... that's when an artist really shines and becomes unique.