Oxygène - Jean-Michel Jarre | Extended Play Lounge Ep. 72
Added 2024-07-24 00:10:18 +0000 UTCI'm pleased to share this episode with all of you. I went into it not really knowing what to expect, and I had a very pleasurable experience. Come along for a beautiful and nuanced ride!
Comments
When you consider that in 1975 and '76, when he was making his albums, there was no such thing as MIDI. Multi-tracking was still the best tool available at the time, which only makes this achievement all the more impressive. And I agree with a previous Doug-lover that you should also listen to Equinoxe.
Bill Brinkmoeller
2024-09-07 07:12:19 +0000 UTCThis album stills sounds "outside of time" to me. It has aged better than a lot of electronic music. Listening to it now I hear a little bit of overlap with Wendy Carlos, even though their composing styles feel incredibly different.
Boring Postcards
2024-07-29 20:27:38 +0000 UTCSome of the first side sort of reminds me of the Moody Blues and their "the Other Side of Life" and some of the songs from their 70's albums..."Isn't Life Strange". Just felt like a Doctor Who Meets the Moody Blues to me.
Rebecca Walsh
2024-07-29 08:33:54 +0000 UTCI also recommend watching this -- listening, and watching. I find it mesmerizing to see them playing the room full of synths, seeing them going from machine to machine and playing it with such focus and attention.
Tim van der Leeuw
2024-07-26 18:19:35 +0000 UTCReally enjoyed your reaction to this. I'd also recommend Equinoxe, Jean-Michel's next album.
YMC
2024-07-26 18:07:37 +0000 UTCFrom Kraftwerk I'd have started with Autobahn, not Man-Machine. Man-Machine is really more robotic. Autobahn is more... let me say, melodical, musical. (To be clear, I absolutely love both albums and couldn't say which one would be my personal favourite. I would personally just say that Autobahn would be a better introduction for Doug!) Tangerine Dream is I think an excellent introduction to Krautrock. PS: You say it's like playing video games, but this music is older than video games!
Tim van der Leeuw
2024-07-26 18:04:35 +0000 UTCJarre has a very tasty first name :) Glad you reviewed this one. I think it's his best,
Jean-Michel LaFontaine
2024-07-26 04:27:58 +0000 UTCReally enjoyed side 2 in particular. I thought I would find it tough to get through this EPL, as I had the album as mainly concerned with textures and timbres (and a lot of filter sweeps!). However, there's a lot more going on (loved no 5), and it makes me want to find out more of JMJ's work. Thanks for getting into this one Doug.
Adie
2024-07-25 21:35:39 +0000 UTCGreat stuff. I used have this album, on cassette, and it was a gateway for me into Tangerine Dream, Ashra Temple, and Klaus Schultz.
Guitar Channel
2024-07-25 20:00:10 +0000 UTCIt was wonderful listening to and watching your analysis and reaction. Thank you for your insights and making music more enjoyable, even when it is music I already know very well.
Eusebio R-Z
2024-07-25 03:51:29 +0000 UTC"Oxygène" - breathing. Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" is another good listen. I enjoy making my own electronic music, especially when creating new sounds or textures. There are no real limitations.
Bill Coonley
2024-07-25 03:37:22 +0000 UTCI can't recommend enough watching JMJ (and 3 friends) play this album live. It is, for all intents and purposes, synthesizer porn. And yes, he is definitely using a theramin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9UzNh_2TXk
Rick Lamoreaux
2024-07-25 03:12:46 +0000 UTCI'm glad you enjoyed Oxygene! I would suggest that you do the Tangerine Dream album since the voting was so close.
Mark J Moerman
2024-07-25 00:09:54 +0000 UTCIt's been a number of years since I listened to this. Enjoyed hearing your reaction. My personal favorite of Jarre's was Equinoxe. If you get a chance, and since you enjoyed this one, I recommend it.
John Wismar
2024-07-24 21:46:37 +0000 UTCGreat to see you react to this Doug! It is such a great album and fantastic listen! I wasn't sure whether you may have heard Oxygene IV before as it was a very popular track all over the world when it was released. I thought at one point by your facial reaction you were going to say you recognized it, but it wasn't to be. It funny you mention that some of it put you in a trance and lost track of time too. It has the same effect with me, and is why I like Trance music so much
Matt B
2024-07-24 19:39:08 +0000 UTCAn excellent appraisal of one of the most iconic albums of the mid/late 70s. I can still remember hearing Pt.4 as a 14/15 year old when it was released as a single in the UK and being caught up in it. Listening to you being able to listen through the, to me, complex sounds and pick out the key/chords etc, is a masterclass. Your facial expression as Pt.4 began was an absolute joy to behold. The sounds at the beginning of Pt.6 always reminded me of the sea, and is such a relax sound to start that part. Please continue the journey with Oygene 2 & 3, they are as equally good. Thank you for giving us this appreciation!
Phil Sparkes
2024-07-24 19:39:08 +0000 UTCIts been a long time since I've listened to this album. I think I understand it better now. I enjoyed it much and thankx Doug for your input,,...
Don K Mal 1
2024-07-24 19:13:23 +0000 UTCAh yes, I remember now.
Ralph Darvill
2024-07-24 17:47:51 +0000 UTCThe French title of Magnetic Fields is actually Les Chants Magnétiques. There is a word play going on there because in French chants (songs) and champs (fields) are pronounced the same way.
Johan Petur Klüver Dam
2024-07-24 17:32:36 +0000 UTCI hope you continue to "dive in" to this genre with full album listens. Equinoxe, Trans-Europe Express, and The Man-Machine are some I would recommend.
D
2024-07-24 16:56:06 +0000 UTCYou’re welcome! Thanks for your thoughts!
R. Douglas Helvering
2024-07-24 14:12:12 +0000 UTCall of the instruments are played they all have keyboards the actual sound is programed but played with the keys although they do have sequencers apart from the korg pop. The theoretical basis of musique concrète as a compositional practice was developed by French composer Pierre Schaeffer beginning in the early 1940s. It was largely an attempt to differentiate between music based on the abstract medium of notation and that created using so-called sound objects (l'objet sonore). By the early 1950s musique concrète was contrasted with "pure" elektronische Musik as then developed in West Germany.
Terence colin Shortman
2024-07-24 13:31:03 +0000 UTCConstantly used as incidental music in documentaries and tv shows, at least in UK.
Robert Pugh
2024-07-24 11:37:27 +0000 UTCSo, I waited all Tuesday until I realised that this is a special type of episode, and because I definitely wanted to hear your thoughts, I decided, OK, I am going to become a patron and listen to your thoughts. Of course, what little I know about your background I was wondering, wait, will Doug actually like this album? And boy, I am so happy that you did, so now I feel like yes, you can go through all (or most) of Jarre's albums eventually and find things you like on each of them. Of course, I hope it won't be too long before you go to the next album which is 1978's Équinoxe, currently my favourite of his albums. But first, Oxygène: I always though it was in A minor but thanks for correcting me, now I know it's in G minor. I don't know what else I can add to this but here's an interesting tidbit about Part IV. It's superficially a kind of cover of the famous track Popcorn. Jean-Michel had himself made a cover of Popcorn in 1972 under the moniker Jammie Jefferson and the Pop Corn Orchestra. This track was rereleased earlier this year, that is in 2024. If you listen to the first line of the theme, it is really similar to Popcorn's first line. You mentioned musique concrète; well, the pioneer of musique concrète was Pierre Schaeffer and he had a huge impact on Jean-Michel. In fact, Jarre's 2022 album Oxymore was supposed to be in collaboration with another composer, Pierre Henry, but he passed before the collab could be completed. So Jarre made it a tribute to the French influence on electronic music. And to make this come full circle with Oxygène, not only do Oxymore and Oxygène sound very similar, but one of the tracks on Oxymore is called Epica. In 2024, Jarre released the track Epica Oxygene which is essentially a mashup of Epica and Oxygène Part IV. I know I am rambling at this point but I have been a fan both unknowingly and knowingly of Jarre since play video games as a kid on our Commodore 128. Maybe of the video game composers were themselves influenced by Jarre and some straight up covered Jarre tracks on the Commodore 64/128's sound chip called the SID (sound interface device). Also, in May of 2024, I got to see Jarre perform live in Bratislava, Slovakia; this was my first time seeing him live and it was such an amazing experience. So, to wrap up finally: This was so great to see you react to Oxygène. I know really look forward to seeing you continue the journey and what a journey you have ahead of you: 1978's Équinoxe, 1981's Les Chants Magnétique, 1984's Zoolook (get ready for a LOT of sampling on that one), 1986's Rendez-Vous, 1988's Révolutions etc. You are in for a treat. And finally, since I can apparently suggest things now on this tier, I would have to suggest some music from my home country of the Faroe Islands. So expect to see suggestions like Týr or Eivør Pálsdóttir coming :) Thanks again!
Johan Petur Klüver Dam
2024-07-24 10:32:07 +0000 UTCWell, it's finally here, and I have to say that I enjoyed the video very much. This kind of music has been with me ever since I was little, and I used to hear Oxygene 4 as bumper music on the radio, and wondering what are those sounds, and then later when I found out what it was, Jean Michel Jarre's music quickly became some of my favorite music to always listen to and go back to on good days and bad days. And there's so much more of it, and I hope you get a chance to hear more of it. And yes, that instrument was a theremin. Jarre is known as a prominent user and promoter of the theremin in modern music.
ben-one-eye
2024-07-24 10:28:28 +0000 UTCThere's an interesting Anthony Phillips album, called 1984, from a few years after Jarre started up. Phillips fought hard with the drum machines to get them to "groove", something which I think Jean-Michel did pretty well.
Ralph Darvill
2024-07-24 10:26:46 +0000 UTCInteresting to hear your analysis of this album. I remember when it came out, and my classical-leaning father bought the LP. We were just hearing all the new electronic artists- especially Kraftwerk, Vangelis and Tangerine Dream. I actually prefer the second and third albums by Jarre- Equinoxe and Magnetic Fields (Les Champs Magnetiques), which are a bit more rocky in tone. Around the same time another French band called Space Art made a series of equally ground-breaking albums...I had the debut record but sold it (!) years ago. Would love to hear Heaven & Hell analysed next, and Force Majeure, which is a stunning album.
Ralph Darvill
2024-07-24 10:20:03 +0000 UTCSome of the themes were used in the film Gallipoli (starring Mel Gibson).
HeadStart
2024-07-24 06:05:46 +0000 UTCThis is an nice album. Takes me back to my early childhood listening to it at my eldest brother vinyl player. And i can assure that this also brought me into listening to Goa trance as wel..
Vei Hei
2024-07-24 03:09:17 +0000 UTCDr. Doug. I know, I *know,* if you ever choose to bring this over to the YouTube channel when you need a fill in that’s already recorded, that it will most likely go massive in views.
Illume Eltanin
2024-07-24 01:56:59 +0000 UTC“Is the Earth breathing?” Remember the title: “Oxygène.” 😏
Illume Eltanin
2024-07-24 01:45:59 +0000 UTCAnother awesome listen - it helped me to appreciate Oxygène much more. If you want to explore Jean Michel further, my personal favorite is his 1981 album "Les Chants Magnétiques". Cheers!
Ford H. Cotton III
2024-07-24 01:39:42 +0000 UTCMost folks would have encountered music from this album as part of the (brilliant) score to the Australian classic GALLIPOLI.
Matt Colville
2024-07-24 01:24:04 +0000 UTCMe toooo
Cheri
2024-07-24 00:16:10 +0000 UTCHi! I hope you enjoy!
R. Douglas Helvering
2024-07-24 00:15:07 +0000 UTCWhat's up Doug an Megan
Cheri
2024-07-24 00:14:11 +0000 UTC
