BlahBlahCafe - Jean-Michel Jarre forum

11/09/2024 via We Rave You

Jean-Michel Jarre headlines Paris 2024 closing ceremony & releases ‘Paris Stadium’ EP

A Historic Celebration of French Electronic Music

The ceremony showcased a vibrant collaboration between Jarre and a new wave of French electronic artists, including Alan Braxe, Agoria, Cassius, Irène Drésel, Kavinsky, Kungs, and Martin Solveig, among others. This blend of generations, therefore, emphasized the lasting influence and relevance of French electronic music on contemporary culture. Notably, Jarre’s set included some of his most iconic tracks, culminating in an unforgettable performance of “The Time Machine” on his signature laser harp. Moreover, he was joined on stage by his longtime collaborator Claude Samard and British musician Adiescar Chase.

Reflecting on the evening, Jarre expressed his honor in sharing the stage with such talented artists. “Tonight was about more than just paying homage to our musical roots; it was a celebration of the future of electronic music in France and beyond. The energy and creativity these artists bring are a testament to the genre’s enduring power.”

Source: https://weraveyou.com/2024/09/jean-mich ... tadium-ep/

shadow wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2024 8:17 am I'm sorry, but bringing the succes of those others purely down to Jarre is the most insane take I've seen in ages. You're telling me, that Vangelis, the man who made some insane bangers years before Jarre ever managed to do Oxygène owes his succes to Jarre?!

Vangelis did have success before Jarre, but we are talking about electronic music. Vangelis was an amazing musician, but to be totally honest, he is not an electronic musician the same way Jarre has always been. Vangelis came from the prog rock scene, he was a more traditional rock musician and then, of course many of these artists started to use synthesizers to achieve that experimental sound, Pink Floyd did the same. Then, in the 70s, Vangelis started to make more and more electronic tracks, so in that late 70s analog era, he actually was Jarre's colleague. But then came the digital era. Jarre already moved away from the analog sound in 1980 and started to use the Fairlight on Magnetic Fields, then came Music for Supermarkets, Zoolook, etc. and he never really looked back. Vangelis on the other hand never embraced the next step of electronica, he openly admitted it, he disliked making music with a computer, he said that he prefers real time composition. So eventually, his sound became less and less electronic and went to make that 'orchestral' or neoclassical stuff, which is not really my cup of tea, as I'm an electronic music fan. Just like Kraftwerk, he never embraced the electronic sound of the 80s, 90s, 2000s or 2010s.

Now here is the issue: while I do think Vangelis did fantastic music in that time when Jarre did Oxygene from a compositinal side and he definitely did experiment a lot in that early era, when you compare the actual sound design and of course the mixing, Jarre was just leagues ahead of Vangelis. The original mixing of Albeido 0.39 - and again, I love the music on this album - is simply a disaster compared to Oxygene. And the sound design is much more of its time than the timless sound of Oxygene. So from a technical side, Jarre was way better and when it comes to electronic music, sound really matters. And here, we see the real difference between Jarre and Vangelis. Vangelis criticised Oxygene for basically being too simple. Because he did not really understood that the focus was not on complex melodic structures or chord progressions, but on building a soundscape. He criticised Oxygene from a traditional musician point of view.

The truth is: Vangelis and Jarre had totally different approaches to music making and quite different personalities. Vangelis was a better piano player, a very skilled traditional musician, but when it comes to technical innovation, which is a key for someone who wants to keep up with the electronic music scene, Jarre was way ahead. And I can't blame Vangelis, again, he was a prog rock artist while Jarre already kept experimenting with a tape recorder as a child and then went to GRM. In terms of mentality, Vangelis was more like some of the older Jarre fans, an old school guy who does not use Ableton, L-ISA, an IPhone, does not have an IG, Tiktok or Discord and prefers the old ways. JMJ and Vangelis were really different in so many ways and they just happened to do somewhat similar thing in the late 1970s.

Jarrepeggiator wrote: Tue Sep 10, 2024 10:54 pm

Richard-Eastham wrote: Tue Sep 10, 2024 11:15 am but doesn’t he just love Zero Gravity (Above & Beyond) remix? A collaboration to start with, and then a remix so far removed from the original as to be a brand new piece. And he’s played it in almost every conceivable occasion since 2016. It just doesn’t work for me, it doesn’t feel like a JMJ track, and I don’t much like it as an EDM/Trance track either. Anyway, his call, his show.

To be fair, this is not exactly the same Above & Beyond remix. This is a rework of the actual A&B remix, listen to their actual original remix, JMJ used their remix and heavily restructured it, added several elements from the original, it's much less repetitive, just compare the two.

You know, it's funny, many of 'those fans' we mentioned previously, those who don't know much about the electronic music of the last 30 years often say "EDM Jarre" or that he makes EDM now. They are of course totally incorrect, almost none of his newer songs are actually EDM. But in this case, it is EDM.
Basically, it's the only actual commercial EDM track. anything from Oxymore was as far from EDM as it possibly can, but also, Stardust is more like classic, melodic trance, The Architect is more percussive techno, Detroit techno kind of music, Exit is more of a psytrance kind of song, Glory is just an electropop song, etc. But his one, this Zero Gravity track is actually classic EDM, dance music, it even has an EDM "drop".

I used to have similar feelings about it, but then I went to the Starmus concert and saw how this track makes literally everyone dance. Everyone around me started to jump and dance when this track came, even children who came for Brian May. JMJ clearly likes to see the crowd's reaction and he probably doesn't mind to show new listeners that he is not some old guy who can't keep up with the energy of dance music. And to be honest: I started to dance as well. I just could do anything else, it was totally different to hear it from the front row there. Now, I actually started to like it as a live track.

I was in Bratislava too, close to the front but further back than you. One of my most memorable moments of the show was looking over my right shoulder and seeing the huge laser projections on the ESET building during Oxygene 2, while the lights from the stage played over the crowd and the musicians. It was simply an awe-inspiring and stunning moment. Genuinely breath-taking. The surreal, dreamy, and other worldliness experience is what Jarre does best, especially in an open air setting like that.

I am absolutely with you that he’s remained innovative and creative, and I adore what he did with Oxymore/Oxyville and think his experiments with AI and VR are both artistic and inventive.

But if there was a moment in Bratislava that shows a certain limitation with his shift towards more conventional musical territories it was Web Spinner. To place that track in the middle of a five track sequence, with Oxygene 4 and Oxygene 2 one side and Equinoxe 4 and Equinoxe 7 the other side, revealed (to me at least) how weak that track is compared to what’s gone before.

This isn’t a blind nostalgia from me for the old hits. I think Azimuth is an absolute banger live, a modern day Globe Trotter and Herbalizer is fantastic too. Both have a rhythmic, melodic quality I associate with JMJ. My own experience is that Exit, Zero Gravity and Web Spinner lack a certain subtlety and are too generic.

shadow wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2024 8:17 am I'm sorry, but bringing the succes of those others purely down to Jarre is the most insane take I've seen in ages. You're telling me, that Vangelis, the man who made some insane bangers years before Jarre ever managed to do Oxygène owes his succes to Jarre?!

Yes.

The Universe opened doors for the success of every Electronic musician band genre due to what the Universe did through JMJ starting with Oxygene ....
Bringing Electronic music to everyday people Worldwide from South America to Africa to India to SeAsia.

Before Oxygene, Electronic music was niche, for those in the know, for the die hards, with a handful hits here n there.
The Universe ensured through JMJ as the catalyst, Electronic music became mainstream for everyday people Worldwide.

I am insane what can I say.

Jarrepeggiator wrote: Tue Sep 10, 2024 10:54 pm To be fair, this is not exactly the same Above & Beyond remix. This is a rework of the actual A&B remix, listen to their actual original remix, JMJ used their remix and heavily restructured it, added several elements from the original, it's much less repetitive, just compare the two.

Umm... I had a quick listen to the A&B remix. It sounds pretty much the same to me, except JMJ's concert version lacks the first minute (mostly intro) and the outro.

Jote wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2024 9:59 pm

Jarrepeggiator wrote: Tue Sep 10, 2024 10:54 pm To be fair, this is not exactly the same Above & Beyond remix. This is a rework of the actual A&B remix, listen to their actual original remix, JMJ used their remix and heavily restructured it, added several elements from the original, it's much less repetitive, just compare the two.

Umm... I had a quick listen to the A&B remix. It sounds pretty much the same to me, except JMJ's concert version lacks the first minute (mostly intro) and the outro.

I never said it's totally different, but come on, we are JMJ fans, we even notice the slightest changes between remasters. In the JMJ version, you can clearly hear the added looped melody lines from the original album version (that dam-dam-dam dum, dada-dadadaaam), here is an example for that. Also, the mixing is quite different.
Again, I'm not saying the song is good or bad, but JMJ reworked it, blending it with elements from the album version:

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony Was a French Electronic Music Fête for the Ages: Photos

The closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympics Games leaned fully into French electronic music, and with dazzling results.

Jean-Michel Jarre salutes the crowd from the stage during the closing ceremony on day eleven of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games at Stade de France on September 08, 2024 in Paris, France.

Source: https://www.billboard.com/photos/paris- ... oard-1548/

The thing I really loved about his performance is that even with the limited time he had, he paid some tribute to Pierre Henry by playing Brutalism and part of Agora.

Look what I found, by the way:

Jarrepeggiator wrote: Thu Sep 12, 2024 2:06 pm The thing I really loved about his performance is that even with the limited time he had, he paid some tribute to Pierre Henry by playing Brutalism and part of Agora.

Look what I found, by the way:

Pierre Henry's name was also dropped in the intro:

It is not confirmed that Jarre will be there, but many artists who played on the closing day will be back at the Parade.

On Saturday 14 September, a very last meeting will happen for everyone who love the Games. On the Champs-Élysées, the Olympic and Paralympic athletes - and everyone involved for Paris 2024 - will march together for a final moment of sharing. Make way for Paris 2024's final celebration of the Games, open to the public free of charge and subject to registration.

‘We're going to try to apply the same ingredients to this day as we did for the four ceremonies, which means surprise, spectacular elements and perhaps above all sharing, as we tried to do for the first four. Or even the first five, since we're including Marseille [at the arrival of the Olympic Flame] with the same type of approach as we'll be trying to do on Saturday,‘ Thierry Reboul, Paris 2024’s Director of Ceremonies, explains.

Official Link:

https://olympics.com/en/news/paris-2024-games-party-not-over-time-parade-champions-champs-elysees

No Jarre in Parede des Champions.