The press notes reveal that it's been “conceived as an immersive work in a multi-channel and 3D binaural version,” so that may partially explain the music's 360-degree mind-bonking nature. Therefore, it's somewhat shocking to find that Jarre's 22nd album, Oxymore (out October 21), goes harder and weirder than anticipated. That goes for musicians in any genre, to be fair. With most electronic-music legends in their later years, e.g., Vangelis (RIP) and Giorgio Moroder, we expect diminished creative powers. More recently, 2021's Amazônia ventures into ethnodelic soundscaping, using jungle noises to augment wide-screen ambient compositions. The 1988 LP Revolutions contains some weird moments, but overall reverts to Jarre's inclination for overfamiliar, big-budget bravado.

“Oxygène (Part V)” is an exception this track-especially in its second half-really gets the rocket engine roaring. Though totally instrumental, these albums sold in the millions during the '70s, perhaps aided by the fluke radio success of Kraftwerk's “Autobahn” and disco's booming popularity, which created mainstream acceptance of synthesizer-based music.Īs thoughtful and well-produced as Jarre's best work is, though, there's always been something candy-coated and lightweight about much of it. Jean-Michel Jarre, “Brutalism” (Sony Germany)įrench composer/synth savant Jean-Michel Jarre's best-known and best-selling works such as 1976's Oxygène and 1978's Équinoxe traffic in grandiloquent melodies, frou-frou tonalities, and sweeping rhythms-they're pretty much the stuff of Hollywood soundtracks for movies set in outer space.

Techno radi