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Jean-Michel Jarre: Oxygene 3

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Columbia Records
Released: 2016.12.02
Time:
 39:54
Category: Electronic
Producer(s): Jean-Michel Jarre
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.jeanmicheljarre.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2016
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Oxygène Part 14 (J-M.Jarre) - 5:28
[2] Oxygène Part 15 (J-M.Jarre) - 6:40
[3] Oxygène Part 16 (J-M.Jarre) - 6:50
[4] Oxygène Part 17 (J-M.Jarre) - 4:20
[5] Oxygène Part 18 (J-M.Jarre) - 2:48
[6] Oxygène Part 19 (J-M.Jarre) - 5:45
[7] Oxygène Part 20 (J-M.Jarre) - 7:58

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Jean-Michel Jarre - Engineer, Mixing, Organ [Eminent 310, Philicorda], Synthesizer [AKS, VCS 3, ARP 2600, ARP 2500, Moog Sub 37, OB6, Korg Polyphonic Ensemble, Metasonic, Animoog, OP1, OP12, OP-24, Analog Keys, Virus, Dune, Nordlead 1, Monark, Rblocks, Cognosphere, Spire, Serum, Taurus 1, Micro Monsta], DAW [Abelton Live], Mellotron [D4000], Drum Machine [Korg Mini Pops, TR8], Guitar Synthesizer [Qchord], Sequencer [Digisequencer], Effects [Small Stone, Electric Mistress], Computer [Macbook Pro], Photography, Liner Notes, Producer

Joachim Garraud - Additional Mixing
David Dadwater - Mastering
Michel Granger - Cover
Eric BDFCK Cornic - Graphics, Design
Eric Cornic - Photography
Heidie Moreno Castelli - Photography
Louis Hallonet - Photography
Claude Samard - Production Team
Marco Grenier - Production Team
Stephane Gervais - Production Team
Fiona Commins - Management
Louis Hallonet - Management
Alan Lander - Administrator
Edith Napias - Administrator
Patrick Pelamourgues - Technical Assistance

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2016 LP Sony Music, Columbia - 88985361881,
2016 CD Sony Music, Columbia - 88985361882



French synth master and electronica icon Jean-Michel Jarre will always hold a spot in the genre’s history. In 1976, he released Oxygène, his first seminal work, a commercial success, and a record that would influence ambient electronic artists for years to come. In 1997, he released its follow-up LP, Oxygène 7-13. The series is one of reinvention and inspiration that encourages others to follow suit, be it diving into electronic vinyl bins in Sudan or launching art projects into space. Upon its release, Oxygène was a plunge into the minimalist realm of electronica, a near percussion-less stretch of music that rides a groove of melodies, not backing rhythm — in part because he had no other choice. Jarre recorded the songs to an 8-track tape recorder and had limited instruments at his disposal.

That was then. This is now. And Oxygène 3 is, unfortunately, stuck in between. When recording 2015’s Electronica 1: The Time Machine, Jean-Michel Jarre composed a piece of music (which later went on to become “Oxygene 19”) that made him question how he would recreate that original opus and, ideally, expand it into something larger. He took the 40th anniversary of Oxygène as a self-imposed deadline, the final push to compose Oxygène in today’s landscape. And so we’re left with Oxygène 3, his second album of 2016 and his closing full-length in the Oxygène trilogy. Unfortunately, though it’s ripe with good intentions, the album never quite finds its footing over the course of its seven tracks, inevitably failing to offer a cohesive tone.

Untampered styles prove to be where he finds his strongest voice. The album opens with “Oxygène 14”, an explorative track that shines light on his usual patterns. Synth notes plod with just the right weight, tapping encouragingly while a piano line drips over it. Warm undertones hum, providing a backing to his updated style. It’s a way to open the album with gentle wiring. Jarre chooses to keep that sound throughout, as well. During “Oxygène 19”, he aims for anthemic verses; scattered notes dance around the room, fading in and out, handclaps echoing behind it. He’s taking his time, seeing how a MiniPops or Mellotron can enter the rubber room without knocking the rest off course. Each wave sweeps across with broad brushstrokes. Larger pieces, especially ones that take their time shifting shape like this, are Jarre’s forte.

It’s when he tries to push farther, specifically towards more modern styles, that Jarre and his music run into the same walls Giorgio Moroder did: outdated drops, dull tricks, and earnest intent without its vintage charm. Simply put, his dance songs don’t carry the energy they once did. On “Oxygène 20”. organ rams against the speakers — an instrument EDM fanatics obsessed with Deamau5’s cinematic openings are familiar with — carrying the fever of contemporary EDM, except the notes’ rough edges are left audible, the tonal deflation losing the enigmatic romanticism that the instrument otherwises represents. “Oxygène 15” leans on cheeky, aseptic cleanliness, making notes that could work when scruffed with grime sound like an aspiring DJ’s homework. “Oxygène 17” doesn’t fare much better, grabbing at the emotional cliches of dance pop and the buoyant melodies of videogame music.

Perhaps what he needs to do is loosen up. The album’s shortest track provides the easiest space to get lost in. Though less than three minutes long, “Oxygène 18” swims in ambiance, each note on the keyboard encouraging reflection — exactly what we should hear in a decade-spanning trilogy about the air we breathe. That reflection returns at the end of the record, too, when closer “Oxygène 20” transitions from sporadic notes to crackling flames and overblown waves of drone.

Jarre should still be as relevant in today’s electronic culture as he was in the ’70s. He makes music for mindless dancing as well as isolated reflection. As he closes the final chapter in his Oxygène trilogy, Jarre somehow finds a way to fit all its components in a box, but can’t quite tie the bow holding them together. Maybe it’s because he spent only six weeks recording. Maybe it’s because he’s four decades older than the record this follows. Oxygène 3 has its place within electronica’s history, but those searching for it in coming years will find it placed upon the highest shelves — just close enough if needed, but just enough out of reach to let it gather dust as an artifact instead of a necessity.

Nina Corcoran - December 01, 2016
© 2007 - 2016 Consequence of Sound



Earlier this year, Jean-Michel Jarre released The Heart of Noise, the second part in his Electronica album series that, overall, has seen him work with an extensive cast of collaborators including Gesaffelstein, Pet Shop Boys, Tangerine Dream, and Armin van Buuren. For his latest project, however, the French electronic music pioneer is going it alone.

On Friday (Sept. 30), Jarre announced his forthcoming LP, Oxygene 3, which will serve as the third and final installment in his Oxygene trilogy. Scheduled for release Dec. 2, it arrives nearly 40 years to the day of the release of Jarre’s breakthrough 1976 album Oxygene. (The second installment, Oxygene 7-13, came out in 1997.) Oxygene 3 will contain seven new and original tracks titled Parts 14-20.

Jarre states in a press release that during the making of Electronica, he created a track - now “Oxygene Part 19” - that provided the fuel for the new album: “[It] made me think about what Oxygene could be if I was composing it today.” However, he states that the new album isn’t a remake, but rather a new chapter.

“What made the first Oxygene so different at the time, is probably the minimalist aspect, and the fact that there are almost no drums, and I wanted to keep this approach, creating the groove mainly with the sequences and the structure of the melodies only," he says. "I did the first Oxygene on an 8-track tape recorder with very few instruments, with no other choice than being minimalist. I tried to keep this minimalist approach for Oxygene 3.”

Fans will hear excerpts from Oxygene 3 as Jarre heads out on his 38-date Electronica tour next month. The album will be available on CD, vinyl, and as part of a trilogy box set containing all three Oxygene editions (also on CD and vinyl) and a coffee-table book.

9/30/2016 by Billboard Staff
© 2016 Billboard



“I don’t necessarily like anniversaries that much,” says Jarre. “But when I was recording Electronica, two years ago, I did a piece of music (today Oxygene 19) that made me think about what Oxygene could be if I was composing it today. Then I took the 40th anniversary of the first album as a deadline to push myself to see if I could compose this new chapter in six weeks, just like I did for the first one: probably to avoid thinking too much about, whether it was a good idea or not, and also to record everything in one go… The idea was not to copy the first album, but rather keeping the dogma of embarking listeners on a journey from beginning to end with different chapters, all linked to each other.

“What made the first Oxygene so different at the time, is probably the minimalist aspect, and the fact that there are almost no drums, and I wanted to keep this approach, creating the groove mainly with the sequences and the structure of the melodies only. When I did the first Oxygene in the vinyl days, I had a structure in mind divided in 2 parts fitting the A&B sides of an album. This time I enjoyed doing the same: one side being darker, the other being brighter. So when I think of it today, Oxygene 3 has actually two sides…

“I did the first Oxygene on an 8 tracks tape recorder with very few instruments, with no other choice than being minimalist. I tried to keep this minimalist approach for Oxygene 3. Some moments are built around one or two elements like in the first volume.”

Oxygene 3 will be available on CD, Vinyl and in the Ultimate Oxygene-Trilogy Box-Set, combining all three Oxygene-albums on CD and Vinyl, with an attached coffee-table-book featuring rare photos and notes on the story of Oxygene.

Michael Bonner - September 30, 2016
UNCUT © Copyright Time Inc. (UK) Ltd.



It will have been 40 years since Jean-Michel Jarre released Oxygène this December, his cinematic 1976 LP which later became lauded as a timeless and brilliant piece of early electronic artistry. Twenty-one years later came Oxygène 7-13, a continuation of the first record. Both albums tipped towards the ambient scale, using precise, classically-influenced synth work to lead listeners on an introspective journey.

Now, the French pioneer is preparing to drop a third installment of the album right after the anniversary date on December 3. Titled Oxygène 3, the album was inspired by Jarre’s desire to create a contemporary version of his famed ongoing output. His goal with this iteration is to create the album with the same minimalist approach of the first: “Some moments are built around one or two elements, like in the first volume,” he stated in the announcement. Oxygène 3 will also be separated into distinct “light and dark” sides.

Christina Hernandez - Oct 1, 2016
Copyright © 2016 Dancing Astronaut



2016 release. Forty years after the huge international impact of Oxygene, and 20 years from it's second volume Oxygene 7-13, Jean-Michel Jarre is fulfilling a trilogy of albums with Oxygene 3, containing seven newly composed and recorded pieces, consistently titled parts 14-20. His inspiration for the newly added parts on Oxygene 3 was not to go back in time, but to add a sense of "now" to his iconic piece of work. Plunging into the environment of Oxygene with it's highly original dark, moody and at times quite upbeat musical language, Jarre references some of the music from his entire body of work on Oxygene 3. It's a state-of-the-art recording, embracing both classic and modern ways of music production.

Amazon.com



Oxygène 3 is the nineteenth studio album by the French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre. Announced via a post on Jarre's Instagram account, the album was released on 2 December 2016, on the 40th anniversary of the original Oxygène album.

During the recording of his Electronica albums, Jarre composed and recorded a piece that he said "made me think about what Oxygène could be if I was composing it today." With the 40th anniversary in mind, Jarre decided to record another chapter of Oxygène, with the original minimalist approach in mind, but using new technology to create it. During the Electronica Tour, Jarre previewed the track Oxygène 17, which was released as a single on 4 November. For the artwork of the album, Jarre returned again to longtime collaborator and artist of the original Oxygène album cover Michel Granger to create a 3D model of his original painting that served as the cover for Oxygène.

Oxygène 3 was released as a standalone album on CD, digital download and LP, as well as in the Oxygène Trilogy package. The Oxygène Trilogy was released on CD in digipak format, and in the Ultimate edition, which contains the CDs of the albums, as well as transparent vinyl and an exclusive coffee table book. The book contains pictures and a brief description of the various recording equipment (studio tape recorders, master HDD and tapes, DAW software etc.) and musical instruments (organs, synthesizers, drum machines, VST plugins etc.) used to record the three albums in the Oxygène series.

Instruments played by Jean-Michel Jarre: Eminent 310, AKS, VCS 3, Small Stone, Electric Mistress, ARP 2600, ARP 2500, Moog Sub 37, OB6, Mellotron D4000, Korg Polyphonic Ensemble, Mini Pops, Metasonic, Digisequencer, TR8, Animoog, OP1, OP12, OP 24, Ochord, Analog Keys, Virus, Dune, Nordlead 1, Monark, RBlocks, Spire, Serum, Cognosphere, Taurus1, Micro Monsta, Philicorda. Recorded and mixed on Ableton Live and Macbook Pro.

wikipedia.org



40 Jahre nach dem enormen weltweiten OXYGENE-Aufschlag und 20 Jahre nach dem Folgealbum OXYGENE 7-13, vervollständigt Jean-Michel Jarre eine Alben-Trilogie mit OXYGENE 3. Das Album enthält sieben kürzlich aufgenommene Neukompositionen, die folgerichtig als Parts 14-20 betitelt wurden. Jarres Inspiration für die neuen, ergänzenden Parts auf OXYGENE 3 speiste sich keineswegs aus nostalgischen Gefühlen. Vielmehr geht es ihm darum, sein Kult-Werk für das Jetzt zu öffnen. Dafür erforschte Jarre einmal mehr die Welt von OXYGENE mit ihrer einzigartigen, dunkel-atmosphärischen und teils auch optimistischen musikalischen Sprache. OXYGENE 3 steckt aber auch voller Bezüge zu Jarre Gesamtwerk. Als State-Of-The-Art-Aufnahme, vereint OXYGENE 3 sowohl klassische wie auch hochmoderne Musikproduktionsmethoden. Auch als 3 CD Trilogy und Boxset mit Coffee Table Book erhältlich.

Amazon.de



Das Grande Finale einer bedeutenden Reihe.

Alle 20 Jahre packt Jean Michel Jarre das Sauerstoffzelt aus. Der Klassiker "Oxygene" ist seit 1976 ein spacetrunkener Meilenstein elektronischer Musik. Mit "Oxygene 7-13" gab es eine graffitti-bunte, ebenfalls überzeugende Fortsetzung. Zum 40 Geburtstag von Part I erweitert er das schicke Doppel zur würdigen Trilogie. "Oxygene 3" nimmt den Klangfaden bereitwillig auf und strickt daraus eine ganz eigene, nicht minder faszinierende Geschichte.

Obgleich das neue Stück hörbar ein Verwandter seiner beiden Vorgänger ist, schlägt es einen unabhängigen Weg ein. Schon auf den ersten Metern fällt auf: Diese Reise gerät weder so dramatisch aufgeladen wie Teil 1, noch so grell poppig wie Teil 2. Es herrscht eine weitgehend entspannte Grundhaltung, deren Farbenpracht und Detailfülle seinen beiden Ahnen gleichwohl in nichts nachsteht. Mit großer kompositorischer Raffinesse lädt Monsieur Jarre zur Entdeckung. Wer ihm geduldig und offenen Ohres folgt, erhält zur Belohnung ein Prunkstück.

"Mit Furcht und Angst wird wahrscheinlich weltweit das meiste Geld verdient. Als Künstler muss man mit so etwas spielen, aber es in das Gegenteil verkehren." Dem folgend balanciert Jarre die Stimmungen von "Oxygene 3" erfreulich penibel aus. Der Grundton des Albums ist positiv wie ein warmer Kokon. Mit der ihm seit Jahrzehnten eigenen Melancholie bricht der Franzose die schützende Umhüllung wohldosiert auf und schlägt der Heiterkeit klaffende Kerben. Zuversichtlicher Frohsinn vereint sich mit dezenten Moll-Einschüben und ergibt Jarres individuelle Ausstrahlung. Ein bisschen Verlust im Grande Buffet, um die Dinge des Lebens auszutarieren.

Besonders deutlich hört man dies im Doppel "Oxygene 18"/ "Oxygene 19". Nach einer dreiminütigen Strecke grüblerischen Ambients deutet ein Gehäuse oldschooliger 90er-Beats scheinbar auf den Dancefloor. Statt den Dynamikpegel hoch zu fahren, taucht im Zentrum jedoch eine ebenso eingängige wie schwermütige Melodie auf. Alles vermischt sich zu weihevollem Zeitlupen-Depri-Technopop. Ist das noch Jarre oder schon Darkwave-Futurepop? Völlig egal, es ist einfach verdammt gut.

Bereits die Ouvertüre "Oxygene 14" ist eines der nachdrücklichsten Stücke der gesamten Reihe. Sanft und unaufdringlich, doch randvoll mit hypnotischer Intensität entfaltet sich das Thema. Trotz seines rein synthetischen Naturells erinnert das Timbre mitunter an den organischen Klangkörper von Hangdrums. In angedeuteter Terassendynamik schwingt sich im Verlauf ein kompletter Effektgarten um die stoisch voranschreitende Melodie, bis alles im Nichts versickert. Was für ein Einstieg!

Nach dem perfekten Übergang zu "Oxygene 15" bleibt das Tempo zunächst verhalten. Ein einzelnes Solo-Keyboard schwebt funkelnd im Vakuum. Obwohl dies kein echter Jazz ist, kommt Jarres unkonventionelle Tonfolge dem Genre hier so nah wie niemals zuvor. Ein origineller Joe Zawinul-Moment, um den sich im Verlauf ein geschmackvoller Minimal-Trance-Mantel legt. Das allein wäre für sich genommen schon beeindruckend. Doch erst das im letzten Drittel als Unterströmung hinzu tretende Piano macht den Track mittels kontrastierender Lieblichkeit zum Glanzpunkt.

Mit "Oxygene 16"/"Oxygene 17" dreht der Soundtüftler hernach ein wenig an der Temposchraube. Hier bekommt der Fan alles, worin er den typischen Jarre entdeckt. Prachtvoller Klangfarbensalat flittert und flirrt, als ob es kein morgen gäbe. Besonders die Nummer 17 feiert sich und das Leben als leuchtmalerisches Bonbon. Seine ansteckende Ausgelassenheit zeigt den Song als Bruder früherer Sahnestücke wie "Oxygene 8" oder "Oxygene 10". Kein Wunder dass JMJ genau diese Passage als Video auskoppelte.

Auf den letzten Metern des Pfads greift Jarre noch einmal so richtig in die Trickkiste. Mit "Oxygene 20" schließt sich der Kreis symbolisch. Nach einer gruselfilmreifen Blutorgel taucht ein Schatten aus der Vergangenheit auf. Schemenhaft vernimmt man ein paar Noten von "Oxygene 6". Kaum mehr als ein Trugbild löst sich das Gespenst ebenso rasch auf, wie es erschien. Der Geist aus dem Gestern weicht einem lichtdurchfluteten Stilleben. Wie ein Glorienschein führen diese letzten verrinnenden Klangstrahlen in ein loderndes Lagerfeuer. Mit dem Verebbenden Geräusch entflammt knisternden Gehölzes endet die Oxygene-Reise kurz darauf unwiderruflich.

Rating: 5/5

Ulf Kubanke - laut.de-Kritik
 

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