CAN ATILLA: The Visage (A Jean Michel Jarre tribute album / 2004-2022)

“If you like JMJ, this is a must. For the others, I'm sure you will love it”

1 Le Visage (part I) 4:56

2 Le Visage (part II) 4:45

3 Le Visage (part III) 3:40

4 Le Visage (part IV) 2:03

5 Le Visage (part V) 4:35

6 Le Visage (part VI) 4:59

7 Le Visage (part VII) 7:10

8 Le Visage (part VIII) 7:12

9 Le Visage (part IX) 5:05

10 Le Visage (part X) 4:29

(CD-R/Spotify and all 49:04) (V.F.)

(E-Rock, Melodious)

With a bouncy Hip-Hop-like rhythm and jerky orchestrations, Le Visage (part I) gives us a glimpse of what the next 45 minutes of LE VISAGE(2004-2022) A Jean Michel Jarre tribute album will be made of. This is not the first time that Can Atilla pays tribute to an artist or a musical genre. Everyone remembers the brilliant Ave which was a tribute to Tangerine Dream. And it is the same principle here! Without copying what Jean-Michel Jarre has already done, this tribute album to the French musician is full of secondary elements to his repertoire. I'm thinking of the orchestrations and the percussions as well as a creative bass line that gives more punch to the different rhythm structures. On the other hand, the music is nothing like what the creator of Oxygene offered us even if it is more than obvious that this tribute album is based on his entire work. First of all, the period! The music on this album, initially produced in 2004, covers Jarre's vast career but is mainly concentrated around Rendezvous, I'm thinking of the beautiful lunar melody of the short Le Visage (part IV) and Revolutions with slight aromas of Magnetic Fields and cosmic perfumes reminiscent of the French musician's first two albums. Let's come back to Le Visage (part I) and its heavy, slow circular orchestral structure pounded by percussions hit on an anvil and guided by those short staccatos of violins with curt chords. The solos are raining as the track begins its transitional phase guided by bouncy bass pulses, surges of artificial violins and then finely decorated by the voice of a French switchboard operator. The elements that surround the music breathe those of the JMJ repertoire. But for the rest, they are purely the structures of Can Atilla, a bit like Can Atilla's Masiva but without the frenzied rhythms. The opening of Le Visage (part II) is filled with these flavors in a rhythmic framework that is driving and sustained. The Turkish musician displays his talent with melodious arpeggio lines that flutter nobly through orchestrations embellished with chimes. More tribal, Le Visage (part III) takes us back to the time of 12 Dreams of the Sun, the mega-concert in Egypt where Jarre celebrated the arrival of the year 2000. The bass line does in Zoolook on a catchy melodic structure.

With its dark choir and dramatic chords, kind of Laser Harp, Le Visage (part V) spreads those Revolutions' flavors over a heavy, slow structure that literally makes me happy. It's one of the few tracks on this album that is entirely in Jarre spirit, and which was forgotten in one of his recording session around 88-89. The choir and strident synth solos add a maximum of intensity to a track that could fool the most discerning ear as to its origin. The hit of this LE VISAGE could be without any doubt Le Visage (part VI) which sticks a lot on the texture of Rendez-Vous 4. The structure is lively with percussive rattlesnake style effects and synthesized orchestrations that are in the tone. Slower and also more cosmic, Le Visage (part VII) is another downtempo that survives on slamming percussions and a great bass line that moves like in Magnetic Fields 4, but slower. The melody is fabulous with essences that are very Frederic Mercier. Its finale flows into Le Visage (part VIII) where the resonating shadow of the bass line provides a dramatic texture. This evolving structure embraces the essences of Geometry of Love with a zest of Lounge dominated by a beautiful piano. The rhythm picks up the pace a bit by being glued to the orchestrations while the synth modulates a very realistic electronic dialogue. The bass line is sulphurous on this futuristic title having even ties with the music of Blade Runner. We go from surprise to surprise in this magnificent album of Can Atilla. With its multiple tic-tac and its laser harp, The Face (part IX) brings us to the Chronology era. Still surrounded by dense orchestrations, the rhythm slowly takes off fleeing its downtempo matrix in a heavier vision to get lost in silky and hazy orchestrations that are pecked up by the tic-tac of its opening. Intense and magnetizing! A quiet track with arpeggios flickering as if humming an ambient melody, Le Visage (part X) is absorbed by synth waves waltzing like circular waves in a cosmic envelope. The orchestrations take on a melodious intensity that bring out the chills from our skin. Chills that bickers even more to get out as bells and seraphic voices reach an ecstatic finale.

Can Atilla does it again! Those who know Ave know what I mean. LE VISAGE (2004-2022) A Jean Michel Jarre tribute album is a brilliant album where the Turkish musician disguises himself as Jean-Michel Jarre to offer us original music attached to the many stylistic threads of the French musician. For now, the music is only available via streaming music platforms (Spotify, Deezer, You Tube and others) and some CD-Rs can also be found at Cue Records. Hopefully one day it will be available on Bandcamp, there is a strong possibility as soon as the CR-Rs are all sold, or mixed and mastered by Ron Boots for a CD version, him who does excellent work on the Can Atilla CDs on Groove nl. If you like JMJ, LE VISAGE (2004-2022) A Jean Michel Jarre tribute album is a must. For the others! It doesn't cost more to try it on various streaming platforms 😊 I'm sure you will love it!

Sylvain Lupari (March 12th, 2022) *****

SynthSequences.com