“To my worn-out ears this Tribute is one of the most intelligent done in these uncountable remix and tribute to Jarre that I heard”
1 Equinoxe Part 1 1:38 2 Chronology Part 6 6:42 3 Equinoxe Part 4 4:52 4 Oxygene Part 2 5:00 5 Equinoxe Part 7 3:54 6 Magnetic Fields Part 1 4:14 7 Magnetic Fields Part 2 3:58 8 Souvenir de Chine 3:58 9 Oxygene Part 4 3:28 10 Oxgene Part 11 4:31 11 Second Rendez Vous 4:18 12 Oxygene Part 7 3:47 13 Fourth Rendez Vous 6:03 AD Music| AD186CD
(CD/DDL 55:23) (V.F.) (Synth-Pop and Cosmic French School)
Am I wrong or Halloween, the night of the masks, is for this October 31st? I rise innocently the question because Glenn Main has already found his costume, and disguises himself as Jean-Michel Jarre the time of an album, TRIBUTE TO JEAN-MICHEL JARRE. And let me tell you that the costume fits very well to the Norwegian artist! The influence of the French musician always guided his music since he heard Oxygene and Equinoxe at the age of 9. Equinox Part 1 was his first very favorite and the title played non-stop on his tape recorder. About 20 years farther and six albums at his credit later, all influenced by the music of Jarre, Glenn Main breaks the ice and plunges into an album which redoes the biggest successes and by ricochet the music he loves most from the famous French musician. Yes! An umpteenth album tribute to Jarre! The problem is that with all these albums, official or not, which paid him tribute or which redo his music in the form of uncountable remix, is there any more room for another album of the genre? I'm asking the question to you because I never can't stand these kinds of albums and this no matter the forms. So, this TRIBUTE TO JEAN-MICHEL JARRE? Well...It goes down a little better. Doubtless because we have the tiny conviction that it's Jarre himself who retouches, with an extreme delicacy, this collection of 12 titles to which we listen to rather well I have to say.
Credit where credit's due, it's with this title that has so much obsessed the young Glenn Main Henriksen that is opening this tribute album. It's those delicate cosmic waves, rolling and rolling non-stop, which sharpen our ears with the opening track Equinoxe Part 1. If the effects are almost similar, the sound of the synths remind us that we are into a tribute album here. But that remains well done. How many of remixes of dance and trance were made of the music of Jarre? The version of Chronology Part 6 belongs to this category. It's a moderated techno with a great sequencing pattern which exploits nice organic tones on a lively beat where the dance music and techno for marinated zombies are flirting marvellously. The voices are more silky, and the synth harmonies are just a little bit different so that we appreciate Glenn's boldness. And the sequencer is very contagious! The version Equinoxe Part 4 offers some more lively jerks. We are always in the territories of dance music where the harmonies are very close to the authentic. Equinoxe Part 7 is made in the same mold but with a wilder approach.
The versions of Magnetic Fields Part 1 and Magnetic Fields Part 2 also offer more aggressive, more energetic structures of rhythms with a very good play of percussions, especially in Magnetic Fields Part 2. And always, the harmonies are redone with a fair precision. What amazes the most on this album, it is that we really have the impression that it is Jarre himself who reworks his music. I like the version of Oxygène Part 2. Glenn Main manages to keep the cosmic essence while injecting a rhythm of dance on which I would not be ashamed to dance on. It's done correctly. Souvenir de Chine has more soul here, more melancholy than on the original version. For me, Oxygène Part 4 is a monument. A big piece that Glenn Main dares to reinterpret and I prefer the original, although that the Norwegian synthesist stays closer there but something is missing, or something is of much. Oxygène Part 11 is the more trance, the more trash title of this collection. I don't know if Glenn Main wants to give a wink to these DJ and these makers of hyper modulated and noisy techno, but it's very noisy and rather irritating for my ears worn out since 1958. But I imagine that the fans of the genre are going to adore. Second Rendez Vous, as well Fourth Rendez Vous, propose also these structures of boosted rhythms which we recognize on the late. The harmonies and the synths always remain faithful, in particular in the festive finale of Second Rendez Vous. Oxygène Part 7 offers a more danceable approach here. I stayed of ice, but that was the same thing for the original. I love a lot on the other hand the version of Fourth Rendez Vous with a more audacious approach of the sequencer. Not bad at all!
So, did I enjoyed this TRIBUTE TO JEAN-MICHEL JARRE? I guess so, even that at some points I was pleasantly enchanted. Glenn Main brushes the dance and techno approaches but without going for any reasons into those endless bang-bang boom-boom which distort too much the essence of remix. And it's doubtless the big strength, at least to my ears, of this album the tribute from Glenn Main. One of the most intelligent albums in these uncountable remix and tribute to Jarre that I heard!
Sylvain Lupari (October 24th, 2016) ***½**
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