Jean-Michel Jarre "Equinoxe Infinity" (2018)

Equinoxe Infinity
release date: Nov. 16, 2018
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Jean-Michel Jarre
label: Columbia Records - nationality: France

Track highlights: 1. "The Watchers (Movement 1)" - 2. "Flying Totems (Movement 2)" - 3. "Robots Don't Cry (Movement 3)" - 6. "Infinity (Movement 6)" - 8. "The Opening (Movement 8)" - 10. "Equinoxe Infinity (Movement 10)"
[ Official trailer: "the making of the album" ]

19th (or: 20th/21st/22nd ?) studio album by (now) 70-year-old Jean-Michel Jarre is the sequel to his classic 1978 album Equinoxe celebrating that album's 40th anniversary, much to the same formula he applied by releasing Oxygène 3 in 2016 to celebrate his '76 masterpiece Oxygène. The album contains ten tracks and has a running time just below 40 mins.
Musically, it's no big surprise when he pays tribute to his old classic - as he did with the "Oxygène"-trilogy by remodelling new compositions to echo his previous work in a way where you understand the reference point but also by incorporating new elements from progressive and minimal house as well as other styles of electronica to add something contemporary. He takes the listener back in time and shows us many of his own inspirational sources of modern electronica and the whole thing is moulded with grace and technical finesse of an experienced composer, who is familiar with all the twists and turns and every detail in the big pool of electronica to make it such a pleasant journey.
Yes, you have to like non-vocal-based progressive compositions, and if you fall into that segment, it's most likely that you too will find this a mighty fine accomplishment, and one of Jarre's better albums in recent years.
[ Gaffa.dk 5 / 6 stars ]

Trentemøller "Fixion" (2016)

Fixion

release date: September 16, 2016

format: digital (13 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]

producer: Anders Trentemøller

label: In My Room - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "One Eye Open" (feat. Marie Fisker) - 2. "Never Fade" - 4. "River in Me" (feat. Jehnny Beth) - 6. "Redefine" - 7. "My Conviction" (feat. Marie Fisker) - 11. "Complicated" (feat. Jehnny Beth) - *13. "Redefine (Trentemøller Rework)"

*Bonus track on digital album

4th studio album by Trentemøller following three years after Lost showcases the combo of Trentemøller's own stereotypical IDM microhouse progressive compositions in between more uptempo and bolder standard melody-structured and chorus-based songs with vocal arrangements made in collaboration with the two songwriters Marie Fisker and Jehnny Beth - much in the same manner as he presented with his 2013 album, only here, he has cut down on the number of featuring artists. With Beth he stood behind two single hits from this album, the almost electroclash-shaped song "River in Me" and the bolder post-punk / gothic rocker - the Siouxsie and the Banshess-like: "Complicated".

Although, the songs point in many directions - with inspiration from post-punk, from electroclash and from his catalogue of microhouse and ambient material it's still held together by a striking and predominantly coldwave soundscape. I suppose many would tend to label it darkwave and thus being inspired by gothic rock of the 1980s, but I also find it one of his better and more straightforward albums. Compared to his most recent album, this may contain stronger singles, but as a full-scaled album it lacks some of the cohency he after all demonstrated better on Lost.

A fine and yet somewhat flawed album with strong individual compositions and a lack of direction.

[ bandcamp ]

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Trentemøller "Into the Great Wide Yonder" (2010)

Into the Great Wide Yonder

release date: May 31, 2010

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]

producer: Anders Trentemøller

label: In My Room - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "The Mash and the Fury" - 2. "Sycamore Feeling" (feat. Marie Fisker) - 3. "Past the Beginning of the End" - 4. "Shades of Marble" - 6. "Häxan" - 8. "Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider Go!!!" - 10. "Tide" (feat. Solveig Sandnes)

2nd full-length studio album by Trentemøller follows some 3½ years after The Last Resort (Oct. 2006) is his first album to be released on his new-founded label, In My Room. More recently he released the DJ mixes Harbour Boat Trips 01 in 2009 as well as a long list of remixes - for which he is renowned.

Into the Great Wide Yonder marks a change of style - although his trademark has continuously been not to conform and musically always be on the move, in search of new sounds and styles to incorporate. This time he has embraced and paired two opposites: on one side and half of the tracks, more traditional song structures with vocals, verse and chorus, and on the other side experimental and instrumental downtempo techno.

It's not as much the introduction of vocal arrangements that makes this a step forward, and in my ears: an improvement. It's more so his ability to make it one whole, where both musical ends are held together in a tight and original mix. The progressive parts and the rhythm patterns glues it all together. Also, he collaborate with singer / songwriters like Marie Fisker, Solveig Sandnes, Nana Øland Fabricious (aka Oh Land), and Mikael Simpson, Josephine Philip and Fyfe Dangerfield (of Guillemots) who add lyrics (and vocals) and compositions to his arrangements.

It's not an immediate favourite of mine, but I think this is his so far most coherent album.

[ bandcamp ]

[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Jean-Michel Jarre "Electronica 2: The Heart of Noise" (2016)

Electronica 2: The Heart of Noise
release date: May 6, 2016
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Jean-Michel Jarre
label: Sony Music - nationality: France

Track highlights: 1. "The Heart of Noise, Pt. 1" (feat. Rone) - 6. "Here for You" (feat. Gary Numan) - 7. "Electrees" (feat. Hans Zimmer) - 8. "Exit" (feat. E.S.) - 9. "What You Want" (feat. Peaches) - 11. "Switch on Leon" (feat. The Orb) - 13. "Why This, Why That and Why" (feat. Yello) - 18. "The Heart of Noise (The Origin)"

17th studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre is his second part in collaborative works featuring artists of various electronic styles. Both albums were recorded over a six year period from 2011 to 2016 and they are difficult not to regard as one and the same project, and thus should have been released as a double album. Both albums are highly experimental, and overall it's nice to witness a collaboration work like this where you witness a symbiotic end-result of the process involving different takes on a genre and style leaving equal evidence from both artists. That also means that the individual songs point in different directions as the featuring artists represent very different styles but together with Jarre the output still has his fingerprints all over, making it quite interesting, but not as a perfect overwhelming work of art. Both of the two parts are quite extensive, the first part running for more than 68 mins and this one just above 74 mins.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]

Jean-Michel Jarre "Electronica 1: The Time Machine" (2015)

Electronica 1: The Time Machine
release date: Oct. 16, 2015
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Jean Michel Jarre
label: Columbia Records - nationality: France

Track highlights: 4. "Automatic (Part 1)" (with Vince Clark) - 8. "Suns Have Gone" (with Moby) - 11. "Zero Gravity" (with Tangerine Dream) - 12. "Rely On Me" (with Laurie Anderson) - 13. "Stardust" (with Armin van Buuren)

16th* studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre is his first real studio album in 8½ years following the album Téo & Téa (2007). It consists of 16 tracks composed and played with 15 different collaborators featuring artists such as Air, Vince Clarke (Erasure), Moby, Fuck Buttons, Pete Townsend, and Laurie Anderson, and as its title suggests, it's the first of two collaborative albums of this sort.
Musically and stylistically, the album represents (at least on some of the songs) a move towards vocal-founded electronic and more strict compositions in terms of popular music tradition. According to Jarre himself, who had invited various artists to participate in his project, his intentions were to make an album that paid tribute to electronic music and an album that would reflect the link between his musical history to other artists, who were either deeply involved or closely (or somewhat) related in the making of electronic music.
My first impression was luke-warm but I have come to see greatness in this project, and knowing a few of the details about this album makes it much more interesting, but it also wins over time.
[ Renowned for Sound 4,5 / 5, The Guardian, Gaffa.dk 4 / 5 stars ]

*Some mention it as his 17th, 18th or 19th album requiring his 2001 album Interior Music (exclusively released for Bang & Olufsen in 1000 copies), his 2004 remix album Aero, and / or Oxygène: New Master Recording from 2007 being regarded as studio releases.

Trentemøller "Harbour Boat Trips 01 - Copenhagen by Trentemøller" (2009)

Harbour Boat Trips 01 - Copenhagen by Trentemøller

release date: May 22, 2009

format: cd (hfn01cd)

[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]

producer: various, Trentemøller

label: HFN Music / Rough Trade / A:larm Music - nationality: Denmark

DJ Mixes compilation album by Trentemøller feature a vast variety of artists including Soft Cell, Suicide, The Raveonettes, Beach House, I Got You On Tape and Emiliana Torrini just to mention a few on this 21 tracks album with a playing time just over 77 minutes.

Yes, the original compositions and artists all represent great diversity, and yes, Trentemøller is the unifying factor, who makes it all the same kind of minimal techno, but I do find the original songs too strong and even unchanged here to include them as brand new mixes - the alteration is simply too minimal an effort.

To me this is touching on mediocre - not really the kind of music I listen to occasionally.

Jon Hopkins "Immunity" (2013)

Immunity
release date: Jun. 3, 2013
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Jon Hopkins
label: Domino Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "We Disappear" - 2. "Open Eye Signal" - 3. "Breathe This Air" - 4. "Collider" (official shorter video) - 7. "Sun Harmonics" - 8. "Immunity"
[ full album ]

4th studio album by London-based Jon Hopkins (aka Jonathan Julian Hopkins). The album is my first acquaintance with Hopkins, and definitely not my last. Musically, it's a blend of styles of pure electronica. It encompasses house elements commonly known as minimal house - a blend of house and tech house, characterised by simpler compositions with loans from IDM and glitch pop, usually without or with little focus on traditional lyrics and instead making use of vocal arrangements in the shape of musical instrumentation. The album consists of eight distinctive tracks, although, the album really works as one whole - one long progression.
Immunity is widely regarded as Hopkins' breakthrough album and in Britain it was nominated the 2013 Mercury Prize Award (handed James Blake for the album Overgrown).
I really like its organic sound(s), which makes me think of both Icelandic post rockers Sigur Rós and glitch pop band múm fusioned with a neo-classical and progressive rock approach of say Mike Oldfield despite being far from any of those, really.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Mojo, Q Magazine, The Observer, NME 4 /5, Pitchfork 8,5 / 10 stars ]

Jon Hopkins "Insides" (2009)

Insides

release date: May 3, 2009

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]

producer: Jon Hopkins

label: Domino - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Vessel" - 3. "Insides" - 4. "Wire" - 5. "Colour Eye" - 9. "A Drifting Up"

3rd studio album by Jon Hopkins following five years after Contact Note (Aug. 2004) is his first album after signing with Domino Recording Co.

The album also includes the track "Light Through the Veins", which had been issued on the Coldplay album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (Jun. 2008). Hopkins also co-produced the Coldplay song "Life in Technicolor" and from hereon he was an often used co-producer and / or mixer used by the band, who also began touring with Hopkins. Before meeting with Coldplay, Hopkins had made some collaboration works with Brian Eno, who had come heard Contact Note.

Insides is mostly experimental electronica in the styles of IDM, micro and ambient downtempo, and if you happen to be familiar with his acclaimed Immunity from 2013, then this comes out as more of experimental drafts that paved a way to his more original sound later on. The album doesn't appear the same coherent whole you'll find his later albums do. It's more like single tracks pointing in many directions. Some compositions have a synthpop quality that makes you understand the idea of collaborating with Coldplay much more sensible, and others are much more in a classic electronic / Brian Eno territory.

Insides is mostly interesting as Hopkin's formative journey toward more acclaimed works and mostly fails on several parameters, which isn't the same as all bad.

Trentemøller "The Last Resort" (2006)

The Last Resort [debut]

release date: Oct. 6, 2006

format: 2 cd (LTD. - PFRCD18)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,46]

producer: Anders Trentemøller

label: Poker Flat Recordings - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Take Me Into Your Skin" - 2. "Vamp" - 3. "Evil Dub" - 4. "Always Something Better" - 5. "While the Cold Winter Waiting" - 6 - "Nightwalker" - 8. "The Very Last Resort" - 12. "Moan" - 13. "Miss You"

Bonus disc "The Singles": 1. "Always Something Better (Vocal Version)" (feat. Richard Davis) - 2. "Moan (Vocal Version)" (feat. Ane Trolle) - 3. "Physical Fraction" - 5. "Chameleon" - 7. "Always Something Better (Trentemøller Remix)" - 9. "Killer Kat" - 10. "Rykketid"

Studio album debut by Danish electronic musician Anders Trentemøller originally released on A:larm Music - here issued in a 2 disc limited edition - is instrumental ambient techno, microhouse and so-called IDM ["intelligent dance music"... whoever came up with that term!].

Basically, it's progressive ambient and electronic music, which draws on music by Aphex Twin, Orbital, LCD Soundsystem, The Future Sound of London - and to some extent builds on the legacy of Jean Michel Jarre, I think, although, you may ask what electronic artist who wasn't inspired by Jarre.

The Limited two disc edition contains the standard album as disc 1 and the bonus disc "The Singles" containing many of his former single and ep releases including the Physical Fraction ep (Jan. 2005), the Nam Nam ep (May 2006), the singles Polar Shift (Apr. 2005), Sunstroke (Aug. 2005) and Always Something Better (Sep. 2006).

His name had popped up on several occasions as "the new big thing" from Denmark, primarily, from single releases, working as a DJ and remixing (artists like Röyksopp and The Knife), and I sought Trentemøller and the album out. It appears to be more ambient and progressive as opposed to his more techno and dub techno single releases, which brought him fame. Despite general positive reviews from international magazines (allmusic.com and electronic online magazine Resident Advisor were more than happy about it), I haven't exactly been bedazzled over this. Frankly, at first I found it somewhat uninspiring at times. However, if you let it sink in, digest it as something organic that needs light and air, you may find it's truly great for background noise, for work or just as a wall of sound. Perhaps my reluctance has to do with my general dislike for ambient music in the first place. To me - without the most comprehensive knowledge on electronic music development and sources - I find similarities with earlier works by Aphex Twin, Autechre, The Orb and The Future Sound of London; however, and without knowing who to refer to, I also find spots and glimpses of sheer originality. Generally, it's and album one should pay attention - it doesn't just open up and spread its wings. It's something for a keen listener.

I'm glad to have found the 2-disc Limited Edition of the album 'cause I actually find the bonus disc the most interesting of the two, simply because it displays more varied and original music and generally also contains more uptempo club compositions. Tracks from the original album like "Always Something Better" and "Moan" are hardly recognisable but better in their vocal versions, I think, although, the minimal house of the original album has its distinct qualities, when you allow the tracks to flow. Should I rate the standard release alone, I would hand it around 3,4. But it's really nice to have this as a document of Trentemøller's talent for production and sound showing us where he started as a solo artist.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Pitchfork 7,2 / 100, Gaffa.dk 5 / 6, Resident Advisor, Sputnikmusic 5 / 5 stars ]

Gorillaz "The Fall" (2010)

The Fall
release date: Dec. 25, 2010
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Gorillaz, Stephen Sedgwick
label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Revolving Doors" - 3. "HillBilly Man" - 4. "Detroit" - 9. "The Snake in Dallas" - 10. "Amarillo" - 13. "Bobby in Phoenix" (feat. Bobby Womack)

4th studio album by Gorillaz [read: Damon Albarn] released only 7 months after Plastic Beach is an album, which actually showcases a much bolder change of style than one might expect. Albarn experiments, and here he has (luckily) left much of the experimental hip hop universe and instead digged into glitch pop, minimal house and electropop. Except from the two The Clash members Mick Jones (track #3) and Paul Simonon (track #12), and Bobby Womack (track #13), the vast crowd of featuring guest performers are as good as stripped down to Damon Albarn, who has composed, played and sang most of the tracks on his own.
Apparently, the entire album was recorded and mixed on Albarn's iPad during the American leg of the Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour (and more specifically the tracks were recorded from Oct. 3 to Nov. 2, 2010). Some critics point to the quick recording and production time when referring to the album as "outtakes" from Plastic Beach. Others just ignore it for being a commercial stunt. I think, they're both wrong, and it does contain fine music.
My first impression was an album of lesser interest than Plastic Beach and Demon Days, but most of all it really comes out as a document of Albarn's musicality - his interest for incorporating and playing with new styles in his broad musical universe, and, I think he has found a tone of his own. The thing is, with Albarn one has to come to terms with being confronted with new music, new influences, and in the end The Fall simply is more than just some sketches without being truly essential.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian 3 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]