Decoder Ring's They Blind The Stars, And The Wild Team - Album Review

I knew of Decoder Ring through the 2004 film Somersault. The film starred Abbie Cornish as a runaway teen who fends for herself as she finds work at a ski resort. I thought the soundtrack was beautiful and the film hit me at the time as it was about finding your place in the world when you are an adult but you don't feel ready. I used to listen to the soundtrack all the time back in the day but kinda forgot about it over time.

I had listened to the album on YouTube on occasion but never had the album in CD. I knew of their 2CD follow-up They Blind the Stars, and the Wild Team as I owned it in mp3 format on my old Sanza Clip. I bought the album in Cambodia whilst on my travels and it accompanied me as I travelled across the world over the course of 6 months. I loved it as it was epic is scope and had an expansive, cinematic post-rock sound. It was an album I immersed myself in, luxuriating in its vast sonic landscapes and going on a journey that was both emotionally resonant and deeply atmospheric.

I re-listened to the album for the first time in about 15 years and these are my thought on the tracks:

Beat the Twilight-  starts with a wonderful train type beat before an airy rhythm kicks in. The drum beat is wonderful and driving. A great start.

They Blind the Stars, and the Wild Team- like a music box with soft woodwinds before an electric guitar and rhythmic drums kick in. The finger picking guitar and builds towards a crescendo.

Charlotte Rampling- sharp arpeggios starts and remain across the piece.

And the Grass Will Grow Over Your Cities- starts with discordant strings and a bongo sound and is added upon with a sinister theme which adds mystery to the piece. An electric guitar comes in and wails over discordant sounds before giving way to calming drums, cymbals and gentle keyboard sounds. It ends will a stunning guitar solo that repeats in a shimmering way.

Happy Place- it starts off slow and melodic and remains that way, feeling calm and gentle.

100 Suns- this is a contemplative piece with a bassy undertone covering a high electric guitar arpeggios. The bass takes over and dominates the piece in the end.

Point No Point- this starts off with a distinctly more mellow slow jazz vibe and had me thinking of the Oxenfree soundtrack by Disasterpiece, especially with the strange noises that wend their way into the background.

Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom- this is a conventional track in that it starts off clear and breezy and remains that way with lots of rhythmic guitars, drums and keyboard.

Astronaut Farewell Blues- it starts off with high pitched beeping like sounds before a mellow drum beat and shimmering piano line hits complemented with a bass guitar. The yearning sounds kick in with the glockenspiel and make the whole piece wistful.

CD 2 is more ambient and difficult to describe as it is a more ambient piece that wends and winds its way through the journey.

Same Old Paradise- eerie tones sends it's way through deep foreboding bass that pulsates.

The Horse and the Hand Grenade- the music feels like an intimate soundtrack, either tracking a journey of self-discovery of an individual or the sci-fi film epic loneliness shown in the likes of Interstellar or videogames with the scope and ideas of No Man's Sky or Jett: The Far Shore.

All the Streams Have Little Glitches in Them and The Inland Sea are both calm meditative pieces.

If I had to describe the album I would say airy, wondrous, shoe-gazey, wistful, shimmering and dreamy. In parts it reminds me of Odesza, Jon Hopkins, Burial, Nils Frahms, and Jim Guthrie with its mellow vibe and feel. When I first heard the album, I imagine that as a fan of Jarre, Wakeman, Oldfield and 90s trance it would have been right up my street.

Even with 15 years passing since I probably last listened to this album, I appreciate it and admire the ambition and scope of what it was trying to do. I would have loved to have seen them live but they have been on hiatus since 2009 so there's a slim chance of that happening. It's a shame as I think with the prevalence of the Internet, they could find their tribe and do really well in a live setting.

LINK: Japan: My Journey to the East

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LINK- On And On And Colston ( Or, How We Kinda Sort of Learned to Talk About the Legacy of Colonialism and the British Empire)

LINK- ‘Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire’ LINK: Elden Ring- Videogames As Art

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Jean Michel Jarre Oxymore- Album Review

Jean Michel Jarre is going a bit more experimental in his old age and for some that's great; an electronic maestro flexing his skills to push boundaries. However, for others it's a fear that he's gone up his own backside for the sake of 'art' and is a bit more generic in this Sound Cloud age.

His last few albums have been interesting with revisits to old themes (Oxygene 3 and Equinoxe Infinity), collaborations (Electronica 1 and 2), his dalliance back into his musique concrète roots (Amazonia) and his embracing of VR with his 'live' VR show (Welcome to the Other Side: Live at Notre Dame).

With his latest album he leans into the latter two genres, mixing his musique concrète roots with VR. The concept here is of a binaural VR album where the music surrounds you. I've experienced synesthesia through the Bjork exhibition and through playing videogames like Tetris Effect and Rez Infinite and I have to say, the effect is electrifying. I don't have access to the Oxymore VR experience so I'm just listening to the binaural album with my Sennheiser PX200 headphones.... Hardly the optimal experience, I'm sure, but it's all I have so I'll judge the album on this, the lesser experience.

Oxymore was a much-hyped collaborative work with musique concrète pioneer Pierre Henry, but before the work to come to fruition Henry died. Luckily, Henry's wife provided Jarre with the music stems and so the album is more Jarre's work with a little Henry thrown in. Now, I'm not familiar with Henry's work so have to context for what the project would have sounded like if it had been completed fully but nonetheless, it's a fascinating listen.

It's a soundscape which is often abstract and difficult to pin down. The album works as a whole piece and I don't imagine listening to one track independently. It is very much a tapestry of sounds to immerse yourself in. It can be a challenging listen in that there are very few standout pieces but the whole is quite engaging and interesting. I can imagine listening to it after a hard day at work, just letting the crunchy beats and Jarre signature arpeggios wend their way around me. Standout tracks include Animal Genesis, an 80s synthy piece that sounds very Stranger Things, Zeitgeist, a track that has the most hummable melody in pretty much the whole album, Brutalism, a catchy, upbeat synthy piece, and Epica, a fitting finale for the whole album which uses elements seen throughout to end on a pop-filled high.

Jarre is a pioneer and, rather than leaning into his greatest hits, I love seeing his evolution as an artist. That said, that doesn't mean I've enjoyed all his recent works but that's what good artists do; they stretch themselves and try new things. It may not work out but it's better than being generic and boring, eh? Personally, I'd admire his range and willingness to try something new or different.

Oxymore is an interesting album and well worth a listen but is by no means classic essential Jarre. For a similar style I'd recommend Jon Hopkins who has a more melodious and crunchy beat to his work or, if you're feeling nostalgic, Burial is pretty awesome too.

LINK- Amazonia Album Review

LINK- Equinoxe Infinity Album Review

LINK- Planet Jarre Celebrates 50 Years of Jarre

LINK- Jean Michel Jarre Oxygene 3 Album Review

LINK- Jean Michel Jarre Electronica Vol. 2 Album Review

Jean Michel Jarre Amazonia- Album Review

Jean Michel Jarre has been pretty busy over the past few years, releasing collab album Electronica 1 and 2 in 2015 and then dipping back into his first breakthrough album with Oxygene 3 and then releasing arguably his best album in years- the stunning Equinoxe Infinity. Now, he returns to his 'musique concrete' (the process of using recorded sounds to create a sound montage which is often abstract in its quality) roots by creating a sonic soundscape inspired by the Amazon rainforest and the works of photographer Sebastião Salgado.

For a certain contingent of Jarre fans, who were expecting derivative works based on the Oxygene and Equinoxe albums, this will be terrible news. They will claim that Jarre has 'lost it' and is ‘past his prime’ etc. But, as Jarre himself said during a Facebook Live session, "Some people are always unhappy". So for those who appreciate the chameleon like nature of Jarre with all its ups (Zoolook) and downs (Teo and Tea) this is an intriguing and exciting opportunity to see what the electronica maestro can produce when going back to his musical roots.

The new 52 minute binaural album will accompany Salgado's exhibition of over 200 photographs centred on the beauty and life of the Amazon, its bio-diversity and its peoples.

This album is a mixture of electronic and orchestral instruments sprinkled with approximations of real-life natural sounds. As a huge fan of his stunning Waiting for Cousteau album and particularly the final track, which itself was a meditative and calming piece where there was a spaciousness and tranquility, I was really looking forward to this album. Don't get me wrong, I love his musical compositions and the journey he takes you on but Waiting for Cousteau is his piece de resistance of ambient dreaminess and any chance of something similar would make me incredibly happy. So, how is the new Amazonia album?

The album works as a whole piece and I don't imagine listening to one track independently. It is very much a whole soundscape that creates a tapestry of sounds to immerse yourself in. It is a challenging listen in that there are very few standout pieces but the whole is wonderful and engaging. I can imagine listening to it after a hard day at work, just letting it wash over me and take me away to the tropical wonderland. I’ve tried to describe the mood of each track but it is difficult to categorise so please bear with my verbose flights of fancy if you can:

Track 1 is a veritable smorgasbord of sounds with motifs switching very quickly. It starts off very calming with chanting voices bouncing around, interpreted with a short gentle arpeggio but gives way to a lower guttural synthesiser sound.

Track 2 changes to a more upbeat techno-type rhythm which then has a deep reverberating sound that resounds in the ears. A high piano-esque motif plays and this is followed by fast pounding stabs which reminded me of John Carpenter's soundtracks. This track really does move around a lot and is hard to pin down but it works as a movement.

Track 3 has a compelling short rhythm which loops but is added to with an airy sound and a gentle drum beat. Vocalising changes the tack of the track and bird sounds enter the mix.

Track 4 has a haunting melody that has a threatening deep synch bass. One of the tracks of the album for me.

Track 5 builds on this and is busy sounding as a cacophony of voices, including babies squealing, plays in the background alongside a quick drum beat. This is then interrupted with a flute-y sound and the whirr of insects flying around before giving way to a crackling fire and an echoey crystal cave-y sound. It shimmers and wends its way around an aggressive whirring chainsaw sound.

Track 6 starts with children singing together against a backdrop of chirruping insects before a driving synth cuts in, threatening to break the calm.

Track 7 has a gentle rhythm but the gentle thunder rumbles and rain patters, bringing a whole Badalamenti vibe with a sense of sadness.

Track 8 has children singing mixed with an elder voice and a soft gentle drum and this goes into track 9 where the drum motif mixes with the airy Badalamenti synth sadness scape to end on a note of melancholy. But then some male vocalising and humming adds a sense of hope as the raindrops patter, adding a sense of hope of wonder. Then the synth hits as the thunder cracks and a synth choir enters, adding an angelic sound to the low drum sound.

Overall, Jarre has produced an interesting album and, whilst I haven't seen the photography exhibition it works alongside, I imagine it compliments the work to be diegetic. The album is well worth a listen and, whilst not as accessible and engaging as Equinoxe Infinity or his more ‘mainline’ albums, it is an interesting journey well worth taking.

LINK- Equinoxe Infinity Album Review

LINK- Planet Jarre Celebrates 50 Years of Jarre

LINK- Jean Michel Jarre Oxygene 3 Album Review

LINK- Jean Michel Jarre Electronica Vol. 2 Album Review

Jean Michel Jarre Equinoxe Infinity- Album Review

40 years ago Jean Michel Jarre released his fourth album, Equinoxe, and confirmed his place in music history as a trailblazer of electronic music. The 1978 follow up album to Oxygene further developed the sound and style that made Jarre's music instantly recognisable, reaching its zenith with Equinoxe 4 and 5.

And so, it is with much excitement that Jarre fans have waited for Equinoxe Infinity, a sequel proper with the strange Watchers featuring prominently, silent sentinels over the many decades...

Equinoxe Infinity contains ten brand new tracks (or movements) which closely mirror the progression of the original album, peals of thunder are interspersed with the soundscapes of running water.

The opening track, The Watchers, creates a sense of awe and wonder as it opens with the perfect mix of organic and digital sounds. The sound of flowing water is closely followed by a deep booming bass that is followed by a deep rhythm that seems to be approaching closer, until it gives way to a full on sci-fi soundscape... Almost as if the sentinels have awoken.

Track two, Flying Totems, introduces many of the sounds that Jarre that has become synonymous with. There are echoes of Industrial Revolutions part 2 as the piece flows and ebbs. There is a sense of pure joy and freedom, almost as if one were soaring through the sky. It's hard to describe but the sense of elation I get from this track is indescribable. One of Jarre's best in my opinion.

The third movement, Robots Don't Cry, is a more measured piece. It has a steady, almost metronomic melotron sound. A violin wends it's way through the whole thing that is surrounded by the airy sounds of Oxygene. It's an interesting track and a grower for sure, especially when the piano-like sounds come in near the middle of the piece.

The next two tracks, All The You Leave Behind and If The Wind Could Speak are a little more soundscapey, with watery burbles and splashes punctuated with some treated vocals, reminiscent of Zoolook.

One of the highlight of the album for me is track 6, Infinity. It is nothing short of a masterpiece from Jarre. It could feature in many Balearic clubs and be the sound of the Summer, albeit a Summer ruled by Ace of Base. It's so joyful and playful!

Tracks 7 and 8, Machines Are Learning and The Opening are short but strong tracks. Machines Are Learning features a driving rhythm punctuated with odd beeps, bloops and weird vocals. I like it and it reminds me of his older work but can't quite place my finger in it. The Opening meanwhile has a striking rhythm and aggressive synthy sound which I love.

Don't Look Back is track 9 and is quite unusual, starting with an aggressive cello-ish sound that is slowly built on to become softer but no less urgent.

The final track, Equinoxe Infinity, is a seven minute marvel reprising much of what has occurred on the album but with a tinge of wistfulness. Splashes of water merge with echoes that slowly build into a crescendo and a euphoric wall of sound.

Equinoxe Infinity is a thing of beauty.

At just under 40 minutes Equinoxe Infinity is a short but wonderful experience. There is always great danger in revisiting your past but here I feel that Jarre has added to the legacy of the origin work, much like with Oxygene 3 but more so here. Equinoxe Infinity is a much more cohesive album that Oxygene 3 and is probably one of my favourite Jarre albums ever. It is a beautiful and at times euphoric experience and what Jarre fan wouldn't want that?

Come one, come all to hear the return of the great master of electronica!

LINK- Planet Jarre Celebrates 50 Years of Jarre

LINK- Jean Michel Jarre Oxygene 3 Album Review

LINK- Jean Michel Jarre Electronica Vol. 2 Album Review