Magnetic Fields --- Jean-Michel Jarre --- 1981 (Discques Dreyfus)
To be honest, this review began life as a slot on the “Bitesize” journal, but I quickly realised as I wrote that such a short review would not do this album justice, and so as the paragraphs added up and the descriptions kept coming, I decided to extend this into a full album review for the Playlist. Like most people my age I came across Jean-Michel Jarre though the medium of “Oxygene” (that's with an “e”: the album not the gas) and loved it. Some people only listened to the popular single, “Part IV”, but I loved every track on that album. I loved the atmosphere it created, the soundscape, the images it engendered in my mind, the way it made me feel.
So, was it just a brief fascination in my youth with JMJ's work through that album? Was it that “Oxygene part IV” was in the charts, and seemed to be used on just about every scientific program on telly? I'm not a huge fan of electronic music, and up to today have only ever listened to that one album, the last time being probably five years ago. Now I have his discography, so what do I think? Well, the one I've chosen is split into five tracks, all called “Magnetic Fields”, and the first track alone is over seventeen minutes long, so let's get into it.
Even though I've only ever really heard the above album (and parts of a concert on the telly, though I couldn't tell you which tracks were played, much less which albums they were from) Jarre's music always seemed to me to epitomise the future, sci-fi and things like that. It always had a very otherworldly feel to it, like it was the sort of thing they probably played in the Sigma Centauri Arena, or that little green men and women bopped to down the local disco. The kind of music you would believe set trends, then left them behind to set new ones. It always seemed relevant, never redundant, and even now, more than thirty years after its release, “Magnetic Fields” seems fresh, vibrant and of the times.
It's perhaps telling that the opening track is now over five minutes in, that it has basically maintained the same overall melody throughout thus far, and yet I'm not bored with it. Like the music of his contemporary Vangelis, it seems Jean-Michel knows how to hook you and draw you in, and then keep your attention. Indeed, at minute seven, the rushing, bubbling keyboards die away to give way to a much slower, lusher piano and synth sound, very relaxing after the urgency of the opening part, I guess you'd say the first movement. Utilising many samples, for which he became famous as something of a pioneer, the second movement even features a tiny snippet of “Oxygene”, the opening part if I recall. Then there's people laughing, crying, birdsong, traffic, all sorts of sound mixed in and over all of this a deep, sonorous synth striding majestically through the soundscape, taking control and pulling you along. Other synths join in with the odd bubbly run, like the sort of thing you would have heard maybe on “Doctor Who” or “Star Trek”, but it's the main synth that holds the line.
There's an almost prog-rock feel to some of the synthwork from minute ten onwards, with rushing, whooshing sounds overlaying a deep organ sound, thunder rolling and more samples, then suddenly uptempo dancy synth breaks in as the third movement gets going around minute twelve, very europop but with deep choral synth backing, rolling high-pitched organ adding another layer to the sound while some squeaky runs with a pitch bend wheel add more alien touches to the music as the track heads towards its conclusion. There are so many samples in here that to be honest, a cop car went by outside and I wasn't altogether sure if it was on the disc or not!
After all that, the track sort of fades out and down, and part 2 comes in on boppy, bubbly keys with a sort of fast-handclap drum machine beat behind them, and compared to its predecessor it's a very short track, just a few seconds short of four minutes, but still manages to cram in some interesting synth effects and change the tune around as it goes, the keys getting whistly and cheeky before reverting back to the bopalong of the original melody. Very catchy, and nothing like part 1 at all. More weird pitch-bending, where Jarre almost makes the keyboard speak in a squeaky voice, and it all chugs happily away to the end, where rolling surf and sound samples pull in part 3.
Another one that falls short of the four-minute mark, this has virtually no music at all, with half its length taken up by mechanical sounds, then what seems to be a clock ticking, until some bright synth makes its way in at about the third minute, and what sounds like humming, but may be another sample or indeed another synth, accompanies it in the lower register. Something akin to a violin is also added in, and the whole thing carries on into part 4, where first some percussion and then some buzzing synth makes its presence felt, as the sound effects fall away behind, and the music once again asserts itself.
There's a definite melody here this time, a sort of mid-paced but basically uptempo sound, with elements dragged in again from “Oxygene”, samples here and there, then synthesised voices sing out an almost pop melody, while other synths swirl and jump in the background, the drum machine tapping out the rhythm. A low bassy synth then takes the track out as something that sounds like metal sliding over metal is added in, and with a big heavy whoosh of air we're into the closer, part five, which is subtitled “The last rumba”.
The reasoning behind the subtitle becomes immediately obvious as the track begins, being set to a rumba rhythm and played like a ballroom dance melody, with a drum machine mimicking the sound of castanets and the only real melody being a single keyboard. In much the same way as Mike Oldfield sent himself up with the country styling of the closer on “Tubular Bells II”, it seems Jarre is doing the same here, taking a sly little dig at those who might take this music too seriously. Or hell, maybe he was just tired from composing and wanted to have a little fun: can't blame him for that. There's a nice little guitar line that takes over the melody in the last minute, and it's an interesting way to close what can certainly be described as an interesting album.
I would have to say I like this. It may not be my usual sort of thing, but it's definitely entertaining, clever and easy to listen to. “Oxygene” has always had a strong place in my heart, being a reminder of the music I listened to in my youth, and I'll always love that album. But after almost forty years, I think I'm now ready to move beyond that and sample (haha) more of Mr. Jarre's work, and this has certainly proved to be a decent and rewarding first step into what I would still term, and see as, the music of tomorrow.
TRACKLISTING
1. Magnetic Fields Part 1
2. Magnetic Fields Part 2
3. Magnetic Fields Part 3
4. Magnetic Fields Part 4
5. Magnetic Fields Part 5 (The last rumba)