http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpebyROTB4A
Sunday Synth Jam: This video captures a full-length concert by Jean Michel Jarre in Sochi, Russia, 12/20/2013.
The concert is one of Jarre’s traditional spectacles, with a stage full of classic synthesizers, a complex lighting and laser show and even ice dancing.
via Tamara Bekhruzi
His sound is classic now and he puts on a fantastic show!
its cool. but i dont know, i never was a part of the beginning of the synth era being born in the early 90’s, its really cool dont get me wrong! but its a little outdated and trite sounding for the sounds i hear now with the creative songwriting going around synthesizers in all genres now, and i like being at shows, if he was gonna film himself playing without a crowd, why go to sochi and do it?
I have a lot of respect for the guy, but idk its kinda uncomfortable to watch sounds from decades ago being reiterated verbatim in 2014 after all the amazing progress that has happened in electronic music.
Some music can be timeless and can be just as relevant in contemporary times (even with, or especially because of, live reworking of the pieces) as it was when released. Instrumental electronic music has that benefit. While the “1977” punk is irrelevant today because it was a movement in time, reacting to specific political, economic and social issues, electronic music is still timeless today firstly due to its classical composition structure which is prevalent today even in pop charts songs and second to the harmonics which are still contemporary but the overall package hints to futurist ambitions. It’s like listening to Rush’s “2112” album. It was released way back when, but still today it retains both a contemporary and futurist feel to it.
As for why do it in Sochi for a private crowd? He got payed a lot of money and he was able to experiment with the visuals on stage and see how well they fitted in with the music before doing them on a big budget world tour? Just my guess.
Well… his fans want him to go back to his roots using the old gear, playing the old gear and old style, and they complain when he is not playing it like back then… and the younger people they want him to do something new and complain if he does not as well…
Guess there will always be people who like what he does, and others that don’t
He has actualy done both… it must be hard to be in Jarre’s shoes :O)
Personaly I like his first albums the best… they are the nostagic ones, and thus I’m in for the old-style sounds… but then again; what’s being played in this live playing does not sound anywhere near “the old versions”…. which I happen to like better than any reitteration he’s been doing since.
It just won’t be the same feel, unless he use the real instruments from back then… to me that is ;O)
This looks a lot like the setup he used for Oxygene Live In Your Living Room, which is a vintage gear guy’s dream setup.
It looks like there were a few vintage synths he didn’t bring, which I can understand!
The “probem” is, that the old instruments have so special a character, that he’d have to use the same ones to get that same sound… the purists (like me) would hear it instantly, if there were just the slightest of differences to the original.
The music of Jarre, I believe, is just as much about the equipment, as the artist himself… the old analog sound gives the tunes a very special mood, and also the nostalgica of hearling the originals makes a huge difference… it inspires memories for me when I was younger.
That’s why he’s trying to “sound like back then”… because that’s what his old fans have said that they wanted… I believe I recall having read, that he actualy got depressed once, that people did not like his newer work as well… this is just one of the caveeats for musicians… fans are konservative “bastards” that often don’t leave much room for musical progression with an artist… they just want the same over and over again.
Personaly I’d like Jarre to do new stuff… but using old analogue gear, because I connect that old and rare gear with him… I know it’s stupid to think this way, but I do, and I’m sure A LOT of other of his fans think the same way…. unfortunately… for Jarre ;O)
Not everyone sees compressing the whole mix to a flat volume level, killing all dynamics, using very crude waveforms with little filtering or modification to create interest, played on top of over EQ’d beats as progress, sorry, but that makes up the majority of modern electronic music, don’t get me wrong there is other amazing electronic music being made but a lot of it sounds like that.
Well, i can’t speak to musical tastes, but it looks like there was an opportunity to play at one of the newly constructed Olympic venues and test out those awesome projection and amplification systems they used at the opening and closing ceremonies. I just wonder how they kept all that analog gear stable when the stage was built on ice.
You answered your own question. 🙂
Ice like that requires refrigeration and always has a thermostat to control it.
Heat, on the other hand, is often uncontrolled and causes synths to drift more unpredictably.
There’s no thermostat for the sun, lighting and crowd heat.
Is Bach or Beethoven dated?
You should probably stick to your Swedish House Mafia MP3s. By the way, how many of these modern synth acts you talk about could even play their own songs live on an actual synth? Just a thought.
It’s much easier to make electronic music today than it was when Jean-Michel Jarre made his classic albums. This means a lot more electronic music is made today than back then but does it also mean all this music means more quality? No. Since it’s easier to make electronic music now which is a good thing a lot more people have a go at it which is also a good thing. But at the same time it means a lot of music that’s made just for the fun of it or to work at the next party by people who actually don’t know a thing about composing and who never perform their music. Some of those people manage to make good music but I would say most don’t. They manage to copy. Jean-Michel Jarre is a composer and you can hear that in his music and that is also why this kind of music is not about “the latest sound” or “the newest plug in”. Beethoven symphonies are still performed all over the world without the need to “update”.
Mr. Jarre could have made a statement for mankind by not going there. But instead he chose to ignore the deportation of families who once lived there and the environmental destruction that happened just for these “games”.
Mr Jarre made a statement by creating beautiful music, which politicians and pundits will never understand and can never control.
The anti gay laws are ridiculous in Russia. Putin is a crook .
I like Jarre , and have seen him a few times. I think I wont bother again. The Sochi was a big Putin PR stunt. Look at the Ukraine, good old Jarre . Giving credibility to Russian dictators,
Discriminatory laws are backwards, but we can’t pretend that Russia is special in discriminating against gays.
How many US states ban gay marriage? Should Jarre never go to the US, too?
What about China, with its human right offenses? Or Europe, with its anti- immigrant racism?
I don’t understand your point. We should all stay silent because no one is innocent?
No – but should we criticize musicians because they play musi, instead of being activists?
Like his music, just his beats are primitive… Needs a beat freak, like me!
Remix!
What do you get when you combine an hour’s worth of never ending filter sweeps/falls, analog horn stabs, ice crystal patches, flute diddles, and a guy constantly jumping around trying to look like he’s doing something impressive that a group of moderately talented high school seniors could easily achieve using the same gear and a dash of Omnisphere? You get an hour’s worth of wanting to stab your fckng eyes out. Jarre has been insignificant since the 1980s and his music is predictable and dated. Hit light shows, however, are quite distracting.
As for the political aspect of the commentary suggesting he should have boycotted the Olympics due to Russia’s government’s policy regarding homosexuality, when was the last time you saw a performer boycott the United States for its policies of spying on all of humanity, massive drone bombings of entire villages of people, and corporate favoritism to the level of destroying an entire economy? Artists and athletes do not boycott anything or refuse to receive revenue; they are sheep just like the rest of the civilized worlds, just talented sheep.
Jarre:1
Moderately Talented High School Seniors: 0
At least he didn’t get beaten up by the Moscow Police like another well-known group attempting to film a video in Sochi. Then again, JMJ doesn’t vocally criticize Putin’s gangster methods.
Sochi Police, that is. Eh, same thing. Cossacks.
And the US incarcerates more of its population than any other country in the world.
What’s your point and what does it have to do with music and what you think musicians should do?
It isn’t up to me to decide what others should do. Just that it isn’t up to Putin or Obama, either. Do what you think is important, even if it means your skull might get cracked. Be brave.
Maybe music can help facilitate what politics cannot by itself. It’s the average people who suffer everyday, so by boycotting Russia as an artist I think one needs to ask who is that benefitting and who is that hurting? It’s not as much the peoples fault that their government sucks. Music can sometimes be a more powerful message and why not get it to the people who might need it? It’s not like we’re better than them. People are people, so speak to their hearts and minds the way you know best…MUSIC.
It is always the people’s fault when their government becomes criminal. All that is required for evil to flourish is that good men do nothing.
Why must this video be in 360p? I’d like to give it my attention, but not at this resolution. We live in a day and age where High Definition Video is available. Who down-rezzed this broadcast? Also, I’m not a Drum Programmer, but I must agree with comments that the beats are weak.
Thanks Obama
More than political and social opinions about JMJ, it would be interesting to know to know what exact gear he used during this concert. What little keyboard is using the player on the left for instance?