Jean Michel Jarre concert review - Oxygene Tour

The concert I wrote about in the previous post was my second Jean Michel Jarre concert experience. The first was in 2008 November, called Oxygene Tour when he played the whole album from its first sounds to its last noises and additionally a few from Oxygene 7-13, and as a bonus, Oxygene 4 again. All of the songs were played on the original analogue instruments. That concert was slightly better than this World Tour - maybe just because that was my first experience or because I'm fond of Oxygene. I remember as the sound was better, though we were standing in front of the stage not too far, in a very good place.

There he played Oxygene 12 and besides Oxygene 2 (of course) it was my favourite period of the concert. In living version it's much better than on the album, and that song got a perfect video-mix playing behind the stage: fastened motions of nature (like flowers blossom and animal corpses get rotten), shots of animals, turbulences... it is wonderful. It totally matches to the music. So when I heard it at World Tour, I was very glad and it became one of my favourite moments of the two hour experience.

The other amazing thing was a speciality which was played only here, in Hungary. As JMJ told us, he was walking in the city and heard a street musician and he invited him to his concert. The result became awesome: an improvisative song by the hang drum and the concert devices. It had a very special atmosphere, watch it below.

Oxygene 12:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xSzn7tpEhg

Jean Michel Jarre and Norbert Pável:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc5ToA4GK0w

Jean Michel Jarre concert review - World Tour

One of the stages of his World Tour was Budapest, so tonight I saw the concert. JMJ said that it had been the first concert since his mother died so he dedicated it to her. It was powerful, really.

Surprisingly he didn't play any song from Téo & Téa or Metamorphoses, the songs concentrated on Equinoxe, Oxygène, and Rendez-vous - which isn't problem at all, I think. We got everything which is connected to his shows: laser harp, theremin, endless number of synthesizers - and a spectacular light show. No, this word is too small. It was shocking. The lights were showering the audience, making unexisting planes and surfaces in the air, in a great rhythym to the music - which, was very "large" sometimes. I dare to say too large, and too vivid, but as my thoughts kept rolling by during the concert, I felt it's right. He's French. Kraftwerk is German. You can see the differences in the way of their playing but it's totally all right. They were my absolute favourites in the secondary school fan-years so the concert was also nostalgic for me. Two hours of sounds, sounds which you hear and think they belong to him. It's fantastic. He created sounds and new atmosphere. I read an article few years ago where he was asked that You are often said to be the father of electronic music, what do you think? And he responded, I must be only the father of my child. But he really made something new.

My fave moments of the concert:

Oxygène 5 turning into an improvisative trance-thing

Oxygène 12 with the fantastic video behind

Equinoxe 4 with the nice original art inspired video

the song, when we could see incredible numbers from the wolrd

Equinoxe 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qop9Ms82FI8

Oxygène 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4HN4Kxju1c

Oxygène 4 + 12 (not Budapest):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWICdlD_85w&feature=related

His official website:
http://www.jeanmicheljarre.com/

Concerts coming

It's only a few days ago when I got to know that Pet Shop Boys and Jean Michel Jarre, two of my old half-nostalgic favourites will come to my country: PSB to BalatonSound in summer, JMJ to Papp László Budapest SportArena, in May. There was no question in my mind about going or not. As you can see it in this blog, I follow PSB's life every now and then, and I was glad to see them on VoltFestival maybe three years ago. Now Yes has come out and there are lots of new concert videos which make me very curious. About Jean Michel Jarre: being a fan of him started in secondary school, such as of Kraftwerk, these two were the coolest music which we could imagine with my best friend with whom I shared a desk in the classroom, and if we even listened to many other music nowadays, it would be a huge effect on us maybe for good. I had the chance to see his concert last year, that was the Oxygene tour, where he played the whole album from its first sound to its last, and songs from Oxygene 7-13 as well - on analogue devices. And now it's the World Tour, with which my old dream will come true.

PSB in your living room:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rEVeyDukGE
(visit mypricelessgig.co.uk)

Watch PSB concert videos in older posts:
Did you see me coming?
Yes

About the JMJ World Tour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJLm0jHh4b0

JMJ playing Oxygene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kQEvGmnkCQ

Katya Chehova & Vortex involute - Вторая жизнь

It's always a pleasure to hear other performances, adaptations and remixes of a song which you've known for a long time, let it be a jazz standard or even a techno song. Vortex involute, the Russian drum'n'bass band (in fact one person) reinterpreted Katya Chehova's music and created something, a deeply expressive atmospheric sound-world. The songs became slower, they don't hurry, there's enough time to express themselves and to make experiments with sound & noise. For example Po provodam (По прoвoдaм) got an other meaning, it became slower and ambient, such as Oblakami (Oблaкaми). And the closing song is the beautiful Вторая жизнь which - as I told you earlier - is my favourite song by her and also got a nice video. The whole album can be downloaded for free by registered users at www.station20.ru.

I remember listening to this album perfectly one year ago, in the cold, grey and hopeless February. Music stays with us, luckily.

Вторая жизнь:

http://www.youtube.com/user/katyachehova?blend=2&ob=1#p/a/DBCFD010ECF5BA8A/1/SONUYhlJ7nQ

Beтpoм:

Katya Chehova's music

It was the same time ago when I discovered Station 2.0 and Katya Chehova (Катя Чехова). In the beginning I didn't really know what I hear, just see the strange unreadable characters of titles on the screen. I had to go further, I liked it: I realized soon that it was much better than today's music played on radio and at clubs, but the main reason for it was the amazing atmosphere provided by the cold techno music and the Russian singing voice. The meeting happened, and even if it wasn't love at first sight (hear), later it got on a higher level.

Katya Chehova made three albums released by the Russian label Uplifto. Unfortunately her project ended, but there's something she created and left. Her, first, introducing, Ya robot, then the most known, Love 2.0, and after that K4, her latest and last. I think Love 2.0 is the best, with her biggest hit, Ya ne s toboy. The album is about another love, a love made today when everything changed. My first experience with her belongs to the song Вторая жизнь - Vtoraya zhiesn which has a very special atmosphere for me, see below. All of the mentioned albums can be downloaded at www.uplifto.ru or www.station20.ru.

Я не c тобой - Ya ne s toboy (I'm not with you):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRw3paHNF_Q

Я тебя люблю - Ya tebya lublu (I love you):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wb6uW2NuiA

Making of Нас больше не будет - Nas bolshe ne budet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cak5_Sfs16s

Вторая жизнь - Vtoraya zhiesn (Second life):

Нас больше не будет - Nas bolshe ne budet:

Station 2.0

My first meeting with Russian electronic music was a few years ago while downloading from last.fm's free downloads. Somehow I got to uplifto.ru which is an electronic record label, and also runs a webradio called Station 2.0 (СТАНЦИИ 2.0). I was glad to hear Russian voices, it was exotic. As I haven't visited this site for a while, it has been developing very well and now it's not only a radio, but a music community site as well with a lot of members and activities. The radio became a source of every kind of music let it be today's hits, Russian electronic and underground, or everything else. It also features live track information and a possibility for downloading archive streams back to a few days.

Visit www.station20.ru or www.uplifto.ru

To download music, click on Музыка (music).

To download archive streams, click on АРХИВ (archive).

Tilos radio

Let me show you which radio I think the best in my country. It's name is "Tilos", which means "forbidden", an underground little channel which has a rough history. Starting in a state of "almost-dying" and many times "vegetating" but Tilos survived everything and remains a nice piece of underground culture. The music broadcasted varies amongst a wide range of styles: from electronic / drum 'n' bass / hip-hop through experimental psychedelic songs to world / jazz music you can find everything. And it's a miracle of the new century that you can hear it from another country, too by the possibility of web radios.

Listen to it online at http://www.tilos.hu/

Prepare for a long night

It was precisely a little bit more than two years ago: I was surfing on the internet when I saw a little nice feature on www.nasa.gov, the NASA Calendar. Interesting things on the sky, anniversaries of old historical events, etc... and, on the 22th of December, I saw the following subtitle: Prepare for a long night. I was totally amazed. Like a child, it perfectly fit in my season- or everyday-rituals, which sometimes are celebrated only in my soul, and doesn't have any physical effect. I think everyone has this sort of of rituals. The longest night... isn't it fantastic? When anything can happen, when man sinks into his deepest thoughts, in that deepest night, which doesn't want to be over.

The thought didn't leave me, and, with my friend we played songs just for fun that time, besides our "real" music activities. We called it Jules & Cakkos project, I won't describe it, why. As you can see on the myspace page, we only made four songs which are gathered on an ep, called Virginia creeper. We can't sing, but sing in Prepare for a long night, and Madár úr. An interesting thing: no one likes the first, but everybody the second one. That's all, this project has been over for a long time. The low "plays" numbers are because we uploaded the songs again not a long time ago. I hope you'll enjoy it. And don't forget about your own rituals in life.

Our myspace page:

www.mayspace.com/julescakkos

You can download the ep here:
http://www.divshare.com/download/8628493-117

Kraftwerk releases Der Katalog

On the 5th of October, the german electronic high-tech band Kraftwerk released their new, longly waited product, Der Katalog / The catalogue which has been a lot mentioned and almost a mystery to the fans.

This is a new release of their 8 earlier albums (Autobahn, Radio-activity, Trans Europe Express, The man machine, Computer world, Electric cafe, The mix, and Tour de France Soundtracks) which are available separately and also in a unique box set (for approx. 120 USA dollars). They also released a sample cd which contains 8 tracks, each one from each album and a bonus track, which is a concert version of The model - but as watching eBay, this cd seems to be very rare.

Kling Klang Digital Remaster 2009.

Watch the trailer of Der Katalog on http://www.kraftwerk.com/ in the info menu.

Kraftwerk concert review

I had the honour to visit Balaton Sound festival (which is an electronic music festival at the coast of the lake, in Hungary), for one day, especially to hear and see the performance of one of my favourite groups and the group which has taken the biggest influence on me in music, I think. It's Kraftwerk, the well-known german electronic band, which is usually named as the "pioneer of electronic music". Yes, it isn't just an exaggeration, because any time they released a new album (after a long, long waiting time), they produced something which is brand new and we couldn't hear before. The clean, minimalist arrangement are the basis in their songs - and the word "perfection" is always connected with them in my mind.



This word is suitable for describing the concert, too. The songs were very similar to the songs of the concert 05 05 24 which was also held in Hungary (and that was my first Kraftwerk concert), but there were little changes, just a little, to improve the quality. I think only the biggest fans could realize it. For the first time I saw the performance of Showroom dummies, an extremely cool remix version of the original album song, and the Computer love, which was also new for me. Unfortunately they didn't play the song Airwaves which I saw on youtube, from another concert, and it's very good. But it's hard to write more about the concert, because the audio-visual effects only works when you're there. See the links below.

I suppose they won't come again here, because of the rare concerts and their age, but the hope dies last...

Visit their minimalist website: http://www.kraftwerk.com/

Some concert videos:
Radio activity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zymSXKoME60
Showroom dummies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB1DDvU8Y0E
Autobahn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWcuP4PaKtY&feature=related