What Are You Listening To?

[ZeusMoose]

The thing I really like about JMJ is his ability (on his first 3 or 4 albums anyway) to take sound effects etc. and weave them into a structure to support what was essentially classical themes. I can easily see his music being performed by an orchestra with synths providing the effects. Much like the concerts he did in China. And his real forte was his ability to put melody into his works. Too many people are just creating bleeps and blips but without any 'tune' to hang your head on. I still think his opening sequence on Oxygene is THE definitive piece of electronic music. I remember hearing it for the first time on the radio. It blew me away. I was thinking 'how is it possible for someone to even think up this stuff', let alone turn it into a major genre-defining cohesive work. It still has that effect on me today. It's like stepping into your mind. Needless to say, I went out and bought it straight away and played it solidly for weeks on end. Hard to say how many times I have listened to this in it's entirety but it must be bordering on a thousand plays by now. One of the very few albums I never tire of and it never sounds dated to me. In fact it still sounds like it's ahead of the pack. It has something completely unique about it - and the crazy thing is, no matter how many times I hear it, I still cannot say what that thing is. Pure genius. Mr Granger's artwork was the perfect package for it as well. Synchronicity in full flow. Never to be repeated.

I'm not that into that, but I do agree with all the reasons you bring up, and look for music that works in those ways . I do remember JMJ from back when I listened to radio (college station ) and recognizing him for the pioneer he was/is (pretty obvious) . Tangerine Dream, W. Carlos , Subotnik , those kinds of synth sounds were like a magic elixir from heaven back when they were first coming out . Influenced me HEAVILY , and the minimal synth work I've done draws from those original sounds.

Nowadays , any bozo can make 'electronic music', but most of it isn't worth the time it takes to find out that it sucks. Generic beats, generic themes , generic and simplistic music, predictability out the wazoo . But I do know there's always great music being made; my problem is having time to spend finding it . Throw in spending time actuially making music, and it's al\most pointless , but it's still
an important quest .