Welcome to the new BlahBlahCafe!

Having trouble registering? You can contact us at the "Contact us" link at the bottom of the page.

Magnetic Fields Pt. 4


Post Posted Sat Jan 02, 2021 12:38 pm
plate of chips


Posts: 291
Likes received  : 21

Richard-Eastham wrote: Sun Nov 29, 2020 7:35 pm if somebody was to ask what the most "perfectly executed" JMJ track is, I would say Magnetic Fields Pt. 4.

It has a wonderful structure, the percussion is delicate (not the derivative thud thud of the Electronica years) and the melody is haunting. It has that melancholia that characterises so much of JMJ's music has but combines it with an optimism too. The structure builds over several verse-chorus-verse-chorus repeats, with little sonic additions each time. The vocoder chorus that starts at 2' 07" is distinctive but what makes it special is that bewitching "breaks like a wave" thing at 2' 33" when it reaches a tipping point. Same effect happens in Chronologie Pt. 1, when the music sort of tumbles over the other side of a high point at 1' 58".

The astonishing thing about Magnetic Fields Pt. 4 is that tipping point is reached well before halfway in a track that lasts 6' 12". It seems so brave to bring that point forward so early in a track and allow the second half to sort of drift away in a dream like state, before the rushing train and closing doors conclude things. Suggests JMJ was supremely confident about what he was doing here. So if one track was to capture JMJ's approach to composition and musicality, I would say it is Magnetic Fields Pt. 4: Long form, instrumental, delicate, melodic, the use of "found sound" with the train (ref to his GRM days) and a sadness yet an unbridled optimism too. It's faultless.

There is also something about that time, the early 1980s.


MF4 melody seems to be saying I will see you soon even though you are no longer here.


:::::::


There's five albums worth of material in MF if we make these alternations :


90s Big Beat (MF1 pt1)
Take out pads, take down Bass two octaves, add heavy drums
JmJ would done what Underworld, Chemical Brothers, Prodigy did : Big Beat.

Avant Garde (MF1 pt2)
Some musicians as Brian Eno would made a whole album out of it.


House (MF1 pt3)
Latin style percussion JmJ programs gives it a house flavour.

Bass down two octaves makes it deep. Keep accompaniment same.

Removing cheesy pads 12min30 to throughout pt3.
Replacing cheesy lead sound 12min45 with distorted Rhodes adds deepness houseness.

End solo keep as it is.

Make these changes becomes House.


90s Drum N Bass (MF2)
Keep pecussion and bass same speed,
take Bass down two octaves
slow down everything else : becomes Drum N Bass.

(Also replacing cheesy lead melody sound with something gritty).


Mystical (MF3)
Harold Budd, Steve Roach would made a whole album of similar vibes.


World music (MF5)
Exploring folk guitar styles worldwide to electronic accompaniment.


::::::


There we have it :
where many musicians would made 5 albums from the concepts in MF
JmJ made just one.

Moreover JmJ would have foreshadowed three EM Genres :
House, 90s Big Beat, 90s Drum N Bass.
Post Posted Sun Jan 03, 2021 10:33 am
Richard-Eastham


User avatar
Posts: 418
Location: Bournemouth, UK, Europe
Likes given: 160
Likes received  : 44

"MF4 melody seems to be saying I will see you soon even though you are no longer here"

I first heard MF4 in 1990. Thank you for putting into words the feelings I've had for over 30 years, but never been able to explain 😢 x
--
01.09.93 Manchester / 07.06.97 Manchester / 30.03.08 London / 22.05.09 London / 10.10.10 London / 01.07.11 Monaco / 04.05.16 London / 23.07.16 Macclesfield / 06.10.16 Brighton / 07.10.16 London.
Post Posted Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:58 pm
Velodynamic


User avatar
Posts: 3464
Location: Sweden, far north
Likes given: 2
Likes received  : 7

Today I suddenly realised...This year 2021 is the 40th anniversary of the albums Les Chants Magnétiques / Magnetic Fields and Les Concerts En Chine / The Concerts In China. Time really flies... 😲
Is it too naiv to wish for new renditions or extra special editions? 😉
"The worst thing in any form of art is to be betrayed by your own habits."
- JEAN MICHEL JARRE
Post Posted Mon Jan 11, 2021 1:08 pm
Richard-Eastham


User avatar
Posts: 418
Location: Bournemouth, UK, Europe
Likes given: 160
Likes received  : 44

I was thinking this the other day. JMJ made Oxygene 3 that included parts 14-20 in 2016. Then in 2018, we have Equinoxe Infinity. What would Magnetic Fields (e.g. Part 6 - Part 15) sound and feel like, 40 years on? I think it could be brilliant. However, the "brand" of Oxygene and Equinoxe is much stronger and carries more publicity than Magnetic Fields. So I don't think this will happen :-(
--
01.09.93 Manchester / 07.06.97 Manchester / 30.03.08 London / 22.05.09 London / 10.10.10 London / 01.07.11 Monaco / 04.05.16 London / 23.07.16 Macclesfield / 06.10.16 Brighton / 07.10.16 London.
Post Posted Mon Jan 11, 2021 1:15 pm
Dr_Jones


User avatar
Online Now
Posts: 3729
Location: Leiden, Netherlands
Likes given: 194
Likes received  : 402

True, it's been 40 years this may. If an album comes out this year, I'd be surprised. Nothing indicates he's working on one, except some Electronica 3 rumours.
Post Posted Wed Jan 13, 2021 9:39 pm
shadow


User avatar
Posts: 1511
Likes received  : 35

Screw Magnetic Fields II, give me Zoolook II!
27-11-10: Ahoy Rotterdam
22-11-16: Heineken Music Hall Amsterdam
Post Posted Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:16 am
Richard-Eastham


User avatar
Posts: 418
Location: Bournemouth, UK, Europe
Likes given: 160
Likes received  : 44

shadow wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 9:39 pm Screw Magnetic Fields II, give me Zoolook II!
To include Ethnicolor Pt. 3 and Ethnicolor Pt. 4 - just imagine that! :D
--
01.09.93 Manchester / 07.06.97 Manchester / 30.03.08 London / 22.05.09 London / 10.10.10 London / 01.07.11 Monaco / 04.05.16 London / 23.07.16 Macclesfield / 06.10.16 Brighton / 07.10.16 London.
Post Posted Mon Jan 18, 2021 6:08 pm
Jote


User avatar
Online Now
Posts: 1025
Location: Lodz, Poland
Likes given: 55
Likes received  : 68

Richard-Eastham wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 8:56 pm For example, MF1 could easily be split into three distinct tracks. That would mean MF2 becomes MF4, so we have a Pt. 4 opening up a second side of an album and a Pt 4 being the "hit" single. Very Oxygene and Equinoxe and Rendezvous and Chronologie.
It's just easier to assume "first track on the B-side = hit single". Then it works for other albums too (MF, Zoolook, Revolutions, Oxygene 7-13, Oxygene 3, Equinoxe Infinity)
Post Posted Mon Jan 18, 2021 9:41 pm
Richard-Eastham


User avatar
Posts: 418
Location: Bournemouth, UK, Europe
Likes given: 160
Likes received  : 44

Jote wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 6:08 pm
Richard-Eastham wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 8:56 pm For example, MF1 could easily be split into three distinct tracks. That would mean MF2 becomes MF4, so we have a Pt. 4 opening up a second side of an album and a Pt 4 being the "hit" single. Very Oxygene and Equinoxe and Rendezvous and Chronologie.
It's just easier to assume "first track on the B-side = hit single". Then it works for other albums too (MF, Zoolook, Revolutions, Oxygene 7-13, Oxygene 3, Equinoxe Infinity)
Chronologie too. But def not Waiting for Cousteau :D
--
01.09.93 Manchester / 07.06.97 Manchester / 30.03.08 London / 22.05.09 London / 10.10.10 London / 01.07.11 Monaco / 04.05.16 London / 23.07.16 Macclesfield / 06.10.16 Brighton / 07.10.16 London.
Post Posted Mon Jan 18, 2021 11:13 pm
Jote


User avatar
Online Now
Posts: 1025
Location: Lodz, Poland
Likes given: 55
Likes received  : 68

Richard-Eastham wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 9:41 pm Chronologie too. But def not Waiting for Cousteau :D
You already mentioned Chronologie so I skipped it. Suffice to say it works for most of his proper studio albums - even Metamorphoses (I'm not including S2k and GoL on this list)







  • 2020 Zoolook.nl
    Powered by phpBB forum software