Blah Blah Cafe, the Jean-Michel Jarre forum

Richard-Eastham

Does anybody know much about the background to this track?

It was one of the extras that was added to the 1991 Images release, the other two being Moon Machine and Eldorado. I know that Moon Machine was a flexi-disc release in 1986 and Eldorado was composed for the cancelled Teotihuacan concert. Was Globetrotter also a Teotihuacan track?

Listening to Globetrotter again recently, it strikes me this was a Calypso-era composition. It could easily fit in as part of a longer Calypso Part 2.

I really like it. It would be a great track reworked in binaural or Dolby Atmos as an extended mix version.

A very underrated track, often overlooked. I myself love it.
I suspect is was a track for the Mexico concert too, although I can't confirm it... maybe I should take a look into those old CotM magazines.... I'll be home this weekend, I will see if I can find some info on it.

Finaero

I think it's a shame that there wasn't a major album between WFC and Chronologie, because it would have been great to have more tracks in the vein of the early-1990s sound of Globetrotter and Palawan.

(Also, I could have sworn that the 1997 remaster's booklet stated that Globetrotter was made for the 1991 Mexico concert, but due to not having read the booklet in any form since 2004 at the latest, seems like I was wrong)

If you look at how long the eclipse lasted from the beginning of the total eclipse to the end (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_ecl ... y_11,_1991), which is 3:29, it matches exactly with the length of the song which leads me to speculate that it was going to be played during the total eclipse.

Richard-Eastham

Wow! I hadn't realised.... 3:29, exactly the same as the eclipse! That's brilliant, if true. I'll now need to always listen to it in the dark

And yes, an album in 1991/92 that continues the Calypso Pt 2 vibe and sets up that Chronologie sound would be amazing. I wonder how many demos, out takes and samples JMJ still has from around that time?

plate of chips

It's quite Bach like the way JmJ interweaves the sequences in Globetrotter.
It's one of JmJs signatures interweaving sequences it started with Oxygene 5 the 2nd part.
Of the Electronic Musicians I've listened to from 1930s to present time JmJ is one of the few that does this.
Wendy Carlos did this when she did Switched on Bach as did Tomita when he covered Classical compositions on synths.

shadow

I adore this track and hate that it was released once and never mentioned again. Really wish we got more similar 'rare' tracks out of Jarre.

shadow wrote: Wed Aug 16, 2023 9:14 pm I adore this track and hate that it was released once and never mentioned again. Really wish we got more similar 'rare' tracks out of Jarre.

Agreed. Aerozone never quite got that status. I like it but it's not as good as Globe Trotter.
And Paris Underground I really love.

Richard-Eastham

I've just listened to Globe Trotter again, this time through headphones. It really is incredible. It’s full of tension. Elements appear to be pulling against one another to create a sense of space. There is a feeling of complexity and lots of layers, but careful listening reveals not that many, but they way they are placed one over the other, and in a shifting dynamic way, creates gaps and clashes that delivers its musical impact. The drum that kicks in at 7 seconds has an incredible reverb. There’s almost no conventional structure of verse or chorus, yet it’s still highly melodic. How does he do that? Same with Epica, a track made up almost entirely of percussive sounds yet carries a strong melody.

AERO62

It's one of his stronger tracks for sure. It's a bit like "Together we Thrive", he composed a beautiful piece that echoes WFC. Yet it's just a one off type of thing. He does the project and moves on.