Back catalogue: Leftfield

Review: If there's one thing you can count on Jean Michel Jarre for, it's testing the limits of technology and seeing where he can take things further. The Oxygene synth wizard is back at it with a revolutionary new record which seeks to offer his fans a sonic experience like they've never had before. Oxymore has been recorded as a multi-channel, 3D binaural album, and while that might sound a bit vague for the uninitiated, the idea is that it gives the producers and engineers greater control over placing sounds within a three-dimensional, or even 360 degree space. Anyone listening on headphones will be able to experience this new revelation in sound design and hear it for themselves.

Review: The latest album from legendary French electronic adventurer Jean-Michel Jarre is a soundtrack of sorts. Amazonia was created as a 52-minute score to accompany a new "immersive exhibition" of photographs and films of the Brazilian Amazon region by award-winning snapper and videographer Sebastiao Salgado. Jarre's music, which comes wrapped in field recordings from the Amazon region (sounds of nature, of course, but also logging and deforestation), is typically symphonic and stirring, with his usual synthesizer sounds being joined by occasional orchestration and slivers of drum machine percussion. It's a hugely atmospheric and emotive concoction, as you'd expect from a composer, musician and producer of Jarre's stature.

Review: French electronic music composer and sound pioneer JMJ delivers a 52-minute score dedicated to the Brazilian Amazon. The work is conceived as part of a wider undertaking by award-winning photographer and filmmaker Sebastiao Salgado, whose exhibition of the same name opens early-April 2021 at Philharmonie de Paris, before visiting Rome, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and London.

Suffice to say, travel bans and the whole End of Days thing means many won't get to see the full project, but even those who do will likely consider this record far more than a piece of memorabilia from their day of culture. Comprising nine individual tracks, some spanning upwards of seven minutes, the album is part orchestral instrumental symphony, an ode the majesty of its wilderness muse, part electronic adventure and part South American field recordings, making for an immersive and captivating journey into the heart of the world's lungs.

Review: He might be in the autumn of his career but Jean Michel Jarre remains an innovator in the field of electronic music. His last album in 2022, Oxymore, was another pioneering exploration of rhythm and sound that has now been reworked alongside a series of collaborators all picked by the man himself. The nine-track selection brings wholly new perspectives to the originals which he calls "a vibrant collection of musical dialogues." An immediate standout for us is the track with Nina Kraviz which is crunchy, distorted minimal techno, while 'Epica Extension' with Brian Eno is laced up with otherworldly melodies. A great work from a mix of great artists.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Tear in the top of outer sleeve but product remains unopened and is otherwise in excellent condition***


He might be in the autumn of his career but Jean Michel Jarre remains an innovator in the field of electronic music. His last album in 2022, Oxymore, was another pioneering exploration of rhythm and sound that has now been reworked alongside a series of collaborators all picked by the man himself. The nine-track selection brings wholly new perspectives to the originals which he calls "a vibrant collection of musical dialogues." An immediate standout for us is the track with Nina Kraviz which is crunchy, distorted minimal techno, while 'Epica Extension' with Brian Eno is laced up with otherworldly melodies. A great work from a mix of great artists.

Review: Second time around for Jean-Michel Jarre's 2022 album Oxymore, a loving tribute to French composer and 'music concrete' pioneer Pierre Henry. As the title suggests, this version features new remixes of album tracks (all of which feature sounds originally created by Henry) by a disparate group of musical talents. That makes for an interesting mix of interpretations, with armin Van Buuren's sizable trance translation of 'Epica' rubbing shoulders with a trippy, off-kilter electro take on 'Sex In The Machine' by Nina Kraviz, a moody Martin Gore interpretation of 'Brutalism', Irene Dresel's raw techno revision of 'Zeitgeist Botanica', and ambient pioneer Brian Eno putting his spin on 'Epica'.