A Journey Into Sound is a series in-which I expose myself to genres I know nothing about - this genre is Electronic.
Week 1 (9/9 - 9/15):
Kraftwerk: The Man Machine (1978)
While The Man Machine sounded dated, it was incredibly easy to get sucked in. My favorite thing about this album is that Kraftwerk didn’t sacrifice the cold isolated sounds that were normally associated with electronic music from the late 60s and early 70s, it’s very clear that they embraced it. They crafted 6 perfect Synthpop songs by balancing the cold mechanical and atmospheric sound of electronic music with pop music’s hypnotic dance rhythms.
Jean-Michel Jarre: Oxygene (1976)
What was really interesting about Oxygene is that Jarre walks a fine line between structure and ambiguity and progressive vs classical. Even though there are individual tracks, the album is best read as one movement. As perfectly described by Jarre himself, “Oxygene is one long flowing instrumental journey through surreal aural landscapes, combining elements of pop and avant-garde.”
Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music for Airports (1978)
I can see how this recording was considered extraordinary at the time, being one of the first “official” ambient albums ever, but, with the exception of the first and last 10 minutes of the album, it was a snooze; boring in the sense that it’s so sterile. Unfortunately, in my opinion, one of the biggest issues is that it hasn’t aged well, as it doesn’t stand out or stand up to todays contemporaries. Successful minimalistic ambient music shall have two functions: 1) function as background music and 2) have enough substance to bear scrutiny. With that said, Eno missed the second mark.