Oxygène

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work

Oxygène · Jean-Michel Jarre worked for years with early synthesizers and tape loops, and came into contact with the musique concrète of Pierre Schaeffer. For this record he built a makeshift studio in the kitchen of his apartment in Paris, with, among other things, an EMS VCS 3 and an ARP 2600. The sound engineer Michel Geiss helped with the purchase and programming of the instruments. The recording ran from August to November 1976. Plenty of echo and reverb was meant to give a great sense of space, and with sounds such as birds and waves the music refers to nature.

The record is entirely instrumental and sounds like symphonic electronic music with bubbling sequences and catchy melodies. Oxygène (Part IV) became a worldwide hit and brought him his breakthrough. The album reached number one in France and number two in England. It is described as the record that led the synthesizer revolution of the 1970s, and later influenced Moby, among others.

Listening

Track list

1. 1Oxygène, Pt. 17:39Apple Music ↗
2. 2Oxygène, Pt. 27:46Apple Music ↗
3. 3Oxygène, Pt. 33:16Apple Music ↗
4. 4Oxygène, Pt. 44:06Apple Music ↗
5. 5Oxygène, Pt. 510:16Apple Music ↗
6. 6Oxygène, Pt. 66:35Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗