If someone asked me to describe the new project by French pioneer of electronic music in just three words, I would have to go with - long, boring, intrusive. The album that serves as a successor to Electronica 1 is oriented towards conspicuous production and a clamorous murmur of rhythm machinery. By doing this, Jarre is making a huge mistake. Instead of letting his notable collaborators (Primal Scream, Gary Numan, Hans Zimmer, etc) shine, he strangles their creativity to the unrecognizable point.
Rare are the moments when collaboration sounds like it should, such as Brick England with Pet Shop Boys. Jarre’s rhythm and nasal vocal of Neila Tennant are adorably congruent on this track. Another successful case is Why This, Why That And Why in which Sweden musician Dieter Meier enriches his minimalistic matrix with his baritone and creates almost meditative atmosphere. It reminded me of Sunscreen by Baz Luhrmann.
Anyhow, these two glimpses are not enough to save the 74-minute album that includes 18 songs. It is such a shame, especially when you have legends like Primal Scream getting lost in the derivative electro truism. I mean, I would play this song only If I was throwing a tribute party to the German band Scooter. You know what I mean..
The monumental sound of Hans Zimmer is also unreasonably shut down in the song Electrees, while Exit ends with Edward Snowden’s speech and fails to facilitate the revolutionary spirit in the listener. Instead, you get the basic techno that couldn’t be more distant from Snowden’s intelligent sedition.
If you want high-quality electronic music, buy another album. If you don’t care about aesthetics, and you are only looking for something to lift you up for Saturday night’s substance abuse, then Electronica 2:The Heart Of Noise this might be an album for you.
