EMusic.com in Electronic Music

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"Oxygene" (10/19/1993) Electronic Jarre, Jean-Michel, Dreyfus Records (France)NOTES Solo performer: Jean-Michel Jarre (sythesizer, Farfisa organ, Mellotron). Recorded from August to November 1976. Released in 1976, OXYGENE proved to be a massive hit for French electronic musician Jean-Michel Jarre. The son of film composer Maurice Jarre, the synthesizer player sought to create warmer sonic textures through the technology of the time, and the result was this pioneering six-part album. OXYGENE's bizarrely creepy cover, featuring a skull underneath the peeled-away surface of the globe, belies the music's lush beauty, though it does point to haunting moments such as "Oxygene III." The record's most recognizable track is the majestic "Oxygene IV," which features percolating synth lines and spare, nearly imperceptible beats. While the album would lead Jarre to international fame, especially in his native France and the rest of Europe, it also proved to be a recording that he struggled to top, even going so far as to release a sequel, OXYGENE 7-13, more than 20 years later. For aficionados of late-'70s electronic acts such as Tangerine Dream and Vangelis, this bold outing is essential.

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"Just Be" (01/01/2006) Electronic Tiesto, Nettwerk AmericaAdditional personnel: Kirsty Hawkshaw, Aqualung, Joanne Lloyd (vocals); Josh Gabriel. Recording information: 2004. Known for creating hypnotic electronica in which fragments of airy female vocal melodies weave through pulsating layers of rhythms, Dutch DJ Tiesto is one of the most noted producers/remixers in progressive dance music. JUST BE continues Tiesto's forays into beat-based trance music, and his trademark sonic elements--floating vocals, eerie synth textures, and incessant, high-energy beats--are all present and accounted for. "Forever Today," which opens the album, features a building, swelling orchestral fanfare before launching into a flurry of breakneck beats. Surging compositions (particulary "Love Comes Again" and "Nyana"), complete with the requisite electro-hi-hat, conjure visions of late-night ravers contorting wildly, their waving hands illuminated by psychotropic light displays. The real surprise comes with the ghostly, lovely "UR;" the closest Tiesto gets to conventional song structure, this track recalls Japan, Nick Drake, and Radiohead, while still maintaining his lush electronica sound. A clever, twitchy reading of Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" closes things out, putting a cap on 78 minutes of innovative DJ music.

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"Witching Hour" (10/04/2005) Electronic Ladytron, Rykodisc (USA)Ladytron: Daniel Hunt, Helen Marnie, Mira Aroyo, Reuben Wu. Recording information: Elevator Studios, Liverpool, England. Indie electro-pop outfit Ladytron turned in their most accomplished and realized effort with 2005's WITCHING HOUR. The heavy influence of early-'80s synth-pop is still prevalent here, though less so than on previous releases. Instead, WITCHING HOUR incorporates the aesthetics of New Order and Depeche Mode into a sound that also features elements of shoegaze and dream pop, making for an alluring, atmospheric vibe. Ladytron's music is moody, with goth overtones, a feeling perfectly suited to their chilly synth-scapes and eerie melodies. Yet the group leavens these qualities with sharp songwriting, casting out hooky refrains that float on the voices of singers Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo. All told, Ladytron mix classic elements of '90s indie rock with an updated, postmodern approach, making for dark, sophisticated contemporary pop.

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"Buddha-Lounge 4" (08/07/2007) Electronic Various Artists, Sequoia Records

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"Expedite Music" (05/04/2005) Electronic Les Eclairs de Musique, Future Records

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"Em3 *" (05/04/2005) Electronic Les Eclairs de Musique, Future Records

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"Em2" (05/04/2005) Electronic Les Eclairs de Musique, Future Records

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"One/Three" (06/11/2002) Electronic Dabrye, Ghostly InternationalDabrye: Tadd Mullinix.

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"Cantoma" (03/28/2006) Electronic Cantoma, QuangoCantoma: Phil Mison. Additional personnel: Silvana Malta, Tanja Thulau (vocals); Christophe Goze, DJ Pathaan.

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"Voyeur *" (09/13/2005) Electronic Gina X Performance, LTM Records

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"Christmas Re-Grooved" (10/05/2004) Electronic Various Artists, Koch Records (USA)

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"All Out Fall Out" (08/23/2005) Electronic Pest, Ninja Tune (USA)Pest: Adrian Josey (vocals, turntables); Matt Chandler (guitar); Wayne Urquhart (cello, electric bass); Thomas Marriott (trombone); Benjamin Mallott (keyboards).

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"Pull the Rabbit Ears" (05/31/2005) Electronic Pine Am, Eenie MeeniePine Am: Tsugumi Takashi (vocals, bass guitar); Chizuko Matsubayashi (guitar, background vocals); Taeca Kinoshita (keyboards). Recording information: 2005.

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"Brasil" (07/12/2005) Electronic De Bahia, Salome, Tommy BoySalome De Bahia: Bobby Rangell (flute); Leo Montana (keyboards); Miguel Gomez (congas). Recording information: 2004.

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"Shadow: Hard Sessions" (01/23/2001) Electronic Various Artists, ShadowCompilation producer: DJ Dietrich Shoenemann.

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"Shadow: Hed Sessions 2" (09/17/2002) Electronic Various Artists, Shadow

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"Necropolis" (09/14/2004) Electronic Spooky, DJ, Shadow

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"Next Level Fusion" (03/27/2001) Electronic Illform, ShadowIllform: Quentin Allen (keyboards, synthesizer, programming). Additional personnel: Tom Hornsby (soprano saxophone); Steven Allen (electric bass). Recorded at Lab 64 Studios, Cleveland, Ohio.

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"Trancemode Express: A Tribute to Depeche Mode" (01/16/1996) Electronic Various Artists, CleopatraFull title: Trancemode Express: A Tribute To Depeche Mode.

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"Open Transmission" (08/06/2002) Electronic Bhakta, Sammasati MusicPersonnel includes: Bhakta, Ashok Bharti, Jessica & Jessica, Shirley Pugatski, Tilasu, Maha Baba, Rashmi, Disha. In Bhakta's universe, Indian instrumentation and Sanskrit devotional chanting live peaceably amidst synthesizers and lounge sensibilities. He subtly meshes the electronic with the organic, the spiritual with the sensual, the crunchy with the smooth. On the opening track of his debut album, carnatic violin and bamboo flute wrestle, spar, and dance for two solid minutes, until an impassioned, improvised vocal floats into the mix, carried away by subtle percussion and hypnotic bass. Appositely titled "Third Eye," it's a wakeup call to the spirit. The title track, a three-part suite, starts off as a tasty chill-out number for vocals and percussion, then bursts into a blazing techno inferno; the final third deftly fuses the first two, resulting in a swirling Sufi dance. "Khidr," another three-parter, is a meditative mood piece that changes briefly into a dance piece, and then back to atmospheric overtone chanting and soothing synth tones. Amidst all the techno-trance elements, the sincerely devotional quality of the vocals (by Bhakta and other guest artists) makes this a continually compelling and very human record.

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"Boheme" (06/20/1995) Electronic Deep Forest, 550 MusicDeep Forest: Eric Mouquet, Michel Sanchez. Additional personnel: Marta Sebestyen (vocals). Recorded at EMM Studio. Includes liner notes by Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez. BOHEME won a 1996 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album. The two producers who are Deep Forest are folklorists with keyboards and samplers and visions of one world. Instead of traveling back-country roads and recording native singers on their home turf, they comb the world of recorded music and sample the natives; and instead of presenting them as they are, they mix and match them and supply the beats themselves. Following a debut that was based on Pygmy music from Central Africa, BOHEME scans the landscape of Eastern Europe and Asia for the exotic sounds of throat singing, cantorial chanting and Hungarian folk melodies. Add in ambient dance tracks and keyboards blips, and you have Tuvan techno. The star voice on BOHEME belongs to Transylvanian singer Marta Sebestyen, whose records are sampled on some tracks and who sings directly on others. On "Bulgarian Melody," the producers drop out the beats altogether to showcase her mesmerizing, folk-ish throat singing. "Deep Folk Song" is a sprightly, accordion-based folk dance, spiced with high, otherwordly vocal chants; it tips the balance, momentarily, away from techno and toward the local culture. "Cafe Europa" stretches the album's landscape to include an American Indian chant, and the seamless way it merges into the techno beat suggest Deep Forest's true message: that two very different local cultures might just be parts of one much bigger culture.

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"Hydra Head Presents: 2xh vs. HHR Vol. 1 "Where Is My Robotic Boot?" (01/04/2005) Electronic Various Artists, Hydra Head Records

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"The Human Resource" (04/04/2006) Electronic Various Artists, System RecordingsRenowned DJ Dieselboy's dance music label presents a collection of drum-and-bass remixes from some of America's foremost turntablists and producers, including Gridlok, Evol Intent, and Vector Burn.

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"La Ghriba; La Kahena Remixed" (12/12/2006) Electronic DJ Cheb I Sabbah, Six Degrees

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"Over Easy *" (07/26/2005) Electronic Hardway, James, LunaticWorksJames Hardway Collective: Eyedentity (vocals); James Hardway (guitar, clarinet, saxophone, Wurlitzer piano, Moog synthesizer, percussion, Theremin); Benn Clatworthy (saxophone); Greg Reeves (bass instrument); Keith LeBlanc (drums). Recording information: 2005.