HOLLYWOOD, CA- As a creative individual, it’s a benefit to be in the presence of some of the most accomplished creators in modern times, and that’s exactly what I was fortunate enough to experience on February 9, 2017 in Hollywood.
I’m in the back room of The Record Parlour on Selma in Los Angeles. It’s the kind of speakeasy space that surprises you. The storefront of The Record Parlour is a modestly sized floor filled with wooden crates of used records from the decades of music that has shaped the world: from Miles Davis to The Sex Pistols; Tom Waits to Tom Jones; Harry Nilsson to Tupac – if it’s used and in good condition, it’s somewhere in the thousands of 12 inch sleeves in neat, inviting rows that makes any analog audiophile salivate.
That’s why entering its back room is entering another world. A world filled with sparkling, colorful hanging glass lamps, working pinball machines, vintage framed exploitation and B-movie posters with titles like Not of This Earth, Under Age, and Russ Meyers Black Snake. Oh, and of course A Clockwork Orange. It’s an intimate affair with 70s R&B filling the room, a gramophone, and space for approximately 75 people.
And it’s in this room, on this night, KCRW radio personality (and perhaps America’s most influential DJ) Nick Harcourt, with his sincere, amber voice introduces tonight’s line up of powerhouse musical talent including Moby, Hans Zimmer, and the trance and electronica artist of the hour, Jean-Michel Jarre.
These are just a handful of the over 30 artists who have contributed to Jarre’s latest, Grammy nominated work, ‘Electronica 1: The Time Machine”, and since it was Grammy Week, they were able cajole a hand full of them to join Jarre for a round table conversation including Little Boots, Julia Holter, and Gary Numan most notably famous for his 1980s synth hit Cars. (Even today, the Cars music video has 19 million views on YouTube).
For a pop music fan such as myself, it’s a bit overwhelming to be in the same room as these creative forces. I mean, on one end dressed in a sharp, black suit and silver-gray tie with sneakers, salt and pepper beard, and black rimmed glasses, is Moby and on the other is one of the greatest cinematic composers of all time – dressed like someone’s casual uncle who’s been out drinking all night, Hanz Zimmer.
It’s a stage of pioneers, trend setters, and melodic intellectuals who have built, transformed, molded, changed, and re-invented modern pop and electronica, paving the path of acceptance for a genre of music that used to be panned as a passing phase. These men and women have proven that electronic music is not only here to stay, but worthy of Grammy’s, Oscars, and audiences around the world.
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Posted by Jean-Michel Jarre on Friday, February 10, 2017
