Terry O’Neil/UMeThe Who‘s Pete Townshend is part of a diverse lineup of guest artists who collaborated with Jean-Michel Jarre on the influential French electronic-music composer’s upcoming album, Electronica Part 1: The Time Machine, which will be released on October 16. The rock legend is featured on a song titled “Travelator (Part 2).”
In a new interview with USA Today, Jarre discusses why he was excited to have Townshend take part in the album.
“He was the first guy to introduce sequencers into rock music with songs such as ‘Baba O’Riley,'” Jarre says. Also, “as one of the creators of the rock opera as a genre, he has an epic approach to performance that’s quite close to my approach of performances for big concerts.”
In addition to Townshend, Jarre teamed up with a variety of musicians from different genres and eras, including Erasure/ex-Depeche Mode keyboardist Vince Clarke, Tangerine Dream, avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson, Moby, AIR, composer/director John Carpenter and classical pianist Lang Lang.
“I’ve wanted to tell a story for a while regarding electronic music history and its legacy from my point of view and experience, from when I started to nowadays,” Jarre explains in a statement. “So I planned to compose for and collaborate with an array of artists who are, directly or indirectly linked to this scene, with people I admire for their singular contribution to our genre, that represent a source of inspiration for me over the last four decades I have been making music, but who also have an instantly recognizable sound.”
For the Electronica project, rather than allowing the various collaborators to record their parts remotely, Jarre made the effort to join them in the studio so he could work directly with them on the tracks.
Jarre also is planning to release a sequel album, Electronica Part 2, featuring different cast of artists, sometime in spring 2016.
Here is the full track list and lineup of collaborators for Jarre’s Electronica Part 1: The Time Machine:
“The Time Machine” (with Boys Noize)
“Glory (with M83)
“Close your eyes” (with AIR)
“Automatic (Part 1)” (with Vince Clarke)
“Automatic (Part 2)” (with Vince Clarke)
“If..!” (with Little Boots)
“Immortals” (with F*** Buttons)
“Suns Have Gone” (with Moby)
“Conquistador” (with Gesaffelstein)
“Travelator (Part 2)” (with Pete Townshend)
“Zero Gravity” (with Tangerine Dream)
“Rely on Me” (with Laurie Anderson)
“Stardust” (with Armin van Buuren)
“Watching You” (with 3D of Massive Attack)
“A Question of Blood” (with John Carpenter)
“The Train & the River” (with Lang Lang)
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