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Introduction

I wasn't so sure about sharing this, but I loved the look of the title, and it is an excellent album by Jean Michelle Jarre, which you can explore further on Amazon if you want.

You can read more from the blog here, but that is just my books:

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It was freezing this morning, but the frost now seems to be fading. For the first time in ages, I've had porridge for breakfast, and thanks to the new set of pans I picked up from Morrisons, it's just a quick wipe clean.

I've found that listening to instrumental music can be quite good, and I have been listening to Jean-Michel Jarre's "Aero", which was an experiment in surround sound, and it does sound good on headphones. This is the blurb from the album description on Amazon:

"Aero is Jean Michel Jarre's first experiment in surround sound as well as being the most respectable "best of" album in 13 years. The album features reworked versions of his golden oldies and three new pieces. The result of the new orchestration is a modern-sounding remix album, rather than a definitive greatest hits.

The album was designed and recorded in multi-channel surround-sound and is therefore presented on both a CD and DVD in the same package (including Dolby Digital and DTS tracks allowing playback on a standard DVD video player in 5.1 surround sound). Sound quality is top-notch as you'd expect, although sometimes the transitional pieces between tracks overdo the surround effects for the sake of demonstrating the technology.

The music itself, as a collection of greatest hits tracks, is a surprising choice, presumably designed for the best 5.1 surround sound. There's no "Revolutions", "Chronologie 4", "Ethnicolor", "Calypso", "Oxygene 8" or "Hey Gagarin", for instance. We are treated to fresh, excellent reworkings of classics: "Oxygene 2", "Equinoxe 3" and "Last Rendez-vous". Ageing tracks such as "Oxygene 4", "Chronologie 6", and "Rendez-vous 4" have all been brought up to date. The three new tracks recall Robert Miles and Orbital. They're good but there's a feeling they were left over from previous projects. There are too many synth presets sounding too clinical and lacklustre compared to the high standard of sounds used in Jarre's other studio albums. Moreover, there are finer unreleased tracks that could have been included.

Also included on the DVD is a visual track. A close-up of the actress Anne Parillaud's (Nikita) eyes while she listens to the music for the full 73 minutes in one take is typical of Jarre's subtle, minimalist and "non-MTV" visual style. Aero will appeal to those wanting to test their home cinema equipment and those seeking some of the greatest hits of France's electronica wizard. --Colin Neal"

The last few days I've cut down on the walking, but still hit over 10K a day, so I'm still on track to hit my target for February. Today I will be going for a couple of walks before dealing with Virgin, who've given me an upgrade for a reduction in costs, but have been a little economical with the truth. It's a situation where you have to go with it because you are actually better off with it, even though it comes with certain inconveniences like not being able to keep your recordings, but if I haven't watched them in six months, then maybe I am not losing out.

I've included "Oxygène II" from ӔЯ֍, which sounds excellent on a decent sound system, and it's just playing on my soundbar now, and I hope I haven't disturbed my neighbours, Ray and Michelle, with the noise.

Have a brilliant Saturday, my friends.