STAR'S END Update 08.31.25

[Star'sEndRadio]

STAR'S END Update 08.31.25

For many OXYGENE (39:35) was their gateway album into the genre of Electronic Music. This classic LP by Jean-Michel Jarre in its day provided a meaningful first exposure to a new synthetic instrumental style. A release that raised awareness of a modern mind music, it broke the cardinal rule of EM by becoming a bestseller - a concept unheard of in a genre first known for its Bleeps, Bloops and impenetrable Interstellar scale. Made for those seeking a more imaginative listening experience OXYGENE presented a smart response to the decade of the 1970s, as well as a path forward.

For many, hearing this work in 1976/1977, an era where the synthesizer was still considered an exotic device and just beginning to intrude upon the mainstream, OXYGENE was an inspiring encounter. Throughout this fabled decade came a host of Electronic titles out of Germany. But this one was from France - where Jarre seemed to be sharing his joy at the realization of existence. The use of melody, harmony, rhythm and pulse combined creatively with dramatic shifts in timbre and tone to produce an assured sonic statement. Expressed in control voltages, on/off gates, sequences, arpeggios, phase shifts and echo Jarre shaped electrical current into something more meaningful and intentioned than anything previously known.

Two LP sides, with three interconnected tracks each, yielded a synergy of six that had a bigger heart than the early academic realizations of Morton Subotnik and Karlheinz Stockhausen, and a more vivid personality than the classical interpretations of Wendy Carlos and Mike Hankinson. Emotionally different from Vangelis' "Albedo 0.39", friendlier than Tangerine Dream's "Stratosfear", warmer than Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" and spacier than Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" OXYGENE landed optimally between Prog-Rock and the nascent New Age movement. The 7" single "Oxygene: Part IV" even proliferated throughout FM commercial radio, while record shops contemplated under what category it should be filed.

OXYGENE is forward-looking enough to have aired on Star's End since shortly following the radio show's debut, yet was also instilled with enough emotional intensity to hold the attention of those with more pedestrian tastes. Ever the absorbing aural adventure it still has the ability to transport us to new spaces and places in the cerebral realm - and continues to lead us well past the magic sparks of its maker.

Please tune in to the 08.31.25 broadcast of STAR'S END for music from the classic LP OXYGENE by Jean-Michel Jarre, and much more...

For more on Jean-Michel Jarre, please access: http://www.jeanmicheljarre.com

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WXPN/STAR'S END - Block Rockin' Weekend

WXPN's Block Rockin' Weekend begins at 4:00pm on Friday 29 August 2025 and will run continuously through Midnight on Monday 1 September 2025.

Programs will stretch out block-style, presenting three songs in a row from an interesting range of noted artists and albums - and aspire to provide an enjoyable soundtrack for the many moods of our long holiday weekend.

WXPN's programming endeavor will cover 80 broadcast hours, including Specialty Shows like Land of the Lost, Sleepy Hollow, The Blues Show, The Folk Show and Star's End.

Please tune in to the 08.31.25 broadcast of Star's End Ambient Radio for "The Artist in Three Tracks" - an absorbing broadcast of music by nine select Star's End artists on the spacey side of WXPN's Block Rockin' Weekend.

We hope you will have a meaningful Labor Day 2025! Thanks for tuning in!

For more about WXPN's Block Rockin' Weekend, please access: http://www.xpn.org

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STAR'S END broadcasts every Saturday Night/Sunday Morning from 1:00AM til 6:00AM (EDST) on:

88.5fm WXPN Philadelphia, PA
88.1fm WXPH Harrisburg, PA
90.5fm WKHS Worton/Baltimore, MD
91.9fm WXPJ Hackettstown, NJ
104.9fm Allentown, PA

and live on the world wide web at: http://www.xpn.org

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Chuck van Zyl
Host of STAR'S END Ambient Radio
http://www.starsend.org