En attendant Cousteau

Last updated
En attendant Cousteau
En attendant Cousteau.jpg
Studio album by
Jean-Michel Jarre
Released11 June 1990
StudioCoral Sound studio, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Croissy studio, Paris
Length1:08:57
Label Disques Dreyfus
Producer Jean-Michel Jarre
Jean-Michel Jarre chronology
Revolutions
(1988)		En attendant Cousteau
(1990)		 Images - The Best of Jean-Michel Jarre
(1991)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]

En attendant Cousteau (English title: Waiting for Cousteau) is the tenth studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released on Disques Dreyfus, licensed to Polydor. The title is a reference to the play Waiting for Godot.

Contents

Originally, Jarre intended to call it 'Cousteau sur la plage (Cousteau on the beach)', but it was changed at the last moment. A promotional tape contained this title. [2]

The album was dedicated to Jacques-Yves Cousteau and was released on his 80th birthday 11 June 1990. AllMusic described the album as "groundbreaking stuff", due to its stylistic differences from his other albums. [1] The album reached Number 14 in the UK charts. [3]

En attendant Cousteau is divided into two distinct stylistic halves: the first three pieces titled "Calypso" and the title track, an ambient piece which was used in the soundtrack of a 1991 documentary entitled "Palawan: Le dernier refuge" by Cousteau and Jarre. However two tracks from that documentary did not appear on the final album. [4]

The title track was also played at Jarre's exposition Concert d'images in Paris, 1989. According to a Jarre fan-magazine, [5] it was created via an app on an Atari Mega-ST, [6] on which Jarre programmed 16 starting notes. He apparently got the idea from the book 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' by Douglas Adams . He denied it in a later interview, claiming all notes are actually played by hand, noting however that the track includes some time-stretched samples mixed into the background. [7]

Jarre performed the album for about 2.5 million people at the Paris La Défense concert on 14 july 1990, featuring The Amoco Renegades, a steel-drum band from Trinidad and Tobago.

Track listing

CD edition

All music is composed by Jean-Michel Jarre

No.TitleLength
1."Calypso Part 1"8:24
2."Calypso Part 2"7:10
3."Calypso Part 3 (Fin de Siècle)" (End of the Century)6:28
4."En attendant Cousteau" (Waiting for Cousteau)46:55
Total length:1:08:57

Vinyl and cassette edition

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Calypso Part 1"8:24
2."Calypso Part 2"7:10
3."Calypso Part 3 (Fin de Siècle)"6:28
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."En attendant Cousteau"22:00
Total length:44:02

Personnel

Personnel listed in album liner notes: [8]

Charts

Chart (1990)Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [9] 19
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [10] 11
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [11] 27
Spanish Albums (AFYVE) [12] 37
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [13] 22
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [14] 21
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [15] 27
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [16] 11
UK Albums (OCC) [17] 14

Certifications and sales

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP) [18] 2× Gold550,000 [19]
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [20] Gold50,000^
Summaries
Worldwide1,550,000 [19]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

<i>Oxygène</i> 1976 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Oxygène is the third studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre. It was first released in France in December 1976 by Disques Motors, and distributed internationally in 1977 by Polydor Records. Jarre recorded the album in a makeshift studio that he set up in his apartment in Paris, using a variety of analog and digital synthesizers, and other electronic instruments and effects.

<i>Équinoxe</i> 1978 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Équinoxe is the fourth studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released in December 1978 on the Dreyfus record label, licensed to Polydor Records for its worldwide distribution in 1979. The album featured two singles: "Équinoxe Part 4" and "Équinoxe Part 5", the latter having more success reaching No. 45 on the UK Singles Chart. It reached number 11 on the UK Album Chart and number 126 on the US Billboard 200 chart.

<i>Oxygène 7–13</i> 1997 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Oxygène 7–13 is the twelfth studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released by Disques Dreyfus on 17 February 1997. It is the sequel to his 1976 album Oxygène released two decades before and used the same synthesizers. The album is dedicated to Jarre's former mentor, experimental musician Pierre Schaeffer. The album cover art was created by long-time collaborator Michel Granger. The CD cover used lenticular printing to make the illusion of moving stars in the background.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris La Défense – Une Ville En Concert</span> 1990 concert by Jean-Michel Jarre

Paris La Défense – Une Ville En Concert was a concert held by musician Jean-Michel Jarre on the district of La Défense in Paris on Bastille Day, 14 July 1990. About 2.5 million people standing in front of the pyramidal stage all the way down to the Arc de Triomphe witnessed this event, setting a new Guinness Book of Records entry for Jarre. The concert was funded by the Mairie de Paris, the Ministry of Culture and a small cluster of high-profile Parisian business concerns. Later, a concert video as well as a photobook of the event were released.

<i>Rendez-Vous</i> (Jean-Michel Jarre album) 1986 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Rendez-Vous is the eighth studio album by electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre released on Disques Dreyfus, licensed to Polydor, in 1986. The album art was created by long-time collaborator Michel Granger.

<i>Les Chants Magnétiques</i> 1981 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Les Chants Magnétiques is the fifth studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released on Disques Dreyfus on 20 May 1981. The album reached number six in the United Kingdom, number 98 in the United States and number 76 in Australia.

<i>Zoolook</i> 1984 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Zoolook is the seventh studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released in November 1984 by Disques Dreyfus. Much of the music is built up from samples of singing and speech in 25 different languages recorded and edited in the Fairlight CMI digital sampling synthesizer. The album spawned two singles: the title track and "Zoolookologie".

<i>Revolutions</i> (Jean-Michel Jarre album) 1988 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Revolutions is the ninth studio album by electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, first released in September 1988. The album reached number 2 in the UK charts, Jarre's best chart position since Oxygène. The Destination Docklands concert in London coincided with the release of the album.

<i>Métamorphoses</i> (album) 2000 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Métamorphoses is the thirteenth studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released by Sony Music in 1999, Epic Records on January 24, 2000 and by Disques Dreyfus on May 25, 2004 in the U.S. The album was followed by two singles: "C'est la Vie" and "Tout Est Bleu".

<i>Chronologie</i> 1993 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Chronologie is the eleventh studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, and was released on Disques Dreyfus with license to Polydor in 1993. Chronologie peaked at Number 11 in the UK charts and the album cover art was created by long-time collaborator Michel Granger.

<i>Sessions 2000</i> 2002 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Sessions 2000 is the fourteenth studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released on Disques Dreyfus and distributed by Sony Music in 2002. On January 7, 2003 was released in US. Sessions 2000 featured Francis Rimbert, and was recorded at Croissy studio and later mixed at Square Prod studio by Joachim Garraud. The album reached the 140th position in French charts.

<i>Les Concerts en Chine</i> 1982 live album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Les Concerts en Chine is a live album by Jean-Michel Jarre, recorded in 1981 and released in 1982 on Disques Dreyfus. It was recorded during Jarre's Concerts in China tour of Autumn 1981, which consisted of five Beijing and Shanghai concerts in China; this was the first time a Western pop artist performed in China after the Cultural Revolution.

<i>Images – The Best of Jean-Michel Jarre</i> 1991 greatest hits album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Images – The Best of Jean-Michel Jarre is a compilation album by Jean-Michel Jarre originally released in 1991.

<i>Téo & Téa</i> 2007 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Téo & Téa is the sixteenth studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released in 2007 on Aero Productions and Warner Music labels. Two singles were released, the first, "Téo & Téa", as a promotional for clubs and radio stations and then as a general release. The second, "Vintage", was released in digital download format only, on July 16, 2007, and included two remixes by ATB.

<i>Jarremix</i> 1995 remix album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Jarremix is an album remixing music by Jean-Michel Jarre. The album was released in 1995. It largely consists of remixes of the tracks "Chronologie 4" and "Chronologie 6" from Chronologie, the then latest studio album by Jarre and released two years prior. The release of Jarremix coincided with Jarre's "Concert pour la Tolérance".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Michel Jarre discography</span>

Jean-Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, synthpop, ambient and new-age genres, and an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.

<i>Oxygène: New Master Recording</i> 2007 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Oxygène: New Master Recording is a new recording by Jean-Michel Jarre of his 1976 album Oxygène. It was released in 2007 by EMI, marking the 30th anniversary of the original's release.

<i>Jarre Live</i> 1989 live album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Jarre Live, later re-released as Destination Docklands: The London Concert, is a live album by Jean-Michel Jarre, released on 2 October 1989 on Disques Dreyfus. It was recorded during Jarre's Destination Docklands concerts of 1988, which consisted of two London concerts in England; this was the first time the docklands district of London and the river Thames became the scenery for a concert.

<i>Planet Jarre: 50 Years of Music</i> 2018 compilation album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Planet Jarre: 50 Years of Music is a compilation album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released on 14 September 2018 to commemorate Jarre's 50 years in the music business.

<i>Amazônia</i> (album) 2021 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Amazônia is the twenty-first studio album by French musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released on 9 April 2021 by Columbia Records.

References

  1. 1 2 En attendant Cousteau at AllMusic
  2. ↑ "aerozonejmj". aerozonejmj.fr. 2014-03-27. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  3. ↑ "UK Music charts". EveryHit.com. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
  4. ↑ "Aerozonejmj". aerozonejmj.fr. 2019-03-03. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  5. ↑ Conductor Of The Masses - Issue 5. UK: Conceptual Publishing. July 1991. p. 30.
  6. ↑ AMI (Algorithmic Musical Instrument) By Cadenza Software. However, likely the name should be ACT (Algorithmic Compositional Tool), which "generates random musical output, based on user-defined notes, which can be controlled in real time using a GEM interface or a MIDI source", as listed on https://www.ataritoday.com/extra/ .
  7. ↑ "Aerozonejmj". aeorozonejmj.fr. 2019-01-19. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  8. ↑ Waiting For Cousteau (booklet). Disques Dreyfus/Polyodr. 1990. 843 614-2.
  9. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Jean Michel Jarre – En attendant Cousteau" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  10. ↑ Finnish charts:
    • Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 168. ISBN   978-951-1-21053-5.
    |- "Discography Jean-Michel Jarre". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  11. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Jean Michel Jarre – Waiting For Cousteau" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  12. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN   84-8048-639-2.
  13. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Jean Michel Jarre – En attendant Cousteau". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  14. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Jean Michel Jarre – En attendant Cousteau". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  15. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Jean Michel Jarre – En attendant Cousteau" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  16. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Jean Michel Jarre – En attendant Cousteau". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  17. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  18. ↑ "French album certifications – J-Michel JARRE – En attendant Cousteau" (in French). InfoDisc.Select J-MICHEL JARRE and click OK. 
  19. 1 2 Fitzmaurice, Larry (22 May 1993). "Around The French Companies". Billboard. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  20. ↑ Sólo Éxitos 1959–2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979–1990 (in Spanish). Iberautor Promociones Culturales. 2005. ISBN   8480486392.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.