EN ATTENDANT COUSTEAU [AKA: WAITING FOR COUSTEAU]

In 1990, Jarre's search for a new theme took him to the West Indies and the world of Jaques Cousteau. Jarre is not the first to be inspired by Cousteau of course, a number of musicians have trodden a similar path, including the late John Denver. This album, which was released with the English language title of "Waiting for Cousteau", is the result of Jarre's working holiday.

Side one of this album is a three part suite named after Cousteau's boat "The Calypso", a name which predictably reflects the style of music of part one. Jarre calls upon the assistance of a steel drum band plus bass and drums for the suite, but the sound is still predominantly electronic. The second part moves into more orthodox Jarre territory, with a straight forward synthesiser rendition. Part three is slower with a funereal atmosphere. It would work well as background music for some of Cousteau's stunning films, but heard in isolation it is rather mundane. The addition of a real bass to the tracks does add a certain heaviness to the sound, the music though is somewhat predictable.

The version of the album I have is on cassette, so the running time of the title track is curtailed by 25 minutes to a mere 22 minutes (coincidentally the length of side one!). The piece actually has very little to do with Cousteau or the Caribbean, even being recorded in France. It consists of slowly altering soundscapes devoid of discernible melodies. Essentially, it is the sort of music you see on racks in ecologically friendly shops, the prime selling point being the relaxation qualities of the product. Once again, if you are watching one of Cousteau's films the music might complement it well, although in this case the subject would need to be of the flora and fauna variety, not the sealife.

This is very much an album of two halves. Side one is a largely predictable and traditional JM Jarre suite, while side two is a dreamy relaxation tool. In all, I found it to range from unremarkable to just plain boring.

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