Zoolook
Studio album by
Jean-Michel Jarre
Released12 November 1984
Recorded1983–1984
Studio
  • Jean-Michel Jarre's home studio (Paris)
  • Clinton Studio
Genre
Length37:58
Label
ProducerJean-Michel Jarre
Jean-Michel Jarre chronology
Musique pour Supermarché
(1983)		 Zoolook
(1984)		 Rendez-Vous
(1986)
Singles from Zoolook
  1. "Zoolook"
    Released: November 1984[3]
  2. "Zoolookologie"
    Released: March 1985

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".

Composition and recording

Zoolook was greatly influenced by Jarre's former mentor Pierre Schaeffer and Schaeffer's musique concrète, taking samples from everyday life and voice human in 25 different languages from all over the world.[4][5] In this album was expanded the sample-based approach which had been initiated on Les Chants Magnétiques (1981) and continued on Music for Supermarkets (1983). Some fragments were recorded digitally by Jarre and then played back and edited on the Fairlight CMI.[6] This process was done together with Frederick Rousseau for three months.[7]

I've always been involved in ethnic music, though I thought the way a lot of people have been using ethnic music was a little superficial. Sometimes it works, like the Brian Eno stuff, it worked the first time, but for me what was more interesting was not making a particular statement about recording in Africa or in China, but taking some sounds and having exactly the same attitude as when you were in front of a Moog 55 or a modular system, replacing the oscillators with a bank of actors or people, treating them through the Fairlight or the EMS synth, and establishing an orchestration using only voices.[8]

Some of the vocals were recorded during Jean-Michel's travels, while others are instead the result of his work with the French ethnologist, Xavier Bellanger, who during his travels recorded "a large collection of tapes." For this album, Jarre used the synthesizers Moog 55, ARP 2600, some by EMS, the LinnDrum machine, the Yamaha DX7,[9] the Matrisequencer 250 designed by the French sound engineer, Michel Geiss for Équinoxe (1978),[9][10] and the E-mu Emulator.[11] The different languages as listed in the album's liner notes are: Aboriginal, Afghan, Arabic, Balinese, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Dutch, English, Eskimo, French, German, Hungarian, Indian, Japanese, Malagasy, Malayan, Pygmy, Polish, Quechua, Russian, Sioux, Spanish, Swedish, Tibetan, and Turkish.[12]

Much of the album's recording took place both Jarre's makeshift studio in Paris.[12] Sound engineer Denis Vanzetto joined the Jarre team, and later going to the Clinton studio, New York for recording American musicians chosen by Jean-Michel among them guitarists Adrian Belew and Ira Siegel, bassist Marcus Miller, and percussionist and drummer Yogi Horton.[7][13] After Jean-Michel read in an American newspaper, The Village Voice about an exhibition held by the avant-garde singer Laurie Anderson in a New York gallery. He called and invited her to the studio to listen to his demos. Seduced by Jarre's proposed idea of speaking a completely imaginary language, she agreed and provided the vowels for the track "Diva".[7][11] Parts of the album, like the track "Blah Blah Café" and the second half of the track "Diva", were reworkings of material that had already appeared on the 1983 album Musique pour Supermarché.[7] The album was mixed by David Lord (except "Zoolookologie") at Jean Michel Jarre's home studio in Croissy, France (credited as Croissy Studio): final mixing started at Trident Studios in London but didn't go well for technical reasons, so it was decided to mix the album at Jarre's home studio instead.[12] [14]

Release

Zoolook was released in November 1984 on Disques Dreyfus label,[15][16] and launched worldwide in September 1985 by Polydor Records label.[17][18] More aurally challenging than Jarre's previous works, the album was also somewhat less successful, reaching only number 47 in the UK album charts.[19] Two singles from the album were released, the title track and "Zoolookologie". Both had a music video in 1985, the title track video was directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet,[20] and featured twelve robots designed by Marc Caro of which only one was kept after filming.[21] The video of "Zoolookologie" was directed by Rod McCall and produced by Frank Coppola in London, UK.[22] It "shows three models flirting with the artist in a provocative fantasy".[17]

In 1984, the album won the Grand Prix du Disque award by L'Académie Charles Cros,[23] and in April 1985 it won the best instrumental album of the year award, at the Victoires de la Musique.[13] In 2016, a contest called Zoolook Revisited was organized, in which amateur or professional producers were invited to share a piece using samples taken from the SoundHunters app. Tracks from selected winners such as Luke Vibert, Zeka Lopez, Mikael Seifu, Simonne Jones and KIZ by Jean-Michel himself were included on the disc of the same name.[24]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[25]
Mojo[16]

At the time of its release NME said, "Strangely simplistic, this LP is like a union between Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) and Kraftwerk on speed".[26] Australian newspaper The Evening News commented that "is a phonetic symphony laced with catchy, funk-rock rhythms based on the intonations of various exotic languages."[27]

In France, Le Devoir felt that the beginning of the album was "a musical background both morbid and grandiose."[28] In Mojo magazine, Phil Alexander listed it as one of Jarre's three key albums and wrote that Jarre's rumination on internationalism also boasts a deliberate melodic focus that acknowledges the influence of synth pop, while pointing the way forward to greater experimentation – both in his own work and that of others."[16]

AllMusic's John Bush stated which "Jean Michel Jarre combined an actual band and processed vocal samples -- recorded in 25 different languages -- with his rich, melodic synthesizer pop", described the album as "interesting throughout" and added that "the tracks with Jarre alone are often the best, reprising the classic Oxygène sound."[25] "Zoolookologie" was described by Thom Holmes as a, "A fascinating exploration of samples both of voice and drums".[29]

Track listing

First edition – original track list (1984)

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Ethnicolor"11:41
2."Diva"7:33
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Zoolook"3:50
2."Wooloomooloo"3:20
3."Zoolookologie"4:20
4."Blah Blah Cafe"3:21
5."Ethnicolor II"3:52
Total length:37:58

Second edition (1985)

No.TitleLength
1."Ethnicolor"11:41
2."Diva"7:33
3."Zoolookologie" (Remix by François Kevorkian and Ron St. Germain)3:46
4."Wooloomooloo"3:18
5."Zoolook" (Remix by René Ameline)3:51
6."Blah Blah Cafe"3:21
7."Ethnicolor II"3:52
Total length:37:22

Third edition (1997 remaster)

No.TitleLength
1."Ethnicolor" (new edit)11:47
2."Diva" (new edit)7:20
3."Zoolook" (new mix)3:58
4."Wooloomooloo"3:17
5."Zoolookologie" (new mix)4:14
6."Blah Blah Cafe" (new edit)3:26
7."Ethnicolor II"3:54
Total length:37:56

Fourth edition (30th anniversary, 2015 remaster)

No.TitleLength
1."Ethnicolor" (3rd edition edit)11:48
2."Diva" (3rd edition edit)7:22
3."Zoolook"3:52
4."Wooloomooloo"3:18
5."Zoolookologie"4:21
6."Blah Blah Cafe"3:21
7."Ethnicolor II"3:52
Total length:37:54

Personnel

Personnel listed in album liner notes.[12]

Equipment

Adapted from album liner notes.[12]

Charts

Chart (1984) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[30] 28
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[31] 24
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[32] 27
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[33] 21
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[34] 30
UK Albums (OCC)[35] 47
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[36] 35

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[37] Silver 60,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ "Various Artists". New Sunday Times: 8. 8 September 1985. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  2. ↑ Utomo, Nugroho Wahyu (21 June 2021). "Tembang Nostalgia - Zoolook, Komposisi Instrumental Breakdance yang Tampil Beda". Suara Merdeka (in Indonesian). p. 2. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  3. ↑ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 428. ISBN 9780862415419.
  4. ↑ "Jean-Michel Jarre – 10 of the best". The Guardian. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "Space-shuttle deaths add to impact of Texas symphony". Ottawa Citizen: 71. 2 May 1986. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  6. ↑ Powell, Aubrey (director) (1997). Making the Steamroller Fly (TV documentary).
  7. 1 2 3 4 Duguay 2018, p. 72–74.
  8. ↑ Jenkins 2007, p. 161
  9. 1 2 "Zoo 2000". Electronics & Music Maker. February 1985. pp. 42–6. OCLC 606328143.
  10. ↑ "Interview with Michel Geiss (I)". Fairlight Jarre. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  11. 1 2 "The French Connection". Electronic Soundmaker & Computer Music. March 1985. pp. 30–1. ISSN 0268-5264. OCLC 498742683.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Zoolook (booklet). Disques Dreyfus. 1984. 823 763-2.
  13. 1 2 "Starlife" (PDF). Billboard. 27 July 1991. p. 57.
  14. ↑ Jean Michel Jarre 1984 interview (FR)
  15. ↑ Andresen 2022, p. 197.
  16. 1 2 3 Alexander, Phil (November 2015). "Electric Dreams" (PDF). Mojo. No. 264. p. 45. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  17. 1 2 "Other Cities". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 28 September 1985. p. 38. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  18. ↑ Hoos, Willem (11 May 1985). "Dutch Industry Honors Ronstadt, U2". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 8. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  19. ↑ Warwick, Brown & Kutner 2004, pp. 558–559
  20. ↑ Delgado, Jérôme (28 December 2017). "Les réalisateurs Marc Caro et Jean-Pierre Jeunet, éternels associés". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  21. ↑ "lyon - exposition. Les secrets de l'hallucinant cabinet de curiosités de Jeunet & Caro". www.leprogres.fr (in French). 17 November 2018.
  22. ↑ "Rod McCall has directed Jean-Michel Jarre in his new music video, "Zoolookologie"" (PDF). Music Week. 8 June 1985. p. 31.
  23. ↑ Oxygène Live in Concert 2008, Hill Shorter Ltd (printer), 2008, pp. 10–11
  24. ↑ Tsugi, rédaction (27 July 2016). "Zoolook Revisited : la compil' hommage au sampling de Jean-Michel Jarre". TSUGI (in French). Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  25. 1 2 Bush, John. Jean Michel Jarre – Zoolook Review at AllMusic
  26. ↑ Wilde, Rachel (1 December 1984). "Review: Jean Michel Jarre – Zoolook". NME. London, England: IPC Media: 28.
  27. ↑ "Jarre is an electronic sculptor of sound". The Evening News: 12. 13 April 1986. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  28. ↑ "Les fleurs du mal poussent bien au zoo". Le Devoir: 23. 25 June 1988. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  29. ↑ Holmes, Thom (11 October 2021). "Drum Machines: A Recorded History, Part 2: Digital Drum Machines". Noise and Notations. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  30. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Jean Michel Jarre – Zoolook" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  31. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Jean-Michel Jarre – Zoolook" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  32. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Jean Michel Jarre – Zoolook" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  33. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Jean Michel Jarre – Zoolook". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  34. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Jean Michel Jarre – Zoolook". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  35. ↑ "Jean-Michel Jarre | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  36. ↑ "Charts.nz – Jean Michel Jarre – Zoolook". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  37. ↑ "British album certifications – Jean Michel Jarre – Zoolook". British Phonographic Industry.

Bibliography

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