Sacrebleu is the debut studio album by French electronic music producer Dimitri from Paris. It was first released on 11 June 1996 by Yellow Productions in France and later released by Atlantic Records in North America and EastWest Records in Europe and Japan.

Sacrebleu
Studio album by
Released11 June 1996
Recorded1996
Genre
Length75:58
Label
ProducerDimitri from Paris
Dimitri from Paris chronology
Sacrebleu
(1996)
A Night at the Playboy Mansion
(2000)
Alternative cover
Cover for North American release

Several of the album's tracks sample from lounge and bossa nova tracks of the 1950s and 1960s, as well as quotes from films such as Breakfast at Tiffany's, La Dolce Vita, and The Party.

Composition

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  • The Prologue opens: "Hello There and Welcome to the exciting world of Hip. This is a new departure in language instruction for English-speaking people who want to talk to – and be understood by – jazz musicians, hipsters, beatniks, juvenile delinquents and the criminal fringe." This is a sample from Del Close John Brent's 1959 comedy spoken word album How to Speak Hip.
  • Track 2, Sacré Français! samples Cal Tjader's track João from his 1964 album Soul Sauce. Quotes are taken from Gillian Hills' 1960 track Cha Cha Stop and Valéry's 1964 track Vous Dansez Mademoiselle.
  • Track 3, Monsieur Dimitri Joue Du Stylophone samples The Three Suns's version of Sleep Walk from the album Fever & Smoke.
  • Track 4, Nothing to lose, uses Claudine Longet's vocal performance from Peter Sellers' The Party.
  • Track 6, Reveries, samples "Half-Forgotten Daydreams" by British composer John Cameron .
  • Track 10, Une Very Stylish Fille samples Teddy Randazzo's 1966 track The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. Sampled quotes from Breakfast at Tiffany's are also included on the track: the character Mrs. Failenson's (Patricia Neal) quote "I am a very stylish girl" is heard throughout the track, as well as the character Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) asking "How do I look?" with the character Paul "Fred" Varjak (George Peppard) replying "Very good. I must say I'm amazed." This track was also used by Volvo for a commercial.
  • The second part of Nothing To Lose (Lounge Instrumentale), also titled separately as Toujours L'Amore, samples this quote by character Sylvia Rankinfrom (Anita Ekberg) from Fellini's La Dolce Vita,: "I like lots of things, but there are three things I like most: Love, love and love." The song ends with a sample from the beginning of Fellini's , which says, "Bella ragazza! Americana, eh?"
  • Free Ton Style samples Mysteries of the World by MFSB in 1980[1][2]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [3]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[4]
Muzik     [5]
Q     [6]
Rolling Stone     [7]
Select4/5[8]
Spin8/10[9]

In a contemporary review of Sacrebleu, Will Hermes of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Like French fromage, it often smells funny, but when it's good, it's marvelous."[4] Retrospectively, John Bush of AllMusic described the record as "a breezy collection of what could be loosely termed house music", albeit one "indebted to a variety of intriguing styles reminiscent of the Continent around the mid-part of the century", and praised it as an "immensely enjoyable album".[3]

Track listing

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French edition
No.TitleLength
1."Prologue"0:36
2."Sacre Francais"4:54
3."Monsieur Dimitri Joue Du Stylophone"1:02
4."Nothing to Lose"4:58
5."Un Termede"0:46
6."Reveries" (edit)3:43
7."Attente Musicale"1:07
8."Dirty Larry"5:22
9."Free Ton Style"3:52
10."Un Terlude"2:25
11."Une Very Stylish Fille"3:18
12."Un Woman's Paradis"3:15
13."Back in the Daze"8:02
14."Le Moogy Reggae"5:07
15."Encore Un Terlude"0:46
16."Un World Mysteriouse"4:09
17."Par Un Chemin Different"6:30
18."Nothing to Lose (Lounge Instrumentale)"4:42
19."Epilogue" / "Souvenirs de Paris"9:20
North American edition
No.TitleLength
1."Prologue"0:36
2."Sacre Francais"4:54
3."Monsieur Dimitri Joue Du Stylophone"1:02
4."Nothing to Lose"4:58
5."Un Termede"0:46
6."Reveries" (edit)3:43
7."Attente Musicale"1:07
8."Dirty Larry" (Crue-L Grand Orchestra Remix)8:04
9."Un Terlude"2:25
10."Une Very Stylish Fille"3:18
11."Love Love Mode"7:05
12."Un Woman's Paradis"3:15
13."Back in the Daze"8:02
14."Le Moogy Reggae"5:07
15."Encore Un Terlude"0:46
16."Un World Mysteriouse"4:09
17."Par Un Chemin Different"6:30
18."Nothing to Lose (Lounge Instrumentale)" / "Epilogue" / "Tojours L' Amore"10:11

References

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  1. ^ "Free Ton Style by Dimitri From Paris on WhoSampled". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  2. ^ "Mysteries of the World - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  3. ^ a b Bush, John. "Sacrebleu – Dimitri from Paris". AllMusic. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  4. ^ a b Hermes, Will (6 March 1998). "Sacrebleu". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  5. ^ Push (August 1996). "Paris game, set and match" (PDF). Muzik. No. 15. p. 111. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Dimitri from Paris: Sacrebleu". Q (128): 119. May 1997.
  7. ^ Vincentelli, Elisabeth (5 March 1998). "Dimitri From Paris: Sacrebleu". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 12 November 2003. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  8. ^ Warren, Emma (August 1996). "Dimitri from Paris: Sacre Bleu". Select (74).
  9. ^ Michel, Sia (May 1998). "Cornelius: Fantasma / Dimitri from Paris: Sacrebleu". Spin. 14 (5): 134. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
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