Air | ||
| Allmusic Biography : With a sensual, atmospheric sound inspired by Burt Bacharach and Brian Wilson as well as disco, synthesizer maestros Tomita, Jean-Michel Jarre, and Vangelis, new wave, and obscure Italian film soundtracks, Air may have been outliers in the late-90s electronica boom, but they became one of the most influential electronic acts of the 2000s and beyond. Despite gaining quick entrance into the dance community (through releases for Source and Mo Wax), Airs 1998 debut album, Moon Safari, charted a light -- well, airy -- course along soundscapes composed with melody lines by Moog and Rhodes, not Roland and Yamaha. The presence of several female vocalists, an equipment list whose number of pieces stretched into the dozens, and a Baroque tuba solo on one track -- all of this conspired to make Air more of a happening in the living room than the dancefloor. Though Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel both grew up in Versailles, the two didnt meet until they began studying at the same college. Dunckel, who had studied at the Conservatoire in Paris, played in an alternative band named Orange. One of Dunckels bandmates, Alex Gopher, introduced Godin into the lineup. While Gopher himself departed (later to record for the Solid label), Dunckel and Godin continued on, becoming Air by 1995. During 1996-1997, the duo released singles on Britains Mo Wax ("Modular") and the domestic Source label ("Casanova 70," "Le Soleil Est Prés de Moi"). Though Air often evinced the same 60s Continental charm as Dimitri from Paris -- due no doubt to the influence of Serge Gainsbourg -- the duo had little in common musically with other acts (Daft Punk) in the wave of French electronica lapping at the shores of Britain and America during 1997. That same year, Air remixed Depeche Mode and Neneh Cherry and joined French musique concrète popster Jean-Jacques Perrey for a track on the Source compilation Sourcelab, Vol. 3. Signed to Virgin, Air released their debut album, Moon Safari, in early 1998. The singles "Sexy Boy" and "Kelly Watch the Stars" became moderate hits in Britain and earned airplay on MTV. Later that year, Godin and Dunckel mounted an ambitious tour throughout Europe and America, though they had originally decided to forego live appearances. Their early singles were collected in 1999 under the title Premiers Symptomes; the duos soundtrack to the Sofia Coppola film The Virgin Suicides followed in early 2000. Airs second studio effort, 10,000 Hz Legend, appeared in spring 2001 with a subsequent tour of the U.S., but critics and fans alike didnt appreciate the darker, more experimental direction. They bridged the gap between the pop of Moon Safari and the experimentalism of 10,000 Hz Legend with their 2004 release, Talkie Walkie. Along with touring in support of that album, the pair remained busy making music in 2005 and 2006: they collaborated, along with Pulps Jarvis Cocker and the Divine Comedys Neil Hannon, on Charlotte Gainsbourgs album 5:55, and Dunckel released a solo album as Darkel. Cocker and Hannon also appeared on Airs fourth album, Pocket Symphony, which was released in early 2007. On one leg of the bands Pocket Symphony tour in 2008, the duo performed with just longtime collaborator and drummer Joey Waronker as their backing band. They kept this lineup for their next album, 2009s Love 2, which marked Airs first self-produced work and featured a more streamlined sound than some of their previous music. Dunckel and Godin went in a very different direction for their next album, which was based on an original score they created for the 1902 classic silent film Le Voyage Dans la Lune. The pair created the score in less than a month, working with collaborators such as Au Revoir Simone and Beach Houses Victoria LeGrand, then expanded it into a full-length album that was released early in 2012. Later in the 2010s, Dunckel further established himself as a composer for film, embarked on with New Young Pony Clubs Lou Hayter (as Tomorrows World) and Bang Gangs Bardi Jóhannsson (as Starwalker), and returned to his Darkel project with 2015s lavish The Man of Sorrow EP. The duo returned in 2016 with a career-spanning compilation album titled Twentyears. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 17 Title: Premiers Symptômes Released: 1997-07-29 Tracks: 7 Duration: 33:51 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Modular Mix (05:59) 2 Casanova 70 (05:53) 3 Les Professionnels (04:32) 4 J’ai dormi sous l’eau (05:42) 5 Le soleil est près de moi (04:52) 6 Californie (02:27) 7 Gordini Mix (Brakes On mix) (04:22) |
| Premiers Symptômes : Allmusic album Review : Its usually just the collectors and obsessed fans that contend a bands first few singles are really their best work, far better than the material that ends up on their first album. With the French band Air, the collectors may just be right for once. Premiers Symptomes, a five-track EP boosted up to seven tracks for its eventual American issue on Astralwerks, features some of the most gorgeous moments in the duos discography -- no small task considering the gems included on their full-length debut, 1998s Moon Safari. Almost completely instrumental (except for the surprisingly smooth robot croon on "Le Soleil est Pres de Moi"), Premiers Symptomes offers a half-dozen tracks of beautiful, deliciously downtempo synth-pop. Its far more than just a compilation of substandard early material that works best for collectors, it takes its place right next to Moon Safari as another highlight of French electronica. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 17 Title: Moon Safari Released: 1998-01-16 Tracks: 10 Duration: 43:46 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 La Femme d’argent (07:09) 2 Sexy Boy (04:58) 3 All I Need (04:28) 4 Kelly, Watch the Stars! (03:46) 5 Talisman (04:16) 6 Remember (02:34) 7 You Make It Easy (04:01) 8 Ce matin-là (03:38) 9 New Star in the Sky (Chanson pour Solal) (05:40) 10 Le Voyage de Pénélope (03:11) |
| Moon Safari : Allmusic album Review : Although electronica had its fair share of chillout classics prior to the debut of Air, the lions share were either stark techno (Warp) or sample-laden trip-hop (Mo Wax). But while Air had certainly bought records and gear based on the artists that had influenced them, they didnt just regurgitate (or sample) them; they learned from them, digesting their lessons in a way that gave them new paths to follow. They were musicians in a producers world, and while no one could ever accuse their music of being danceable, it delivered the emotional power of great dance music even while pushing the barriers of what "electronica" could or should sound like. (Never again would Saint Etienne be the only band of a certain age to reveal their fondness for Burt Bacharach.) The Modulor EP had displayed astonishing powers of mood and texture, but it was Airs full-length debut, Moon Safari, that proved they could also write accessible pop songs like "Sexy Boy" and "Kelly Watch the Stars." But it wasnt all pop. The opener, "La Femme dArgent," was an otherworldly beginning, with a slinky bassline evoking Serge Gainsbourgs Histoire de Melody Nelson and a slow glide through seven minutes of growing bliss (plus a wonderful keyboard solo). The vocoderized "Remember" relaunched a wave of robot pop that hadnt been heard in almost 20 years, and the solos for harmonica and French horn on "Ce Matin La" made the Bacharach comparisons direct. Unlike most electronica producers, Air had musical ideas that stretched beyond samplers or keyboards, and Moon Safari found those ideas wrapped up in music that was engaging, warm, and irresistible. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 17 Title: The Virgin Suicides Released: 2000-02-25 Tracks: 13 Duration: 40:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Playground Love (03:30) 2 Clouds Up (01:30) 3 Bathroom Girl (02:26) 4 Cemetary Party (02:37) 5 Dark Messages (02:28) 6 The Word ‘Hurricane’ (02:33) 7 Dirty Trip (06:13) 8 Highschool Lover (Theme From The Virgin Suicides) (02:42) 9 Afternoon Sister (02:25) 10 Ghost Song (02:16) 11 Empty House (02:58) 12 Dead Bodies (02:59) 13 Suicide Underground (05:53) |
| The Virgin Suicides : Allmusic album Review : Two years after the arrival of their debut album, the French twosome Air returned, not with a proper sophomore LP, but with The Virgin Suicides, a full soundtrack to the directing debut of Sofia Coppola. Only one track, "Playground Love," has vocals, and that comes from an outsider (Gordon Tracks) who sounds more like the Auteurs Luke Haines than Beth Hirsch, the only real vocalist employed previously. The trademarked Air sound is for the most part unchanged; as on Moon Safari, producers Godin and Dunckel rely on contemplative electronic mood-music in a minor key, heavy on the analog synth and organ yet with plenty of traditional textures (guitar, brass, strings, live-sounding drums) in keeping with lounge music and space-pop from the 1960s and 70s. And though all the music here is as meticulously detailed as the tracks on Moon Safari, the soundtrack cultivates an atmosphere more in league with traditional scoring -- instead of focusing on pop songs in an electronic context, Air constructed these tracks as mere soundbytes, simple themes with little embellishment on the basic ideas. Of course, thats perfectly in keeping with the secondary role soundtracks should play to truly serve the movies for which theyre composed. Listeners eager for a second dose of the exquisite electronic pop found on Moon Safari will be pleased with much of The Virgin Suicides, but will probably have to wait until Airs proper follow-up to find more evidence of their greatness. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 17 Title: 10 000 Hz Legend Released: 2001-05-23 Tracks: 11 Duration: 1:00:45 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Electronic Performers (05:36) 2 How Does It Make You Feel? (04:37) 3 Radio #1 (04:22) 4 The Vagabond (05:37) 5 Radian (07:37) 6 Lucky and Unhappy (04:31) 7 Sex Born Poison (06:18) 8 People in the City (04:57) 9 Wonder Milky Bitch (05:50) 10 Don’t Be Light (06:18) 11 Caramel Prisoner (04:56) |
| 10 000 Hz Legend : Allmusic album Review : Eager to prove their songwriting smarts and knowledge of traditionalist pop on their sophomore work, French band Air pulled back slightly from the milky synth pop of their 1998 debut, Moon Safari. 10,000 Hz Legend is a darker work, just as contemplative and unhurried as its predecessor, but part of a gradual move from drifting, almost pastoral melancholia to a downright post-modern helplessness in league with Radiohead. Air are still tremendously effective producers, and have actually expanded their palate with a surprising array of pop instrumentation (acoustic guitars, flutes, pianos, a harmonica, harps, and many strings) to file alongside the countless trilling synthesizers and machine sequencers. The two lead-off tracks, "Electronic Performers" and "How Does It Make You Feel," are breathtaking productions that exploit the same robot-weariness tendencies that made "Sexy Boy" (from Moon Safari) an alternative hit. Still, those detached retro-vocoder treatments sound so much more passé in 2001 than when the duo first tried them out in 1996. Jason Falkner and Beck, a pair of equally hardworking slacker-pop icons, appear (respectively) on the next two tracks, the tongue-in-cheek single "Radio #1" and an excellent morning-after jam named "The Vagabond." Again, the production is stellar, but these find Air stranded between art rock and pop, caught in the trap of trying to make great pop music yet never sounding particularly studied or concerned about it. Falkner pops up again on "Lucky and Unhappy" and "People in the City," a pair of album standouts that subvert any pop inclinations with a raft of bridges and breakdowns among the layers of production. "Wonder Milky Bitch" is another precisely studied track, a haze of lunar-desert synth pop directly evocative of country-pop classicist Lee Hazlewood, and "Radian" brings Air back to the instrumental textures of their early work. Fans and involved listeners are definitely rewarded with increased dividends after multiple listens, but even they may wish for an album that harked back to the simpler days of the Premiers Symptomes EP and Moon Safari. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 17 Title: Everybody Hertz Released: 2002-02-18 Tracks: 10 Duration: 45:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Don’t Be Light (edit) (03:17) 2 Don’t Be Light (Mr. Oizo remix) (04:16) 3 How Does It Make You Feel? (Adrian Sherwood version) (04:41) 4 Don’t Be Light (Neptunes remix) (04:10) 5 People in the City (Modjo version) (04:50) 6 Don’t Be Light (The Hacker remix) (06:25) 7 How Does It Make You Feel? (edit) (03:38) 8 Dont Be Light (Malibu mix) (05:21) 9 People in the City (Jack Lahana remix) (05:08) 10 The Way You Look Tonight (03:48) |
| Everybody Hertz : Allmusic album Review : The first full-length collection of Air remixes focuses solely on tracks from their sophomore 10,000 Hz Legend album, and only three individual songs at that. Highlights come from the "Dont Be Light" remixes, unsurprising since four of the seven versions are of that one song. Its worked over well by a pair of eccentrics: Neptunes from hip-hop and Mr. Oizo from electronica. The Hacker contributes a solid up-tempo electro version of the same song and newcomer Jack Lahana offers up a new-school funk reworking of "People in the City." Everybody Hertz is really a poor release, though -- surprising for an act so committed to quality control. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 17 Title: City Reading (Tre Storie Western) Released: 2003-06-01 Tracks: 19 Duration: 57:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Bird (Bird) (07:20) 2 La puttana di Closingtown (Prologo per la puttana di Closingtown) (02:40) 3 La puttana di Closingtown (Se vuoi capire la loro storia) (01:04) 4 La puttana di Closingtown (Pat Cobhan ride) (04:13) 5 La puttana di Closingtown (Fanny scivola con le labbra) (02:00) 6 La puttana di Closingtown (Pat Cobhan alza gli occhi) (01:23) 7 La puttana di Closingtown (Young) (02:35) 8 La puttana di Closingtown (Affanculo) (04:12) 9 La puttana di Closingtown (Quelluomo bara, dice) (01:38) 10 La puttana di Closingtown (Finale) (01:35) 11 Caccia alluomo (Prologo) (03:20) 12 Caccia alluomo (Il primo giorno) (03:39) 13 Caccia alluomo (Il secondo giorno) (04:57) 14 Caccia alluomo (Il terzo giorno) (05:34) 15 Caccia alluomo (Lurlo) (01:16) 16 Caccia alluomo (Mondo sparito) (00:54) 17 Caccia alluomo (Il quarto giorno) (04:20) 18 Caccia alluomo (Macchie di sangue) (01:12) 19 Caccia alluomo (Musica) (03:04) |
 | Album: 7 of 17 Title: Talkie Walkie Released: 2004-01-21 Tracks: 10 Duration: 43:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Venus (04:04) 2 Cherry Blossom Girl (03:39) 3 Run (04:12) 4 Universal Traveler (04:22) 5 Mike Mills (04:26) 6 Surfing on a Rocket (03:43) 7 Another Day (03:20) 8 Alpha Beta Gaga (04:39) 9 Biological (06:04) 10 Alone in Kyoto (04:49) |
| Talkie Walkie : Allmusic album Review : Artistic development doesnt always improve an artists work, as the members of Air discovered when their second album, 2001s 10,000 Hz Legend, disappointed fans and critics expecting another pop masterpiece to rank with their debut, Moon Safari. 10,000 Hz Legend buried the duos clear melodic sense underneath an avalanche of rigid performances, claustrophobic productions, and a restless experimentalism that rarely allowed listeners to enjoy what they were hearing. Gone was the freshness evident on Moon Safari: the alien made familiar, the concept that electronic dance could be turned into a user-friendly medium, the illustration of simplicity and space as assets, not liabilities. Fortunately, Air learned from their mistakes -- or, at least, their limitations -- leading up to the recording of third album Talkie Walkie, and the happy result is a solid middle ground between both of their previous records. The features are kept to a minimum and the tracks are constructed to sound no more complex than they need to be, even though Air risk the assumption that Talkie Walkie is a simple album. While theres nothing present to compete with the plodding glory of "Sexy Boy," Talkie Walkie ultimately succeeds because of Dunckel and Godins renewed contentment to produce the tracks they do better than any other -- ones with a surface prettiness but no great depth. (Its no mystery why theyve been tapped for several scores.) Ironically, the one track here that shrugs off the simplicity of electronic pop is a track first heard in a film, "Alone in Kyoto," an impressionistic string piece originally composed for the Sofia Coppola film Lost in Translation. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 17 Title: Surfing on a Rocket EP Released: 2004-10-19 Tracks: 7 Duration: 35:41 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Surfing on a Rocket (Tel Aviv Rocket Surfing remake) (05:21) 2 Alpha Beta Gaga (Mark Ronson remix edit) (04:39) 3 Easy Going Woman (04:32) 4 Surfing on a Rocket (Juan MacLean remix) (07:03) 5 Alpha Beta Gaga (Jackson remix) (04:20) 6 Surfing on a Rocket (To the Smiling Sun remix) (06:32) 7 Alpha Beta Gaga (Mark Ronson instrumental mix) (03:11) |
 | Album: 9 of 17 Title: LateNightTales: Air Released: 2005-10-04 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:03:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 All Cats Are Grey (05:10) 2 Planet Caravan (04:19) 3 O’ Venezia Venaga Venusia (03:39) 4 I Shall Be Released (03:14) 5 Camille (02:29) 6 Ghosts (04:09) 7 The Old Man’s Back Again (03:38) 8 Come Wander With Me (02:55) 9 Metal Heart (03:59) 10 Lovin’ You (03:38) 11 For the World (04:13) 12 Le Long de la rivière Tendre (02:46) 13 My Autumn’s Done Come (04:04) 14 P.L.A. (02:24) 15 Let’s Get Lost (02:25) 16 Cousin Jane (02:24) 17 Caccia alluomo (Musica) (03:04) 18 Pavane pour une infante défunte (04:57) |
 | Album: 10 of 17 Title: Pocket Symphony Released: 2006-12 Tracks: 13 Duration: 52:17 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Space Maker (04:02) 2 Once Upon a Time (05:02) 3 One Hell of a Party (04:02) 4 Napalm Love (03:27) 5 Mayfair Song (04:18) 6 Left Bank (04:07) 7 Photograph (03:51) 8 Mer du Japon (03:04) 9 Lost Message (03:32) 10 Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping (03:35) 11 Redhead Girl (04:33) 12 Night Sight (04:20) 13 Time Capsule (04:19) |
| Pocket Symphony : Allmusic album Review : Ever since Moon Safari was hailed as an instant classic, Air have swung back and forth between the experimental and accessible sides that Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel united so perfectly on their debut. 10,000 Hz Legend might have been too grandiose and aggressively experimental for some Air fans, but Talkie Walkie sometimes felt as if the duo was presenting the most widely palatable version of their music possible. On Pocket Symphony, Dunckel and Godin find a balance between pretty and inventive that they havent struck since, well, Moon Safari, even though it isnt nearly as immediate -- even by Airs standards, this is an extremely introspective and atmospheric album. Its beyond clichéd to call the duos music filmic; nevertheless, "Space Maker" and "Night Sight" play like the albums opening titles and ending credits, bracketing a set of songs that are sadder and wiser than anything Air has done since The Virgin Suicides (particularly "Lost Message," which could have easily appeared on that soundtrack). Made around the same time Dunckel and Godin were working with Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon (who also appear here) on Charlotte Gainsbourgs 5:55 and Dunckel was recording his solo project Darkel, Pocket Symphony could be seen as part of a loose trilogy; if so, its more in line with 5:55s moody romanticism than Darkels hyper-pop (where, apparently, any lighter-hearted tracks along the lines of Talkie Walkies "Alpha Beta Gaga" or "Surfing on a Rocket" ended up). However, Pocket Symphony doesnt feel as serenely untouchable as some of Airs previous work, and these darker cracks and wrinkles give it character. These songs are often unsettling, but gently so, like dreams that are still vivid but hard to explain upon waking. The Neil Hannon-sung "Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping" is the most obvious example of Pocket Symphonys fever dream atmosphere, but there are plenty of others: "Photograph," a quintessentially sensuous Air track, gives the impression of something a little sinister occurring just out of frame; "Redhead Girl" is a lush meditation on unrequited love so paralyzing that time itself stops. The entire album deals with toxic love and its fallout, but Dunckel and Godin alternate between romanticizing heartbreak and showing just how dreary it can be -- although, skilled mood-makers that they are, they manage to make dreary sound pretty romantic, too. The deceptively delicate single "Once Upon a Time" darkens its fairy tale imagery with the fact that once upon a time might be never, while the outstanding "One Hell of a Party," which features Jarvis Cocker on vocals, presents a breakup as a hangover (a sentiment Cocker also explored brilliantly on Pulps This Is Hardcore). Pocket Symphony pairs Air with producer Nigel Godrich, which is an inspired choice -- not just because Godrich has a similarly atmospheric touch and adds lots of fascinating sonic details, but because he helps Air keep the album intimate, not polished into a state of distant perfection. "Left Bank," which blends humming with a cello and captures Godins acoustic guitar so clearly it sounds like hes strumming it behind you, is a gorgeous example of how well this collaboration works. The Japanese influence on Talkie Walkie and Airs music for Lost in Translation is deepened on Pocket Symphony, with shamisen and koto (which Godin spent a year learning to play) adding to its ethereal beauty, particularly on "Mer du Japon." Musically and thematically, this is some of Airs most elegant, mature music; it does what it does so compellingly that any attempts to be "poppy" would miss the point. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 17 Title: Moon Safari Remixes, Rarities and Radio Sessions Released: 2008-05-23 Tracks: 7 Duration: 32:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Remember (D. Whitaker version) (02:21) 2 Kelly Watch the Stars (Moog Cookbook remix) (04:46) 3 Trente Millions DAmis (live KCRW 98) (05:41) 4 You Make It Easy (live KCRW 1998) (04:36) 5 Bossa 96 (demo) (04:44) 6 Kelly Watch the Stars (demo) (03:46) 7 Sexy Boy (Sex Kino mix) (06:33) |
 | Album: 12 of 17 Title: Love 2 Released: 2009-10-05 Tracks: 13 Duration: 52:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Do the Joy (03:02) 2 Love (02:43) 3 So Light Is Her Footfall (03:13) 4 Be a Bee (03:46) 5 Missing the Light of the Day (04:26) 6 Tropical Disease (06:49) 7 Heaven’s Light (03:53) 8 Night Hunter (04:13) 9 Sing Sang Sung (03:07) 10 Eat My Beat (02:46) 11 You Can Tell It to Everybody (04:11) 12 African Velvet (03:49) 13 Indian Summer (06:02) |
| Love 2 : Allmusic album Review : For part of Airs Pocket Symphony tour, Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Nicolas Godin played shows with only drummer Joey Waronker as support, forcing the band to strip its songs down to their essences. They stick with that lineup on Love 2, which delivers some of the most Air-like music to the bands name, and with good reason: this is the first time Dunckel and Godin have produced their own album. The duo tends to follow its more ambitious work with more accessible material and Love 2 is no exception, replacing Pocket Symphonys exotic, experimental bent with a renewed emphasis on the pairs quintessential sound. Godin and Dunckel dig deep into their arsenal of vintage electronic gear, topping those burbles, buzzes, and whooshes with some strings here and a few fuzzed-out guitars and basslines there. Above all, atmosphere is the focus, and early on, the album finds Air at their most confectionary: "Love" is irresistibly pretty, offsetting a glockenspiel that sparkles like grains of sugar with brisk shakers. From there, Love 2 sweeps away any remnants of Pocket Symphonys expansive melancholy with concentrated happiness -- these are some of Airs most lighthearted songs since Talkie Walkie. "Be a Bee," with its aptly buzzing and hovering synths and spy movie theme guitars, could be one of the most stylish novelty pop songs ever. However, the album is often at its best when Air give listeners more in the way of vocals and hooks. The elegantly psychedelic "So Light Is Her Footfall" and the hazy soft rock sunbeam that is "Sing Sang Sung" expand on the bands pop side just enough, while "Heavens Light" crystallizes the gorgeous retro-futuristic sci-fi romance Air have crafted since their Premiers Symptomes days. Indeed, Love 2s title and album artwork -- which features the duo sitting by the shore gazing pensively into the mid-distance -- play up Airs image as makers of mood music extraordinaire, albeit with a bit of an ironic wink. The music does just as deft a job of negotiating the fine line between sophistication and schmaltz; Love 2s centerpiece, "Tropical Disease," has it both ways, going from dramatic to melodramatic to playful and back again as it covers rippling pianos, slightly goofy-sounding flutes, and a decidedly seductive coda. Dunckel and Godin add just a little tension and darkness to the albums sweetness and light as it unfolds, especially on "Eat My Beat," an impressive showcase for the immediacy Waronkers drumming brings to all of these songs. Air remain a deceptively subtle band, and repeated listens to Love 2 reveal that Godin and Dunckel arent just remaining true to their aesthetic here, but that even a smaller-scale album from the duo has plenty of wit and surprises to offer. | ||
 | Album: 13 of 17 Title: Le Voyage dans la Lune Released: 2012-02-03 Tracks: 11 Duration: 31:20 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Astronomic Club (03:12) 2 Seven Stars (04:22) 3 Retour sur Terre (00:32) 4 Parade (02:32) 5 Moon Fever (03:34) 6 Sonic Armada (05:05) 7 Who Am I Now? (03:00) 8 Décollage (01:37) 9 Cosmic Trip (04:10) 10 Homme Lune (00:18) 11 Lava (02:53) |
| Le Voyage dans la Lune : Allmusic album Review : Its a neat trick that Air began their albums with a trip to the moon via Moon Safari and returned to it with Le Voyage Dans La Lune, the expanded version of the duos score to Georges Méliès 1912 sci-fi classic. Its a perfect project for Air; Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godins sound has always had a spacey quality, and film music has been a vital component of their work. Le Voyage Dans La Lune presents an interesting challenge for Air in that most of their other scores and soundtracks have been for films with more modern settings (even the 70s kitsch they subverted and romanticized in their Virgin Suicides soundtrack). While Dunckel and Godin dont attempt to make this music sound like it was recorded on wax cylinder, many of the cues have a stateliness that suggest a much earlier time. Similarly, Air nod to the traditions of sci-fi scores while making them their own: "Who Am I Now?" borrows the discordant strings often used to convey space madness, and the imposing timpani that runs through the entire album evokes Strauss "Thus Sprach Zarathustra," which was further immortalized by 2001: A Space Odyssey. And while Le Voyage Dans La Lune is a silent film, allowing the duo to be a bit showier than they could be on a score for a talkie, Airs choices feel more thoughtful and organic to the movie than, say, Giorgio Moroders 80s score for another silent science fiction classic, Fritz Langs Metropolis. Godin and Dunckel make sure their voyage to the moon evokes both meanings of the word "trip": theres a wonderful sense of movement throughout the score, of rockets thrusting and of the explorers bouncing, tumbling, and stumbling on the moon; meanwhile, the fizzy, percolating "Cosmic Trip," which mentions "enormous mushrooms," implies the more psychedelic undertones of this Art Nouveau fantasy. As expected of Air, theres elegance to the whimsy, particularly on the lovely "Moon Fever" and "Seven Stars," where Beach Houses Victoria Legrands voice sounds as deep and serene as an endless night sky. However, Le Voyage Dans La Lune also has a surprisingly aggressive side, with bombastic prog rock outbursts like "Parade" and "Sonic Armada," which mixes a martial beat with a groovy, insistent keyboard line and a bassline as bouncy as marching on the moon to become one of Airs most memorable instrumentals in some time. These tracks hark back to the duos own 10,000 Hz Legend and reflect not only the conquering bent of the lunar explorers, but how this turn-of-the-century trippiness ultimately inspired many of the progressive rock bands of the 60s and 70s. That Air can pack so much history into this music without its feeling contrived is impressive, but its just another facet of the care that went into the entire Le Voyage Dans La Lune project. This is a treat not just for Air fans, but aficionados of film music and science fiction, too. | ||
 | Album: 14 of 17 Title: Music for Museum Released: 2014-07-26 Tracks: 9 Duration: 1:05:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Land Me (04:35) 2 Reverse Bubble (07:16) 3 The Dream of Yi (05:27) 4 Angel Palace (10:39) 1 Art Tatoo (15:42) 2 Vulcano Kiss (03:36) 3 Integration Desintegration (08:40) 4 Octogum (04:50) 5 North Cloud (04:27) |
 | Album: 15 of 17 Title: The Remixes, Volume 1 Released: 2015-06-15 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:41:09 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Modulor Mix (DJ Cam No Protection remix) (05:47) 2 Modulor Mix (Stein House remix) (10:33) 3 Casanova 70 (The Secret of Cool Brendan Lynch remix) (05:31) 4 Casanova 70 (Moodswings) (06:21) 5 Jai dormi sous leau (Château Flight remix) (04:45) 6 Le soleil est près de moi (Automator remix) (06:42) 7 Le soleil est près de moi (Buffalo Daughter remix) (04:46) 8 Le soleil est près de moi (Dopplereffekt remix) (03:59) 9 Sexy Boy (Cassius radio mix) (04:42) 10 Sexy Boy (Étienne de Crécy & The Flower Pistols remix) (04:58) 11 Sexy Boy (Taormina cover) (05:27) 12 Sexy Boy (Sex Kino mix) (06:33) 13 Sexy Boy (Cassius remix) (10:20) 14 All I Need (03:59) 15 Kelly Watch the Stars! (Moog Cookbook remix) (05:39) 16 Kelly, Watch the Stars! (American Girls remix by Phoenix) (05:12) 17 Playground Love (Nosferatu remix by Flower Pistols) (03:25) 18 Highschool Prom (Playground Love - Rob remix) (02:26) |
 | Album: 16 of 17 Title: The Remixes, Volume 2 Released: 2015-06-15 Tracks: 22 Duration: 1:39:39 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Don’t Be Light (06:18) 2 Radio #1 (Señor Coconuts Rumbamambo remix) (03:36) 3 Radio #1 (JP Cristal remix) (05:06) 4 Alpha Beta Gaga (edit) (03:03) 5 Alpha Beta Gaga (Mark Ronson remix edit) (04:39) 6 Alpha Beta Gaga (Mark Ronson dub) (05:10) 7 Alpha Beta Gaga (Jackson remix) (04:20) 8 Cherry Blossom Girl (Hope Sandoval version) (02:53) 9 Cherry Blossom Girl (Simian Mobile Disco mix) (05:53) 10 Cherry Blossom Girl (Fanny demo version) (03:09) 11 Surfing on a Rocket (02:41) 12 Surfing on a Rocket (Zongamin remix) (03:28) 13 Surfing on a Rocket (Juan MacLean remix) (07:03) 14 Surfing on a Rocket (To the Smiling Sun remix) (06:32) 15 Surfing on a Rocket (Tel Aviv Rocket Surfing remake) (05:21) 16 Once Upon a Time (radio edit) (03:44) 17 Mer du Japon (Kris Menace remix) (04:56) 18 Mer du Japon (The Teenages remix) (05:11) 19 So Light Is Her Footfall (Metronomy remix) (03:59) 20 So Light Is Her Footfall (Breakbot remix) (04:16) 21 So Light Is Her Footfall (Tomsize remix) (03:10) 22 So Light Is Her Footfall (Space G remix) (05:05) |
 | Album: 17 of 17 Title: Twentyears Released: 2016-06-10 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:11:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 La Femme d’argent (07:09) 2 Cherry Blossom Girl (03:39) 3 Kelly, Watch the Stars! (03:46) 4 Playground Love (03:30) 5 Sexy Boy (04:58) 6 Venus (04:04) 7 All I Need (04:28) 8 Alpha Beta Gaga (edit) (03:03) 1 Moon Fever (03:34) 2 Don’t Be Light (06:18) 3 How Does It Make You Feel? (04:37) 4 Surfing on a Rocket (03:43) 5 Alone in Kyoto (04:49) 6 Talisman (04:16) 7 Run (04:12) 8 Le soleil est près de moi (04:52) |