at a glance...

Hometown: Versailles, France
Formed: mid 1990s

Members:
Nicolas Goudin
Jean-Benoît Dunckel

Bands in the family :
Orange, Etienne de Crecy, Beck, Cassius,Beastie Boys, Automator

Notes:
Nicolas Goudin and J-B Dunckel began their musical safari as an indie rock act called Orange, but the down-tempo Rhodes-and-strings groove of their 1996 "Modular Mix" saw them adopted by the blossoming French house scene. Remixed by Etienne de Crecy early on, they later attracted the attention of beat fanatics from James Lavelle to Beck. Though they play most of their instruments live and rarely use sampling, Air's chilled, post-club sounds remain a favorite of the dance fraternity. Moon Safari was their debut LP; Talkie Walkie collected early singles and remixes in 1999. Instead of writing new music for a follow-up, they spent the rest of the year creating the score for Sofia Coppola's first feature film, "The Virgin Suicides." which was released in 2000. In 2001 Air returned with their "proper" second album, 10,000Hz Legend, but its technical proficience and colder heart left fans and critics alike longing for the warmth of the debut. Nothing if not accomodating, Air did a little more Coppola-related soundtrack work ("Alone In Kyoto" was loaned to Lost In Translation) before returning in 2004 with the album everyone had been hoping for, the Nigel Godrich-produced Talkie Walkie.

Links:
Air Mothership
We Love Air

There was a classic series of second-generation Cheers episodes that featured a comically sleazy but somehow likeable Frenchman named Henri who was out to steal Woody's girlfriend (Kellie). Spraying on transparent charm like eau de toilette, he circled closer by the episode, even brazenly joking with Woody about his intentions. "Wooooodddeeee….I'm gooang to steeel your geerlfraannnd…"

Like Henri, Air lay it on thick, and they never feel compelled to apologize for their behavior. They positively bathe in soft-focus, heavily perfumed "dreaminess," and when they deign to add anything as concrete as a lyric, it's unquestioning love songs and lullabies all around. It's easy, at times, to feel that the undeniably beautiful music they're capable of is really a nasty trick - a feeling certainly not dispelled by the mood-shattering tunelessness of their last album, 10,000Hz Legend, which, lest we forget, featured a song about a blowjob called "Wonder Milky Bitch."

And now they're back, and the downy easiness of Talkie Walkie makes Moon Safari sound like Bad Brains. Why should we trust them? Aren't they just trying to steal our girlfriends?

It doesn't matter. It really doesn't. Talkie Walkie is so lush, so beautiful, so sonically perfect … it's just irresistible. Take, for example, the lyric to "Surfing on a Rocket," an absolutely ludicrous child's dream of space travel. "5,4,3,2,1,0/You'll never see me again…" it lisps in a double-tracked French accent, and you should laugh, but you won't, because it's absolutely magical stuff, proof that if you can make music that actually sounds like a child's dream of space travel, then you can get away with a lyric to match.

The love songs ("Venus", "Universal Traveler") are, if anything, even more faux-naïf, but their gawky romanticism (delivered in broken, lisping English as ever) is buttressed by some of the most exquisitely comforting music you'll ever hear. "Alpha Beta Gaga," meanwhile, is a lyric-free symphony of banjos, synths, and carefree whistling that sounds like nothing less than the discovery of a new music. Call it easy listening psychedelia, but it's as perfect as anything you'll hear this year.

There is no reason for anyone to be fumbling around in search of this kind of innocence, this sense of unsullied musical wonderment. It's cynical, and it's a recipe for disaster. But Air aren't fumbling. They can do it. And they have.

Henri never did steal Woody's girlfriend. Sam and the gang ran him out of town before he could make his final move. But when he was gone, they all had to admit that they kind of missed him. Charming bastard.