When I'm not listening to music, I can normally be found in a darkened cinema hall. It's probably the artistic bent. I came across Air when I went to see the Virgin Suicides, a movie by Sofia Coppola and starring Kirstin Dunst.
Although it was quite an unusual movie but what grabbed me most was the soundtrack, which I later discovered was but the French duo Nicolas Godin & Jean Benoit Dunckel aka Air. I went out and purchased the soundtrack to the movie.
I have always liked electronic music. From the initial sounds of 60s bands such as Tonto's Expanding Headband through to the Teutonic sounds of Kraftwerk & Tangerine Dream right through to the 80s revival with the likes of Ultravox & OMD.
Air have carried on this tradition of what is now termed Electronica. Following the score from Virgin, I then discovered their album Moon Safari. I was expecting pretty much the same but was delighted to discover that the boys had used guest vocalists to accompany their soundscapes and create some interesting and sometimes moving songs to balance their atmospheric instrumentals. They even had a couple of hit singles from the album.
It's not often that you get an album on which EVERY track is worthy of merit but Moon Safari is one such album. With it's 70s keyboards it's often referred to as retro but I think it's pretty much timeless and has aged beautifully since it's release back in 1998.
Although the hit singes are obviously the touch stone for the album, it's the instrumental tracks that hold the key to the beauty of the music. In fact, next to Sigur Ros, Moon Safari has probably been raided more than any other by advertising bods who have used the album as a gold mine for soundtracks to advertisements all over the world.
So, slip on the cans and just float away.
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