Air

We have a Lift-Off!

Paris 

27/10/1999 - 

They might be called Air, but there's nothing light and spacey about this French electro duo! After scooping a recent 'Victoire de la Musique' award and selling a staggering 800,000 copies of their debut album "Moon Safari" - please note, only 80,000 of these were bought in France! - Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel are now preparing a second invasion of the world's airwaves.

Air certainly have plenty of tricks up their sleeve. First there's the re-release of their old mini-album "Premiers Symptômes", which hits record stores complete with two new bonus tracks. This compilation of the duo's first singles (which originally came out in July '97) gives music fans the chance of re-discovering the smooth, sensual electro beats of Air classics such as "Modular Mix", "Les Professionnels" and "Casanova 70".

Back in the early days of their career when they recorded the original tracks for "Premiers Symptômes", Air did not even have access to a studio. The duo worked from home, producing their elegant pop instrumentals in the front room of Godin's tiny flat in Paris. And perhaps this is why Air's first compositions seem somehow tinged with freshness and the innocence of experimentation. Listening to these atmospheric instrumentals now, fans will uncover the seeds of the definitive Air sound - a sound which was first picked up on by British music fans. For, together with Daft Punk, Air were one of the first French electro groups to cause a major stir across the Channel in the early 90s.

After discovering the Versailles duo in their pre-Moon Safari days, music fans can also enjoy an EP of Air remixes entitled "Le soleil est près de moi" (released on 13 September 1999). The EP features the crème de la crème of the electronica scene, everyone from Money Mark (keyboard prodigy from the Beastie Boys), Japanese-American outfit Buffalo Daughter and Kraftwerk disciple Heinrich Muller inventing their own remix of Air's '97 single "Le soleil est près de moi" - a retro-futuristic gem which sounds as if it has been greatly influenced by 60s' Godard!

However, the highlight of Air's career in 1999 is undoubtedly the duo's collaboration with American director Sofia Coppola. Ms. Coppola called Air in earlier this year when she began work on her first feature film "The Virgin Suicides", inviting the French duo to record the soundtrack for the film. The pair spent two months recording the music for "The Virgin Suicides", which Jean-Benoît Dunckel describes as a decisive moment in the duo's aesthetic evolution: "(The Virgin Suicides) is a very intense film and the music's in the same vein really - it's very dark and moody. Basically, we've moved on from "Moon Safari". The album belongs to our early years, our youth, but now we've reached maturity. I believe in being more extreme now, in pushing our limits. It's time to get our hands dirty and get closer to reality." "The Virgin Suicides", which is due out in January 2000, is set to be the first release on Air's new label, Record Makers. (The duo is currently busy looking for hot up-and-coming bands to sign to their new label).

While fans eagerly await the release of "The Virgin Suicides", they can keep themselves happy with " Eating, Sleeping, Waiting & Playing", a documentary shot by Mike Mills who accompanied Air on their European and American tours in 1998. Mills's video documentary is due to arrive in record stores by the end of this year (in VHS and DVD versions), but if you want to sneak a quick preview, watch out for the excerpt featured in Air's current video for "Le soleil est près de moi".

And where are Air now, in the midst of this flurry of re-releases, re-mixes, soundtracks and film documentaries? Well, the hardworking duo is currently locked away in the studio, working on material for their second album (estimated date of arrival: June 2000). Like all follow-up albums, Air's second opus is eagerly awaited by fans and music critics alike. Basically, everyone is dying to know whether the duo famous for their smooth, voluptuous electro beats and the preservation of their French musical heritage - think Serge Gainsbourg, Michel Legrand and early Moog veteran Jean-Jacques Perrey - can equal the success of their best-selling debut "Moon safari"!

French text: Nicolas Mollé
English translation: Julie Street