Moon Safari - Air

Air's UK debut album, released in 1998, was a revelation for me. A concept album that was very nearly, conceptually and musically, naff, but that actually sounded so good you had to play it over and over. The album sold over 2 million copies so a lot of people felt the same way. It starts very quietly, with what sound like the sound of rain, and then some percussion, a little like the start of Steely Dan's "Do It Again", but then the bass and the ...
...of this world, even, as it's a 'spacey' sound. As the album's title indicates, there is a 'space' theme throughout. It's not just the song titles (New Star in the Sky, Kelly Watch the Stars), the whole album includes effects which sound spacey, and on checking the credits I was surprised there's no theremin on there (the instrument used on the Beach Boys "Good Vibrations" and a mainstay of sci-fi B movies). It's definitely an album I could imagine ...

rsmith 12.07.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Moon Safari - Air

...been so evident as on Moon Safari. It marks a return to form for synth based melodies and luxurious beat manifestos. Together with Daft Punk and St. Germain, Air consistently poke fluffy marshmallows in the eyes of the mainstream and alternative scenes. Who cares anyway, when Moon Safari can transport you beyond the normal patter of song writing layabouts? 'La Femme D'argent', the 7-minute plus opener, is all hushed keyboard wizardry, background ...
...lack of straightforward vocals on Moon Safari. This means that when the elegant grace of Beth Hirsch's voice swoons on 'All I Need' it sounds refreshing. Hirsch returns on 'You Make It Easy' to sound almost glacial once again. For the rest of the album, the vocals sound like they have travelled through several kilometres of copper wire. At times Air's musical fantasy reaches higher summits. Like on 'Remember', a song that could have even the disinterested ...

kimy 29.11.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Moon Safari - Air

...Versailles and their debut Album Moon Safari hit the charts in 1998. The CD cover is nothing special it depicts a drawn picture of the duo with their name in the top left hand corner. Moon Safari consists of 10 tracks:- La Femme D’argent The first track on Moon Safari, La Femme D’argent is a great instrumental track and a cracking start to the album. It’s great background bassline and classy electronic piano solo is mixed full of futuristic sounds ...
...hit the charts taken from Moon Safari, if you watched Dream Team this was used on the advert on Sky1. A Great track, with a synthetic French vocals and reminiscent of a track Gary Newman would be proud of. All I need The first proper vocalised song on the album. I can imagine sitting in a French bistro in Paris listening to this in the background. This is what Air are about, this beautiful track hints at the Air French sound with mellow English ...

DylanD 23.03.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Moon Safari - Air

...exactly the track's use on Moon Safari 9/10 Le Voyage De Penelope Yet another peak on the album, the last track is relentless in it's ability to relax. The instruments rise from nowhere, and the tone is somewhere between Pick Floyd, Kraftwerk and Massive Attack 10/10 Overall Moon Safari is THE Air album to own. It is the album on which they most shine (at least for now) and is also the most accessable of their albums, ever so much more than the ...

everyplatewebreak 25.02.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Moon Safari - Air

This is the benchmark against which I mark other albums. It was when listening to this album in the car one day that I was inspired by it. The simplicity of the piano arpeggios in "Kelly Watch The Stars" made me look at my own composition that I was in the process of writing in a completely different way. This music is not only very good background music but is also excellent for listening to in detail. Everytime I listen to it I find something new ...
...are used with subtlety and musical intent unlike so many other artists who use such effects regardless of how appropriate they are just to prove that they can use them. Each song on the album has it's own identity whilst at the same time fitting together to form a jigsaw puzzle of how a perfect album should sound. It is consistent yet not repetitive. Some of the sounds in "Moon Safari" can also be heard in their previous album "Premiers Symptomes" ...

Analytikerin 26.05.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Moon Safari - Air

I first fell in love with Air when I heard Sexy Boy for the first time – that amazingly twisted bass line – that you will recognise when you hear it, alerted me to the band – and when I got their album, I was immensely impressed. The singles – Sexy Boy + Kelly Watch the Stars – are fantastic, but there are better songs on the album: La Femme d’Argent (lady of money – summat like that) has beautiful piano + bass riffs, mixed with highly strung Rhodes ...
...hear it to understand. Most of the album is much more relaxing than the upbeat Sexy Boy and K.W.T.Ss – one of those albums where you lie back , and just soak it all in… It is a widely available album , and if you like any slow-beat, big-beat, break-beat music or you’re a synth player or a bass player – GO AND BUY THIS NOW!! ...

WrexhamAFC 24.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Moon Safari - Air

...a copy of the album Moon Safari for my birthday! Moon Safari is easily the best album of the last ten years. It’s brilliant to chill out to on long sunny days and equally soothing on long winters nights in front of the fire. I can even get away with listening to this album at work as it’s soothing sounds easily placate my boss! What Air gives us is a synthesised sound for a new millennium; haunting instrumentals like La Femme D’argent; beautiful ...
...you’ve never heard of Air, chances are you’ve heard their music. There’s hardly a programme on the box these days that isn’t enhanced by tracks from Moon Safari. If you like to chill out to music then this is the album for you! Sit back, relax and enjoy! ...

andcarryson 27.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Moon Safari - Air

Unbelievably good album. With tracks as goose-pimply as "All I Need" (with vocals from the highly under-rated Beth Hirsch) and "Talisman" Air could get away with wailing cats on the rest of the tracks. Thankfully they didnt, instead producing other fabulous pieces such as "Ce Matin La" and "You Make It Easy". This album was rated in the top 100 in Q magazine, but until it comes in as number 1, this album hasn't been recognised enough. One of those ...

Miranda_A 11.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Moon Safari - Air

this album is remarkable for a few reasons, but the main reason is the song "all i need". This song is just such a mellow tune. Its on a par with their all time greatest song, and very likely the greatest song to have come out of frane - "le soleil est pres de moi". Stuff like kelly watch the stars and le femme d'argent will ensure that people will keep going back to it, but i always end up going back to "all i need" The video - directed by mike ...

darrenwilliams99 28.06.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Moon Safari - Air

‘French band.’ That’s what it says on the cover, and, it’s right. This is their first album to be widely available in the UK, including the singles ‘Sexy Boy,’ ‘Kelly Watch The Stars’ and ‘All I Need.’ I actually got this CD for free, after winning it in a competition, and as such it wasn’t quite of the type I would usually buy. However, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a very chilled album, and good for winding down to. The Air boys have got a knack ...

radarmaker 05.09.2000 · Read full review
Review of Moon Safari - Air

Air - Moon Safari is a album which reminds me of travelling to rowing in the car of my flatmate - a very chilled and mellow experience appealing to everyone who remembers and loved 'Kelly Watch the Stars'. I am obviously a fan of Air but have not listened to any of there other previous albums, which i am aware there is at least one, so if anyone out there wants to recommend other Air albums - i'm listening! I believe this CD is now available from ...

phs6swj 26.07.2000 · Read full review
Review of Moon Safari - Air

Air's first album is... very difficult to describe well. The problem is that it's unlike anything you'll probably have heard before. Think French, think 70's, think electronic, think dreamy, other-worldly, and you'll be getting some way there. On first listening, it doesn't amount to much - if anything you just think it's quite clichéd as a French album. And it is; but the band takes the clichés and does something with them to somehow make them sound ...

Alternum 14.07.2000 · Read full review
Review of Moon Safari - Air

This album from the French pair of artists (Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel) is a great chillout CD. Many of the songs have no lyrics are are simply a keyboard and a bass guitar comining to make a jazzy and ambient sound. The songs sound quite experimental and although relaxing are not boring. One of my favorite songs "All I Need" is from this album, the lyrics are in English and sung by Beth Hirsch who has a beautiful voice. The tracks such ...
...are some of the best to listen to because the focus is more on the music than the lyrics. However, the lyrics where they are used are thought provoking and have a good sound. The band's name stands for Amour, Imagination, Rêve, which means Love, Imagination, Dream. These sentiments definitely come across in this album. ...

Taminique 04.06.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Moon Safari - Air

...days. So six years on, Moon Safari by Air still sums up everything that genre should be about. We get glorious, soft vocals, seas of keyboards and heart-beat bass lines to float us away. Its the musical equivilent of a good pair of slippers, a cup of horlicks and a purring cat. There is a dance element there. DJs were queuing up to mix - Sexy Boy. But everything is soothed by the flowing vocals of Blur's mate Francoise Hardy, succulent brass ...
...to as much now as when they were released. But the strength of songs like Kelly Watch The Stars, Remember and the sublime You Make It Easy make this something special. This is not just a hotch-potch of samples and cellos to an old James Brown sample. This is an album of proper songs with a gentle atmosphere that take you off to somewhere far more pleasant. Genre defining! ...

mark_allen71 28.04.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Moon Safari - Air

Air's moon safari is one of those albums that I had heard was good but which i held off buying until last year, due to the fact that it is not the genre of music i am in to. I bought it in the end as it was on special offer, and it is one of those albums that I keep coming back to and putting on. For me, the standout tracks are the first 3 on the album. Sexy Boy is probably their best known song due to its release as a single, but just as good as ...
...two brilliant chillout songs which are often on adverts or TV programmes. These, along with the rest of the album, are perfect to relax to. La femme is a 7 minutes instrumental, whereas All I Need has some great lyrics on top of the soothing music. These songs, along with greats such as Kelly Watch the Stars make this an essential purchase, and Air show, along with Daft Punk, that the French can indeed make some good music ...

nickcoll 29.08.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Moon Safari - Air