Remember (Air) (LP 477)

Air  Moon Safari (CD, Source, 1998) *** 

Genre: European pop/ rock

Places I remember: CDs sent to me by the Hope family 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: La Femme D'Argent 

Active compensatory factors: Once upon a time I owned a copy of this but flicked it off in one of the purges (mainly because of Sexy Boy - an annoyingly catchy song that just became annoying).

For me, Air are at their cool French best when channeling their inner Pink Floyd as they do through most of this album.

Then Adam's sister-in-law sent me a box of CDs she didn't want anymore and so, here it is in all it's Euro-prog/pop glory.

Being re-acquainted with it is nice - it all sounds very familiar and reminds me of life back at the turn of the millennium, when I was living in Auckland with access to actual record shops.

Where do they all belong? Back leading off the European pop/rock genre.

Cosmic trip (Air) (LP 141)

Air Le Voyage Dans La Lune (CD - Virgin, 2011) ****

Genre: Progressive rock

Places I remember: The Warehouse (Hastings)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles/ Gear costume: Cosmic Trip 



Active compensatory factors: I wouldn't file this under 'soundtracks' on my shelves (and I haven't) as it's more 'inspired by' than anything.

I have a soft spot for the hippy trippy progressive sounds of Air. They are one of many bands inspired by the progressive, experimental sounds of Pink Floyd. And that can't be bad in my book (of rock).

They have definitely carved out a distinctive sound of their own and for my money (it's what I want) they are at their best when going the cinemascopic route, as they do here.

Where do they all belong? That's it for Air. Next stop in the prog department is on the heavier side of things - with some prog metal!

Eat my beat (Air) (LP 91)

Air Love 2 (CD - EMI, 2009) ***

Genre: Progressive rock

Places I remember: Abu Dhabi's Kings Recording

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles:  First track, Do The Toy, starts the album off with some unusual sounds before settling into an Air (tight) groove.




Gear costume:  All the rest!

Active compensatory factors: They are so well named. So much of Air's music is light and ephemeral. It floats along in time and space and when I try to grab it, it's got no substance.

That doesn't mean I don't like it. But I tried listening to this album over and over again for a week to prepare for this post and nothing stuck.

Somehow, it's still a worthwhile addition to the collection. 

It fits the progressive tag because they do experiment and push themselves onwards throughout the album. Having said that, there are also some wistful reminders of Moon Safari along the way.

Where do they all belong? Next up is Le Voyage Dans La Lune - a marriage between sound and the George Melies classic film.

Les professionnels (Air) (LP 5)

Air  Premiers Symptomes (CD - Source, 1999) ****

Genre:  Progressive

Places I remember: Real Groovy, Auckland. I was on an Air thing at the time - Moon Safari, The Virgin Suicides soundtrack and 10,000Hz Legend lead me to this (interesting that at various points I sold off the other albums listed here, but kept this one).

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles:  J'ai Dormi sous l'eau (I slept under water)

Gear costume: Of the bonus tracks Brakes On is pretty amazing. It keeps up a killer groove out of a bunch of instruments/sounds that I know diddly about.

Active compensatory factors: This is actually a compilation of their first singles but it hangs together so well as a cohesive whole (which is why it's not holed up with the rest of the Progressive 'Best of' collections in case you were wondering).

It's all about the vibe man. The vibe here being lovely floating synth waves with looping beats and mainly instrumental chunes. I love it, and play it often.

This version is the 1999 re-release with two bonus tracks.

Where do they all belong?: Although it's the first stuff they did, it links incredibly well to two other later period albums I have by Air - Love 2 and La Voyage Dans La Lune.