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Air's Nicolas Godin and Jean Benoit Dunckel are a couple of cerebral keyboard geeks from Versailles, France, where they obviously don't get out of the studio much. Their space-pop debut, Moon Safari, is a truly obsessive hommage to easy listening, a sublime Eurocheese omelet. They build their music out of classic '60s French schlock: bongos, castanets, vintage electric piano, dream-weaver synths and shagcarpet organ straight from the soundtracks of movies like Un Homme et Une Femme. It's just a shame Moon Safari isn't available on reel-to-reel. Air's lavish sound fits in with European confreres like the High Llamas and the Divine Comedy; orchestral pop that
Read More mixes the acoustic with the synthetic to make everything sound as gaudy as possible. When you're in the mood for fluff, after all, you want to hear expensive fluff, and Air have fun with their fantasy of the lush life. You can almost hear Anouk Aimee pouring them some Riunite on Ice in the background. Godin and Dunckel bring in American guest vocalist Beth Hirsch to sing a few tragic cafe ballads; she gets tragic in a flirtatious way, the only civilized excuse for coming on tragic. But Air's hearts are really in their instrumental settings, which range from the seedy cocktail groove of "La Femme D'Argent" to the disco trash of "Sexy Boy." "New Star in the Sky" could pass for David Bowie in his Jacques Brel mode, reveling in love-is-blue melancholia with a surprisingly emotional melody. The music is full of hidden jokes, as when "Remember" replicates the distorted drum intro from the Beach Boys hit "Do It Again"; Air's Brian Wilson allusion isn't some Smile-era obscurity – it's a beach-party blowout. Loads of American bands try to emulate the fab tackiness of '60s French pop. But Moon Safari proves that the French really do it better themselves. (RS 778) ROB SHEFFIELD Part after-hours/early morning comedown album and part French retro-futuristic mod pop,this 1998 album was embraced by all sides. The keyboards and basslines work out a minimal funk rhythm, while the vocoders and breathy vocals create a new genre of post-disco folk pop. A great album from beginning to end. | 
