Music Munchers - Moon Safari by Air

Product Review
French duo Air's debut album is a superlatively happy collection of experimental disco-mood sound nestled between ambient soundscape and breathy pop. It's jazzy and melodic, and mostly laid-back, but not excessively so. There are a few shake-it, shake-it numbers, too, like the absurdly daft hit "Sexy Boy." It's snap your fingers and hang out (while reading) music or dance around sexy-slow with your mate music. It's also the perfect music to do your ironing or some other chore to; it's hypnotizing wallpaper music. It slips in and out of your consciousness, forcing you to move around with a relaxed smile before you even realize it. Oh, and contrary to sampler fashion, Nicolas Godin and Jean Benoit Dunckel played the instruments themselves. Bravo. --Mike McGonigal

Entertainment Weekly
This French duo works the territory between sleazy blaxploitation grooves, naive rave-culture idealism, and pop songcraft. . . .

I heard a bunch of wonderful things about Air through the musical grapevine and in reviews such as this one, it wasn't until I bought the CD and listened that two things were confirmed: 1. This is among the best ambient music CD's of our time; and 2. I'd been listening to this CD for years. As it turns out, the owner of a local lounge (Blue Agave in Santa Barbara CA.) has had it on rotation for the last few years. I'd been intoxicated (literally and figuratively) to (and by) this music for quite some time now standing outside on their little patio, drinking, smoking, carousing... I usually like to call out certain songs on CD's I review as noteworthy. I won't in this case however because every track is excellent. They did a wonderful job stitching their arrangement too, each track, while different, blend seemlessly into each other. Unlike allot of ambient music, this CD will chill you out, lift your mood, but won't put you to sleep. I'm sure this was by design....a noteworthy accomplishment in that unlike the equivalent to musical smelling salt, whenever a faster paced track comes on, it doesn't offend with overly loud or obnoxious beats. If you love this album, consider trying a few other similar artists. The first one that leaps to mind is Zero 7. Their new album "When it Falls" is a brilliant and similar comparable. Another wonderful new talent is Solar House, they have a newer CD called "Magic of the City" that is a bit more upbeat, but still very seductive and ambiance friendly... Hope this was helpful. Enjoy. Comment | Permalink | (Report this)