French electro-duo composes the Pocket Symphony

By Jim Feighan
Senior Staff Writer
March 28, 2007

I’ve always found it difficult to place the musical duo Air into a specific genre. Since they heavily rely on electronic drum beats, vocoders and synthesizers, it would be easy to describe Air as electronica, even though they clearly break the conventional mold of what you’d expect to hear from two French electronic performers.

The duo, consisting of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, were previously in a band together called “Orange” with three friends, before splitting and beginning an electronica project simply titled Air.

Moon Safari, released in 1998, was Air’s first studio album and it displayed their instinctual tendencies to integrate pop melodies into their dauntingly structured electronica sequences. Differing from other European electronic groups like Basement Jaxx and Daft Punk, Air is known for recording a large amount of their music with actual instruments, like acoustic guitar, piano and a backing orchestra occasionally.

In 1999, they provided the original soundtrack to director Sofia Coppola’s full-length feature debut, The Virgin Suicides. After the release of the film, Air was praised for their hit single, “Playground Love,” which repeats many times throughout the movie; the song was also featured in a memorable Levis commercial at the time. When they released their next album, 10,000 Hz Legend, Godin and Dunckel had become friends with other eclectic musicians, including Beck and Buffalo Daughter, who also collaborate on the album. Air’s own sense of humor allows their music to entertain the listener without becoming too serious. In songs like “Sexy Boy” and “Don’t Be Light,” Air is able to construct campy pop songs without losing their artistic merit.

After taking three years off to tour, write music and collaborate with other musicians, Air released Talkie Walkie (2004), their third and most accessible album to date. Stripped of most of their electronic idiosyncrasies, the album showcases more melancholic and emotional songs, including “Venus,” “Mike Mills” and “Alone in Kyoto,” which was featured in the 2004 film, Lost in Translation.

On March 5, 2007, Air released their latest album, Pocket Symphony. Borrowing vocals from Brit-pop legend Jarvis Cocker, Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon and French actress/singer Charlotte Gainsbourg, Air incorporates electronica again, as well as Japanese instruments that Godin learned to play in Okinawa. These instruments include the shamisen and the koto.

While it appears that Pocket Symphony is a musical evolution for Air, overall, the album is a solid yet mediocre effort. Highlights from the album include “Napalm Love” and “Mer du Japon,” two more upbeat songs on the album that employ proficient piano skills from Dunckel.

So if you have any interest in getting into electronica music, Air is the ideal catalyst between traditional pop music and avant-garde electronica. The French duo is currently touring Europe and will be playing the Theater of Living Arts May 8.

feighanj1@lasalle.edu