from the LP Moon Safari, Astralwerks Records, 1998The duo of Jean-Benoît Dunckel & Nicolas Godin, collectively known as Air, proved that it was indeed possible to simultaneously be both retro and ahead of their time; armed to the teeth with an assortment of vintage keyboards, analog synthesizers and drum machines, and taking cues from the so-called “library music” scene of the late ‘70s – early ‘80s, Air presaged the modern-day synth obsession by about a decade. The mellow mood and deliberate song-structures really stood out from their electronic peers, who were mainly consumed with house, techno or jungle at the time of this album’s release; honestly, I remember thinking that their music sounded more like a film soundtrack than the chill-out room at a rave (Sofia Coppola wisely tapped Air to soundtrack her movie, The Virgin Suicides, a few years after this). Definitely check out the video they made for this song (it’s posted on youtube.com)---major drama on a ping-pong court, hilarious!
