It’s been a hard few years for France\/U.S. relations. Even at
\nthe height of the absurd backlash against the French, I couldn’t,
\nwouldn’t boycott products from our smug, elitist big brother
\noverseas. In general, they do have the finest wine in the world,
\nthey have some of the best cooking techniques under their belts and
\n– heyah –
\nMoon Safari<\/i>.<\/p>\n
For those unfamiliar with Air, the French duo has been an
\ninspiration to director Sofia Coppola, who used Air’s music to
\npropel both
\nThe Virgin Suicides<\/i> and
\nLost in Translation<\/i>. Released in 1998,
\nMoon Safari<\/i> is a perplexing listen. It’s definitely retro,
\nborrowing heavily from the dance hall\/disco sounds of the late
\n’70s. There are parts of the album that would seem perfect
\nblanketing the dance floor at your coolest dance club. Other parts
\nof the album conjure images of elbowing up to the bar at a posh
\nhotel at around 2:30 in the morning and nursing a vodka tonic or
\nspending five uninterrupted hours sprawled out on a leather couch
\nat a non-gentrified coffee house, lost in a set of headphones.<\/p>\n
That contrast is especially evident in the first four tracks.
\nThe first track, “Femme d’Argent” takes its time to unfold. The
\ngroove is stretched over a beautiful, ambient moan. Then, the album
\ntakes a silly 180-degree turn with “Sexy Boy”; a
\nplatform-boot-sized tongue-in-cheek club number that inexplicably
\nturned into a minor hit and likely cast Air as club music in many
\nunsuspecting listeners’ ears. However, one track later and you get
\na devastating “All I Need,” with Beth Hirsh’s fragile voice
\ncommanding your full attention to the point that you forget the
\nlyrics. But just when you think you’re ready to settle into a posh
\ncouch and snuggle up with some herbal tea, you get “Kelly Watch The
\nStars” in the next track, with its groove so bouncy, it sends you
\nback on your feet. If bipolar had a soundtrack in the late-90s,
\nthis album would definitely fit the bill.<\/p>\n
The album does find its groove toward the end, opting for more
\nchill-out than club-hopping. The last half of the album definitely
\nloses some steam, especially during “Talisman,” a song that despite
\ndozens of listens, still sounds like it be playing during a ‘boss’
\nstage in a video game. Still, Beth Hirsh returns to set
\nMoon Safari<\/i> back on track with the chilling “You Make it
\nEasy” and “Voyage de Penelope” finishes off
\nMoon Safari<\/i> nicely.<\/p>\n
\nMoon Safari<\/i> ranks with the Chemical Brother’s
\nDig Your Own Hole<\/i>, Massive Attack’s
\nMezzanine<\/i>, Portishead’s
\nDummy<\/i> and Tricky’s
\nMaxinquaye<\/i> as definitive purchases for techno\/electronica in
\nthe ’90s. The album’s only major flaw is that its first four songs
\nare so jaw-droppingly amazing that it inevitably loses momentum.
\nStill, there are far worse sins an album can commit. A
\nnear-masterpiece.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":26715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7029],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-37972","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-air","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37972"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}