10000 Hz. Legend
Previously Air´s Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin made softcore collages of Pink Floyd-ish synth tones and droning French lounge pop. 10,000 Hz Legend goes further out, attaining new heights of cheesy, Space Odyssey-like computer music. Like Kraftwerk skinny-dipping with French nymphet Jane Birkin and Star Wars´s R2D2, Legend swells with mad robo-love, following a computer romance amid droll tributes to vacant pop culture. Beck´s appearance on "The Vagabond" proves the Loser only works well solo, making Air disappear on their own album. The absurd "Radio #1" and the sappy chorus in "How Does It Make You Feel?" could snuggle beside Celine Dion´s latest yawner. But there is magic: "Radian" is a Cluster-like orb of cooing flutes, gentle rhythms, and a ghostly vocal. "Electric Performers" offers clunky electronic beats and the lines "We are the synchronizers / Machines give me some freedom." The catchy "People in the City" sounds like Mirwais producing Serge Gainsbourg, while "Don´t Be Light" recalls electro Krautrockers Neu! Feeding us Moog merengue and Reese´s Pieces rhythms, Air remain sweet computer boys to the core.
