New Monday #59
Haaaaaapppppyyyy Monday,
Episode 59 of New Monday is PACKED. Maximum experience requires listening and reading along. But there's no rush.
Start with a link below. It’s around 7 minutes long. No vocals. Keep it on in the background if you wish.
(Listen for a bit, and then read on. I’m trying to write somewhat in sync to the song. Maybe read the next paragraph after 5 or 10 seconds?)
I’ve come to the moment in my life where I have to write about AIR, a duo from France that released an astonishing debut album, Moon Safari, and followed up with a bunch more music, all consistently good.
AIR is not overly original. It’s loosely electronica, or pop, or chill out, lounge, or trip hop—all that. None of that.
AIR is low-key and can easily fade into the background of whatever you’re doing, but it can also be hooky as hell and catchy as the flu.
There’s a lot of the gas of Pink Floyd in AIR, especially that ii-V progression. AIR slings ii-V around the way Taylor Swift mines variations on I-vi-IV-V. But there’s also a “Frenchness” to AIR. It has the cool insouciance of a Serge Gainsbourg record, perhaps filtered through Kraftwerk and the Krautrock Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunkel listened to while growing up in Paris.
Moon Safari is a reference to a Ray Bradbury sci-fi novel in which characters travel back in time to hunt dinosaurs. The whole album has a science fiction flavor to both the lyrics and instrumental parts that could be pulled from the soundtrack of Forbidden Planet. Moon Safari isn’t so much about hunting on the moon as it is about hanging out in the lounge at a spaceport, smoking, drinking, etc. Not so much the hunt, more the afterglow.
(It’s the same thing over and over again. La femme d’argent was the opening track on Moon Safari. How awesome is this to simply drift away with it?)
There’s a lot of Motown, especially James Jamerson, in AIR. Moon Safari, and AIR albums in general, are all about the bass. The sound is thin and dry—it’s an old Hofner, not the Beatle bass but the club bass. Nicolas Godin bought it because it was cheap. He plugged it into a little guitar amp for Moon Safari.
Jean-Benoît Dunkel is a classically trained keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist. He tends to favor old, analog synths. In the early days of AIR it was because it was all he could afford. Now, it’s because that's the sound. Among the synths were a Korg MS-20, a Moog Minimoog, an old Fender Rhodes, and some past their prime analog drum machines they bought for cheap—a Linn 9000, a TR909 and a CR78.
They had no money for fancy effects units; instead, they plugged into guitar pedals for flanging, phasing, echo, and distortion and tracked things exactly how they wanted them to sound. The two played most of the instruments on the album with friends occasionally adding parts. They also sang, generally disguising their voices with vocoders. They also had friends contribute vocals, especially singer/songwriter Beth Hirsch. More on her later.
Basic tracks were cut in an apartment studio and then an abandoned house. Strings were added at Abbey Road in London, some final touches back in Paris at Gang Studios (they have a gorgeous vintage API), and then mixed at Studio Plus XXX on an SSL. Which was total overkill...
...because Moon Safari is an 8-TRACK RECORDING. The duo used a Fostex D80 locked up to an AKAI S1000 stereo sampler along with an Atari ST running Cubase. They later moved up to an old Mac.
(I have no idea how fast you read or where you are in the song, but dig that distorted Fender Rhodes solo—tracked through a Big Muff.)
Moon Safari made a minor ripple in France on its release in 1998. The first single was a decent club hit in the US and got to #13 in the UK. The album’s stature grew. It's now considered a classic, one of the best albums of the 90s and tremendously influential. AIR still makes records, never veering far from their origin but always coming up with something slinky and singable. The duo scored the film The Virgin Suicides and placed songs in movies and TV shows. Moon Safari kicked the door open for them. Bad metaphor. Moon Safari knocked on the door and whispered, “Let me in...” breathless, with a French accent.
Juxtaposition
A central concept in art is juxtaposition. Placing two things together, perhaps disparate things, and the combination reveals a new meaning perhaps, or an expansion of meaning. AIR is all about juxtaposition, from the mixing of styles to the blend of acoustic and electronic instruments, to the DIY nature of the way they record.
The videos of the singles off Moon Safari are wonderful examples of juxtaposition and how additional meaning is generated.
All I Need
This first video is for All I Need. The vocals and lyrics are by Beth Hirsch. The video was directed by Mike Mills (not the bassist of REM). He filmed a real couple in California, documenting their lives and their thoughts on each other, underscored by the music. You do lose the song a bit, but there’s something captivating about the couple, their vulnerability and honesty.
Spoiler alert: don’t read further 'til you watch the video.
The spoiler is that this couple broke up. This is a lovely little documentary about something that’s extinct. For me, it changes the song, bringing out the intrinsic sadness. Beth Hirsch sings “All I need,” but it’s evident that not all needs are fulfilled. Love it.
Kelly Watch the Stars
Kelly Watch the Stars was inspired by actress Jaclyn Smith, who starred on Charlie’s Angels as Kelly Garrett. The guys in AIR decided she was the most beautiful woman in the world at the time, but the song seems to be about outer space. The lyrics are basically “Kelly watch the Stars” over and over, with some sci-fi film squirps and burbles. Juxtaposition already. The video, again by director Mike Mills, spins it off in another direction entirely—and with a different mix than the album too! A really fun video!
I get a thrill out of great ideas.
Juxtaposition is a power thought tool to have in your production or songwriting bag of tricks. It's a thing many use but few in a conscious way. When you're lost for an idea, perhaps think about adding something that makes no sense... and then seeing if the whole thing makes more sense.
Thanks for reading and listening.
Warm regards,
Luke