Air
10,000 HZ Legend
(Astralwerks/Source)
Those crafty French. For years they have
me convinced they offered nothing for pop music. Then, they were the saviors, with duos like
Daft Punk and Air leading the way.
Not so fast, Jean-Claude. While Daft Punk delivered the goods earlier this year with Discovery,
Air serves up a more ambitious but rather sagging second effort with 10,000 Hz Legend.
So much for the Gallic bandwagon.
Oui, the lounge-y "Radio #1" is a pop-school nugget that lives up to the promise of the
stuff on the Virgin Suicides soundtrack, all Bread-era 70s goo without going too gonzo on
the irony. And Beck becks the next track, "The Vagabond," still in his Prince persona, all
tasseled falsies and falsetto. "People in the City" is a mid-tempo number that holds together --
a song at the chewy center surrounded by the sugar-candy of electronic effects and posturing.
Much of the rest is a meandering muddle, I’m afraid. So we discover they admire Pink Floyd.
They like to improvise. Clearly. Congrats on not simply reheating Moon Safari in the
micro, but we expected more from Mickey Rourke worshippers. Rating: 6
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