Air Album: “Talkie Walkie”

I can't help it, I LOVE Air. I know there is a giant movement out there and the majority of Air lovers prefer Moon Safari, but I disagree. I think Talkie Walkie is far more refined. It's smoother, and it hits your touchy feely places. It's also more consistent throughout than Moon Safari and has much better flow. I think I can get around the cheesy lyrics by brushing it off as Frenchies with a language barrier thing. The music speaks for itself and I've never played a song more times than Universal Traveler. This album is a MUST have for anyone.

I had never heard of Air when I bought this album. I have no desire to compare it to Moon Safari (which I now also own), so Air-fans seeking a grade on the basis of that comparison should look elsewhere. Let's judge the album on the basis of its own merits, shall we?

That having been said, this album is amazing. Simply amazing.

It's not just the songs, which seem to be woven out of dream-silk with a creamy, bittersweet sensuality. I heard a friend describe the tunes as "cheesy;" maybe some of the themes could be described as cheesy (undying love, finding joy in spite of pain), but that makes them no less valid. Besides, what's certainly NOT cheesy is the exquisite and heart-breaking craftsmanship. I get goosebumps every time I hear this album because Air somehow manages to use a sort of gorgeous and liquid melancholy to craft songs that inspire hope, joy, peace, and faith in the greatness of things. In spite of the dark (rather sexy) shadow that these melodies cast, the songs themselves loom glittering and unswerving.

In addition to having a collection of uniformly outstanding songs, this record has also arranged the songs in an order that encourages an uninterrupted listen from beginning to end. The tender, sad-sweet love of Venus is picked up by Cherry Blossom Girl and taken to higher and brighter places. The mood dips and swerves and slides past creepily gorgeous corners in Run, across soothing sunset landscapes in Universal Traveler, through the stratosphere in Mike Mills, and into a cool and twinkling world of stars in Surfing On A Rocket. Another Day, Alpha Beta Gaga, Biological ... they're all skin-rippling fun, physically seductive, emotionally charged, and achingly beautiful.

It's a little short (especially since, with songs this good, you naturally crave more), but I don't think anyone with their sense of wonder still intact will find this record anything short of amazing.

I was very surprised to find out that Talkie Walkie has the lowest rating on Amazon out of the few main Air albums. A lot of people seem to think that this isn't quite up to par with Moon Safari, 10,000 Hz or Premiers Symptomes. Air is the best discovery for me in years (I just about only listen to classical/opera), and Talkie Walkie is the only album of theirs that has kept me coming back for more and more.

I have listened to Premiers Symptomes, 10,000 Hz, and Moon Safari dozens of times each, but no other album can I listen to all the way through without the slightest desire to advance a single track. Every song gives me such pleasure in its own little way. I had to be very careful when I was first getting into the album because I was afraid I was going to burn myself out on it, which has happened before. But no matter how much I listen, I will never get tired of it, and neither will you!

... Ok, now, with that off my chest, let's talk about Talkie Walkie.

Like most Air fans, I was rather disappointed with 10,000 HZ Legend and really wanted a Moon Safari part 2. Talkie Walkie gives us a hybrid of The Virgin Suicides soundtrack and pieces of that great Moon Safari record. For starters they went back to adding simple and heavy atmosphere on this record. They lost the useless collaborations seen on 10,000, and made the most of the electronic landscapes they so beautifully create.

There are at least 4 definite ringers on here. Starting with the lead single, Cherry Blossom Girl, a beautiful dramatic tune with coy female vocals and melodic guitars. The third track on the album is probably my favorite one. Titled Run, its a bit more futuristic in scope, a bit more fun as well with this robotic vocal that repeats the chorus, run run run run run run run. It just sounds really great when cranked up to 11. I was very happy with the inclusion of Alone In Kyoto, the song Air wrote for the film Lost In Translation. Like the film, the music has a way of setting a mood and transforming the atmosphere with it's lush yet minimal arrangement. I also like Surfin On A Rocket, a mid-tempo, single-to-be, that in ways, harks back to the always great, Sexy Boy. The rest of Talkie Walkie is equally up to the task and makes this one great piece of work.

In 1998, I listed Air's Moon Safari, #1 on my best of the year list (check out my lists in the listmania area for all my best of lists) Since then, they've missed the target a few times but always manage to produce enough quality tunes to keep me buying. Talkie Walkie is not only a return to form, but one of the best electronic records I've heard this year.

Backing up another reviewer here. This is not a review of the music, but rather of the cd.

I do most of my music listening at work. I buy cd's and burn them to my mp3 player.

This cd has all that awful multimedia crapola on it with a magungus autostart program. Practically crashed my xp computer. Also, the copy protection makes such a menace to Windows Media Player that there is a huge delay before the cd will even play... even if I put the cd on repeat, the first song takes about 5 minutes to start.

The music is good, but the package is such a load (come on, guys, listening to a cd should not be work) that I won't be buying any Virgin/EMI cd's again any time soon.