Moon Safari is the debut studio album by French electronic music duo Air, released on 16 January 1998. On 14 April 2008, Virgin Records re-released Moon Safari to mark the album's tenth anniversary. The limited edition album came with a bound book, a DVD documentary about the duo, and an extra CD with live performances and remixes.
Moon Safari was acclaimed by critics and remains Air's most renowned release. Moon Safari is credited with setting the stage for the budding downtempo music style. As of 2012 it has sold 386,000 copies in United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Critical reception
Air | You make it easy - Lyrics: "Never been here - How about you?" You smile at my answer, You've given me the chance, To be held and understood. You leave me laughing without crying, There's no use denying, For...
Moon Safari was met with general acclaim upon its release. John Mulvey, writing for NME, praised Air's "sensitive but tenacious grasp of melody, a laid-back disposition and a reckless way with a Vocoder that makes them unafraid of sounding like a digital ELO," also noting similarities to Garbage on "Sexy Boy" and Beth Orton on "All I Need". Entertainment Weekly's Ethan Smith felt that though the album occasionally bears excessive resemblance to Everything but the Girl, "Air leaven it all with a welcome dash of Gallic irony." Pitchfork writer Brent DiCrescenzo remarked that the music would befit "minimalist architecture design, shagging up against a tree in a field of sunflowers, waiting in line for 'Space Mountain,' drinking gin upstairs in a 747 (circa 1974), and '60s Swedish industrial documentaries," adding that though the album is "too cheeky" for everyday listening, it is nonetheless romantic.
Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield was more reserved in his praise, praising the album's stylistic range and the instrumental songs but calling the group "obsessive." (Retrospectively in its album guide, Rolling Stone awarded the album 4.5 stars.) Likewise, Spin's Jeff Salamon felt that though the album's pathos is "heartening", the music lacks irony.
Accolades
Moon Safari was voted as the best album of the year in The Face and in Select. It featured in top ten lists for magazines like Spin, Melody Maker, NME and Mojo. On aggregation site Acclaimed Music's list of the most recommended albums of all time, Moon Safari ranks 139th, the highest rank achieved by Air and by a French album in general. Rolling Stone magazine later ranked the album at number 93 on their list of the best albums of the 1990s, while the magazine's French edition ranked it at number 65 on their "100 Greatest French Rock Albums" list. In a retrospective review, John Bush of AllMusic commented that Moon Safari "delivered the emotional power of great dance music even while pushing the barriers of what 'electronica' could or should sound like", and that the album "proved they could also write accessible pop songs like 'Sexy Boy' and 'Kelly Watch the Stars'" while also containing successful experiments with less pop-oriented material. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Track listing
Original release
All tracks written by Air, except where noted.
Notes
- "La femme d'argent" samples "Runnin'" by Edwin Starr.
- "Remember" samples "Do It Again" by The Beach Boys.
10th anniversary rerelease (2008)
DVD
- "Eating Sleeping Waiting & Playing" by Mike Mills.
- Music videos for "Sexy Boy", "Kelly Watch the Stars", "All I Need", and "Le soleil est près de moi" (from the Premiers Symptômes EP).
- Graphics and storyboards.
Personnel
- Jean-Benoît Dunckel â€" keyboards, synths, organ, vocals, piano, pan pipes, hand claps, glockenspiel
- Nicolas Godin â€" bass, synths, percussion, vocals, guitar, hand claps, harmonica, glockenspiel, piano, organ, pan pipes, drums
- Beth Hirsch â€" vocals
- Enfants square Burcq â€" vocals
- Alf (a.k.a. Stephane Briat) â€" hand claps
- Caroline L. â€" hand claps
- Marlon â€" drums
- Eric Regert â€" organ
- David Whitaker â€" string arrangement, conducting
- P. Woodcock â€" guitar, trombone
Charts
Certifications and sales
References
