AIR is a music duo from Versailles, France, consisting of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel.
Talkie Walkie is the third full-length album by French music duo AIR, released on 27 January 2004. "Alone in Kyoto" was included on the soundtrack to the 2003 film Lost in Translation and "Run" was used in the Veronica Mars episode "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner", as well as the 2004 French film Lila Says. "Talkie-walkie" means walkie-talkie in French.
Artistic development doesn't always improve an artist's work, as the members of Air discovered when their second album, 2001's 10,000 Hz Legend, disappointed fans and critics expecting another pop masterpiece to rank with their debut, Moon Safari. 10,000 Hz Legend buried the duo's clear melodic sense underneath an avalanche of rigid performances, claustrophobic productions, and a restless experimentalism that rarely allowed listeners to enjoy what they were hearing. Gone was the freshness evident on Moon Safari: the alien made familiar, the concept that electronic dance could be turned into a user-friendly medium, the illustration of simplicity and space as assets, not liabilities. Fortunately, Air learned from their mistakes -- or, at least, their limitations -- leading up to the recording of third album Talkie Walkie, and the happy result is a solid middle ground between both of their previous records.
The features are kept to a minimum and the tracks are constructed to sound no more complex than they need to be, even though Air risk the assumption that Talkie Walkie is a simple album. While there's nothing present to compete with the plodding glory of "Sexy Boy," Talkie Walkie ultimately succeeds because of Dunckel and Godin's renewed contentment to produce the tracks they do better than any other -- ones with a surface prettiness but no great depth. (It's no mystery why they've been tapped for several scores.) Ironically, the one track here that shrugs off the simplicity of electronic pop is a track first heard in a film, "Alone in Kyoto," an impressionistic string piece originally composed for the Sofia Coppola film Lost in Translation.
Tracklist
1. "Venus" (4:04)
2. "Cherry Blossom Girl" (3:39)
3. "Run" (4:12)
4. "Universal Traveler" (4:22)
5. "Mike Mills" (named after music video director Mike Mills) (4:26)
6. "Surfing on a Rocket" (3:43)
7. "Another Day" (3:20)
8. "Alpha Beta Gaga" (4:39)
9. "Biological" (6:04)
10. "Alone in Kyoto" (4:51)
11. "Easy Going Woman" (bonus track for Japan) (4:34)
All tracks written by Air.
Companies, etc.
Artistic development doesn't always improve an artist's work, as the members of Air discovered when their second album, 2001's 10,000 Hz Legend, disappointed fans and critics expecting another pop masterpiece to rank with their debut, Moon Safari. 10,000 Hz Legend buried the duo's clear melodic sense underneath an avalanche of rigid performances, claustrophobic productions, and a restless experimentalism that rarely allowed listeners to enjoy what they were hearing. Gone was the freshness evident on Moon Safari: the alien made familiar, the concept that electronic dance could be turned into a user-friendly medium, the illustration of simplicity and space as assets, not liabilities. Fortunately, Air learned from their mistakes -- or, at least, their limitations -- leading up to the recording of third album Talkie Walkie, and the happy result is a solid middle ground between both of their previous records.
The features are kept to a minimum and the tracks are constructed to sound no more complex than they need to be, even though Air risk the assumption that Talkie Walkie is a simple album. While there's nothing present to compete with the plodding glory of "Sexy Boy," Talkie Walkie ultimately succeeds because of Dunckel and Godin's renewed contentment to produce the tracks they do better than any other -- ones with a surface prettiness but no great depth. (It's no mystery why they've been tapped for several scores.) Ironically, the one track here that shrugs off the simplicity of electronic pop is a track first heard in a film, "Alone in Kyoto," an impressionistic string piece originally composed for the Sofia Coppola film Lost in Translation.
Tracklist
1. "Venus" (4:04)
2. "Cherry Blossom Girl" (3:39)
3. "Run" (4:12)
4. "Universal Traveler" (4:22)
5. "Mike Mills" (named after music video director Mike Mills) (4:26)
6. "Surfing on a Rocket" (3:43)
7. "Another Day" (3:20)
8. "Alpha Beta Gaga" (4:39)
9. "Biological" (6:04)
10. "Alone in Kyoto" (4:51)
11. "Easy Going Woman" (bonus track for Japan) (4:34)
All tracks written by Air.
Companies, etc.
- Published By – Revolvair
- Recorded At – Revolvair Studio
- Recorded At – Ocean Way Recording
- Mixed At – Ocean Way Recording
- Mastered At – Gateway Mastering
Personnel
Vocals [Additional] – Lisa Papineau
Vocals [Additional] – Jessica Banks
Bass – Jason Falkner
Cymbal – Brian Reitzell
Percussion – Joey Waronker
Recorded By [Street Sounds] – Darrel Thorpe
Piano – Michel Colombier
Flute – Malik Mezzadri
Credits
- A&R, Management – Marc Teissier Du Cros, Stephane Elfassi
- Arranged By [Strings] – Michel Colombier
- Artwork – Richard Prince
- Artwork [Technical Assistance] – Aaron Klein
- Design – Roger Gorman
- Engineer – Yann Arnaud
- Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
- Mixed By [Assistant] – Darrel Thorpe
- Mixed By, Recorded By [Additional Recordings] – Nigel Godrich
- Performer – AIR
- Photography By [Cover] – Claude Gassian
- Photography By [Interior] – Jenna Felling
- Photography By [Polaroids] – Marc Teissier Du Cros
- Producer – AIR, Nigel Godrich
Notes
Released: 21 January 2004
Performed and produced by Air at Revolvair studio, Paris.
Additional recordings & production by Nigel Godrich at Ocean Way, Hollywood.
Mixed by Nigel Godrich at Ocean Way, assisted by Darrel Thorpe.
Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering studios.
Genre: Electronic
Style: Downtempo, Ambient
Length: 43:27
Label - Virgin Records
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