PREMIERS SYMPTOMES, AIR (ASTRALWERKS):
My
friend, Bill, is the staunchest Francophile I know.
He becomes ecstatic just
planning a trip to France where he is likely to stay several weeks at a time
living amongst the locals.
He speaks French fluently, expertly doing that “r”
pronunciation thing that sounds like a cat coughing up a hairball.
Bill is also
a serious film buff and given the opportunity, will rhapsodize charmingly about
Some Like It Hot, sounding not unlike
a tent preacher describing the coming of the Rapture.
Which somehow get us to the newest release by
the French band, Air.
The seven more-or-less instrumental cuts on this disc are
from the group’s formative years before they achieved notoriety with their 1998
release, Moon Safari.
For those (Bill
and me included) who aren’t overly familiar with the band’s work, imagine a
mixture of the Art of Noise, Brian Eno, Stereolab, Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and music from the late
‘60s-early ‘70s TV show, That Girl.
Such a hodgepodge wouldn’t really sound like Premiers Symptomes, but that’s the closest description possible of
these virtually indistinguishable “songs” comprised of electronic sounds,
echoing tones and repetitive horn and keyboard riffs.
Quite honestly (and I
think Bill would agree), this album barely rises to the level of mediocre
soundtrack music.
Simply put, Air could be mistaken for
breaking wind.
--Heidi
Johnson-Wright
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