Air (French band)

Air
General information
Genre (s)	Electronica
founding	1995
Website	http://www.aircheology.com/
Current occupation
Guitar , vocals	Nicolas Godin
Keyboard , vocals	Jean-Benoît "JB" Dunckel

Air is a French band whose style is mostly referred to as synth-pop or electronica .

history

Air was founded in 1995 by Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît "JB" Dunckel.

JB and Nicolas used to play in the band Orange, along with Alex Gopher and Xavier Jamaux. The tour manager was Étienne de Crécy . So it is not surprising that these names appear again and again in connection with remixes by Air. In February 2005 the musicians received the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres of the French Ministry of Culture, the French Order of the Arts and Literature.

In September 2006 the album 5:55 by the singer Charlotte Gainsbourg was released , whose music was composed and recorded by Air in collaboration with Jarvis Cocker ( Pulp ), Neil Hannon ( Divine Comedy ) and the producer Nigel Godrich . Cocker and Hannon sing on Pocket Symphony of 2007.

Jean-Benoît Dunckel's first solo album, Darkel , was released in September 2006.

In 2010 they contributed the score to the film Confidante Strangers by director Sam Garbarski .

In 2012, Air set the silent film Le Voyage dans la Lune by French filmmaker Georges Méliès , which was originally shot in 1902.

In 2015 they worked with Jean-Michel Jarre , with whom they composed and recorded the song Close your eyes as part of the Electronica project .

style

Mostly old analog synthesizers such as the Korg MS-20 and devices from Moog are used . Also, Wurlitzer and Vocoder are used regularly. The result are calm, gentle and dreamy songs with unusual sound structures.

Air also play their instruments live themselves, often presenting the tracks known from the albums as alienated or interwoven versions. For both live performances and studio recordings, Air mostly work with artist friends, such as B. Beth Hirsch ( Moon Safari ), Françoise Hardy (Jeanne), Jean-Jacques Perrey (Cosmic Bird), Gordon Tracks (Thomas Mars from the band Phoenix ) (Playground Love and Easy Going Woman), Beck (10000Hz Legend) the Talkie Walkie Tour with Dave Palmer and drummer Earl Harvin and on the current tour with Earl Harvin, Vincent Taurelle and Steve Jones.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	FR
1998	Moon Safari	DE56 gold (12 weeks)DE	AT20 (7 weeks) AT	CH46 gold (3 weeks)CH	UK6th × 2 Double platinum (110 weeks)UK	FR21st gold (19 weeks)FR	First published: January 16, 1998
2000	The Virgin Suicides (Soundtrack)	DE26 (5 weeks) DE	-	CH51 (6 weeks) CH	UK14th silver (4 weeks)UK	FR34 gold (24 weeks)FR	First published: February 25, 2000
2001	10,000 Hz legend	DE7 (8 weeks) DE	AT7 (7 weeks) AT	CH11 (7 weeks) CH	UK7th gold (7 weeks)UK	FR7 (9 weeks) FR	First published: May 28, 2001
2004	Talkie Walkie	DE5 (9 weeks) DE	AT15 (9 weeks) AT	CH4 (8 weeks) CH	UK2 gold (8 weeks)UK	FR3 (22 weeks) FR	First published: January 26, 2004
2007	Pocket Symphony	DE8 (7 weeks) DE	AT31 (4 weeks) AT	CH7 (10 weeks) CH	UK22 (4 weeks) UK	FR8 (29 weeks) FR	First published: December 2006
2009	Love 2	DE39 (2 weeks) DE	AT56 (1 week) AT	CH15 (4 weeks) CH	UK36 (2 weeks) UK	FR12 (14 weeks) FR	First published: October 2, 2009
2012	Le voyage in the mood	DE36 (2 weeks) DE	AT38 (2 weeks) AT	CH11 (4 weeks) CH	UK35 (1 week) UK	FR17 (6 weeks) FR	First published: February 3, 2012

More albums

• 2003: City Reading (with Baricco )
• 2014: Music for Museum (2 LPs; release: July 15th)

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	FR
2000	Premiers symptoms	DE84 (5 weeks) DE	-	-	UK12 gold (7 weeks)UK	-	First published: August 1999
2002	Everybody Hertz (remix album)	-	-	-	UK67 (1 week) UK	-	First published: February 19, 2002
2016	Twentyears	-	-	CH64 (1 week) CH	-	FR18 (3 weeks) FR	First published: June 10, 2016

More compilations

• 1999: Selected Werks
• 2003: Chansons Western (release: July 15th)
• 2004: Cherries
• 2007: Air Sampler
• 2015: The Remixes - Vol.1 (18 mp3 files; release: June 15th)
• 2015: The Remixes - Vol.2 (22 mp3 files; release: June 15th)

DJ mixes

• 2002: Deck Safari (Part 1) (2 CDs)
• 2002: Deck Safari (Part 2) (2 CDs)
• 2006: LateNightTales

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	FR
1998	Sexy Boy Moon Safari	-	-	-	UK13 (4 weeks) UK	FR65 (7 weeks) FR	First published: February 1998 Authors: Jean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin
	Kelly Watch the Stars Moon Safari	-	-	-	UK18 (3 weeks) UK	-	First publication: May 1998 Authors: Jean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin, Phoenix
	All I Need Moon Safari	-	-	-	UK29 (3 weeks) UK	-	First release: November 1998 feat. Beth Hirsch Authors: Beth Hirsch, Jean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin
2000	Playground Love The Virgin Suicides	-	-	-	UK25 (3 weeks) UK	-	First release: February 2000 feat. Gordon Tracks Authors: Jean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin
2001	Radio # 1 10,000 Hz Legend	-	-	-	UK31 (2 weeks) UK	-	First publication: May 2001 Authors: Jean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin
2004	Cherry Blossom Girl Talkie Walkie	DE80 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	FR80 (2 weeks) FR	First published: January 2004 Authors: Jean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin
	Surfing on a Rocket Talkie Walkie	-	-	-	-	FR100 (1 week) FR	First release: March 2004 feat. Lisa Papineau Authors: Jean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin
	Alpha Beta Gaga Talkie Walkie	-	-	-	UK44 (2 weeks) UK	-	First publication: August 2004 Authors: Jean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin

More singles

• 1995: Modular Mix
• 1996: Casanova 70
• 1997: Le soleil est près de moi
• 2002: People in the City
• 2002: How Does It Make You Feel
• 2002: Don't Be Light
• 2007: Once Upon a Time
• 2007: Mer du Japon
• 2009: Do the Joy
• 2009: Sing Sang Sung

Video albums

• 1999: Eating Sleeping Waiting and Playing: A Film About Air on Tour
• 2002: Videos
• 2004: Surfing on a Rocket / Cherry Blossom Girl

swell

1. ↑ Le Voyage dans la Lune at laut.de.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: Singles Albums DE1 DE2 UK FR
3. ↑ ^{a b c} gold / platinum databases: DE CH UK FR

Web links

Commons : Air  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Website of her label Record Makers (English)
• Air at astralwerks.com (English)
• Air at Discogs (English)
• Air on MusicBrainz (English)
• Air at laut.de