Air

More brooding and beautiful/creepy than its predecessor, Air's second full-length sounds intentionally dated, as if the French band sought a distinct late-'80s Eurotrash chillout room vibe. By refusing to repeat their cornerstone success, they actually predicated later crucial post-millennial trends: A lyric from the fuzzed-out "Radio #1" spawned the name of a popular music blog, and Beck's appearance on the haunting, blues-soaked "The Vagabond" -- a highpoint for him and Air both -- hints at the downtrodden tone his Sea Changes would soon take.

Air, otherwise known as the Parisian duo of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel, can
make vintage synthesizers, drum machines and a clunky acoustic guitar or two sound like
lovely little fluffy clouds. Their latest, 10,000 Hz. Legend, is like some deranged dim sum of
sound: Some of it is tasty, most of it is weird and, ultimately, you will never know what
your ears are eating. "Don't Be Light" is an ethereal keyboard jig that sounds like... More >