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Album Details

• Artist: Air
• Album: Talkie Walkie
• Label: Astralwerks
• Year of Release: 2004
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2004-05-03

I have never been a huge Air fan even though I respect what they do. On Talkie Walkie though, the duo impresses even me. Even though they are thought of as an electronic act on this album they prove that they can quite easily handle some instrumentation. And even though most of Talkie Walkie is a little more organic than some of the previous albums, they have songs that a very robotic by nature like the charming but eerily Enya sound "Air". No, they haven't commissioned Enya to sing but the arrangement is vaguely similar to that of the Irish harpist. This organic sound may be partially due to the production of Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. Their lead off single is one called "Cherry Blossom Girl" which is probably the most gentle single the duo have ever released. They sort of go back to the robotic sound on the jerky "Surfing on a Rocket", one of the albums most rocking tracks. One of my favorite tracks is "Universal Traveller". There is a subtle string section that gets added to "Mike Mills" another album highlight. "Alpha Beta Gaga" takes a little more electronic direction but there are still very organic elements such as a banjo (yes, as in duelling) and whistling. Also, for fans, they have included the track they did for Lost In Translation, "Alone In Kyoto", a very interesting track that fits nicely as the album closer. While 10,000 Hz Legend was a bit of a disappointment, Talkie Walkie deserves an Air revisitation. They are indeed one of France's finest musical offerings.

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