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| Track List: 1. Electronic Performers 2. How Does It Make You Feel? 3. Radio #1 4. The Vagabond 5. Radian 6. Lucky and Unhappy 7. Sex Born Poison 8. People in the City 9. Wonder Milky Bitch 10. Don't Be Light 11. Caramel Prisoner Running time: 60 minutes Released: 2001 |
Is this really 13 years old, predating the death of Brian Clough? One seems a lot longer ago, the other seems more recent (they've just had a 10 year memorial article on the BBC for Clough). It is funny how we see time, and different events on different timelines. Anyway, this is the last album before I start on A. It's only taken a month to get through numbers and punctuation!
10000 Hz Legend is a more muted affair than Moon Safari in some respects. Air crashed into the public consciousness with the latter in the late 90s and suddenly being French was slightly less uncool (I jest!). I remember being hyped to pick this up, especially as Beck was guest vocals on The Vagabond (and I want to say Don't Be Light too, without looking it up; I went off him soon after). And then not being blown away by the whole. Actually in that sense I think this album is pretty much classic Air - fantastic high points, meaning that the whole work is disappointing in comparison.
They veer from quite loud and brash to soft and gentle, and at either end of that scale they have both interest and boredom - sometimes within the same track. How Does It Make You Feel? is a great example of this: the tracks soft acoustic back and raspy whispered vocal are interesting, but the chorus is as dull as anything and leaves me with the feeling the track is not really very well conceived/put together. It is an Air album in microcosm.
Would I call this dated? Not sure. I think there is a case that it is but something like Radio #1 sounds, to me, like the wall of radio-supplied music that I only ever encounter walking around shops. I have never listened to radio much, instead picking up music from associations/recommendations, blind purchases, gigs and latterly LastFM. I suspect the effect is more down to me not really listening in the "out and about" circumstance, and so yes, it is dated. That said, unlike Vangelis' synths from a decade before, to my ears Air's sounds do not have the same artificial, tinny edge. I think there are some noticeably poor sounds in there but in general the age of the album does not seem to account for a loss of sound quality.
I still quite like The Vagabond. Its rhythm is just above soporific, the guitar is plenty engaging and the build is nice. I am, I find, less enamoured of the vocal these days and the ending sucks balls, but the other 5 minutes are pleasant. Radian is, I have a feeling, my favourite track from those presented here. It has a slow burn of an opening that flares into some more life about 3 minutes in. I can forgive the length of the track because that opening does feel like a build, and then when it does flower and open into the light, airy, musical melodies you want them to last a while. It keeps building too; there is still a relatively dark bass and melancholy strains to what is (to me) generally a light, hopeful piece. The comedown on the end is possibly a little longer than I would like but that is a small quibble. It is a definite high point.
I used to think the same of Lucky and Unhappy. Pretty sure I liked this track a lot in times past. Now, though it just feels dull. The constituent parts are all there to make a pretty decent tune and yet I am bored. This is definitely a more dated track; some of the sci-fi electronic whizzes and beeps serve that purpose, along with what feels like a 90s vision of an edgy futuristic beat. I am glad when it gives way to the soft acoustic base of Sex Born Poison, for all of 2 seconds before I hear the "spacy" sounds atop the plucked melody. When the vocal comes in it harks back to Moon Safari in effect but the track takes a nosedive in interest. Later in the piece it picks up again, but for me the damage is already done. I have tuned out. I can see why people might like this track, but it is not for me.
It gives way to a tune that I feel would be much better without a vocal. Musically speaking I like People in the City, lyrically and vocally it is a mess. The distorted vocal simply obscures a nice (and I hesitate to use that word lest it damn with faint praise) structured track that goes through more melodic and darker points but holds together well until the klaxons heralding the end. When I was younger I used to approve of injudicious swearing/bad language more as it was "edgy"; now creative and appropriate use of expletives can still raise a smile (and I acknowledge I swear too much in person; actively avoiding it in shared postings is a nice thing to do) but throwing terms like "bitch" around in titles seems trite and unnecessarily and casually misogynistic. That definitely dates it for me. I find the tune quite boring, too.
Don't Be Light is Beck. It is also one of the better tracks on this album, at least until it slows down for him to read out a monologue. I like the faster pace and driving distortion so when that drops out it is a little disappointing, and the tune never really recovers, but the hard start leaves an impression that I am happy to have last. I will be glad when the album is done though as to be honest the second half is less than impressive. Some of the tunes are not up to snuff, others are just a little weak. I am tempted to cull the electronic versions of several tracks but not ditch the disc. Whilst I am looking to clean out my library I am not necessarily looking to lose access to things that I keep part of.
I have some time to decide on that though, and at least Caramel Prisoner is better than I remember. This listen definitely bolstered my opinion of Air as creators of some great tracks, but ones who generate a lot of chaff too.
They veer from quite loud and brash to soft and gentle, and at either end of that scale they have both interest and boredom - sometimes within the same track. How Does It Make You Feel? is a great example of this: the tracks soft acoustic back and raspy whispered vocal are interesting, but the chorus is as dull as anything and leaves me with the feeling the track is not really very well conceived/put together. It is an Air album in microcosm.
Would I call this dated? Not sure. I think there is a case that it is but something like Radio #1 sounds, to me, like the wall of radio-supplied music that I only ever encounter walking around shops. I have never listened to radio much, instead picking up music from associations/recommendations, blind purchases, gigs and latterly LastFM. I suspect the effect is more down to me not really listening in the "out and about" circumstance, and so yes, it is dated. That said, unlike Vangelis' synths from a decade before, to my ears Air's sounds do not have the same artificial, tinny edge. I think there are some noticeably poor sounds in there but in general the age of the album does not seem to account for a loss of sound quality.
I still quite like The Vagabond. Its rhythm is just above soporific, the guitar is plenty engaging and the build is nice. I am, I find, less enamoured of the vocal these days and the ending sucks balls, but the other 5 minutes are pleasant. Radian is, I have a feeling, my favourite track from those presented here. It has a slow burn of an opening that flares into some more life about 3 minutes in. I can forgive the length of the track because that opening does feel like a build, and then when it does flower and open into the light, airy, musical melodies you want them to last a while. It keeps building too; there is still a relatively dark bass and melancholy strains to what is (to me) generally a light, hopeful piece. The comedown on the end is possibly a little longer than I would like but that is a small quibble. It is a definite high point.
I used to think the same of Lucky and Unhappy. Pretty sure I liked this track a lot in times past. Now, though it just feels dull. The constituent parts are all there to make a pretty decent tune and yet I am bored. This is definitely a more dated track; some of the sci-fi electronic whizzes and beeps serve that purpose, along with what feels like a 90s vision of an edgy futuristic beat. I am glad when it gives way to the soft acoustic base of Sex Born Poison, for all of 2 seconds before I hear the "spacy" sounds atop the plucked melody. When the vocal comes in it harks back to Moon Safari in effect but the track takes a nosedive in interest. Later in the piece it picks up again, but for me the damage is already done. I have tuned out. I can see why people might like this track, but it is not for me.
It gives way to a tune that I feel would be much better without a vocal. Musically speaking I like People in the City, lyrically and vocally it is a mess. The distorted vocal simply obscures a nice (and I hesitate to use that word lest it damn with faint praise) structured track that goes through more melodic and darker points but holds together well until the klaxons heralding the end. When I was younger I used to approve of injudicious swearing/bad language more as it was "edgy"; now creative and appropriate use of expletives can still raise a smile (and I acknowledge I swear too much in person; actively avoiding it in shared postings is a nice thing to do) but throwing terms like "bitch" around in titles seems trite and unnecessarily and casually misogynistic. That definitely dates it for me. I find the tune quite boring, too.
Don't Be Light is Beck. It is also one of the better tracks on this album, at least until it slows down for him to read out a monologue. I like the faster pace and driving distortion so when that drops out it is a little disappointing, and the tune never really recovers, but the hard start leaves an impression that I am happy to have last. I will be glad when the album is done though as to be honest the second half is less than impressive. Some of the tunes are not up to snuff, others are just a little weak. I am tempted to cull the electronic versions of several tracks but not ditch the disc. Whilst I am looking to clean out my library I am not necessarily looking to lose access to things that I keep part of.
I have some time to decide on that though, and at least Caramel Prisoner is better than I remember. This listen definitely bolstered my opinion of Air as creators of some great tracks, but ones who generate a lot of chaff too.
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