Day 0874 - Moon Safari

 Air “Moon Safari” (1998) – got it

Another French electro-pop group.  Air is duo Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, and this is their first full-length album, following an initial EP release.

The sound is kind of like a mix of 50s east coast (smooth) jazz and 70s/80s analogue synthesizers.  This is perfectly laid out on album opener “La Femme D’argent” which features extended keyboard and bass vamps over a looped beat and sound effects.   As if it didn’t sound laid back enough, they overdub the sound of gentle rain to really ram home the point.

Single “Sexy Boy” kicks in next all squelchy bass, washy synth sounds, and catchy vocal melodies.   “Kelly Watch the Stars” is a favourite of mine, as is "Remember" which moves from reflective, relaxed melody, robot vocals to an almost sci-fi b-movie sound.

A relaxing and musically enjoyable album that hits extra sweet spots for me as I bought it when I was living in Leeds in the UK, so it kind of takes me back there a bit.

Day 0405 - Third/Sister Lovers

Big Star "Third/Sister Lovers" (1978)

 
I listened to Big Star's album "Number one star" earlier in this list, and I have to say that this is a different kettle of fish altogether. Whereas that was an interesting upbeat pop-rock record with some nice vocal arrangements, this is a stripped down, gloomy AF dirge of an album (with occasional moments of lightness)... and I've gotta say; I prefer this.

The music kind of reminds me a bit of 'the Dunedin sound' in NZ, which was a similarly downbeat, stripped back, droney garage pop/rock... almost shoegazer stuff but without quite as much of the washy guitar usually associated with that genre.

I really dig it. Unfortunately the band broke up around this time.  Oddly, the album was recorded in 1974 but didn't manage to get released until a few years later. A while later, REM and a few others cited them as an influence, and they were inevitably received a bit more attention.