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Air | 10.000 hz Legend

CD, Virgin

Tekst: Omar Muñoz-Cremers

Publicatiedatum: 15 mei 2001

It doesn't happen that often anymore, but the first time words fail. '10.000 Hz Legend', the long-awaited third album by French electronic blisspop masters Air, scares a bit because the usual process of description fails. Not exactly the silence of awe, more a heady mixture of too many impressions at once (too many expectations confounded?) turning everything smooth, almost impenetrable. Were it not for some vintage Air melodies ('Radio #1', 'People in the City', and 'Lucky and Unhappy') that immediately shine on your soul, in their ageless and luminous beauty. This is the point of entrance where you've got to work with, the drop-off point, from there on you are alone. What does one notice out there after awhile? For one that '10.000 Hz Legend' is deeper than 'Moon Safari'; the delicate lightness of that stunning debut has been replaced by a kaleidoscopic richness. So opener 'Electronic Performers' is a love song of sorts, a wicked melting of spiritual/materialist geek love between musician and synthesiser, as is 'How Does It Make You Feel', where a robot lament is suddenly washed away by a burst of exploding Beach Boys harmonies. And yet another shift, from beginning to end 'Radio #1' is Super Pop: swaying beat, sing-along melody, the very important handclap, not forgetting the exquisite weird outro. The heart of '10.000 Hz Legend' without a doubt lies in its two longer tracks. 'Radian' is the first centrepiece: wordless singing drawing you in over deserts of timelessness, slowly morphing into a cosmic balm for the soul, Mingus stoned into simplicity. Even better is 'Don't Be Light': sharp symphonic pop (Don't let that term scare you off!), guided by beatific dubbed-out voices into a brilliant gearshift, in which a fuzzed-up guitar solo uncoils. It's the song that wins you over, from which the rest of the album slowly comes into focus. Yet so much remains to discover: the surprise Beck must have felt when Air suddenly turned up in the studio with his lost soul under their arms ('The Vagabond'), the Gainsbourgian dirty tracks ('Sex Born Poison', the surreal 'Wonder Milky Bitch'), or the way eerie sounds on 'Caramel Prisoner' ricochet off wordless murmurs (Eno's 'Another Green World' infested by John Carpenter's 'The Thing'). No more talk of parallel histories then, punks can safely retire now that they've lost the war, their totalitarian taboos have finally vanished, whilst ELO, Pink Floyd, and Kraftwerk look on triumphantly. Their French sons just opened the floodgates to the future.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/air/10-000-hz-legend/284/
Meer Air op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/air