Air '10,000Hz Legend' - sound of the 'now'?

(by the way, that is a JOKE before anyone decides to call me on it!)

Erm, it's growing on me. Mainly cause Paul is such a fan, but I think he'll have his own say the moment I let him have his computer back. (and he stops reviewing the steaming pile of poo which is the new Stereo MCs album) Clearly, Radio#1 is the worst song on the album, but I don't think it's neccesarily indicative.

Not really that prog, tho. Except for the cover.

besides the britney thing, does anyone hear the familiarity between the bassline of "radio #1" and the bassline of the backstreet boys' "larger than life"?

Anyway, the new Air album is fantastic! I hated the single with a passion, and was really worried about what to expect, but the album is tremendous. Though I'm still not a fan of 'Radio#1' the other tracks are so evocative in nature that it's like a decadent slice of 21st century lounge. Not prog at all. Oh, and the Beck collaborations are superb too...

I DO think it's bloody marvellous if you've got a hangover.

I can say without contradiction that I adore "Electronic Performers", "People In The City", "Don't Be Light" and "Caramel Prisoner". Certainly I think they had to move on from loungecore. Still find "How Does It Make You Feel?" too schmaltzy and hard to connect with, though. But, yes, it seems far too human and sympathetic to be prog (which, when used as a pejorative term, usually seems to indicate overblown and unapprochable, something 10,000 Hz Legend certainly *isn't*, except maybe in its worst moments).

Radio #1 has the great line about musical trash, and the bassline kills. Plus: no Beck!

The best thing is, oddly, that 'Da Funk' is one of those tracks that sounds incredible no matter what speed you play it at. Speed it up a little, and it's amazing. Slow it down, it *still* sounds great...

Dammit, someday... someday... I will find something in *my* record collection which causes Paul to writhe and moan in the agony that half his collection arises in me. Now that the Channel 6 seem to have lost their annoyance factor, I'll have to find something else. How about some nice Reich, for ya, there, Paul?

OK, the only advantage of this is that it is perfect for just dropping randomly into other songs if they start to annoy. Paul has been threatening to just start playing it over one of the bands at Strange Fruit if they start doing annoying solos anywhere. Hmmm, he may have need of it this weekend, methinks...

But Kate reckons it lasts much longer... must stop torturing her with it... :)

But I do agree. I'm more than happy with the glittering "piffle" that is '10,000Hz Legend'. I just get swept away on the music -- I don't worry about substance. I'm curious as to what other people consider an album of substance, though: is it "worthy" lyrics, technical ability, or...?

i think I'll call it a tie at the end of the year between Discovery and 10000Hz Legend.

Anyway on topic: most of my Airhead friends hate the new album but for very dissapointing reasons like "It's not Moon Safari", "These days everybody wants to fuck off their fans". I detect a depressing strain of thought along the lines of "I can't find 3 songs to program after 2 listens". Bit sad really.

it's very much the future in retro, if ya get my drift. Alot of influence of that seventies feel done so wonderfully in The Virgin Suicides.

great great album.

I haven't read much about this one since I've heard it, but are people talking about the Ween-ness? It goes beyond the slowed-down vocals somehow. The overall vibe feels very Ween to me. Even more curious considering the Beck/Ween connection.

I therefore shall say nothing about "Come With Us" for six months. At present I'm shrugging my shoulders at it but secretly feel it's quite a substantial piece of work which needs to be lived with for a while.

Well, it's the story of my life innit. Some are leaders, and some, like me, bounce along enthusiastically in the rear when everyone else has gone, shouting "I get it, I get it!"

*cackle*

Anyway, yeah...revive. New answers, pls.

also what is 10,000 hz legend supposed to mean?

Erm, still they best thing they done by a million, billion, trillion, gazillion miles.
(ps: I like the Beck track and I hate Beck)

10 kHz is supposedly the sonic frequency at which the human bladder empties involuntarily. Really. Dunno if it's true or not (thus "legend," I guess) but it does make for an interesting title.

Hehe, I was just going to comment on the groovy tone of the original question David. (Is this more characteristic of ILM: The Golden Years? The unabashed enthusiasm! The compelling analogies! The non-sarcastic responses!) Makes me want to listen again, despite being repelled at the time by the Beck factor...

This album holds up really, really well. Kind of a forgotten great album of the decade, I think. I'm not sure about sound of the 'now', but it is one of those albums that couldn't have been made before it was. Not because of the technology, but just the way it's a summary of so many past influences. So maybe sound of the 'now' isn't that far off, as cheesy as that sounds.

"Moon Safari" is still my least favourite Air album.

i dug this out again last week to give it another go... for the first 20 minutes or so i was all "unsung brilliance!" but by the end the album really worn me down.

This is extremely OTM. This album gets inexplicably irritating about half way through. There are a couple of great songs though. I love "Don't Be Light" despite the haterz upthread.

Isn't that typical of Air in generaly though. I could say the same thing about any of their albums.

Kind of true, yeah. (nb: I've only heard their first and last)

Definetely, with the exception of Moon Safari, which is pretty solid.

Moon Safari remains their purest and most direct statement. I like the complexity in their later work, but the simple lushness of their early work makes it my favorite.

I even like the Beck track!! Awesome album.

"Talkie Walkie" remains their pinnacle.

I'm not convinced they're necessarily declining...

This is still my favorite Air album. I don't mind the recent (even more) streamlined sound, but I loved the direction they were heading off in with 10,000Hz Legend. They were never as delightfully weird as they managed to be at times on this album. It's too bad that they seemed to take to heart the fairly "meh" critical response at the time, which seemed fueled by the point that it wasn't as easy to have sex to as Moon Safari and their earlier stuff.

so good

dubba-dubba-WHACK!
dubba-dubba-WHACK!

this record has aged really well, it's fantastic

this is so obviously the best one

i mean it doesn't even matter that it's massively frontloaded, those first five tracks and 'don't be light' are sensational

Absolutely. It's so packed with outrageous, off-the-wall ideas. It would be cool to see them push the envelope like this again. As sexy as Talkie Walkie was, it was a huge disappointment for me coming after this one. I guess the second half is relatively patchy, but "Lucky and Unhappy" and "People In the City" are probably my two favorite songs on the album.

P-E-O-P-L-E C-I-T-Y

yeah it just needs to lose 'wonder milky bitch' and the closer and it already feels much trimmer

Ah no way it's perfect as it is.

this one was always my favourite too although Talkie Walkie grew on me a lot

Talkie Walkie is my favorite but this one is solid. I love Radian, which was the soundtrack to my first visit to Japan, and the Beck track .I feel loose.. I could lose my soul out here.

Radian is great. My friend and I used to listen to it constantly, despite not really liking the long extended intro section (we decided we weren't allowed to skip through it though - it made the rest of the song worth listening to)

I have not listened to the last 2 albs but they have a more or less flawless discography iirc

10000 hz used to be my clear fave, then for years it was Virgin Suicides with Premiers Symptomes in 2nd place, these days I've come back to Moon Safari which is a lot less tense, dramatic, but such a treat

This one and virgin suicides get the most play around here’s still. Radian is absolutely fire

o just listened through the whole thing for the first time in ages. really enjoyed it. This seems to tie into a wider style from the time that encompasses things like Daft Punk's Discovery, Pavement's Terror Twilight (particularly The Hexx), Blur's 13 (especially Battle), Add N To (X)'s Avant Hard, Deltron 3030 and a bunch of other things where bands started getting this mini space opera vibe for a few years. I loved that shit

I remember people being very down on this LP at the time, just because the dreamy soft rock end of prog was unfashionable to the point of being somehow morally suspect. Seemed silly to judge it like that, have we moved on from then and now judge music on its merits rather than how fashionable it is? Hope so, but not sure. Anyway, it's a terrific LP, first 5 or so tracks especially.

I also have a strange memory of the Radio 1 top 40 rundown playing 'Radio #1' in full without comment, and it seemed very much like an open attack on the station, though quite possibly it wasn't meant that way.

I love the 'on air' singing at the end

Prince from the biomass

For an album that delights and confounds me in equal measure, wedged between two much more celebrated records, I still think about it a lot. It is disjointed and strange, and not everything works, but it's definitely "my" Air album

The walking definition of underrated, absolutely a lost classic.

Not what people were looking for at the time of its release but time has been very kind to it.

Great album. Much darker than Moon Safari, really than anything they've done. Virgin Suicides has some of that sinister feel.

Great and detailed new interview in the latest Les Inrockuptibles (France) tying in to their “Moon Safari” 25th Anniversary tour. They refer to Virgin Suicides as their “dark” album and 10,000Hz as their “tormented” one :)

Reminds me I never listened to Virgin Suicides. I shall rectify this

One of their best imo, it's somewhat repetitive because it's a soundtrack but has a real hypnotic quality