There is a great legend on top of AIR’s Moon Safari album launched back in 1998: it deeply changed the electronic music scene, opening the door for more great French bands addicted to this type of sound to make their name: St Germain, Daft Punk and so on. „Moon Safari” is definitely not a new album, but recently they launched a new release of this great disc, called the “25th Anniversary Edition”.
Yes, that is true: 25 years have passed since the launch of this iconic album. Time flies, but memories are crisper than ever before, I can remember that first moment back in 1999 when I listened to Moon Safari for the first time: it was psychedelic, different, big sounding and crisp. I was listening to the disc on repeat after it launched and each time, imprinted there on the plastic disc, I could hear parts of the souls of Nicolas and Jean-Benoît, the two that form the French duo AIR.
AIR achieved something unique with this album back in 1998, they collected the essence of the original electronic music of the 60s and 70s and turned it into modern electronic music, but they did not lose the magic of old in this process of upgrading it. So, their music is fresh, new, crisp, but also includes an audible drop of the original electronic music from the likes of Tangerine Dream or Kraftwerk. This was the novelty back in 1998 and this is their legacy that they are launching with this reissue in 2024.
So, what’s new with this fresh release? The release features a 2CD + 1BluRay (audio + video) package, an expanded edition of the original album, including previously unreleased material. The package includes a Dolby Atmos multi-channel mix of the original album, along with previously unreleased track versions and the 1998 documentary “Eating, Sleeping, Waiting and Playing”, I will tell you more about this in a bit. The package itself is impressive:
The original album features the following tracks:
01 LA FEMME D’ARGENT
02 SEXY BOY
03 ALL I NEED
04 KELLY WATCH THE STARS
05 TALISMAN
06 REMEMBER
07 YOU MAKE IT EASY
08 CE MATIN LÀ
09 NEW STAR IN THE SKY
10 LE VOYAGE DE PENELOPE
The second CD of the package includes the following Bonus Tracks:
01 NENEH CHERRY ‘KOOTCHI’ (AIR REMIX)
02 CRUSTATION ‘PURPLE’ (LA FEMME D’ARGENT MIX)
03 DIRTY HIROSHIMA (DEMO)
04 NEW STAR IN THE SKY (DEMO)
05 CE MATIN LÀ (DEMO)
06 MAGGOT BRAIN (LIVE)
07 J’AI DORMI SOUS L’EAU (BBC LIVE SESSION)
08 SEXY BOY (BBC LIVE SESSION)
09 KELLY WATCH THE STARS (BBC LIVE SESSION)
10 KELLY WATCH THE STARS (EXTENDED VERSION)
11 REMEMBER (DAVID WHITAKER VERSION)
The BluRay contains:
AUDIO – the full album in Dolby Atmos & Stereo HD
VIDEO – EATING, SLEEPING, WAITING AND PLAYING: A FILM ABOUT AIR ON TOUR BY MIKE MILLS; VIDEO CLIPS SHOT BY MIKE MILLS: SEXY BOY, KELLY WATCH THE STARS, ALL I NEED; and LE SOLEIL EST PRÈS DE MOI.
The documentary, Air: Eating, Sleeping, Waiting and Playing, included on the BluRay was launched back in 1999 and was signed by acclaimed director Mike Mills, the documentary follows Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel during tour stops in London in New York and follows their rise to fame.
All excited that such an old album has the chance of being new again, during the writing of this piece of news, I could not help myself and I listened to Moon Safari again, its hits like Sexy Boy or All I Need mesmerized me again after all these years. This album still has magic inside, it is younger than ever. Here, let’s listen together:
