Moon Safari

This article is about the Air album. For the band of the same name, see Moon Safari (band).
Moon Safari
Studio album by
Air
Released16 January 1998 (1998-01-16)
RecordedApril–June 1997
Studio
Genre
Length43:35
Label
Producer
Air chronology
Premiers Symptômes
(1997) 		Moon Safari
(1998) 		The Virgin Suicides
(2000)
Alternative cover
Singles from Moon Safari
  1. "Sexy Boy"
    Released: 9 February 1998
  2. "Kelly Watch the Stars"
    Released: 4 May 1998
  3. "All I Need"
    Released: 9 November 1998

Moon Safari is the debut studio album by French electronic music duo Air, released on 16 January 1998 by Source and Virgin Records. Moon Safari was re-released on 14 April 2008 to mark the album's 10th anniversary, including a bound book, a DVD documentary about the duo, and a bonus CD with live performances and remixes, and on 15 March 2024, to mark the album's 25th anniversary.

Moon Safari was acclaimed by critics. It is credited with setting the stage for the budding downtempo music style. By February 2012, it had sold 386,000 copies in the United States.[11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[12]
The Guardian[13]
Mixmag[14]
NME8/10[15]
Pitchfork7.9/10[16]
Rolling Stone[17]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[18]
Spin7/10[19]
The Village VoiceA−[20]

Moon Safari was met with general acclaim upon its release. Writing in Mixmag, Alexis Petridis called it a "superbly inventive" album that "creates a soundworld in your living room, a world where everything's more shiny, chic and sophisticated than reality".[14] John Mulvey of NME praised Air's "sensitive but tenacious grasp of melody, a laid-back disposition and a reckless way with a Vocoder that makes them unafraid of sounding like a digital ELO", also noting similarities to Garbage on "Sexy Boy".[15] Entertainment Weekly's Ethan Smith felt that though the album occasionally bears excessive resemblance to Everything but the Girl, "Air leaven it all with a welcome dash of Gallic irony."[12] Pitchfork writer Brent DiCrescenzo remarked that the music would befit "minimalist architecture design, shagging up against a tree in a field of sunflowers, waiting in line for 'Space Mountain,' drinking gin upstairs in a 747 (circa 1974), and '60s Swedish industrial documentaries", adding that though the album is "too cheeky" for everyday listening, it is nonetheless romantic.[16]

Accolades

Moon Safari was voted as the best album of the year in The Face[citation needed] and in Select.[citation needed] It featured in top 10 lists for magazines such as Spin,[citation needed] Melody Maker,[citation needed] NME[citation needed] and Mojo.[citation needed] Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 93 on its list of the best albums of the 1990s,[21] while the magazine's French edition ranked it at number 65 on its "100 Essential French Rock Albums" list.[22] In a retrospective review, John Bush of AllMusic commented that Moon Safari "delivered the emotional power of great dance music even while pushing the barriers of what 'electronica' could or should sound like", and that the album "proved they could also write accessible pop songs like 'Sexy Boy' and 'Kelly Watch the Stars'" while also containing successful experiments with less pop-oriented material.[3] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[23] In 2000 it was voted number 68 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[24]

Influence

Dave Depper of American alternative rock band Death Cab for Cutie recreated the entire Moon Safari for his cover album, released in November 2021.[25]

Track listing

All music is composed by Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Nicolas Godin, except where noted

No.TitleEnglish translationLength
1."La Femme d'argent""The Silver Woman"/"The Money Girl"7:08
2."Sexy Boy" 4:57
3."All I Need" (lyrics: Beth Hirsch) 4:28
4."Kelly Watch the Stars" 3:44
5."Talisman" 4:16
6."Remember" (music: Jean-Jacques Perrey, Dunckel, Godin) 2:34
7."You Make It Easy" (lyrics: Hirsch) 4:00
8."Ce matin là" (music: Dunckel, Godin, Patrick Woodcock)"That Morning"3:38
9."New Star in the Sky (Chanson pour Solal)""Song for Solal"5:38
10."Le Voyage de Pénélope""Penelope's Voyage"3:10

10th anniversary special edition (2008)

Bonus disc
No.TitleEnglish translationLength
1."Remember" (D. Whitaker version) 2:25
2."Kelly Watch the Stars" (live on the BBC, 1998) 2:44
3."J'ai dormi sous l'eau" (live on the BBC, 1998)"I Slept Under Water"4:10
4."Sexy Boy" (live on the BBC, 1998) 3:10
5."Kelly Watch the Stars" (Moog Cookbook remix) 5:40
6."Trente millions d'amis" (music: Jack Arel [fr], TV series theme song, live on KCRW radio, 1998)"Thirty Million Friends"4:34
7."You Make It Easy" (live on KCRW, 1998) 4:45
8."Bossa 96" (demo) 4:44
9."Kelly Watch the Stars" (demo) 3:46
10."Sexy Boy" (Sex Kino mix) 6:36

DVD

  • "Eating Sleeping Waiting & Playing" by Mike Mills.
  • Music videos for "Sexy Boy", "Kelly Watch the Stars", "All I Need", and "Le soleil est près de moi" (from the Premiers Symptômes EP).
  • Graphics and storyboards.

25th anniversary special edition (2024)

No.TitleLength
1."Dirty Hiroshima"4:23
2."New Star in the Sky" (demo 1)5:35
3."Ce matin-là" (demo 2)3:15
4."Maggot Brain" (live at Paradiso, Amsterdam 31/10/1998)7:23
5."J'ai dormi sous l'eau" (live BBC 1998)4:09
6."Sexy Boy" (live BBC 1998)3:38
7."Kelly Watch the Stars" (live BBC 1998)3:05
8."Kelly Watch the Stars" (extended version)7:27
9."Remember" (David Whitaker version)2:21

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Moon Safari.[26]

Air

  • Nicolas Godin – bass (tracks 1–3, 5–10); tambourine (tracks 1, 2, 6); Minimoog (tracks 1, 3, 6, 9, 10); backing vocals (tracks 1, 8); hand claps (tracks 1, 4, 10); vocals, syrinx, Moog solo (track 2); Korg MS-20 (tracks 2, 10); electric guitar (tracks 2, 6, 8); talk box (tracks 2, 6, 9); acoustic guitar (tracks 3, 7–9); organ, drums, Solina String Ensemble (track 3); vocoder (tracks 4, 6, 9); Moog bass, Casiotone (track 4); glockenspiel (tracks 4, 7); Wurlitzer (track 5); drum machine (tracks 5, 7, 10); Roland String Ensemble (track 6); percussions, Moog Wave, hand rubbing (track 7); harmonica, reverse ride (tracks 7, 8); Rhodes chorus, shaker (track 8); piano (track 10)
  • Jean-Benoît Dunckel – Rhodes (tracks 1–7, 9, 10); Solina String Ensemble (all tracks); organ (tracks 1–3, 6, 7, 10); syrinx, Moog solo (tracks 1, 2, 4, 8); backing vocals (tracks 1, 6, 8); Korg MS-20 (tracks 1, 4–6, 9); hand claps (tracks 1, 4, 10); piano (tracks 1, 4, 7, 9); vocals (track 2); Wurlitzer (tracks 3, 6); Korg MS-20 intro (track 3); vocoder (tracks 4, 6, 9); glockenspiel (track 4); clavinet (tracks 4, 8, 10); Minimoog (tracks 4, 5); Casiotone, hand rubbing (track 7); Rhodes verses (track 8); Mellotron (track 9)

Additional musicians

  • Eric Regert – organ solo (track 1)
  • Alf – hand claps (track 1)
  • Caroline L. – hand claps (track 1)
  • Marlon – drums (tracks 2, 4, 5)
  • Beth Hirsch – vocals (tracks 3, 7); backing vocals (track 7)
  • P. Woodcock – acoustic guitar (track 3); trombone (track 8)
  • David Whitaker – string arrangement, conducting (tracks 5, 7, 8)
  • Enfants Square Burq – laughs (track 9)

Technical

  • Jean-Benoît Dunckel – production, recording
  • Nicolas Godin – production, recording
  • Stéphane "Alf" Briat – recording, mixing
  • Jérôme Kerner – recording assistance
  • Peter Cobbin – string recording (tracks 5, 7, 8)
  • Jérôme Blondel – mixing assistance
  • Nilesh Patel – mastering

Artwork

  • Mike Mills – design
  • The Directors Bureau – art production

Charts

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for Moon Safari
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[49] Gold 35,000^
Belgium (BEA)[50] Platinum 50,000*
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[51] 2× Platinum 40,000‡
France (SNEP)[52] Gold 100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[53] Gold 250,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[54] Platinum 100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[55] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[56] 2× Platinum 600,000^
United States — 386,000[11]
Summaries
Worldwide — 2,000,000[57]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Notes

  1. ^ Strings

References

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  2. ^ "100 Best Albums of the '90s: Air, 'Moon Safari'". Rolling Stone. 27 April 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Bush, John. "Moon Safari – Air". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  4. ^ "CMJ New Music Report". Vol. 60, no. 639. 18 October 1999. ISSN 0890-0795. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  5. ^ Shapiro, Peter (2003). "Air". In Buckley, Peter (ed.). The Rough Guide to Rock (3rd ed.). London: Rough Guides. pp. 13–14. ISBN 978-1-84353-105-0.
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  7. ^ Harcourt, Nic (2005). "French Kisses". Music Lust. Seattle: Sasquatch Books. p. 65. ISBN 1570614377.
  8. ^ Beaumont, Michael (20 October 2003). "Bent: The Everlasting Blink". PopMatters. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  9. ^ Potter, Jordan (2022). "The 10 best hangover cure albums". Far Out.
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  11. ^ a b Mapes, Jillian (4 February 2012). "Air Over 'The Moon' About Film Score Turned Full Album". Billboard. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  12. ^ a b Smith, Ethan (6 February 1998). "Moon Safari". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  13. ^ Kershaw, Matthew (16 January 1998). "Oxygène junkies". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
  14. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (January 1998). "Air: Moon Safari". Mixmag. Vol. 2, no. 80. p. 117.
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  16. ^ a b DiCrescenzo, Brent (1998). "Air: Moon Safari". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 20 October 2002. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  17. ^ Sheffield, Rob (7 January 1998). "Air: Moon Safari". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 30 January 2009. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  18. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Air". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 10–11. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
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