Albums That Are Incredible

This will be the first of a series of posts about albums that have basically changed my life. Albums that have proven so important to my growth, development, and happiness that they seem to have been absorbed into my very identity. I couldn't imagine living without these albums. This is the first. 

Air - Talkie Walkie (2004)

The sound of waves signals the conclusion of forty-three of the most lush, immaculate minutes of pop music that I have ever listened to. From the dramatic opener "Venus," which communicates the hypothetical with the utmost romanticism, singing "You could be from Venus / I could be from Mars / we would be together / lovers forever," to "Cherry Blossom Girl," an exercise in longing with the line "Tell me why can't it be true" repeated throughout, the album exudes a sort of bubbling, delirious aroma, a sensory lushness that defies electronic music's worst stereotypes.

Sitting prominently next to the warmth and the carefully crafted humanness of this album, however, as if in dialogue with beliefs about the sterility of electronic music, lies a theme of artificiality, of the seeming coldness of science. Highly distorted vocals loop into infinity to create the mesmerizing chorus of the third track, "Run," pleading to "stay like this / on the hills of my chest," a robot's sweetly human delusion reminiscent of such past tracks as 10,000Hz Legend's "How Does It Make You Feel." The emotional life of robots has never seemed so relevant. It is similar to the power of the distorted vocal in the consistently stunning remix of single "Surfing On A Rocket" by the band NoMo Heroes, which, like the album's meditative closer, "Alone in Kyoto," also ends with images of nature, in this case a silence filled with birds chirping and insects buzzing after the roar of a rocket.

The real and artificial intertwine with a healthy fascination with the unknown throughout the album. From the cryptic mathematical equations that wallpaper the album's cover, to the dreamy "Biological," an ode to the deeper bases of love that transcend the mind and traditional understanding. Against a seemingly incongruous banjo, the words: "Biological / I don't know why I feel that way with you / biological / I need your DNA" create the chorus. 

"Alone in Kyoto" captures the quiet awe and wonderment of experiencing a distinctly foreign culture for the first time better than any song I've ever heard. It may lack any words, but an incredible sense of place is integral to this song, so perfectly fused with Japan and indeed the consistently magical city of Kyoto that it couldn't possibly be named anything else.

Talkie Walkie is Air's best album, and here's why: It marries the duo's impeccable sense of sound and texture with their (underutilized) song-writing talents, as well as their numerous, eccentric, and recurring fascinations. It is at once atmospheric and hummable, odd and instantly recognizable. A thing of beauty, but never so beautiful as to be boring.

Key Tracks:

Alone In Kyoto--Air by inula99

Air - Biological by palmer eldritch