Air

Air is a French band, consisting of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, founded in 1995. Their critically acclaimed first album Moon Safari was followed by the release of Premiers Symptômes, The Virgin Suici

Air is a French band, consisting of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, founded in 1995. Their critically acclaimed first album Moon Safari was followed by the release of Premiers Symptômes, The Virgin Suicides (soundtrack), 10 000Hz Legend, and Talkie Walkie.

Although Air's music is often referred to as electronica or trip-hop and is often found in such bins in record stores, their form of electronic music really owes more to the synthesizer sounds of the 1970s such as Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis. Other influences that are more readily apparent than house and techno are psychedelic rock pioneers Pink Floyd and Krautrockers Tangerine Dream (although there are some echoes of dance music styles in the production). Another influence is french crooner Serge Gainsbourg. Air's music also has jazz inflections at times, and their ability to improvise is more clearly highlighted in the live arena. Before they founded Air, JB and Nicolas played together in the band Orange, with others such as Alex Gopher, Xavier Jamaux and Etienne de Crécy – names which have recently reappeared in connection with Air's remixes.