Nicolas Godin studied architecture at the รcole nationale supรฉrieure d'architecture de Versailles, and Jean-Benoรฎt Dunckel studied mathematics, before forming a band in 1995. Before founding Air (erroneously considered as an acronym of Amour, Imagination, Rรชve, which translates to Love, Imagination, Dream), Dunckel and Godin played together in the band Orange with others such as Alex Gopher, Xavier Jamaux and Jean de Reydellet. The former two subsequently contributed to remixes of tracks recorded by Air.
Initially Godin worked alone, recording a demo with members of Funkadelic as his backing band before releasing his first entirely solo effort, "Modular Mix", which featured production by รtienne de Crรฉcy.
Career
After making several remixes for other acts in the first half of the 1990s, Air recorded its first EP, Premiers Symptรดmes, in 1995. The band released its first album, Moon Safari, in 1998. Its first single, "Sexy Boy", was heavily played on alternative radio stations. The album received universal acclaim and became an international success. In 1999, Air composed the score The Virgin Suicides to Sofia Coppola's debut film of the same name; in 2012, Air wrote its second score to Georges Mรฉliรจs' Le voyage dans la lune.
Other works
Air has often collaborated with Coppola. Air drummer and former Redd Kross member Brian Reitzell put together the soundtrack to 2003's Lost in Translation, including one original contribution by Air titled "Alone in Kyoto". The soundtrack for Coppola's October 2006 film Marie Antoinette featured a track by Air ("Il Secondo Giorno"). Air wrote and played the music of the album 5:55 by Anglo-French actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg, which was released in August 2006. Air has recorded a DJ mix album, Late Night Tales: Air, for Azuli Records' Late Night Tales series. The release was initially scheduled for October 2005, but was delayed several times. It finally was released, complete with a new sleeve design, in September 2006. Darkel, a solo album by Dunckel, was released that same year.
City Reading (Tre Storie Western) (2003) started as an idea for a collaboration with contemporary Italian writer Alessandro Baricco, known for his unusual characterizations and lyrical, poetic style. Baricco contacted Air in summer 2002 with the idea to marry narration of texts from his book City with live original musical accompaniment. The performance premiered live in November 2002 at Rome's Teatro Valle and was deemed such a success that both parties resolved to make a full studio recording.
Influences and musical style
Air is associated with a variety of musical styles: electronica, space pop, dream pop, progressive rock, downtempo, chillout, trip hop, ambient, electronic pop and space rock. Dunckel grew up listening to both classical and electronic music, especially Kraftwerk. He later took an interest in what he called the "English dark rock" of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division, while being a fan of David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. Brian Eno and Cluster were two of the electronic acts who inspired him the most. He cites among his favorite artists: Maurice Ravel for classical music, Franรงois de Roubaix for music soundtracks and Siouxsie and the Banshees for pop music. Dunckel shared with Godin a special liking for the music of Michel Legrand, Philip Glass and Grace Jones. During his childhood, Godin was fascinated by the Beatles before later discovering the soul of Sly and the Family Stone. The duo were influenced by progressive rock pioneers Pink Floyd.
Air uses many of its studio instruments (like Moog synthesizers, the Korg MS-20, Wurlitzer and Vocoder) on stage, where their ability to improvise is more clearly highlighted. The band performs the well-known tracks from the albums live as extended or altered versions. Air often collaborates (both in the studio and live) with artists like Beth Hirsch (Moon Safari), Franรงoise Hardy ("Jeanne"), Jean-Jacques Perrey ("Cosmic Bird"), Gordon Tracks ("Playground Love" and "Easy Going Woman" โ Gordon Tracks is a pseudonym of the French singer Thomas Mars from Phoenix), Beck (10 000 Hz Legend) and Jean-Michel Jarre ("Close Your Eyes" from Jarre's Electronica 1: The Time Machine). They also invited Dave Palmer on their 2004 tour and drummer Earl Harvin, Vincent Taurelle and Steve Jones on their 2007 tour.
Studio albums
Moon Safari (1998)
10 000 Hz Legend (2001)
Talkie Walkie (2004)
Pocket Symphony (2007)
Love 2 (2009)
Le voyage dans la lune (2012)
Soundtrack albums
The Virgin Suicides (2000)
Music for Museum (2014)
Extended plays
Premiers Symptรดmes (1997)
Collaborative albums
City Reading (Tre Storie Western) (2003)
Mix and remix albums
Everybody Hertz (2002)
Late Night Tales (2006)
Compilation albums
Twentyears (2016)
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Air is one of the many aliases of Pete Namlook. He has been releasing ambient music under this name since the release of an eponymous album in 1993.
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Japanese noise rock, Air is an alias of Koji Kurumatani first released album Wear Off in 1996.
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Air is a late 90s Indonesian Pop band that became popular with their "Bintang" song.
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Air was a jazz trio with its roots steeped in Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), and was formed originally in 1971. The jazz trio Air formed from within the Muhal Richard Abrams Sextet, which was active on the Chicago scene contemporaneously with the birth and growth of the AACM and groups such as the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Henry Threadgill on reeds, hubcaphone, and percussion; Fred Hopkins on bass, and Steve McCall on drums formed the trio when Threadgill was commissioned by Columbia College to score and adapt Scott Joplin's work for a performance honoring Joplin's centenary (Joplin's birth has been established now as sometime in 1868) and a rebirth of interest in the noted ragtime composer. All three men were Air signs in the zodiac, and so adopted the name.
They performed first around Chicago, while maintaining residency with Muhal Abrams group, which also featured Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre and Wallace McMillan, both reed players. The Air "brand" remained a side project until all three reunited in New York in 1975, and began recording under that name for India Navigation, Nessa, Black Saint, and Novus. The trio broke up when Steve McCall left in the early 1980s, and when Pheroan Aklaff joined in 1982, they recorded as New Air, and recorded several albums under that name, including Air Show No. 1 in 1986, which featured Cassandra Wilson on vocals. Andrew Cyrille ultimately replaced akLaff before the band eventually was superceded by the burgeoning careers of its members: Threadgill with his groups Sextett and Very Very Circus, and Hopkins as the go-to bassist for Threadgill, David Murray, and Hamiet Bluiett. McCall's health forced his retirement from touring around 1980, and the dynamic drummer and effusive and gracious man who was a cofounder of the AACM with Muhal Abrams and Fred Anderson, died of a stroke in 1989.
This Air is listed as Air (4) on Discogs and is also been identified on last.fm as Air (Fred Hopkins, Steve McCall, Henry Threadgill) and Air with Fred Hopkins, Steve Mccall, Henry Threadgill (sic: McCall's name misspelt), and possibly also other alternative spellings of the group's name exist.
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Air was a psychedelic folk rock band featuring Googie and Tom Coppola, John Siegler and Mark Rosengarden. They released their first self titled album in 1971.
Suicides Underground
Air Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
From the suicide of the Lisbon girls.
People saw their clairvoyance
In the wiped-out elms and harsh sunlight.
Some thought the torture tearing the Lisbon girls
Pointed to a simple refusalย to accept the world
As it was handed down to them, so full of flaws.
But the only thing we are certain of
Obviously doctor,
You've never been a thirteen year-old girl.
The Lisbon girls were thirteen,
Cecile, fourteen, Lux, fifteen, Bonnie, sixteen, Mary, and seventeen, Therese.
No one could understand how Mrs. Lisbon and Mr. Lisbon,
A mathย teacher, had produced such beautiful creatures.ย
From that time one, the Lisbon house began to change.
Almost every day, and even when she wasn't keeping an eye on Cecilia,
Lux would suntan on her towel wearing a swimsuit
That caused the knife-sharpener to give her a fifteen minute demonstration for free.ย
The only reliable boy who got to know Lux was Trip Fontaine
For only 18 months before the suicides had emerged from baby fat
To the delight of girls and mothers alike.ย
But few anticipated it would be so drastic.
The girls were pulled out of school,
And Mrs. Lisbon shut the house for maximum security isolation.
The girls' only contact to the outside world
Was through the catalogs they ordered
That started to fill the Lisbon's mailbox
With pictures of high-end fashions and brochures for exotic vacations.
Unable to go anywhere, the girls traveled in their imaginations
To gold-tipped Siamese temples or past an old man,
The leaf broom tidying the Maw's carpeted speck of Japan ?
And Cecelia hadn't died.
She was a bride in Calcutta
Collecting everything we could of theirs,
We couldn't get the Lisbon girls out of our minds,
But they were slipping away.
The colors of their eyes were fading,
Along with exact locations of moles and dimples.
From five, they had become four,
And they were all (the living and the dead), become shadows.
We would have lost them completely if the girls hadn't contacted us.ย
Lux was the last to go.
Fleeing from the house, we forgot to stop at the garage.
After the suicide free-for-all,
Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon gave up any attempt to lead a normal life.
They had Mr. Henry pack up the house,
Selling what furniture he could at a garage sale.
Everyone went just to look.
Our parents did not buy used furniture,
And they certainly didn't buy furniture tainted by death.
We of course took the family photos that were put out with the trash.
Mr. Lisbon put the house on the market,
And it was sold to a young couple from Boston.ย
It didn't matter in the end how old they had been,
Or that they were girls.
But only that we had loved them,
And that they hadn't heard us call, still did not hear us.
Calling out of those rooms where they went to be alone for all time,
Alone in suicide.
Which is deeper than death,
And where we will never find the pieced to put them back together.
The song "Suicide Underground" by Air speaks of the tragic events that led to the suicides of the Lisbon girls and their neighborhood's subsequent demise. The lyrics suggest that the neighborhood never recovered from the suicide of the girls, who were seen as clairvoyant by some due to the wiped-out elms and harsh sunlight. The torture tearing the Lisbon girls is believed by some to indicate their refusal to accept the flawed world handed down to them. However, no explanation seems sufficient, and the true reason behind their suicides remains unknown. The song also explores the changing behavior of the Lisbon girls, who became increasingly isolated and removed from the world before their deaths.
The song's narrative is based on Jeffrey Eugenides' novel "The Virgin Suicides," which inspired the names of the Lisbon girls - Cecilia, Lux, Bonnie, Mary, and Therese. The novel tells the story of the Lisbon family through the eyes of their neighbors, who are desperate to understand the girls' motivations.
Line by Line Meaning
Everyone dated the demise of our neighborhood
The entire locality's downfall began with an unfortunate event that took place long ago.
From the suicide of the Lisbon girls.
The Lisbon girls committed suicide which triggered the fall of our locality.
People saw their clairvoyance
Many perceived the Lisbon sisters' intuition.
In the wiped-out elms and harsh sunlight.
The dead and unhealthy trees and the intense sunlight made the people think of them.
Some thought the torture tearing the Lisbon girls
Some people believed that the pain and struggle faced by the Lisbon sisters
Pointed to a simple refusalย to accept the world
led them to reject society's norms.
As it was handed down to them, so full of flaws.
The outside world was deeply flawed in their opinion.
But the only thing we are certain of
Despite all of our theories and analyses,
After all these years, is the insufficiency of explanations.ย
we could never fully comprehend the reasons behind their decision.
Obviously doctor,
The doctor's expertise is of little value in our unique circumstance.
You've never been a thirteen year-old girl.
You may not understand what it's like to be a teenage girl.
The Lisbon girls were thirteen,
The sisters were all young.
Cecile, fourteen, Lux, fifteen, Bonnie, sixteen, Mary, and seventeen, Therese.
There were six sisters in total with ages ranging from 13 to 17.
No one could understand how Mrs. Lisbon and Mr. Lisbon,
It was baffling to comprehend how both the parents produced such beautiful children.
A mathย teacher, had produced such beautiful creatures.ย
Mr. Lisbon was a mathematics teacher.
From that time one, the Lisbon house began to change.
The events following the death of their sister caused some changes in the house.
Almost every day, and even when she wasn't keeping an eye on Cecilia,
Lux was always around Cecilia, sometimes even when she didn't have to be.
Lux would suntan on her towel wearing a swimsuit That caused the knife-sharpener to give her a fifteen-minute demonstration for free.
Lux would lie outside, exposing her skin to the sun and sometimes received free knife sharpening demonstrations.
The only reliable boy who got to know Lux was Trip Fontaine
Trip Fontaine was the only trusted boy who truly knew and understood Lux.
For only 18 months before the suicides had emerged from baby fat To the delight of girls and mothers alike.ย
Trip Fontaine had only known Lux for 18 months since she had lost some weight and had become prettier to the delight of many people.
But few anticipated it would be so drastic.
No one had predicted that the sisters' fate would be so terrible.
The girls were pulled out of school,
The sisters were removed from school,
And Mrs. Lisbon shut the house for maximum security isolation.
Mrs. Lisbon closed up the house and cut off all outside contact.
The girls' only contact to the outside world
The only remaining connection that the sisters had with others outside their family
Was through the catalogs they ordered
was through the mail-order catalogs that they received.
That started to fill the Lisbon's mailbox With pictures of high-end fashions and brochures for exotic vacations.
Their mailbox began to overflow with pamphlets and catalogs of luxurious vacations and fashionable clothing.
Unable to go anywhere, the girls traveled in their imaginations To gold-tipped Siamese temples or past an old man, The leaf broom tidying the Maw's carpeted speck of Japan ?
Since they were stuck at home, the sisters traveled through imagination to various places like a temple in Siamese or on the streets of Japan.
And Cecelia hadn't died.
Cecelia had supposedly not committed suicide,
She was a bride in Calcutta
but had relocated to India and gotten married.
Collecting everything we could of theirs,
We had tried to gather as much information and possessions of the sisters as we could.
We couldn't get the Lisbon girls out of our minds,
Despite our desperate attempts to move on, we were not able to forget about the Lisbon sisters.
But they were slipping away.
Our memories of them were slowly fading away.
The colors of their eyes were fading,
We could no longer remember the true colors of their eyes.
Along with exact locations of moles and dimples.
Even the precise positions of their beauty marks and dimples were becoming hazy.
From five, they had become four,
The sisters, once five in total,
And they were all (the living and the dead), become shadows.
had all become distant and obscure memories of the past for us.
We would have lost them completely if the girls hadn't contacted us.
We still had little hope of preserving their memories until the sisters reached out to us.
Lux was the last to go.
Lux was the last sister to commit suicide.
Fleeing from the house, we forgot to stop at the garage.
When we were leaving the house, we didn't have time to go through the garage.
After the suicide free-for-all,
After the tragic event,
Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon gave up any attempt to lead a normal life.
Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon never tried to have a normal life again after their daughters' deaths.
They had Mr. Henry pack up the house,
They asked Mr. Henry to pack up and vacate the house.
Selling what furniture he could at a garage sale.
Mr. Henry sold off whatever furniture he could at a garage sale.
Everyone went just to look.
Many people came just to observe without any intention of buying.
Our parents did not buy used furniture,
Our parents didn't buy used furniture as they associated it with negative vibes.
And they certainly didn't buy furniture tainted by death.
They would never consider purchasing furniture associated with death and sorrow.
We of course took the family photos that were put out with the trash.
We collected the family photos which were meant to be thrown away.
Mr. Lisbon put the house on the market,
Mr. Lisbon put the house up for sale.
And it was sold to a young couple from Boston.ย
The house was finally sold to a young couple from Boston.
It didn't matter in the end how old they had been,
Despite their age,
Or that they were girls.
Whether they were male or female didn't matter either
But only that we had loved them,
What mattered the most was that we had loved them deeply.
And that they hadn't heard us call, still did not hear us.
Unfortunately, no matter how much we call out their names, they can't and won't come back.
Calling out of those rooms where they went to be alone for all time,
We yell out to the rooms where they once used to go and be alone, possibly contemplating life.
Alone in suicide.
It was a lonely and dark decision for them to end their life.
Which is deeper than death,
Suicide is considered far worse than death.
And where we will never find the pieced to put them back together.
It's unlikely that we'll ever be able to make sense of or understand why they committed suicide and bring them back together as a family.
Lyrics ยฉ Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: JEAN-BENOIT DUNCKEL, NICOLAS GODIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
N.Araujo
Lyrics:
Everyone dated the demise of our neighborhood from the suicides of the Lisbon girls.
People saw their clairvoyance in the wiped-out elms and harsh sunlight.
Some thought the torture tearing the Lisbon girls pointed to a simple refusal to accept the world as it was handed down to them:
So full of flaws.
But the only thing we are certain of after all these years is the insufficiency of explenation.
"Obviously doctor, you've never been a thirteen year-old girl."
The Lisbon girls were 13, Cecillia, 14, Lux, 15, Bonnie, 16, Mary, and 17, Therese.
No one could understand how Mrs. Lisbon and Mr. Lisbon, our math teacher, had produced such beautiful creatures.
From that time on, the Lisbon house began to change.
Almost every day, and even when she wasn't keeping an eye on Cecilia,
Lux would suntan on her towel wearing a swimsuit that caused the knife-sharpener to give her a 15-minute demonstration for free.
The only reliable boy who got to know Lux was Trip Fontaine
For only 18 months before the suicides had emerged from baby fat
To the delight of girls and mothers alike.
But few anticipated it would be so drastic.
The girls were pulled out of school, and Mrs. Lisbon shut the house for maximum security isolation.
The girls' only contact with the outside world was through the catalogs
They ordered that started to fill the Lisbon's mailbox with pictures of high-end fashions and brochures for exotic vacations.
Unable to go anywhere, the girls traveled in their imaginations:
To gold-tipped Siamese temples or past an old man, the leaf broom tidying the maw carpeted speck of Japan.
And Cecelia hadn't died. She was a bride in Calcutta.
Collecting everything we could of theirs, we couldn't get the Lisbon girls out of our minds, but they were slipping away.
The colours of their eyes were fading, along with exact locations of moles and dimples.
From five, they had become four, and they were all, the living and the dead, become shadows.
We would have lost them completely if the girls hadn't contacted us.
Lux was the last to go.
Fleeing from the house, we forgot to stop at the garage.
After the suicide free-for-all, Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon gave up any attempt to lead a normal life.
They had Mr. Hedly pack up the house, selling what furniture he could at a garage sale.
Everyone went just to look.
Our parents did not buy used furniture, and they certainly didn't buy furniture tainted by death.
We of course took the family photos that were put out with the trash.
Mr. Lisbon put the house on the market, and it was sold to a young couple from Boston.
It didn't matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls.
But only that we had loved them, and that they hadn't heard us calling; still do not hear us.
Calling them out of those rooms where they went to be alone for all time. alone in suicide,
Which is deeper than death,
And where we will never find the pieces to put them back together.
Toe 98
I dont think I ever heard anything as soul crushing as this
Alexander Russell
I would like this as an instrumental as well. It's a masterpiece
Komando
The bass line in this song is so simple yet so good. I remember my friend and I back when we were in our early 20s just jamming this.
N.Araujo
Lyrics:
Everyone dated the demise of our neighborhood from the suicides of the Lisbon girls.
People saw their clairvoyance in the wiped-out elms and harsh sunlight.
Some thought the torture tearing the Lisbon girls pointed to a simple refusal to accept the world as it was handed down to them:
So full of flaws.
But the only thing we are certain of after all these years is the insufficiency of explenation.
"Obviously doctor, you've never been a thirteen year-old girl."
The Lisbon girls were 13, Cecillia, 14, Lux, 15, Bonnie, 16, Mary, and 17, Therese.
No one could understand how Mrs. Lisbon and Mr. Lisbon, our math teacher, had produced such beautiful creatures.
From that time on, the Lisbon house began to change.
Almost every day, and even when she wasn't keeping an eye on Cecilia,
Lux would suntan on her towel wearing a swimsuit that caused the knife-sharpener to give her a 15-minute demonstration for free.
The only reliable boy who got to know Lux was Trip Fontaine
For only 18 months before the suicides had emerged from baby fat
To the delight of girls and mothers alike.
But few anticipated it would be so drastic.
The girls were pulled out of school, and Mrs. Lisbon shut the house for maximum security isolation.
The girls' only contact with the outside world was through the catalogs
They ordered that started to fill the Lisbon's mailbox with pictures of high-end fashions and brochures for exotic vacations.
Unable to go anywhere, the girls traveled in their imaginations:
To gold-tipped Siamese temples or past an old man, the leaf broom tidying the maw carpeted speck of Japan.
And Cecelia hadn't died. She was a bride in Calcutta.
Collecting everything we could of theirs, we couldn't get the Lisbon girls out of our minds, but they were slipping away.
The colours of their eyes were fading, along with exact locations of moles and dimples.
From five, they had become four, and they were all, the living and the dead, become shadows.
We would have lost them completely if the girls hadn't contacted us.
Lux was the last to go.
Fleeing from the house, we forgot to stop at the garage.
After the suicide free-for-all, Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon gave up any attempt to lead a normal life.
They had Mr. Hedly pack up the house, selling what furniture he could at a garage sale.
Everyone went just to look.
Our parents did not buy used furniture, and they certainly didn't buy furniture tainted by death.
We of course took the family photos that were put out with the trash.
Mr. Lisbon put the house on the market, and it was sold to a young couple from Boston.
It didn't matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls.
But only that we had loved them, and that they hadn't heard us calling; still do not hear us.
Calling them out of those rooms where they went to be alone for all time. alone in suicide,
Which is deeper than death,
And where we will never find the pieces to put them back together.
Ron G
I've never been a 13 year old girl, and she's never been a 13 year old boy. So here we are...
Tomczyk Joseph (NMI)
'Wonder who voiced that therein.
TBray
ten years on and this is still my favourite movie score - Air is just so wonderful, and this track is so full of beauty and despair.
Pauline Docherty
The music and cinematography made this movie one of my all time favourites
jak0voln
My father commited suicide and this is the "best" explenation that i have ever heard why someone would do something like that. There is a saying dead man dont ask questions, but they leave a lot of unaswerd questios. Good luck and remeber - live laugh love
K-leb
I wish there was an instrumental version of this. I don't really care for the samples from the movie's dialogue.