Customer Reviews

Talkie Walkie

5 star:		(94)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Once in a while, you'll come across a certain special album, and the one word that best describes it is "pretty." That's certainly an appropriate adjective for Air's "Talkie Walkie," which has some breathtakingly elegant moments. The French duo creates dreamy landscapes of mellow pop with acoustic and electronic touches. "Cherry Blossom Girl" soars kite-high with a catchy chorus and strong melody, while the dark and mysterious "Run" has interesting horror-show synths and hypnotic spoken vocals. The latter song could very well be my favorite on the album. "Mike Mills" and "Surfing on a Rocket" are just as good and noteworthy. To peg "Talkie Walkie" as mere chillout fare would do both this album and Air injustice. It's strong enough to be considered one of the best albums I've heard this year.

I can't help it, I LOVE Air. I know there is a giant movement out there and the majority of Air lovers prefer Moon Safari, but I disagree. I think Talkie Walkie is far more refined. It's smoother, and it hits your touchy feely places. It's also more consistent throughout than Moon Safari and has much better flow. I think I can get around the cheesy lyrics by brushing it off as Frenchies with a language barrier thing. The music speaks for itself and I've never played a song more times than Universal Traveler. This album is a MUST have for anyone.

French duo Air returns to top form with the excellent "Talkie Walkie," a charming collection of cool, soft electropop. Air fans won't be disappointed by the combination of the strong points of past releases. It sounds fresh and new, but not TOO new. Air stays connected to what it's done in the past.

"Talkie Walkie" is a solid collection of pop (the haunting "Run" and beautiful "Cherry Blossom Girl"), quiet psychedelica (catchy, futuristic-sounding "Surfing on a Rocket") and beautiful instrumentals (the acoustic-based "Mike Mills"). It's cool and quietly sweeps across your senses, like sitting on the beach and letting the waves run over your feet.

Don't expect the second chapter of "Moon Safari." The latest Air release has a more experimental sound, as if they're trying to make everything balance out. And their attempt is pretty much successful. The dreamy, slightly vulnerable songwriting blends perfectly with a mix of acoustic and electronic music.

At times, "Talkie Walkie" sags slightly with a riff that doesn't belong or a song that could have been shorter. Most of the time, though, it boasts some pretty impressive instruments -- piano, strings, electric drums, bells and smooth soundscapes. Lyrics are simple, especially in the sweet love song "Venus" ("If you walk in the sun/I will be your shadow").

Smooth, cool and otherworldly, "Talkie Walkie" is a beautifully-made release by a talented band. This elegant album is a must-have for music fans.

I had never heard of Air when I bought this album. I have no desire to compare it to Moon Safari (which I now also own), so Air-fans seeking a grade on the basis of that comparison should look elsewhere. Let's judge the album on the basis of its own merits, shall we?

That having been said, this album is amazing. Simply amazing.

It's not just the songs, which seem to be woven out of dream-silk with a creamy, bittersweet sensuality. I heard a friend describe the tunes as "cheesy;" maybe some of the themes could be described as cheesy (undying love, finding joy in spite of pain), but that makes them no less valid. Besides, what's certainly NOT cheesy is the exquisite and heart-breaking craftsmanship. I get goosebumps every time I hear this album because Air somehow manages to use a sort of gorgeous and liquid melancholy to craft songs that inspire hope, joy, peace, and faith in the greatness of things. In spite of the dark (rather sexy) shadow that these melodies cast, the songs themselves loom glittering and unswerving.

In addition to having a collection of uniformly outstanding songs, this record has also arranged the songs in an order that encourages an uninterrupted listen from beginning to end. The tender, sad-sweet love of Venus is picked up by Cherry Blossom Girl and taken to higher and brighter places. The mood dips and swerves and slides past creepily gorgeous corners in Run, across soothing sunset landscapes in Universal Traveler, through the stratosphere in Mike Mills, and into a cool and twinkling world of stars in Surfing On A Rocket. Another Day, Alpha Beta Gaga, Biological ... they're all skin-rippling fun, physically seductive, emotionally charged, and achingly beautiful.

It's a little short (especially since, with songs this good, you naturally crave more), but I don't think anyone with their sense of wonder still intact will find this record anything short of amazing.

First off. I'm listening to this CD right now on my computer. So the poster below isn't entirely correct...

I first heard Air on the Lost in Translation soundtrack. Alone In kyoto was such an amazing song that I ordered this CD and Moon Safari, and I'm definately not dissapointed.

Standout tracks:

Venus, Cherry Blossom Girl, run, Another Day, Alpha Beta Gaga and Alone in Kyoto.

That's 6 excellent songs, a true rarity when buying a CD these days. I can't tell you the number of times I've bought a CD and there were only 1-2 listenable songs. So sad.

As far as comparisons to other artists today, I've heard them contrasted with zero7, but I think they are much more original and better songwriters by far. Hell their lirics are pretty basic and non sensicial, it's the complex melodies that distinguish Air above their apparently tone deaf competition.

I hope they keep putting out CDs.

I was very surprised to find out that Talkie Walkie has the lowest rating on Amazon out of the few main Air albums. A lot of people seem to think that this isn't quite up to par with Moon Safari, 10,000 Hz or Premiers Symptomes. Air is the best discovery for me in years (I just about only listen to classical/opera), and Talkie Walkie is the only album of theirs that has kept me coming back for more and more.

I have listened to Premiers Symptomes, 10,000 Hz, and Moon Safari dozens of times each, but no other album can I listen to all the way through without the slightest desire to advance a single track. Every song gives me such pleasure in its own little way. I had to be very careful when I was first getting into the album because I was afraid I was going to burn myself out on it, which has happened before. But no matter how much I listen, I will never get tired of it, and neither will you!

Well, I don't know what it was about this album. Around the start of the year I was sitting at home, putting off studying again, and I remembered that AIR had a new album out. Without thinking I drove in my car to the nearest CD store, and bought it, all without hearing a single track. I had this sense that this album would be special. When I got home, I put it on... and what I heard confirmed my intuition.

This album is great because it takes a feeling or mood and sustains it over the whole CD. Every track has a different feel, but it's the emotion that gets me - lovely, beautiful, wistful, yearning emotions that pervade every track.

You know, when it comes down to it, I don't like to think too much about music. In the end, what's important is how music makes you feel. Air's "Walkie Talkie" makes me feel and puts me in a mood; that sighing longing for love, that autumnal feeling of sadness, melancholy and bliss that only a few bands have the magical ability to do.

I could point out standout tracks, but I would say get the CD, listen to it as a whole and let it unfold. Instrumentals that create atmosphere, songs that sing of love. You can create your own movie in your mind, with you as the star! Lay back on the bean bag with the headphones on!

Delicate, tasteful music is so hard to come by - get this album and clutch it to your chest, hold it close to your heart, share it with a loved one or listen to it with your inner child.

... Ok, now, with that off my chest, let's talk about Talkie Walkie.

Like most Air fans, I was rather disappointed with 10,000 HZ Legend and really wanted a Moon Safari part 2. Talkie Walkie gives us a hybrid of The Virgin Suicides soundtrack and pieces of that great Moon Safari record. For starters they went back to adding simple and heavy atmosphere on this record. They lost the useless collaborations seen on 10,000, and made the most of the electronic landscapes they so beautifully create.

There are at least 4 definite ringers on here. Starting with the lead single, Cherry Blossom Girl, a beautiful dramatic tune with coy female vocals and melodic guitars. The third track on the album is probably my favorite one. Titled Run, its a bit more futuristic in scope, a bit more fun as well with this robotic vocal that repeats the chorus, run run run run run run run. It just sounds really great when cranked up to 11. I was very happy with the inclusion of Alone In Kyoto, the song Air wrote for the film Lost In Translation. Like the film, the music has a way of setting a mood and transforming the atmosphere with it's lush yet minimal arrangement. I also like Surfin On A Rocket, a mid-tempo, single-to-be, that in ways, harks back to the always great, Sexy Boy. The rest of Talkie Walkie is equally up to the task and makes this one great piece of work.

In 1998, I listed Air's Moon Safari, #1 on my best of the year list (check out my lists in the listmania area for all my best of lists) Since then, they've missed the target a few times but always manage to produce enough quality tunes to keep me buying. Talkie Walkie is not only a return to form, but one of the best electronic records I've heard this year.

any air fan has to own ALL air records. while this isn't the best one (because moon safari is), it still warrants 5 stars.

plus, these guys really know good musicians. I mean, touring with roger manning, jason falkner, and earl harvin! holy can they put on a show!

buy all their records, keep suppporting the fellas, just for the sake of seeing them on tour!

I will start off by letting you know that "synth pop" (or whatever you would classify Air as) is not my normal thing. Normally, even one of those two words would be enough to make me run away screaming, but something about this album caught a hold of me and refused to let go.

A friend of mine kept playing this when I was around and like some sort of disease, it just ate into me somehow! Consider yourself warned.

The songs are catchy and happy, and yet they still manage to invoke an introspective feeling that most "pop" doesn't. This quality makes it great background music, or music to just chill out to. Put this on at a party and people will notice it.

In particular, the strech of songs from 'Mike Mills' (probably my favorite song) onward really stand out. The songs flow and complement each other helping to create an overall ambiance that maybe you wouldn't expect from this sort of music. One of the album's biggest strengths comes from it's simple diversity. Air use a number of different instruments / electronic sounds in a number of different ways. I'm pretty sure I even heard a banjo in there somewhere, and I think we can all agree that banjo's are pretty damn cool.

Yes this ablum is "fluff". The lyrics will not stimulate deep conversations and the music isn't complex, but sometimes all you need is fluff.