Air - Moon Safari (10th anniversary)
10 years ago the classic French chill-out/trance album ‘Moon Safari’ by Air came out. It was good, and in cult circles at least, it was loved. 10 years on and the band have realised just how good the album was and have re-released it with a brand spanking new bonus CD. As it says on the package, this includes remixes, rarities and radio sessions. To some this would seem like Nazi gold; they are by Air, they are rare tracks; they are potentially orgasmic! However, I would advise caution; because these haven’t previously been released for good reasons, and they do not exist as a complimentary album in the way that the first disk does.
If you have prepared your musical palette for something Airy, then you should move from track 1 (Remember; the David Whitaker version) to track three (J’ai Dormi Sous L’Eau) to track 6 (which is either ‘Mabrouk’ or ‘Trent Millions d’Amis’) and finally onto track 9 (a ‘Kelly Watched the Stars’ Demo). This is because not only will the other tracks ruin your musical appetite, but they might also scare you into wondering why anyone would want to do That to Air.
This is not to say that the other tracks are without merit, simply that in normal circumstances you would never find them on the same album, and you would never expect to hear these noises coming from Air. Of all these tracks I like the ‘Moog Cookbook’ remix of ‘Kelly…’ best, if only because it reminds me of a sketch Bill Bailey did about the music of Starsky and Hutch. The BBC live version of ‘Kelly…’ is also pretty special, if only because you can tell they have become slightly bored with keyboards and synthesisers and have reached for the rock guitars and drum kits instead.
It’s perhaps best if you don’t attempt to listen to this as an album. This is a collection of individual tracks, rather than a composite beasty. The songs definitely augment the shimmering selection already available on the first CD, but in most cases the originals are better.
All in all, this is something of a horde of brilliance, and if you haven’t already got the original album I would suggest you get it as soon as you can. If you have already got the album, it’s a tough call as to whether you should donate it to a friend and buy the re-release or simply hold onto your old copy. There’s no point in denying that disk 2 is eclipsed by disk 1, but if you know the tracks off by heart, it could be a fun change. In my heart of hearts, I reckon you should go for it.