Air

Individually known as Nicolas Godin and Jean-Beno�t Dunckel and collectively known as Air. Nicolas and Jean-Beno�t
Given 75 minutes of Late Night Tales at their disposal, it�s axiomatic that The Song is paramount, thus fellow countryman Sebastien Tellier makes a deserved appearance with his obscure �Le Long de la Rivi�re Tendre� With The Song as our theme, we naturally have some of the greats present and correct. �Let my blood pressure on its way, cos my autumn�s done come,� may well be grammatically awry, but there are few songs that express better the end of one�s life than Lee Hazelwood�s contribution which amazingly stays the right side of morbid. We plunder Scott Walker�s finest �60s LP Scott 4 for his offering: �The Old Man�s Back Again�. If ever a fellow was born the wrong nationality it was Walker and here it has the lyrical flavour of the French chanson with a touch of Morricone in the cold and foreboding strings.

Leftfield offerings come with The Trogg�s �Cousin Jane�, the whispered vocals, simple cellos and finger piano suggesting a British Velvet Underground, before Reg and the boys collapse into the comely glissandos of Air�s collaboration with writer Alessandro Baricco and thence to the milky folds of Ravel�s �Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte�. Coming out of leftfield is Cat Power�s wonky ballad �Metal Heart�, while Robert Wyatt�s �PLA� is an off-the-wall lullaby to his partner Alfie. And there are the soundtracks � Tan Dun & George Delerue� fitting since Air have been writing them in their minds for their whole lives.