Artist Air

Unlike that other high-profile, French electronic duo, Air manufactures dozy, disco-infused beats more suitable for aperitif-sipping than four-on-the-floor boogieing. But sophisticated doesn't have to mean mirthless, as Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel's 1998 debut, Moon Safari, proves. After the modest chart success of singles "Sexy Boy" and "Kelly Watch The Stars!," the pair mounted ambitious tours on both sides of the Atlantic and soundtracked Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides before listing toward experimentalism (2001's 10,000 Hz Legend) and then skin-deep pop prettiness (2004's Talkie Walkie). Last year's Love 2 showcases Air's unmatched mood-making abilities, ransacking the band's store of vintage gear in search of soothing electronic burble and logy drone. 

Updated 03/11/2010