Performer Notes
- Air: Nicolas Godin (spoken vocals, talk box, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica, Wurlitzer, organ, Mini-Moog synthesizer, vocoder, synthesizer, glockenspiel, bass, tambourine, shaker, percussion, drum programming, sound effects, background vocals); Jean Benoit Dunckel (spoken vocals, strings, syrinx, piano, Fender Rhodes, Wurliitzer, organ, Melotron, clavinet, Mini-Moog synthesizer, synthesizers, glockenspiel, hand claps, sound effects, background vocals).
- Additional personnel includes: David Whitaker (conductor); Enfants Square Burcq (vocals); Beth Hirsch (spoken vocals); P. Woodcock (acoustic guitar, tuba); Eric Regert (organ); Marlon (drums); Stephane "Alf" Briat, Caroline L. (hand claps).
- Producers: Jean-Benoit Dunckel, Nicolas Godin.
- Engineers: Jean-Benoit Dunckel, Nicolas Godin, Stephane "Alf" Briat.
- Principally recorded at Around The Golf studio and Gang Studio, Paris, France.
- Personnel: Beth Hirsch (vocals, chant); Jean-BenoŒt Dunckel (chant, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Clavinet, organ, Wurlitzer organ, Mellotron, Moog synthesizer, vocoder, glockenspiel, hand claps, background vocals); Nicolas Godin (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, organ, Wurlitzer organ, mini-Moog synthesizer, Moog synthesizer, talk box, vocoder, glockenspiel, drums, shaker, tambourine, hand claps, percussion, background vocals); P. Woodcock (acoustic guitar, tuba); Eric Regert (organ); Marlon (drums); Stephane "Alf" Briat, Caroline L. (hand claps).
- Audio Mixer: Stephane "Alf" Briat.
- Recording information: "Around the Golf" Studio; Abbey Road Studios, Londres, England; Around the Gold Studio; EMI Abbey Road Studios, London, England; Gang Studio; Gang Studio, Paris, France; Studio Around The Golf; Studio Gang.
- Director: David Whitaker.
- Arrangers: David Whitaker; Peter Cobbin.
- This remix album, centered on tunes from the 10,000 MHZ LEGEND disc, turns the tables on the usual relationship between proper album and remix collection in that it may be more interesting than it's parent record. The bulk of Air's charm has always been the stylistic tweaking and sonic hijinks they perpetrate over the course of an album's production and arrangements; they've never claimed to be brilliant songwriters. Thus, with the emphasis off the construction of original material and more appropriately placed on the band and their various collaborators' ability to make electronic magic in the studio, EVERYBODY HERTZ is in some ways more of a triumph than its predecessor.
- The Mr. Oizo remix of "Don't Be Light" is distinguished by Kraftwerkian, minimalist electro flavoring. On-U Sound's progressive dub visionary Adrian Sherwood takes "How Does it Make You Feel" to Jamaica, adding roots-reggae beats and Augustus Pablo-like melodica riffs, adding a new dimension to the robotic Barry White orientation of the original song. By the time we arrive at Jack Lahana's remix of the pulsing "People in the City," with its urgently lascivious hip-hop touches, Air's tunes have been fully transformed. The bonus live video track of the same tune provides a good opportunity to see how Air pulls of their complex arrangements in a performance setting, not to mention a chance to gawk at all their vintage gear.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (1/22/98, pp.54-56) - 3.5 Stars (out of 5) - "...a truly obsessive hommage to easy listening, a sublime Eurocheese omelet....fits in with European confreres like the High Llamas and the Divine Comedy: orchestral pop that mixes the acoustic with the synthetic..."
Spin (9/99, p.144) - Ranked #50 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."
Spin (1/99, p.91) - Ranked #5 on Spin's list of "Top 20 Albums of '98."
Spin (2/98, p.108) - 7 (out of 10) - "...this French duo offers up a sort of weightless trip-hop exoticism. But rather than pillage the usual African or Brazilian sources, Nicolas Godin and Jean Benoit Dunckel--tubas and Moogs in hand--travel deep into the cheesy heart of whiteness, cannibalizing Muzak, Italian soundtracks, and lounge..."
Entertainment Weekly (2/6/98, p.62) - "...this French duo works the territory between sleazy blaxploitation grooves, naive rave-culture idealism, and pop songcraft. Though the melodies occasionally threaten to become saccharine,...Air leaven it with a welcome dash of Gallic irony."
- Rating: A-
Q (10/01, p.56) - Ranked #31 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime"
Q (12/99, p.100) - Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s."
Q (2/02, p.104) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...[This] glitters like diamonds....its twisted dreaminess confirms a triumph pf music over strategy."
Mixmag (1/99, p.49) - Included in Mixmag's "Ten Best Albums Of 98" - "...beautiful easy listening with 70s synths [and] vocoders....The chill-out sound of nine-eight."
Melody Maker (1/10/98, p.37) - "...MOON SAFARI is their lush, joyous, oxygen-filled voyage to a thrillingly non-specific destination....a dream of a record."
Q (Magazine) (p.150) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[It's] proved remarkably enduring, still dreamlike and wistfully evocative..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.64) - Ranked #27 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "[A] perfectly realised melange of electronica, filmic expanse and autumnal folkisms."
NME (Magazine) (1/17/98, p.38) - 8 (out of 10) - "...neo-symphonic bliss-outs for the next Generation Next. For the Jazz Club in space...a floaty, widescreen and spiritual music that updates The Beach Boys' instrumental odysseys..."
Record Collector (magazine) (p.82) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "[MOON SAFARI] remains exquisite, a pure, glacial pop moment....Utterly faultless and untouchable."
