Alexis Latrobe ( French pronunciation: [alɛksi latʁɔb] ), known professionally as Alex Gopher , is a French mastering engineer, electronic musician and producer. He worked as a sound engineer at Translab Studio, notably for Angèle , Clara Luciani , Lomepal , -M- , Mr. Oizo , Gesaffelstein and Etienne Daho . Latrobe has contributed a great amount to the French touch movement of the 1990s.
19-620: Nicolas Godin (born 25 December 1969) is a French musician best known for being one half of the music duo Air . Godin was born in Paris, Île-de-France, France, and studied architecture at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Versailles , along with soon to be musical partner, Jean-Benoît Dunckel , a mathematics student. Before founding Air, Godin played in the band Orange, with others such as Jean-Benoît Dunckel , Alex Gopher , Xavier Jamaux, and Jean de Reydellet . He and Jean-Benoît have been working together since they were teenagers in
38-629: A DJ mix album, Late Night Tales: Air , for Azuli Records ' Late Night Tales series. The release was initially scheduled for October 2005, but was delayed several times. It finally was released, complete with a new sleeve design, in September 2006. Darkel , a solo album by Dunckel, was released that same year. City Reading (Tre Storie Western) (2003) started as an idea for a collaboration with contemporary Italian writer Alessandro Baricco , known for his unusual characterizations and lyrical, poetic style. Baricco contacted Air in summer 2002 with
57-542: A demo with members of Funkadelic as his backing band before releasing his first entirely solo effort, "Modular Mix", which featured production by Étienne de Crécy . After making several remixes for other acts in the early 1990s, Air recorded its first EP, Premiers Symptômes , in 1995. The band's first full-length album, Moon Safari , was released in 1998. The first single off the album, "Sexy Boy", received heavy airplay on alternative radio stations, and Moon Safari became an international success. In 1999, Air composed
76-692: A small French independent label. "Modulor Mix", a tribute to Le Corbusier , was recorded on Godin's Portastudio , and appeared on the Source Lab album in 1995. With several remixes, it was re‑released on British label Mo' Wax in 1996. Following this small success, Godin asked his friend Jean-Benoît Dunckel , a classically trained pianist, to join him in Air. Together, they produced further 'maxi‑singles' for Source, with titles like "J'ai Dormi Sous L'eau", "Les Professionnels", "Casanova 70" and "Le Soleil Est Près De Moi". Finally, in 1997, Source asked Air to record
95-609: A unique release in the electronic music genre at the time. Moon Safari went platinum in the United Kingdom and gold in France. On 18 September 2015, Godin released his first solo album Contrepoint (Because Music), inspired by the music of Johann Sebastian Bach . Godin composed the soundtrack for French series A Very Secret Service (2015–2018). Godin released his second studio album Concrete and Glass on 24 January 2020 via Because Music. Air (French band) Air
114-524: A whole album. The duo spent several months in a recording studio near Paris called Studio de Saint‑Nom, and asked a friend—freelance engineer and former Plus XXX assistant Stéphane 'Alf' Briat—to work as a sound engineer on that project. Their full-length debut studio album Moon Safari , released in 1998, was propelled to chart success by the singles " Sexy Boy ", " Kelly Watch the Stars " and " All I Need ". Its mixture of synths, strings and guitar made it
133-574: Is a French music duo from Versailles , consisting of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel . Their critically acclaimed debut album, Moon Safari , including the track " Sexy Boy ", was an international success in 1998. Its follow-up, The Virgin Suicides , was the score to Sofia Coppola 's first film The Virgin Suicides . The band has since released the albums 10 000 Hz Legend , Talkie Walkie , Pocket Symphony , Love 2 , Le voyage dans la lune and Music for Museum . The band
152-553: Is an acronym . In a clip aired in 2022, Godin told the BBC, "AIR is an acronym. I don't know if you have the same word in English, but it's, uh, ' amour , imagination , and rêve ' ." Dunckel apparently said the same thing, as the interview cuts to a separately filmed portion where Dunckel says "...which means 'love, imagination, and dreaming'." However, in a 1998 interview for Australian magazine Rave , Godin reportedly denied
171-513: Is influenced by a wide variety of musical styles and artists. Nicolas Godin studied architecture at the École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Versailles , and Jean-Benoît Dunckel studied mathematics, before forming a band in 1995. Before founding Air, Dunckel and Godin played together in the band Orange with others such as Alex Gopher , Xavier Jamaux and Jean de Reydellet. The former two subsequently contributed to remixes of tracks recorded by Air. Initially Godin worked alone, recording
190-880: The Korg MS-20 , Wurlitzers and vocoders ) on stage. The band performs tracks from their albums live as extended or altered versions. Air often collaborates (both in the studio and live) with artists like Beth Hirsch ( Moon Safari ), Françoise Hardy ("Jeanne"), Jean-Jacques Perrey ("Cosmic Bird"), Gordon Tracks ("Playground Love" and "Easy Going Woman" – Gordon Tracks is a pseudonym of the French singer Thomas Mars from Phoenix ), Beck ( 10 000 Hz Legend ) and Jean-Michel Jarre ("Close Your Eyes" from Jarre's Electronica 1: The Time Machine ). They also invited Dave Palmer on their 2004 tour and drummer Earl Harvin , Vincent Taurelle and Steve Jones on their 2007 tour. The band has given conflicting information about whether Air
209-528: The original score for Sofia Coppola 's debut film The Virgin Suicides . In 2012, Air completed its second score , to accompany Georges Méliès ' early silent film Le Voyage Dans La Lune . Dunckel and Godin also released four other studio albums in the 2000s, including 10 000 Hz Legend (2001), Talkie Walkie (2004), Pocket Symphony (2007), and Love 2 (2009). Air has often collaborated with film director Sofia Coppola . Air drummer and former Redd Kross member Brian Reitzell put together
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#1732779884762228-567: The soundtrack to 2003's Lost in Translation , including one original contribution by Air titled "Alone in Kyoto". The soundtrack for Coppola's October 2006 film Marie Antoinette featured a track by Air ("Il Secondo Giorno"). Air wrote and played the music of the album 5:55 by Anglo -French actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg , which was released in August 2006. Air has recorded
247-509: The 1960s and 1970s music of Serge Gainsbourg . He later took an interest in what he called the "English dark rock" of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division , while being a fan of David Bowie , Iggy Pop and Lou Reed . Brian Eno and Cluster were two of the electronic acts who inspired him the most. He cites among his favorite artists: Maurice Ravel for classical music, François de Roubaix for music soundtracks and Siouxsie and
266-438: The 1980s. Contrary to the popular belief, the name of the band Air does not stand for "Amour, Imagination, Rêve" (love, imagination, dream), but rather for description of their music which the duo describes as "airy" (in French aérien ). In the beginning, it was a one‑person project. Godin, then an architecture student and amateur musician, was asked by a childhood friend to write a song for a compilation to be released by Source,
285-711: The Banshees for pop music. Dunckel shared with Godin a special liking for the music of Michel Legrand , Philip Glass and Grace Jones . During his childhood, Godin was fascinated by the Beatles before later discovering the soul of Sly and the Family Stone , and film soundtracks like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Ennio Morricone . The duo were influenced by progressive rock pioneers Pink Floyd . Air uses many of its studio instruments (including Moog synthesizers ,
304-664: The claim, saying "No. Someone made that up, but it was a really nice thing to do. I wish I could have that idea." Air won the award for Best Music Video at the 2011 Byron Bay International Film Festival for the video to "So Light Is Her Footfall". In 1999, American film and music video director, writer, and graphic designer Mike Mills released a 75-minute black-and-white documentary titled Air: Eating, Sleeping, Waiting and Playing . The film, shot during Air's 1998 tour, captures band members Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel during stops in New York, London, and Paris. As suggested by
323-598: The group split, he began to create electronic music and embarked on a successful solo career. Latrobe's musical style mainly consists of sampling, along with recruiting vocal talent. His track "Brain Leech (Bugged Mind Remix)" has been featured in Grand Theft Auto IV , playing on the Electro-Choc radio station. "The Child" was featured in the movie Amélie ; it samples from Billie Holiday 's " God Bless
342-632: The idea to marry narration of texts from his book City with live original musical accompaniment. The performance premiered live in November 2002 at Rome's Teatro Valle and was deemed such a success that both parties resolved to make a full studio recording. Air is associated with a variety of musical styles: electronica , space pop , dream pop , progressive rock , downtempo , chillout , trip hop , ambient , electronic pop and space rock . Dunckel grew up listening to both classical and electronic music , especially Kraftwerk , and also
361-446: The title, the documentary's tone and form focus on the drudgery and banality of real-life touring for music artists. Mills had previously collaborated with Air on their music videos. The documentary was distributed by Source - une division de Virgin disques as a Stereo DVD. Alex Gopher Latrobe began his musical career playing bass in the band Orange with future Air members Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Nicolas Godin . After
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