Air - Premiers Symptomes (1999)

Air's European-label five-song EP, Premiers Symptomes, may have been a collection of early singles, but when it first came out in 1997 it felt all of a piece. Deploying an array of vintage mid-century instruments (Fender Rhodes, Minimoog, Clavinet), as well as a tuba, Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel created a cloistered, lulling sound world that was entirely their own (although, think The Percy Faith Orchestra Covers Brian Eno's Music for Airports and you get the basic idea). By contrast, the recent rerelease of Premiers, with two bonus tracks, sounds like exactly what it is: a collection of early singles. It's not that newcomers "Californie" and "Brakes On" are unworthy, just that their overt funk shatters the tranquil atmosphere this French duo so painstakingly establish elsewhere. Most electronica fans are usually more than happy to bump 'n' grind, but when they're in the mood to play Premiers Symptomes, all they want--all they need--is the Air that they breathe. --Jeff Salamon