The very first science fiction movie is a silence movie about a voyage to the moon.  Since it's french it's called "Le Voyage Dans La Lune".  And since it's French, Air wrote the soundtrack to it.  It was a coin flip between them and Daft Punk (HA, stupid americans!).  I find it interesting because it was made in black and white and hand colored versions back in the early 1900's.  The black and white version has long since been destroyed and the colored version was found in 1993 but had to be restored.  Naturally, wikipedia has more info on this film.

Also happening is Killing Joke's return, a bunch of tour announcements, and what the hell was Echo and the Bunnymen doing in a superbowl ad?

Lots of good tour news last week.  I bought tickets to see Godspeed but got my scheduling messed up because it's on the same day as Coachella.  Damn, would've loved to see Godspeed at Big Sur, CA.  If you ever get a chance to drive up the California coast, do it.  But remember, it's a LONG drive so make sure you plan accordingly.

Air's wonderful debut is, perhaps oddly, re-packaged as a 10th-anniversary set with a disc of B-sides and Mike Mills' 1999 tourfilm Eating, Sleeping, Waiting and Playing. - Source

In our constant attempt to make folks feel old, we thought we'd mention that not only is 2008 the year NMH's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea reached the decade mark, but on 4/14 (4/15 in North America, bub), Air's Moon Safari makes it into double digits, too. The French duo, or more likely their label, have set up a special site to honor the milestone. Right now it's basically an advert for the 2-disc, 1-DVD 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of the album, but we're hoping some more content goes up on the actual birthday. Some possible clues: There's an atomic counter set up at the band's MySpace and three weeks ago someone set up an official Air channel at YouTube.  - Source

Air will release a special, limited edition version of their album 'Moon Safari' to celebrate its 10th anniversary. - Source

Oh those pesky Frenchmen, AIR are headed back stateside for a few dates with Frenchwoman/Englishkids STEREOLAB. Still in support of their latest album, Talkie Walkie, Air will be playing with Stereolab for three September shows in San Diego, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. The last date with Stereolab will ALSO be the debut of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra as members of the AIR entourage. Roger Neill (who worked with Air on 10,000 Hz) will be conducting the LA based orchestra. Dates can be found in our tour section and keep an eye out as more bands are expected to be added to the bill.

In one of the first relationships of it's type, Air has collaborated with Italian author Alessandro Baricco with his new novel "City". Baricco approached the French duo (Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel) last summer to play live whilst he read exerpts from his book at Teatre Valle in Rome. The collaborative effort, City Reading (Tre Storie Western) will be released in the states on March 25. It contains over an hour of instrumentals by Air that have been remixed by Nigel Godrich and combined with readings of Baricco's novel. Also in the works is the band's followup to 10,000 Hz Legend, which they are hoping to release before the end of the year.

Allstar has the story about David Bowie next album, Heathen'. It features guitar leads by Pete Townshend and remixes by Air and Moby. The album is due out on June 11th.

Dan the Automator just released his own mixed compilation, 'Wanna Buy A Monkey?'. It has exclusive mixes from Air, Zero 7 and Tortoise. Also, when I was listening to the minimix of the album I swore that I heard some of the Doves right at the very end. For those of you going to the last couple Gorillaz shows, make sure to get their early as Dan the Automator will be spinning.

Air
Mayan Theatre, Los Angeles
Wednesday, July 11, 2001

I've never seen Air before so when tickets went on sale for forty bucks (thirty plus ten for ticketmaster), I didn't really hesistate. I'm subscribed to the Astralwerks newsletter and there are little reports about how great the tour is going and how everyone is in love with Air right now. Well, that was all a bunch of hype, I wish I would've never read that because my expectations were high enough.