Air

It's nearly impossible to talk about classic downtempo albums without mentioning Air's universally adored debut, [i]Moon Safari[/i]. A painlessly hip blend of analog synths, weightless organs, and sly film-score references, it managed to sneak electronic music into the living rooms of college kids and alt-rock heads who wouldn't be caught dead on a dance floor. Which isn't to say that Air songs are limp and rhythm-less; fact is, they're very much [i]alive[/i], from the soothing vocoder vocals and Champagne-like chords of "Sexy Boy" to the smoke-ring sax lines and brittle AM-radio broadcasts of "Playground Love." The same goes for our Next Steps, which pull even more must-listens from the ether that is Air's dense discography.

If there's one moment that nails [i]Lost In Translation[/i]'s sense of being utterly [i]alone[/i], it's when the aptly titled "Alone in Kyoto" appears on the film's soundtrack, delivering a steady stream of lightly plucked guitars, mournful melodies, and carefully caressed keyboards. All thanks to Air, France's leading purveyors of atmospheric synth pop, including the space-age loops of "Le Voyage de Penelope,” the lovelorn lyrics and chunky drum breaks of "Remember," the cheeky elevator music samples of "Love" and "You Make It Easy," and the Beck-backed balladry — harmonica and all — of "The Vagabond." Like what you're hearing? Then drift on over to our Deep Cuts for more melancholic machine music, as well as Air remixes and alternate versions of some fan favorites.

Contrary to such pillow-y bachelor-pad pieces as "New Star in the Sky" and "Lost Message," there's much more to Air's music than an incredible collection of vintage keyboards. [i]The Virgin Suicides[/i] soundtrack, for one, is unsettlingly dark and deeply indebted to psych-rock, not Robert Moog. Hear what we mean as the French duo unveils the delicate piano progressions of "Highschool Lover," the wobbly riffs of "Clouds Up," and a ghoulish demo version of "Bathroom Girl." And if all of that leaves you feeling a bit down, there's always Mark Ronson's party-rocking remix of "Alpha Beta Gaga" and Phoenix's mid-tempo makeover of "Kelly Watch the Stars."

While Air was closely linked to Cassius and Daft Punk during France's electronic music explosion in the late '90s, the Parisian pair has sounded like nothing but Air since their early EPs, [i]Casanova 70[/i] and [i]Le soleil est près de moi[/i]. Listening to them more than a decade later, it's easy to hear how Air was setting the scene for their [i]Moon Safari[/i] masterpiece, a vapor trail of hazy horns, cloudy keys, and hooks that were clearly torn from the sacred back catalogs of Serge Gainsbourg and Burt Bacharach. Air's otherworldly approach has remained at the root of their records ever since, but they've expanded it with A-list guests (Jarvis Cocker, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Hope Sandoval) and such unexpected left-turns as the experimental flourishes of [i]10,000Hz Legend[/i] and the hypnotic prog tunes of [i]The Virgin Suicides[/i] soundtrack.