Air's Deck Safari: The Best CD You'll Never Buy
Apparently record stores are so desperate to push CDs, they've begun selling albums that shouldn't even be for sale. Let me explain...
I've a big fan of the band Air, which you already know if you read this. Their song "Radio #1" is where this blog got its name.
The poptronica duo's proper debut (1998's Moon Safari) is widely considered to be Air's best work. It's my favorite too.
So imagine my surprise when I spotted this during one of my (what seem like daily) trips to Virgin Megastore.
AIR DECK SAFARI: PART ONE
Ostensibly a long mix tape of songs handpicked by Air. Crazy (in a good way) tracklist, but I'll get to that in a second. $27.99 for the two-CD set.
Checked the record label (knowing there's no way Astralwerks is putting out something like this), and saw in small print on the back cover:
This cd is for promotional use only. not for re-sale.
So I bought it. Two copies actually. That's all Virgin had.
When I returned home, eager to listen to a DJ set that would included Serge Gainsbourg, Ween, Soft Machine, Prince and John Lennon, I did some research on the Internerd:
I learned the CD is a few years old. I also found a copy available from an Amazon.com Marketplace seller for $129.99 (this was two weeks ago). From Amazon's Editorial Review:
Album Description
The sound of Air? Well here's what made the classic album 'Moon Safari' (1998) sound the way it did, this limited edition CD is part one of a mammoth 4 hour journey through the personal record collections of former architect Nicloas Godin and mathematician Jean-Benoit Dunckel. Artists include Pink Floyd, Horace Andy, Brigitte Gardot, Prince, Beastie Boys, Iggy Pop, Rolling Stones and more. * Please note the back cover states this is for 'Promotional Use Only'. This was intended for select radio stations throughout Europe. Polystars. 2002.
OK, so this is a mix CD of obscure songs that inspired one of my favorite albums? So best. Did I mention that all the tracks blend into each other? You can put this thing on at a party and it'll be like having Air as DJ. Here's the tracklist:
DISC I
1.01 David Bowie - Speed Of Life (1:32)
1.02 Beatles, The - The End (1:00)
1.03 Beck - Lloyd Price Express (3:05)
1.04 Rollerball - Executive Party Dance (1:45)
1.05 Dopplereffekt - Pornographic Movies (2:07)
1.06 M.A.S.H. - Suicide Is Painless (2:35)
1.07 Quincy Jones - Summer In The City (3:40)
1.08 Serge Gainsbourg - En Melody (2:58)
1.09 Soft Machine - The Soft Wead Factor (2:21)
1.10 Michel Polnareff - Computer Dream (3:51)
1.11 Minnie Riperton - Loving You (3:42)
1.12 John Lennon - How Do You Sleep (4:54)
1.13 Jean-Jacques Perrey - Flight Of The Bumblebee (2:08)
1.14 Beastie Boys - Car Thief (3:03)
1.15 Ween - Roses Are Free (4:37)
1.16 Cure, The - In Your House (2:54)
1.17 Sly Stone - In Time (5:45)
1.18 Frank Sinatra - Water To Drink (2:34)
1.19 Prince - Crazy You (1:52)
1.20 Kraftwerk - Statovarius (3:31)
DISC II
2.01 Small Faces - Ogden's Nut Gone Flake (2:11)
2.02 Beck - Electric Music & The Summer People (3:38)
2.03 Air - Malfunction (1:07)
2.04 Velvet Underground, The - Ocean (3:57)
2.05 Money Mark - Pinto's New Car (2:39)
2.06 Richard De Bordeaux - La Drogue (2:56)
2.07 Stanley Cowell - Travelling Man (4:12)
2.08 Supergrass - Lose It (2:36)
2.09 Funk Factory - Rien Ne Va Plus (5:15)
2.10 Brian Eno - On Some Faraway Beach (3:04)
2.11 Michel Polnareff - Polnareve (1:09)
2.12 Harry Nilsson - Everybody's Talking (0:35)
2.13 Francis Lai - Generique FR3 (3:18)
2.14 Phoenix - City Lights (3:19)
2.15 Pharcyde, The - Passin' Me By (remix) (4:55)
2.16 Chic - At Last I Am Free (6:15)
2.17 David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World (3:57)
2.18 Beck - Deadweight (4:50)
This is the best mix CD I have ever heard. By far. I've been listening to it constantly and it's turned me onto a number of artists of whom I had never heard. Plus, including "Suicide Is Painless" (the theme song to M.A.S.H.) segueing into Quincy Jones "Summer In The City" (without which Nightmares On Wax wouldn't exist)? Genius. Expect no less from Air.
When I bothered to actually look at the liner notes, I read this:
"The sound of air???..well heres what made the classic album "moon safari" sound the way it did, the cd you have in your hand is part one of a mammoth 4 hour journey through the personal record collections of former architect Nicolas Godin (bass, guitar, vocoder, percussion) and mathematician Jean-Benoit Dunckel (keyboards, clavient, synthesizer) both originating from Versailles, France..."
- Peter Tongles (Paris August 2002)
Note the random use of grammar and punctuation. I get the feeling Nic and JB didn't approve this CD. The liner notes go on for two more paragraphs, highlighting Air's discography and ending with a not-so-subtle jab: "Their sophomore studio album, 10,000 Hz Legend, was recorded in Paris and Los Angeles. Released in May 2001, the album's restless experimentalism drew a mixed response from critics still enamoured by the lush textures of Moon Safari."
FYI -- there's no record of this CD in AMG. None for sale on eBay.
It's really quite remarkable and I recommend you search it out.
Here's what's even cooler. there is a PART II featuring Air-approved classics from Brigitte Bardot, Iggy Pop, Kool And The Gang, and the Beastie Boys. I don't own this CD. Got a copy? I'll trade you one of my PART Is.
I'm gonna e-mail a contact at Astralwerks and see if she can clear any of this up for me. Where'd these CDs come from? Why is Virgin selling it?
I understand if you don't share my enthusiasm for Air. Especially after Thursday's through-the-roof traffic day (you fuckers ate up all my bandwidth). So, if you're a new reader, I promise some more Courtney buzz or at least a semi-naked photo of Britney (Grambo help me out here) next week.
UPDATE 4:00 PM
Met my friend Evan at Kim's on St. Marks, and found PART II in the Air section. Maybe not so rare? Record store girl said it was their only copy, though.
Posted at 1:59 PM
Tags: Air
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wow, that sounds really cool. is it all segued or are the tracks seperated with any silence? i want one!
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Nice find, stereogum. Two words: MP3 hosting? I'd love to hear some of the best obscure stuff, not to mention the Air track Malfunction. Does it sound like Moon Safari?
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This has been available for over a year at Amoeba Records in L.A. it's not too rare, but really awesome.
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how awesome. now to try and get my hands on both part 1 and 2. hrmm...
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wow, sounds like an interesting find. i'm also quite the fan of air, reckon i can find this in canada? ...
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I agree, it is your blogdamned DUTY to post MP3s, or at the very least, make copies for those who want to send you some money.
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MP3s please please please. I think you've unknowingly launched a million mixtape quests. Or knowingly. Depends on how mean you are, doesn't it?
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OK. What songs do you wanna hear?
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Start with the one that seems impossible to find otherwise: Air's own Malfunction.
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You also said a bunch of stuff in your post about how this turned you onto some obscure/not well known artist. Their MP3s would be helpful too. I like the internet treasure hunt I'm on, but some of it seems downright impossible.
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OOOUUUAAH! Sounds amazing! Notice the use of a Serge song off of Histoire de Melody Nelson (his best album). And Michel Polnareff, he's so great!
I need to get myself these things. Very inspiring for DJ sets.
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To attempt to answer Brian's question, I'm pretty sure this is a fully mixed CD with one song fading/blending into another.
I mean, the track "2.12 Harry Nilsson - Everybody's Talking (0:35)" is definitely more than 35 seconds long as a stand-alone track. FWIW, that's the song you hear throughout "Midnight Cowboy"
If people are trying to track it down in NYC, I would place good money on the fact you can get it at Halcyon on Smith Street in Brooklyn. But hurry! Because the place will be closing come April 1st.
PS: For anyone into DJ mix CDs and 1970s soul and cover songs, you should pick up "The Wonder of Stevie". It's an import CD tribute to Stevie Wonder that uses cover versions of his songs. It's a 2 CD set wit one CD being the mixed version and the other having ALL of the original cover tunes. Now, back to talking about AIR.
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Thanks Jack!
Man, I love that Nilsson song. It's good walking-to-work-in-Times-Square music.
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This brings to mind how utterly bad radio is- I would love for some station to have no play lists but play an eclectic mix of music like this... the only show that does this is Morning Becomes Eclectic on NPR. (sounds like a great mix cd)
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"Man, I love that Nilsson song. It's good walking-to-work-in-Times-Square music."
Yes indeed! Literally... "I'm walking here!"
As far as the pitiful state of radio goes, you can thank that right on the head of mega companies like Clear Chanel that own all stations. Next up is Viacom that owns virtually every cable station music related. That's what you get when one company owns the airwaves. Sucks hard, but welcome to the 21st Century.
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Both can be found here - http://www.sonicboomrecords.com/catalog/default.asp?searchbox=everything&curpage=10 (short version) http://tinyurl.com/3xe49
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Nice track listing. I've seen it before. But my mom only lets me spend $20 for an double-CD.
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$26.99 is totally worth it for this two-CD set. Disc I of PART II didn't blow me away, but Disc II is excellent.
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Thanks for the Sonic Boom link, AoS. Scored!
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Can recommend Sonic Boom mate, I ordered both parts 1 & 2 from them and the shipped them to the UK for $6.00!
Part 1 was 1st broadcast as a BBC radio 1 essential mix a few years back. i believe that the second disc are tunes that were selected by the guys but not used in the mix itself.
Would recommend going to see Air live if you get the chance. i have been to all 3 of their album tours so far and all of them have been great (1000hz tour was the best by a long way though in my opinion)!!!
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Does somebody have an image of the covers (Part 1 & 2)?
Thanks
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as far as i'm aware, this mix was done by Air for UK's Radio One, The Essential Selection. it was broadcast over 2 saturday nights in 1998 ( i think!) i taped it all on cassette, and one of those cassettes is probably my favourite tape since......... the others i'm afraid i lost. it was around 4 hours in total. i'm pleased to see it is doing the rounds, as my copy is falling to bits!
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hello from turkey.
ı m looking for quincy jones-summer in the city songs cd.
can you help me please?
thanks
gurol
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Dont know if you guys know this but there a torrent of this file widely available online - go suprnova and save yourself a fair few quid!
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thanks for the tip mike.. ;)
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The torrent is no longer available on suprnova but ISO hunt finds both part 1 and 2, took abiut 9 hours to get the lot
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it's back on torrent sites now...it's great stuff!
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yeah i didn't bother to read all the comments (i'm lazy) but i have deck safari, a 4 cd set, pt's 1 and 2 available via mp3 if you want them.
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nice...blog....
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Downloaded all 4 copies by using Limewire (for Mac)
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As I was searching the web for Deck Safari i stumbled across this link, which will possibly be THE Mix CD of 2006...
http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=6923749&style=music&cart=292860858&BAB=M
I have both Groove Armada's and Zero 7's mix CD's in the same series, and they are both superb!
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ISOHunt does not seem to have the torrent files anymore. Can anyone help further please? Thanks!
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this is really really great. i'll try to find it
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any hints on finding this?
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38f24a9b28eafbc0fed8e81b1960ed93
emiliodemarchi http://20.disovvenirvene.com/complementidarredoetnici/ annunciocaseprato
2005-09-07.html http://5.epromessa.com/lavoromontebellobattaglia/ 2005-10-09.html
computersgericomassistenza http://5.questopazzo.com/centroperlimpiegosavona/ vascorossicovercd
dolcitipico http://1.allaforesta.com/bauliit/ 2005-07-31.html
2005-09-01.html http://14.questopazzo.com/guidagenitori/ 2005-09-18.html
occhialesolepolice http://2.epromessa.com/filasci/ autonoleggiobolzano
2005-07-30.html http://4.questopazzo.com/agriturismosandrigo/ 2005-07-17.html
prestitolivinallongocollana http://8.ilettori.com/industriafarmaceutica/ 2005-09-08.html
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38f24a9b28eafbc0fed8e81b1960ed93
emiliodemarchi http://20.disovvenirvene.com/complementidarredoetnici/ annunciocaseprato
2005-09-07.html http://5.epromessa.com/lavoromontebellobattaglia/ 2005-10-09.html
computersgericomassistenza http://5.questopazzo.com/centroperlimpiegosavona/ vascorossicovercd
dolcitipico http://1.allaforesta.com/bauliit/ 2005-07-31.html
2005-09-01.html http://14.questopazzo.com/guidagenitori/ 2005-09-18.html
occhialesolepolice http://2.epromessa.com/filasci/ autonoleggiobolzano
2005-07-30.html http://4.questopazzo.com/agriturismosandrigo/ 2005-07-17.html
prestitolivinallongocollana http://8.ilettori.com/industriafarmaceutica/ 2005-09-08.html
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First heard this on bbc radio 1 in the UK around 9 years ago when Air did the world famous 'essential mix' on a saturday night/sunday morning slot. Most of - if not all of the tracks listed in this bootleg album were played on their essential mix set.
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In case you're looking for this:
http://nodatta.blogspot.com
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Jesus, this is good. I finally found it earlier today.
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still looking for part ii?
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