Air: 10,000 Hz Legend

By combining elements of soft rock, lounge music, soundtrack work, and hip analog-synth fetishism, Air stumbled upon a winning formula that transformed the duo into an instant cultural referent. After recording memorable singles, a spectacular debut album, and the score to last year's The Virgin Suicides, Air's Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Nicolas Godin may also have backed themselves into a corner. Releasing another album firmly in the Air mold might wear out their welcome, but deviating from formula might turn off their fans. Facing trouble no matter which way they turned, they should have just stuck with what they knew. Instead, the hotly anticipated 10,000 Hz Legend seems intent on satisfying everyone from the diehards to the people who didn't like Air in the first place. But there's no point in trying to bypass a backlash: If it's going to happen, it's going to happen. By trying to offer something for everyone, the mostly dull 10,000 Hz Legend has little to offer anyone. "Electronic Performers" doesn't present much beyond mild Pink Floydisms to justify its length, while "How Does It Make You Feel" shoots itself in the foot by decorating its verses with a distracting computer voice before offering reparations with a sumptuous chorus. The Station To Station-era Bowie-sounding single "Radio #1" sounds like it's on track, until a built-in DJ speaks over the song's fade-out (to predictably annoying effect). The same could be said of Beck's cameo vehicle "The Vagabond," where the boy genius can't keep his silly falsetto in check. "Radian" and the spooky "Lucky & Unhappy" are welcome highlights, but "Wonder Milky Bitch" is ersatz Serge Gainsbourg, and the awkward, up-tempo "Don't Be Light" won't convince anyone that Air has many new ideas left. Like its fellow Frenchmen in Daft Punk did earlier this year, Air abandons its attributes, confusing cheese with cool and cool with cold, passing itself off as a pack of showroom dummies that for the first time sound more heartless than hip.