Talkie Walkie

Talkie Walkie
Studio album by Air
Released 21 January 2004
Genre Downtempo, space rock, neo-psychedelia, electronica[1]
Length 43:27
Label Virgin
Producer Air, Nigel Godrich
Air chronology

10 000 Hz Legend
(2001)		 Talkie Walkie
(2004)		 Pocket Symphony
(2007)

Talkie Walkie is the fourth full-length album by French music duo Air, released on 27 January 2004. The album was possibly named after the song "Le Talkie Walkie" by Serge Gainsbourg, a known influence of the duo. "Alone in Kyoto" was included on the soundtrack to the 2003 film Lost in Translation and "Run" was used in the Veronica Mars episode "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner", as well as the 2004 French film Lila Says. "Talkie-walkie" means walkie-talkie in French.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
About.com [2]
Allmusic [3]
Entertainment Weekly A−[4]
The Guardian [5]
The New York Times favourable[6]
NME 8/10[7]
Pitchfork Media 8.3/10[8]
PopMatters favourable[9]
Rolling Stone [10]

Talkie Walkie received highly favourable reviews from critics. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone called the album "excellent" and commented that Air "return to what they do best: elegantly moody soundtrack music for imaginary films."[10] NME reviewer Piers Martin commented, "It is light and fluffy, of course, but tender and romantic, synthetic and soulful, too. It sounds, effortlessly, new and different, fresh and focused, clean and Zen, no doubt the outcome of Godin and Dunckel's decision to play and programme all the instruments and perform all the vocals on the record themselves in Paris without any external assistance...". Praise was given to the subtle touch producer Nigel Godrich and string arranger Michel Colombier presumably brought to the album at its final stage,[7] and the more personal and tighter song writing.

Pitchfork Media placed Talkie Walkie at number 191 on its list of top 200 albums of the 2000s,[11] and they named it the twentieth best album of 2004.[12]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Air. 

No. Title Length
1. "Venus"   4:04
2. "Cherry Blossom Girl"   3:39
3. "Run"   4:12
4. "Universal Traveler"   4:22
5. "Mike Mills" (named after music video director Mike Mills) 4:26
6. "Surfing on a Rocket"   3:43
7. "Another Day"   3:20
8. "Alpha Beta Gaga"   4:39
9. "Biological"   6:04
10. "Alone in Kyoto"   4:51
11. "Easy Going Woman" (bonus track for Japan) 4:34

Singles and EPs

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[13] 18
Austrian Albums Chart[14] 15
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[15] 2
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[16] 9
Danish Albums Chart[17] 11
Dutch Albums Chart[18] 17
European Top 100 Albums[19] 1
Finnish Albums Chart[20] 8
French Albums Chart[21] 3
German Albums Chart[22] 5
Irish Albums Chart[23] 1
Italian Albums Chart[24] 3
Japanese Albums Chart[25] 146
Norwegian Albums Chart[26] 3
Polish Albums Chart[27] 40
Portuguese Albums Chart[28] 2
Swedish Albums Chart[29] 43
Swiss Albums Chart[30] 4
UK Albums Chart[31] 2
US Top Electronic Albums[32] 2
US Top Independent Albums[32] 3

Certifications

Country Certification
Ireland Gold[33]
United Kingdom Gold[34]

Year-end charts

Chart (2004) Position
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[35] 66
French Albums Chart[36] 103
US Top Electronic Albums[37] 5

References

  1. ↑ http://www.popmatters.com/review/air/
  2. ↑ http://dancemusic.about.com/cs/reviews/fr/AirTalkieWalkie.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:cux8b5z4zsqs
  4. ↑ "Music Review: Talkie Walkie, by Air". Entertainment Weekly.
  5. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (January 16, 2004). "CD: Air, Talkie Walkie". The Guardian (London).
  6. ↑ Strauss, Neil (February 2, 2004). "CRITIC'S CHOICE/New CD's; Getting It Right the First Time". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://www.nme.com/reviews/air/7292
  8. ↑ http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/81-talkie-walkie/
  9. ↑ http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/a/air-talkie.shtml
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 http://web.archive.org/web/20070526234613/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/air/albums/album/4938065/review/6067978/talkie_walkie
  11. ↑ "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 200-151". Pitchfork Media. 28 September 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  12. ↑ http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5934-top-50-albums-of-2004/4/
  13. ↑ "Air – Talkie Walkie". Australian Recording Industry Association. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  14. ↑ "Air – Talkie Walkie" (in German). IFPI Austria. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  15. ↑ "Air – Talkie Walkie" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  16. ↑ "Air – Talkie Walkie" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  17. ↑ "Air – Talkie Walkie". IFPI Denmark. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  18. ↑ "Air – Talkie Walkie" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  19. ↑ Sexton, Paul (5 February 2004). "Air Blows Away Dido's Euro Chart Reign". Billboard. AllBusiness.com. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  20. ↑ "Air – Talkie Walkie". IFPI Finland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  21. ↑ "Air – Talkie Walkie" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  22. ↑ "Air, Talkie Walkie" (in German). Media Control. charts.de. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  23. ↑ "Top 75 Artist Album, Week Ending 29 January 2004". Irish Recorded Music Association. Chart-Track. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  24. ↑ "Air – Talkie Walkie". Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  25. ↑ エールのアルバム売り上げランキング [Air album sales ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  26. ↑ "Air – Talkie Walkie". Verdens Gang. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  27. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży". OLiS. 9 February 2004. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  28. ↑ "Air – Talkie Walkie". Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  29. ↑ "Air – Talkie Walkie". Media Control. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  30. ↑ "Air – Talkie Walkie". Media Control. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  31. ↑ "Air – Talkie Walkie". Official Charts Company. Chart Stats. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "Talkie Walkie – Air". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  33. ↑ "2005 Certification Awards – Gold". Irish Recorded Music Association. irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  34. ↑ "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. 13 February 2004. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  35. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 2004" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  36. ↑ "Classement Albums – année 2004" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  37. ↑ "2004 Year End Charts – Top Electronic Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 25 December 2004. Retrieved 25 February 2012.

External links