Air

Air's sensual, atmospheric sound may have made them outliers in the late-'90s electronica boom, but they became one of the most influential electronic acts of the 2000s and beyond. Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel's influences -- Burt Bacharach, Brian Wilson, disco, synthesizer maestros like Tomita and Vangelis, new wave, and obscure Italian film soundtracks -- distinguished them from their dancefloor-oriented contemporaries and helped make their 1998 debut album Moon Safari an instant classic. The duo continued to go against the grain with 2000's 10,000 Hz Legend, which took Air's astonishing powers of mood and texture in ambitious -- and polarizing -- directions. On their subsequent albums, Dunckel and Godin bridged the gap between their breezy pop and experimentalism, with efforts like 2004's Talkie Walkie leaning towards the former and 2007's Pocket Symphony tending toward the latter. Air's style also suited soundtracks perfectly, and their music for 2000's The Virgin Suicides and 2012's Le Voyage Dans La Lune was as haunting as their own albums. In all of their work, Godin and Dunckel brought much-needed beauty, emotion, and glamor to electronic music.

From 🇫🇷 France