The band Air is a duo from Versailles, France. Their first EP came out in 1995, followed by their critically acclaimed debut album, Moon Safari, which was an international hit. Then they made the music for the film The Virgin Suicides, which was written and directed by Oscar-winner Sofia Coppola, based on the novel by Jeffrey Eugenides. The movie came out in 1999, and it was Sofia Coppola’s first film. An album version of Air’s score came out in 2000, and it was nominated for a Brit award. Pitchfork put it at number four on their list of the best film scores of all time. In addition to the instrumental music that appears in the movie, Air also wrote a song for the end credits, called “Playground Love.” That song featured Sofia Coppola’s future husband, Thomas Mars, from the French band Phoenix, on vocals. Phoenix was still a very new band, and he and Sofia hadn’t even met yet. Thomas appears on the song under the name Gordon Tracks. So for this episode, I spoke to all of them: Nicolas and JB from Air; Sofia Coppola; Thomas Mars; as well as Brian Reitzell, who was the music supervisor of the film.
You can buy The Virgin Suicides Redux album as a CD or vinyl, and you can buy or stream “Playground Love” here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
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footnotes:
The Chateau Marmont
Redd Kross (band)
Thomas Bangalter and Daft Punk
“Highschool Lover” – Air
INXS
Ringo Starr, Beck, and 10cc
“Walk on the Wild Side” by Lou Reed
Bob Dylan
“Yoghurting”
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