French Duo Air Perform Moon Safari in Full at the Fillmore

Celebrated for atmospheric film scores and smooth electronica, French electronic duo Air is bringing its 1998 debut album, Moon Safari, to life in Miami.

The band, consisting of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, is celebrating the critically acclaimed record by playing it in full during its North American tour this fall. Air will stop at the Fillmore Miami Beach on Saturday, October 26. The tour is part of a larger 25th-anniversary campaign for the record. A deluxe anniversary edition of Moon Safari that includes demos, extended tracks, and other rarities is set for release on Friday, March 15.

Air formed in the mid-'90s in Versailles, France, part of a burgeoning music scene around Paris that also spawned Daft Punk and Phoenix. Like their counterparts, Godin and Dunckel had an affinity for 1970s sounds, but rather than turn space disco into hard-hitting house like Daft Punk or poppy indie-rock like Phoenix, they dove into a distinctive downtempo electronic sound that took influence from psychedelic rock and lounge music. Before they formed Air, Godin studied architecture and Dunckel mathematics, which may have informed their spatial approach to sound.

Moon Safari, with its retro-futuristic aesthetic, notable use of acoustic instrumentation, and distinctively French feeling of smooth sensuality, became a staple of nightclub chillout rooms (remember those?) and an important entry in the burgeoning genre of downtempo alongside groups like Zero 7 and Thievery Corporation. Brent DiCrescenzo's original 7.9 review for Pitchfork declared it "the perfect background music for minimalist architecture design," with favorable comparisons to Stereolab and Pizzicato Five. The album's lead single, "Sexy Boy," meanwhile, became a worldwide hit, inspiring remixes from Cassius, Étienne de Crécy, and Beck and a video directed by future A24 director Mike Mills (20th Century Women, Come On Come On).
Arguably, the band is even more famous for musical scores for films, especially for director Sofia Coppola. The duo most notably scored her debut film The Virgin Suicides, which prominently featured Moon Safari track "Ce matin-là," and provided music for Lost in Translation ("Alone in Kyoto") and Marie Antoinette ("Il Secondo Giorno"). They also scored director George Melies' 1902 silent film Le voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon), a milestone in French cinema and science fiction film history, in 2012.

Presale tickets for Air's Miami Beach show will be available starting Thursday, March 7, at 10 a.m., and the sale to the general public begins Friday, March 8, at 10 a.m. via livenation.com. Find all the tour dates below.

September 25 - Vancouver, BC - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
September 27 - Seattle, WA - Benaroya Hall
September 29 - Los Angeles, CA - Orpheum
September 30 - Los Angeles, CA - Orpheum
October 2 - San Francisco, CA - The Masonic
October 4 - Denver, CO - Bellco Theater
October 6 - Minneapolis, MN - State Theatre
October 8 - Chicago, IL - Auditorium Theatre
October 10 - Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre
October 12 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall
October 13 - Montreal, QC - Place Bell
October 15 - Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall at Fenway
October 17 - Philadelphia, PA - The Met
October 18 - Washington, DC - The Anthem
October 21 - New York, NY - Beacon Theatre
October 24 - Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
October 26 - Miami Beach, FL - Fillmore Miami Beach
October 29 - Dallas, TX - Music Hall at Fair Park
October 30 - Austin, TX - Moody Amphitheatre

Air. 8 p.m. Saturday, October 26, at the Fillmore Miami Beach, 1700 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; 305-673-7300; fillmoremb.com. Tickets on presale Thursday, March 7, and general sale Friday. March 8, via livenation.com.