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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Talkie Walkie
by Air


8.2

based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 21 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

MUSIC:

Darkel: Darkel

Nigel Godrich (Radiohead) produced this third studio LP for the French duo, who handle all the vocal duties themselves for the first time.

LABEL:	Astralwerks
RELEASE DATE:	27 January 2004
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Electronic

NOTES: Available as a limited edition with bonus DVD including five extra tracks, a 35-minute short film and behind-the-scenes footage.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Junkmedia

Achieves that rare supernova of artistic vision that dares to reconcile palpable, unapologetic ambience with unpretentious soulful simplicity.

Entertainment Weekly

Tighter songwriting and an undercurrent of dark claustrophobia distinguish the disc from its predecessors. [23/30 Jan 2004, p.99]

Logo

This is evocative music. It’s beatific, charming, sophisticated and cool.

Drowned In Sound

Talkie Walkie is a startling and beautiful record, as curious and timeless as Moon Safari and as intelligent and listenable as any of the year’s best records.

Pitchfork

The album's chilling resonance is due in part to Godrich's anagogical recording of minimal instrumentation and digitally etiolated detail.

No Ripcord

With all its shallowness and artifice, it can only ever be a guilty pleasure. But it is the most intense of guilty pleasures.

Uncut

Their most convincing, most composerly music to date. [Feb 2004, p.69]

PopMatters

Talkie Walkie is, in many ways, a return to the type of sound featured on Air's first two albums.

Q Magazine

Air thrive on existing at an otherworldly tangent and their cosmic bent is never far away here. [Feb 2004, p.99]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

While Talkie Walkie lacks some of Legend's nerve, it makes for a more immediately pleasing experience.

Tiny Mix Tapes

An intriguing album that grows both more complex and more likeable with each listen.

Dot Music

With 'Talkie Walkie', Air are headed back where they came from. That they do this without actually retracing their own footprints and have produced an album with its own delicate but distinct hallmarks is a measure of their talent.

All Music Guide

Fortunately, Air learned from their mistakes -- or, at least, their limitations -- leading up to the recording of third album Talkie Walkie, and the happy result is a solid middle ground between both of their previous records.

The New York Times

The arrangements are light and immaculate, the vocals coo and cajole, and the melodies are addictive.

The Guardian

The lush melodic sense that deserted Air on 10000Hz Legend has returned.

New Musical Express

‘Talkie Walkie’ deserves to do as well as ‘Moon Safari’. There’s no question that it’s a better record, a different record, written by a pair of supremely talented and greatly improved musicians enjoying total mastery of their studio and sound, who aren’t afraid to take risks for fear of offending their audience.

E! Online

A welcome return to the group's down-tempo beginnings.

Spin

Talkie Walkie 's detachment is still, well, pretty -- virgins might commit suicide to it, but most likely they'll just swoon.

ShakingThrough.net

Talkie Walkie isn't on a par with Moon Safari, and proves far less daring than 10,000 Hz Legend. But it manages to hold up, in its own punch-drunk, electronically unstable way.

Stylus Magazine

Given the genre-splicing we witnessed on 10,000 Hz Legend, Talkie Walkie sometimes seems like white-bread Air, like a fractured spin-off of Moon Safari.

Dusted Magazine

Is Talkie Walkie the redemptive effort their audience has waited for? Yes and no.

Rolling Stone

Air return to what they do best: elegantly moody soundtrack music for imaginary films.

Alternative Press

Air's most song-oriented effort yet. [Feb 2004, p.92]

Austin Chronicle

Some of their best songs yet.

Urb

Where Air's previous album failed to ignite like their classic Moon Safari, they have made some amends on Talkie Walkie. [Jan 2004, p.74]

Blender

If the vocal tracks sound irredeemably icky... the instrumentals are as dreamily engaging as ever. [#23, p.100]

Los Angeles Times

There are exceptions, but most of "Talkie Walkie" is static and not fleshed out, like a perfectly produced series of unfinished demos.

Mojo

The lyrics have become downright soppy and the melodies turned trite. [Feb 2004, p.92]

Playlouder

You can smell the impotent melodic desperation a mile off.

The average user rating for this album is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Stefan S gave it a9:
Some incredibly magical tracks. Opener 'Venus' and closer 'Alone in Kyoto' are perfect. Not as good as Moon Safari. But still gorgeous.

Wander gave it an8:
Talkie walkie contains no bad songs, and some, like cherry blossom girl and alone in kyoto match the best of 'moon safari' for pure beauty

Adam B gave it a9:
fab, not as good as moon safari, but a truly great album in its own right

Maciej W gave it a10:
This is a beautifully done, bold yet mellowing record. If you're looking for pumpin' party beats stay away because this is the record that you and your mates will take on a chilled night in, a record you will listen to with a significant other clutched in one anothers arms deeply gazing into one anothers eyes feeling the bliss of your energy and the music this record fills you with. This is a record for an advanced mind that wants more than simple bass thumping and loops. In essence, it's their strongest record to date and definitely one of the tops of 2004. Savour it.

ED RM gave it a10:
Incredible creative and addictive... A true original masterpiece. A bunch of transcendental songs that defies classification... THIS is the future of music.

Dwight V gave it a7:
This album is better than "Moon Safari", I found Moon to be boring and empty, this album has more components to it, more vocals and overall a better album.

Nir M gave it an 8:
Although the record is a bit different from previous albums, Air managed to sustain a descent level of what they're doing best, hazey background music...

Talkie Walkie by Air

Talkie Walkie
by Air