For Air, everything in the wake of Moon Safari (a great pop record) and The Virgin Suicides (a slice of Floydian wonder) is a valley — and they’re looking anywhere to settle. 10,000 Hz Legend was arch and cerebral. Talkie Walkie is the opposite: so confectionary as to be forgettable while you’re listening to it. It cuts down on the blippy starch of 10,000 Hz, but it cuts the humanity that made Air Air. Moon Safari is one of the warmest electronic albums. Talkie Walkie is the work of moderately clever computers. The Vocoding is obligatory, so much so that it becomes wallpaper, and the acoustic guitars are played so precisely, they’re loops (even if they aren’t). And, barring the lead singles (“Cherry Blossom Girl,” “Surfing On A Rocket”), we get a record that’s tonally indistinct – a midtempo mush.
Rating: C-
