''10 000 Hz Legend'' is the second studio album by French

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

duo

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

, released in France on 28 May 2001 by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

and in the United States on 29 May 2001 by

Astralwerks Astralwerks is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in 1993 and, in its early years, featur ...

. On this album, tracks are longer and more electronic-oriented than on their previous records. These experimentations find the duo expanding their capacities and working with other artists including

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...

and suGar Yoshinaga of

Buffalo Daughter Buffalo Daughter is a Japanese rock band formed in 1993. The three main members are suGar Yoshinaga (ex-Havana Exotica) on guitar, Yumiko Ohno (ex-Havana Exotica) on bass, and Moog (later changed to MoOog) Yamamoto on turntables and graphic desi ...

. The album artwork was produced by

Ito Morabito Ora Ito (born 1977 in Marseille, France) is a French designer. 'Ora-Ïto' is the brand name of his work and includes designs for watchmaker Swatch, appliance manufacturer Gorenje, brewer Heineken and tobacconist/fragrance chemist Davidoff. The ...

and its cover image features

Monument Valley Monument Valley ( nv, Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii, , meaning ''valley of the rocks'') is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, the largest reaching above the valley floor. It is located on the Utah-Arizona s ...

, located on the

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

–

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

border.

Critical reception

''10 000 Hz Legend'' received generally less-favorable reviews from critics than had their previous albums. Most reviewers focused on the group's departure from the sound of 1998's ''

Moon Safari ''Moon Safari'' is the debut studio album by French electronic music duo Air, released on 16 January 1998 by Source and Virgin Records. ''Moon Safari'' was re-released on 14 April 2008 to mark the album's 10th anniversary, including a bound book ...

'', although the soundtrack album ''

The Virgin Suicides ''The Virgin Suicides'' is a 1993 debut novel by the American author Jeffrey Eugenides. The fictional story, which is set in Grosse Pointe, Michigan during the 1970s, centers on the lives of five doomed sisters, the Lisbon girls. The novel is wr ...

'' (2000) had a similar mood and sound. '' Q'' listed ''10 000 Hz Legend'' as one of the 50 best albums of 2001. The American music website ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

'' takes its name from the lyrics of the song "Radio #1".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''10 000 Hz Legend''.

Musicians

– arrangements *

Brian Reitzell Brian Reitzell (born December 24, 1965) is an American musician, composer, record producer and music supervisor best known for his work on many film and TV soundtracks. He is notable for working extensively with the American film director Sofia ...

– drums ; drum sounds *

Justin Meldal-Johnsen Justin Meldal-Johnsen (born March 26, 1970) is an American musician, record producer, songwriter and musical director. He is best known for his work with artists such as Beck, Paramore, Nine Inch Nails, M83, Air, and St. Vincent. Meldal-J ...

– bass ; solo vocals ; drum sound *

Roger Joseph Manning Jr Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (born May 27, 1966) is an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the bands Jellyfish, the Moog Cookbook, and Imperial Drag. He has also spent several years as a member of Beck's backing band, contri ...

– keyboards ; vocals *

Beck Hansen Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style, and became known for creating musical collag ...

– vocals ; harmonica *

Jason Falkner Jason Falkner (born June 2, 1968) is an American songwriter, musician, and guitarist who was a member of the bands Jellyfish (band), Jellyfish, the Three O'Clock, and the Grays (band), the Grays. Since 1996, he has released six solo albums, start ...

– vocals *

Ken Andrews Ken Andrews (born Kenneth Andrew Doty; June 18, 1967) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Andrews was born in Seattle, Washington, and attended film school in Los Angeles before his band Failure received a record dea ...

– vocals *

Lisa Papineau Lisa Papineau is an American musician and songwriter. She has released four solo albums, and is the songwriter and vocalist for Los Angeles band Big Sir. Papineau is a frequent collaborator of Japanese composer Jun Miyake and has also written son ...

– vocals * Jean Croc – whistle * Elin Carlson – solo soprano * Barbara Cohen – voice *

Corky Hale Corky Hale (born July 3, 1936) is an American jazz harpist, pianist, flutist, and vocalist. She has been a theater producer, political activist, restaurateur, and the owner of the Corky Hale women's clothing store in Los Angeles, California. Ear ...

– harp *

Julia Sarr Julia Sarr is a Mezzo-soprano born in Dakar (Senegal) from the Serer ethnic group. As one of the most sought after backing vocalists, she has worked with several prominent artists over the years including Youssou N'Dour, Lokua Kanza and Patrice La ...

– background vocals * Olyza – background vocals * Thomas – hand claps * Annabel – hand claps *

Jean-Benoît Dunckel Jean-Benoît Dunckel (born 7 September 1969) is a French musician best known for being one half of the French music duo Air, along with Nicolas Godin. In the 1980s, he formed the band Orange with Alex Gopher, Xavier Jamaux and Jean de Reydellet ...

– hand claps *

Roger Neill Roger Neill (born December 26, 1963) is an American composer, arranger, orchestrator, conductor, guitarist and educator. He is best known for his scores for the films ''20th Century Women'', ''Don't Think Twice'', and ''Beginners''. Notable televi ...

– string, choir and flute conducting, arrangements

Technical

* Air – recording, production * Julien Marty – sound engineering * Julien Doubey – sound engineering * Pascal Garnon – drum recording *

Brian Kehew Brian Kehew (born September 22, 1964) is an American, Los Angeles-based, musician and record producer. He is a member of The Moog Cookbook and co-author of the ''Recording The Beatles'' book, an in-depth look at the Beatles' studio approach. Li ...

– sound engineering * Bruce Keen – sound engineering, editing *

Tony Hoffer Tony Hoffer is an American record producer, songwriter, and music mixer. Career Hoffer is credited for his work on multiple platinum-selling albums including The Kooks, The Thrills, Beck, Supergrass, Turin Brakes and Air. His records have been ...

– additional production, editing, mixing * Julien Delfaud – mixing assistance * Nilesh Patel – mastering * Stéphane Elfassi – executive production * Marc Teissier du Cros – executive production

Artwork

Abake Åbäke is a transdisciplinary graphic design collective, founded in 2000 by Patrick Lacey (UK), Benjamin Reichen (FR), Kajsa Ståhl (SE) and Maki Suzuki (FR) in London, England, after meeting at the Royal College of Art. Members of Åbäke co-foun ...

– Air logo, layout *

Ora-Ïto Ora Ito (born 1977 in Marseille, France) is a French designer. 'Ora-Ïto' is the brand name of his work and includes designs for watchmaker Swatch, appliance manufacturer Gorenje, brewer Heineken and tobacconist/fragrance chemist Davidoff ...

– concept, design * Arno Bani – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{Authority control 2001 albums Air (French band) albums Albums produced by Tony Hoffer Albums recorded at Capitol Studios Astralwerks albums Virgin Records albums