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

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

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 worldw ...

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 and lo-fi style, and became known for creating musical colla ...

and suGar Yoshinaga of Buffalo Daughter. The album artwork was produced by Ito Morabito 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 ...

, located on the

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

–

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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'', 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 awa ...

'' 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 – 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, contr ...

– keyboards ; vocals * Beck Hansen – 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, the Three O'Clock, and the Grays. Since 1996, he has released six solo albums, starting with '' Presents Author Unknown' ...

– 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 (band), Failure recei ...

– vocals * Buffalo Daughter – vocals * Lisa Papineau – 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 – background vocals * Olyza – background vocals * Thomas – hand claps * Annabel – hand claps * Jean-Benoît Dunckel – 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 – 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 bee ...

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

Artwork

* Abake – Air logo, layout * Ora-Ïto – 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