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

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

duo

Air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

, released in France on 28 May 2001 by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

and in the United States on 29 May 2001 by

Astralwerks Astralwerks (or Astralwerks Records) is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music that is now owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in ...

. 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), known mononymously as Beck, 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 mus ...

and suGar Yoshinaga of Buffalo Daughter. 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. ...

. It features

Monument Valley Monument Valley (, , meaning "valley of the rocks") is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, with the largest reaching above the valley floor. The most famous butte formations are located in northeas ...

, located on the

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

–

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

border.

Critical reception

''10 000 Hz Legend'' received generally less favourable reviews from critics than had their previous albums; however, '' Q'' listed ''10 000 Hz Legend'' as one of the 50 best albums of 2001. 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 coming-of-age thriller novel and the debut novel by American writer Jeffrey Eugenides, published in 1993. The story, which is set in Grosse Pointe, Michigan during the 1970s, centers on the lives of five doomed sis ...

'' (2000) had a similar mood and sound. 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 awar ...

'' 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 record producer, musician, songwriter and musical director. He is best known for his work with artists such as Beck, Nine Inch Nails, M83, Air, St. Vincent, Wolf Alice, and Deafheave ...

– 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 (band), Jellyfish, the Moog Cookbook, Imperial Drag, and The Lickerish Quartet. He has also spent several years a ...

– keyboards ; vocals *

Beck Hansen Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, 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 know ...

– 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 – vocals * Buffalo Daughter – 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 (band), Big Sir. Papineau is a frequent collaborator of Japanese composer Jun Miyake and has a ...

– vocals * Jean Croc – whistle * Elin Carlson – solo soprano * Barbara Cohen – voice * Corky Hale – 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 tel ...

– 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 Travis, The Kooks, The Thrills, Beck, Supergrass, Turin Brakes and Air. His reco ...

– 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 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