I’m sure there must have been hundreds of websites and blogs with titles like “Fresh Air,” but it’s hard to know what else to say when there’s a new Air album. But who cares? Check out the video! 

I just got the album on iTunes today, and it’s pretty sweet. The album is a “score” to “A Voyage to the Moon,” the 109-year-old movie by George Melies, with some additional songs included (the movie itself, which is included with the download, is only about 15 minutes). The movie is pretty funny, although I guess a century ago they must have had to include a lot of rising action in their movies, since the first scene, depicting a bunch of scientists dressed like Dumbledore, goes on for a few minutes, despite the fact that they mainly seem to be standing around and waiting to go to the moon. After that, we see the shipyard where the lunar rocket is being built by a team of workers that look like Huck Finn clones. Finally, they launch and land on the moon, only to… go to sleep? Really? Yep.

Fortunately, the group of wizards eventually finds some aliens, and they promptly proceed to kill the creatures by smashing them with their umbrellas. It’s a good reminder to be appreciative of how far film-making technology and storytelling practices have advanced in the last 110 years.

But the music’s great! Air is always great whether in the background or foreground, and the general Frenchiness of the band and the movie really complement each other. Check it out if you’ve not already. 

And speaking of Melies, don’t forget this Smashing Pumpkin video for “Tonight, Tonight,” which was a tribute to the filmmaker: