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, a DVD documentary about the duo, and a bonus CD with live performances and remixes. Moon Safari was acclaimed by critics. It is credited with setting the stage for the budding downtempo music style. By February 2012, it had sold 386,000 copies in the United States. Critical reception Moon Safari was met with general acclaim upon its release. Writing in Mixmag, Alexis Petridis called it a "superbly inventive" album that "creates a soundworld in your living room, a world where everything's more shiny, chic and sophisticated than reality". John Mulvey of NME praised Air's "sensitive but tenacious grasp of melody, a laid-back disposition and a reckless way with a Vocoder that makes them unafraid of sounding like a digital ELO", also noting similarities to Garbage on "Sexy Boy". Entertainment Weeklys Ethan Smith felt that though the album occasionally bears excessive resemblance to Everything but the Girl, "Air leaven it all with a welcome dash of Gallic irony." Pitchfork writer Brent DiCrescenzo remarked that the music would befit "minimalist architecture design, shagging up against a tree in a field of sunflowers, waiting in line for 'Space Mountain,' drinking gin upstairs in a 747 (circa 1974), and '60s Swedish industrial documentaries", adding that though the album is "too cheeky" for everyday listening, it is nonetheless romantic. Rolling Stones Rob Sheffield was more reserved in his praise, praising the album's stylistic range and the instrumental songs but calling the group "obsessive". (Retrospectively in its album guide, Rolling Stone awarded the album four-and-a-half stars.) Likewise, Spins Jeff Salamon felt that though the album's pathos is "heartening", the music lacks irony. Accolades Moon Safari was voted as the best album of the year in The Face and in Select. It featured in top 10 lists for magazines such as Spin, Melody Maker, NME and Mojo. On aggregation site Acclaimed Music's list of the most recommended albums of all time, Moon Safari ranks 151st, the highest rank achieved by Air and by a French album in general. Rolling Stone magazine later ranked the album at number 93 on their list of the best albums of the 1990s, while the magazine's French edition ranked it at