*** Air, “Moon Safari,� Source/Caroline.

France has had such a minimal presence on mainstream pop in the U.S. that you’d like to see some foundation awarding a grant to find out just what is causing a minor awakening these days.

First, the French duo Daft Punk arrived last year with a delightful dose of very pop-minded electronic dance music. Now another duo, Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicholas Godin, check in with an album that catches the ear in a different but equally light and inviting way.

There’s a fluttery, cinematic quality to the mostly instrumental music that incorporates quirky elements in sometimes cheesy, sometimes imaginative ways that make you think the pair took to heart all those ‘50s and ‘60s space age/cocktail/lounge albums that have been reissued in recent years.

It’s even tempting to picture Dunckel and Godin as pop innocents listening to such diverse influences as Ennio Morricone’s brilliant film scores and Martin Denny’s sometimes polyester sound-scapes--and then trying to mix the approaches on old keyboards and synthesizers (and other instruments) that they found in an abandoned studio warehouse. A tasty pop diversion.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).