Track Listing

1. Space Maker
2. Once Upon A Time
3. One Hell Of A Party
4. Napalm Love
5. Mayfair Song
6. Left Bank
7. Photograph
8. Mer Du Japan
9. Lost Message
10. Somewhere Between Walking And Sleeping
11. Redhead Girl
12. Night Sight

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7404 in Music
• Released on: 2007-03-05
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced

Amazon.co.uk Review
Truthfully it's been some time since Air's Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunkel could truthfully be said to be pop musicians, but their fourth album Pocket Symphony journeys further from the pop firmament than ever before. Slow, stately songs built around the tick of electronic drums, the trill of vintage synthesisers, and somewhat unexpectedly, some traditional Japanese instruments – the koto, a Japanese floor harp, and the banjo-like shamisen – it's an album apparently more concerned with texture and mood than crafting catchy pop fromage.

Certainly, it often does it well: 'Mayfair Song' locks into a dazed, lightly cosmic groove oddly reminiscent of Talk Talk circa Spirit Of Eden, all purposeful piano and moody, drifting bass, while the blissful 'Photograph' sees angelic vocals submerged within a tide of shimmering strings and trilling chimes. For the most part, vocals are fairly sparse, but there are two guest spots: the first from Jarvis Cocker, who murmurs like Scott Walker with a sore head through 'Hell Of A Party', and the second from The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon, who invests 'Somewhere Between Waking And Sleeping' with an impressive melancholy soul. At first, it sounds slight, but carry Pocket Symphony with you, and feel it slowly work its magic. –-Louis Pattison

CD Description
Released in early 2007, POCKET SYMPHONY finds Air once again working with outside singers, as the French electronica duo did on '01's 10,000 HZ LEGEND. This time around, the guests are British vocalists Neil Hannon (aka the Divine Comedy) and Jarvis Cocker (formerly of Pulp), with the latter lending his signature droll charm to the woozy "One Hell of a Party".
The Hannon and Cocker tracks aside, SYMPHONY largely serves as a fine companion piece to the supremely laid-back TALKIE WALKIE, with Nicolas Godin and J.B. Dunckel once again tweaking their own half-whispered vocals under the guidance of producer Nigel Godrich (Beck, Radiohead), most notably on the dreamy, drifting "Once Upon a Time" and "Redhead Girl", which comes across as an ambient cousin to WALKIE's "Cherry Blossom Girl". While Air fans hoping for upbeat tunes like "Sexy Boy" and "Radio Number 1" will be left empty-handed,POCKET SYMPHONY reinforces the notion that Godin and Dunckel are most fascinating when thoroughly at ease.

Customer Reviews

In my pocket
Air can be relied on to stick to a signature sound -- lush and dreamlike -- and still be able to wedge in a bit of new material.

In the case of "Pocket Symphony," they stick pretty much to the same formula as their previous release, "Talkie Walkie" -- sweet, slightly symphonic electropop that sounds like something to dream to Yeah, same ol'. Yet somehow that does't interfere with the enjoyability of this pretty, satiny music.

It opens with a hollow tapping and a soft acoustic riff melted into a piano melody. By the time the soft waves of synth kick in, the little melody is quietly hypnotic, as it expands into a shimmering little piano-synth epic... only to coil back up into its piano melody and hollow drumming.

That's "Space Maker," and it's only the warmup for the remaining songs. Air trips softly through a series of songs that are mainly gentle electropop, but with a few classical flourishes sprinkled throughout it. Piano, strings and a bit of horn all make their way into the music.

And they manage a few odd twists, which break the music out of its somnolent sound, and keep it from sounding monotonous -- rippling piano laced with twinkly synth, twisty synthpop, glitchy balladry, and an acoustic ballad or two with some soft keyboard. They even have the spare, twangy Asian-inspired sound of "One Hell of a Party."

Basically, "Pocket Symphony" has Air's trademark sound, which hasn't change substantially since the less soothing electronics of "10,000hz Legend," but they can spice it up with some unexpected twists and new sounds. Not a huge surprise, but very beautiful and soothing nonetheless.

The music itself is a shimmering weave of instrumentation and synth. The latter is pretty flexible, providing some ragged glitches, smooth waves, twiddles and twinkles. And it's wrapped around like a satin blanket over the soft guitar, a dash of horns and bells, and a sweep of soft strings just under the synth.

Not to mention that brilliant piano -- it can jab and ripple through the music. And the musicians have gained some new skills as well. Apparently Nicolas Godin learned to play some Japanese instruments, the koto and the shamisen, which add an exotic, angular edge to the smooth melodies.

"Pocket Symphony" doesn't go many new places, but it upholds Air's reputation for smooth, sophisticated electropop with the odd little moment of experimentation. Definitely a good listen.

Great ideas
Air have a sound and a style that is their own but part of their appeal is that their references are explicit. This album is no exception.

This a true return to form and their best since the soundtrack to Virgin Suicides. Some of their ideas on the previous two albums were interesting and just didn't work but this time round they have created a real 'whole'.

The two standout tracks for me are:

1. 'Somewhere Between Walking and Sleeping' - a terrific (and perhaps intentional) pastiche of Spirit in their 12 Dreams of Dr Sardonicus era. Given their well-publisized reference points this could well have been what they were doing.

2. 'Mer Du Japon' - stylistically close to Suicides and creates a great mood change when the album might be in danger of drift.

In a way it does Air a disservice to cite influences when they are such a unique group with their own sound. This is an album of the highest class and I highly recommend it.

Electronic Performers
Now almost 10 years since the classic Moon Safari was released, Monsieurs Dunckel and Godin once again emerge from their Parisian bunker with another slice of Gallic-tinged soundscapes, whispy melodies and movie-like operatics.
Pocket Symphony is AIR's fourth `proper' album but unlike their criminally underrated prog experiment 10,000hz Legend and the slightly disappointing follow-up Talkie Walkie, this album has more in common with their motion picture soundtrack to Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides.
For the uninitiated Pocket Symphony might be difficult to like. There's none of the duo's breezy melodies of Moon Safari or the hard electronic stylings of 10,000hz. Indeed, there isn't even a hint of a `radio-friendly' track so forget anything as catchy as Cherry Blossom Girl here. Pocket Symphony is slow and stately, melancholy and sombre. Like most of AIR's output, it's upon repeated listenings that this album really starts to weave it's magic. This is an album that demands you invest time to explore it's sparse but somehow lush world.
Common person Jarvis Cocker and The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon provide guest vocals on One Hell of a Party and Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping, injecting both tracks with plenty of downbeat, weary understatement.
Pocket Symphony will probably appease fans desperate for new material but it may be just too impenetrable for newcomers. It's a fine album no doubt, although it certainly isn't easy.