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Pocket Symphony | 
| Artist: Air
Label: Astralwerks
Category: Music
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $14.99
You Save: $2.99 (17%)
Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 6038
Format: Enhanced
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 5 x 0.4
MPN: 83761
UPC: 094638376125
EAN: 0094638376125
ASIN: B000KGGEUE
Release Date: March 6, 2007
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Space Maker | | • | Once Upon A Time | | • | Hell Of A Party | | • | Napalm Love | | • | Mayfair Song | | • | Left Bank | | • | Photograph | | • | Mer du Japon | | • | Lost Message | | • | Somewhere Between Waking And Sleeping | | • | Redhead Girl | | • | Night Sight |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Some bands like to thwart expectations, and Air is one of them. "Spacemaker," the opening of Pocket Symphony, sounds like a cousin to their instrumental retro-lounge "La Femme D'Argent" from 1998's Moon Safari, right down to the electric bass break in the middle. But this isn't a return to their breakthrough sound. "Spacemaker" really does pave the way for an almost classically somnolent outing from the French duo. Air once proclaimed, "In any classical song you can take five seconds of it and make a loop and you make a great pop song with it." I think they took that to heart on an album that echoes Debussy, Bach, and Reich, but which also contains a Beatlesque eclecticism redolent of Revolver. But instead of the Beatles' Indian flourishes, Air look to Japan, using a plucked koto on a couple of tracks, but also a zen garden sense of sonic placement. Although Jarvis Cocker from Pulp and Neil Hannon of Divine Comedy sing on a couple of tunes--adding some emotional gravitas--Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel do most of the vocalizing in their preternatural Munchkins-on-Quaaludes lisp. Air are known for their chilled melancholy, but the mood of Pocket Symphony is introspectively somber. Only "Mer du Japon" rises to a groove, while the rest recline in a luxurious torpor. That mood works especially well on instrumentals like the minimalist cycles of "Night Sight" and the Enoesque "Lost Message," with its circular piano line and ice-sheathed string synthesizers. Pocket Symphony won't yield any pop hits, but it could be the soundtrack to endless rainy afternoons. --John Diliberto
Album Description
From the creators of the classic albums "Moon Safari" and "Talkie Walkie", Air deliver a career masterpiece, their most seductive and accomplished work to date. Features guest vocals by Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy). Includes the single "Once Upon A Time".
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| Customer Reviews: Read 39 more reviews...
 3 1/2 stars. Listenable, but not their best. June 9, 2008
Eric J. Anderson (Ankeny, Iowa)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I listened to the entire album over on Lala. While there were no bad tracks, I didn't find anything (except Mer du Japon) that excited me as much as Premiers Symptomes. Granted, Air has moved on to a different style. Apparently it is a style that I don't like as much. For one, if they're going to have lyrics, they need to find a better lyricist. Second, the synthesized vocals sound like an emasculated (i.e. castrated) man. I have nothing against castrati personally, but the sound does not appeal to me in pop music. Finally, the compositions themselves, while many are pleasant dreamy tracks that may inspire daydreams and induce calm, did not hold my attention. Perhaps there is some musical subtlety that I'm missing, but I don't think so.
It all depends on what you're looking for. I think I will buy Talkie Walkie, which isn't perfect, but has a greater number of quality tracks that draw me back to them again and again. As for this new CD, I believe I will pass. However, if your tastes trend toward ambient music, this may have more appeal for you.
 Oh dear April 8, 2008
E. Tillyer-strudwick (Australia)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was hoping for some more of the same fluent funky yet sultry smooth jazz but unfortunately got a bunch of pots and pans being banged together. I tried listening to it a dozen times but couldn't bear myself to listen any more. I have since disposed of the CD. What a shame.
Decent but rather dull! January 12, 2008
Elan Bodwick (las vegas)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I own most of Air's cds and would say this latest effort sounds alittle lifeless flat and uninspired. Its a decent rainy night listen but there seems to be a pretty sharp downturn in production and in overall songwriting. Many of the songs sound the same - the piano is used alot but played rather lethargic. The first track was pretty good as are the guest vocalist tracks but atleast half the album sounds like ambient brian eno-esque bsides. Ive given it a chance and do play it at night but find myself not really paying attention to most of it. You could do worse but for Air this is a rather tepid affair.
Not their best, but still a worthy purchase December 26, 2007
kevin callis (Virginia)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I only got into Air this year, after the endless comparisons to Zero 7 (whom I've been enjoying since 2005) pushed my curiosity over the edge. This is the 6th CD of theirs that I have purchased.
Space Maker is an awesome song, the best on the CD. It's a wonderful crescendo, but it builds up to something that never happens. Shame too, because this track could be the perfect opener for any CD of this genre. Not that the album is bad by any means, but comparing it to Moon Safari or Talkie Walkie makes it seem wanting.
Once Upon a Time is a beautiful track also. "No time before it's too soon, no time after it's too late," almost a haunting reflection of our extremely short lives on this old and ongoing world.
It seems that some are not thrilled with One Hell of a Party, and to be honest, I wasn't either at first. But as I listened to it more, and caught the Japanese undertones, I began to relate the song symbolically to the bombing of Hiroshima, and not literally as a hangover. If you listen to it with that context in mind, it may well have a stronger effect on you.
Mayfair Song, Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping (somber, scary song about death), and Redhead Girl are the other tracks I like a lot. Napalm Love and Photograph just seemed out of place.
Alone in Koyoto (from Walkie) spoiled me, I guess. It would be hard for anyone to follow up with a better closing track, so Night Sight just didn't serve as a spellbinding ending.
I give it 4 stars nonetheless, because when it's good, it's damn good, and definitely worth owning if you love Air.
Pocket Symphony; CD may be the wrong medium for you. November 2, 2007
Evan Craig
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have owned Pocket Symphony on CD for about 2 months now, and I have given it many listens. The first track to make itself noticed was Napalm Love, having an exotic appeal. I could have lied to myself and said that it was their best album at the time, but I didn't truely believe it, but now I know. The beauty lies deeper, much deeper, in fact it is very hard for me to access the true substance of the album on CD. I urge all of you who are either about to buy the album, or have already purchased the CD to buy the vinyl. Pocket Symphony could easily be compressed and fit onto one record, but it isn't. Air split up the album into 4-sides (2 records) which allows for the most open, ambient sounds. The bass sound is very open clear, when heard on the right medium, you'll NEVER go back. The vinyl has COMPLETELY changed the way I listen to Pocket Symphony, which by the way is a masterpiece! I give the CD 4 stars, but the vinyl 5!!!!
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