Ever since Moon Safari was hailed as an instant classic, Air have swung back and forth between the experimental and accessible sides that Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel united so perfectly on their debut.
10,000 Hz Legend might have been too grandiose and aggressively experimental for some Air fans, but Talkie Walkie sometimes felt as if the duo was presenting the most widely palatable version of their music possible.
On Pocket Symphony, Dunckel and Godin find a balance between pretty and inventive that they haven't struck since, well, Moon Safari, even though it isn't nearly as immediate -- even by Air's standards, this is an extremely introspective and atmospheric album.
It's beyond clichéd to call the duo's music filmic; nevertheless, "Space Maker" and "Night Sight" play like the album's opening titles and ending credits, bracketing a set of songs that are sadder and wiser than anything Air has done since The Virgin Suicides (particularly "Lost Message," which could have easily appeared on that soundtrack).
Made around the same time Dunckel and Godin were working with Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon (who also appear here) on Charlotte Gainsbourg's 5:55 and Dunckel was recording his solo project Darkel, Pocket Symphony could be seen as part of a loose trilogy; if so, it's more in line with 5:55's moody romanticism than Darkel's hyper-pop (where, apparently, any lighter-hearted tracks along the lines of Talkie Walkie's "Alpha Beta Gaga" or "Surfing on a Rocket" ended up).
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Space MakerJean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin | Air | Play | 04:02 | 9 MB | 23 MB |
| 2 | Once Upon a TimeJean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin | Air | Play | 05:02 | 11 MB | 29 MB |
| 3 | One Hell of a PartyJarvis Cocker, Jean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin | Air | Play | 04:02 | 9 MB | 19 MB |
| 4 | Napalm LoveJean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin | Air | Play | 03:27 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 5 | Mayfair SongJean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin | Air | Play | 04:18 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 6 | Left BankJean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin | Air | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 21 MB |
| 7 | PhotographJean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin | Air | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 22 MB |
| 8 | Mer du JaponJean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin | Air | Play | 03:04 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 9 | Lost MessageJean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin | Air | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 17 MB |
| 10 | Redhead GirlJean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin | Air | Play | 04:33 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 11 | Night SightJean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin | Air | Play | 04:21 | 9 MB | 18 MB |
| 12 | Somewhere Between Waking And Sleeping | Air | Play | 03:36 | 8 MB | 19 MB |
| 47 mins | 110 MB | |||||
| 47 mins | 261 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Air | Audio Production, Primary Artist, Producer |
| 2 | Tony Allen | Drum, Member of Attributed Artist, Vocals |
| 3 | Tony Allen | Drums |
| 4 | David Campbell | String Arrangements |
| 5 | Jarvis Cocker | Composer, Vocals |
| 6 | Jean-Benoît Dunckel | Composer, Drum Machine, Fender Rhodes, Glockenspiel, Member of Attributed Artist, Percussion, Piano, Sampling, Synthesizer, Synthesizer Bass, Vibraphone, Vocals, Xylophone |
| 7 | Lili Fleury | Artwork |
| 8 | Nicolas Godin | Bass, Composer, Drum Machine, Drums, Glockenspiel, Guitar, Guitar (Bass), Koto, Member of Attributed Artist, Memory Moog, Piano, Shamisen, Solina, Synthesizer, Synthesizer Bass, Tambourine, Vocals, Wind Chimes |
| 9 | Nigel Godrich | Audio Engineer, Audio Production, Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 10 | Neil Hannon | Composer, Vocals |
| 11 | Simon Hayes | Assistant Engineer |
| 12 | Floriant Lagatta | Audio Engineer, Engineer |
| 13 | Bob Ludwig | Mastering |
| 14 | Magic Malik | Flute, Member of Attributed Artist |
| 15 | Laurent Pinon | Artwork |
| 16 | Andrew Rugg | Assistant Engineer |
| 17 | Joby Talbot | String Arrangements, String Conductor |
| 18 | Darrell Thorp | Audio Engineer, Engineer |
| 19 | Xavier Veilhan | Artwork |
| 20 | Joey Waronker | Drum, Drums, Member of Attributed Artist, Percussion |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |