Pocket Symphony is the fourth studio album by French electronic music duo Air, released on 5 March 2007 by Virgin Records. It features collaborations with Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon. Pocket Symphony incorporates some of the Japanese instruments Godin had recently learned to play from an Okinawann master musician: the koto (also referred to as a Japanese floor harp) and the three-string, banjo-like shamisen. However, a press release claims that "conventional instruments continue to play a great role" in the duo's music. The album features art by Xavier Veilhan.

Pocket Symphony debuted at number 40 on the US Billboard 200, with 17,000 copies sold in its first week. As of February 2012, it had sold 77,000 copies in the United States.

The term "pocket symphony" was popularised by English journalist Derek Taylor, who used it to describe the Beach Boys' 1966 single "Good Vibrations".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Pocket Symphony.

Air

• Nicolas Godin – bass ; solina ; guitars ; synth bass ; drum machine ; shamisen ; piano ; koto ; synthesizers ; vocals ; glockenspiel ; tambourine ; drums ; Memorymoog ; wind chimes

• JB Dunckel – piano ; synthesizers ; vibraphone ; vocals ; glockenspiel ; samples ; ARP percussions, xylophone ; voice pad ; drum machine ; Rhodes ; synth bass

Additional musicians

• Joey Waronker – drums, percussion

• Magic Malik – flute

• Tony Allen – drums

• Jarvis Cocker – vocals

• Neil Hannon – vocals

• Joby Talbot – string arrangements, string conducting

• David Richard Campbell – string arrangements

Technical

• Nigel Godrich – production, engineering

• Air – production

• Darrell Thorp – engineering

• Florian Lagatta – engineering

• Simon Hayes – engineering assistance

• Andrew Rugg – engineering assistance

• Bob Ludwig – mastering at Gateway Mastering (Portland, Maine)

Artwork

• Xavier Veilhan – artwork

• Lili Fleury – artwork

• Laurent Pinon – artwork

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References