Pocket Symphony

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This article is about the album by Air. For the album by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, see Pocket Symphonies for Lonesome Subway Cars.
Pocket Symphony
Pocket Symphony cover
Studio album by Air
Released March 5, 2007 (UK)
March 6, 2007 (U.S.)
Genre Electronic
Length 52:30
Label Virgin, Astralwerks, Source
Producer Air, Nigel Godrich
Professional reviews
Air chronology
Late Night Tales: Air
(2006)		 Pocket Symphony
(2007)

Pocket Symphony is the fifth full-length album by French duo Air. The album was released in March 2007 and features collaborations with Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon.[1] Pocket Symphony also incorporates some of the Japanese instruments Godin recently learned to play from an Okinawan 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.[2] The album features art by Xavier Veilhan.

The first single from this album, "Once Upon a Time", can be heard on the group's MySpace page.[3]

Pocket Symphony debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at number 40, with about 17,000 copies sold in its first week.[4]

Contents

[edit] Track listing

All tracks written by JB Dunckel and Nicolas Godin, except where stated.

  1. "Space Maker" – 4:02
    • Nicolas Godin – bass, guitar and solina
    • JB Dunckel – piano, synthesizers & vibraphone
    • Joey Waronker – drums and percussion
    • Strings arranged and conducted by Joby Talbot
  2. "Once Upon a Time" – 5:02
    • JB Dunckel – vocals, piano, synthesizers and glockenspiel
    • Nicolas Godin – guitar, synth bass, drum machine and shamisen
    • Magic Malik – flute
    • Tony Allen – drums
  3. "One Hell of a Party" (lyrics by Jarvis Cocker) – 4:02
    • Jarvis Cocker – vocals
    • JB Dunckel – synthesizers and samples
    • Nicolas Godin – piano, koto, shamisen and bass
    • Joey Waronker – drums and percussion
  4. "Napalm Love" – 3:27
    • Nicolas Godin – bass and guitars, drum machine
    • JB Dunckel – vocals, piano and synthesizers
  5. "Mayfair Song" – 4:18
    • JB Dunckel – piano, arp percussions, xylophone, voice pad and synthesizers
    • Nicolas Godin – bass, drum machine and synthesizers
  6. "Left Bank" – 4:07
    • Nicolas Godin – guitars and vocals
    • JB Dunckel – synthesizers, drum machine and vocals
  7. "Photograph" – 3:51
    • JB Dunckel – rhodes, piano, synthesizers and vocals
    • Nicolas Godin – bass, guitar, glockenspiel and tambourine
    • Joey Waronker – drums and percussion
    • Magic Malik – flute
  8. "Mer du Japon" – 3:04
    • Nicolas Godin – bass, guitars, koto, tambourine and drums
    • JB Dunckel – piano, synthesizers and vocals
  9. "Lost Message" – 3:32
    • JB Dunckel – piano and synthesizers
    • Nicolas Godin – bass, guitar, memory moog, koto and drum machine
  10. "Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping" (lyrics by Neil Hannon) – 3:35
    • Neil Hannon – vocals
    • Nicolas Godin – guitars and koto
    • JB Dunckel – piano, synth bass, vibraphone
    • Strings arranged by David Richard Campbell
  11. "Redhead Girl" – 4:33
    • JB Dunckel – vocals, rhodes, synthesizers, piano and voice pad
    • Nicolas Godin – guitars, bass and memory moog, wind chimes, glockenspiel and koto
  12. "Night Sight" – 4:17
    • JB Dunckel – rhodes and synthesizers
    • Strings arranged and conducted by Joby Talbot
  13. "The Duelist" (iTunes or OpenDisc bonus track) – 4:40
  14. "Crickets" (iTunes pre-order bonus track) – 3:32
  15. "Time Capsule" (Japan or OpenDisc bonus track)

[edit] Personnel

  • Tony Allen – drums
  • David Richard Campbell – string arrangement
  • Jarvis Cocker – vocals
  • JB Dunckel – synthesizers, piano, vocals, rhodes, voice pad, vibraphone, synth bass, samples, drum machine, arp percussions, xylophone, glockenspiel
  • Nicolas Godin – guitars, bass, koto, drum machine, shamisen, memory moog, tambourine, glockenspiel, vocals, piano, synthesizers, synth bass, solina, drums, wind chimes
  • Neil Hannon – vocals
  • Magic Malik – flute
  • Joby Talbot – string arrangement, conducting
  • Joey Waronker – drums, percussion

[edit] Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart 22
U.S. Billboard 200 40
U.S. Top Electronic Albums 1

[edit] References

  1. ^ Air and Jarvis team up. NME (2006-11-17). Retrieved on 2006-11-19.
  2. ^ Pocket Symphony press release (doc). Retrieved on 2007-01-29.
  3. ^ Air MySpace page
  4. ^ Katie Hasty, "Notorious B.I.G. Scores Another 'Great' On The Billboard 200", Billboard.com, March 14, 2007.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Air
Nicolas Godin • Jean-Benoît Dunckel
Studio albums
Other albums
Singles
"Sexy Boy" • "Kelly Watch The Stars" • "All I Need" • "Playground Love" • "Radio #1" • "Alpha Beta Gaga" • "Cherry Blossom Girl" • "Surfing on a Rocket" • "Once Upon a Time" • "Mer du Japon"
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