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 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. 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 + 2006 weekly chart performance for Pocket Symphony Chart (2007) Peakposition European Albums (Billboard) 7 Japanese Albums (Oricon) 156
+ 2026 weekly chart performance for Pocket Symphony Chart (2026) Peakposition Croatian International Albums (HDU) 5 Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ) 29
Year-end charts + Year-end chart performance for Pocket Symphony Chart (2007) Position French Albums (SNEP) 108 US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard) 15
References