Air - Pocket Symphony

For all of you out there unaware the the electronic Band 'Air'. Here is a short bio of the band.

Air, a French Electronic/Ambient band formed in 1995 in France. The band consists of two members, Nicholas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel. The band became famous for their Electronic Sounds all over the world with the release of their second album in 1998, Moon Safari.

Now in 2008, after 5 amazing albums. Air has released yet another unique, catchy and relaxing album, Pocket Symphony. 

Pocket Symphony like their other albums is a soft album. Perfect for sitting back on your bed and dozing off to, but on the other hand it can also be listened to as quite a funky and syncopated album.

Personally I think that this album is perfect for casual background at a party or gathering, coming off not to strong and not to dominating. In other words can be easily blocked out unlike other conventional party music such as Hard-style or Rave music.

For all the Air fans out there, this album is a little different to some of there other albums such as Moon Safari or Virgin Suicides. But none the less is still a great album, just in a slightly different style from their other albums.

My favorite song off the album is 'Once upon a time' which is the second track and was the first single of the Album. There are several things I like about this song. Many of them I can not put a name to, I just like it and don't know how to put a name to it. The things I do like about this song is the laid back and relaxed mental image that appears in your head after listening to it for a minute or so.

When I first heard this song I had just uploaded it onto my iPod and hadn't listened to it yet. I left the house and started walking towards the bus stop with the first song of the album playing 'Space Maker', a Trip-Hop sounding song which really fits as an intro to this album. I was about two thirds through my walk when I saw the bus slowing down towards the bus stop. I looked at my watch and realised that if I didn't catch this bus I was going to be late for school, so I started to run for it. In doing this my headphones fell off from the top of my head (I have big headphones like DJ's have). By the time I had gotten to the bus st op the bus had gone, the bus stop was completely deserted and the next bus didn't come for another twenty minutes. I took a seat and chucked my school bag on the floor in anger and then placed my headphones back on my head. The song had changed and was now about 30 seconds through the second song, 'Once upon a time'. Instantly I knew that this was a good song, so much so that I got my iPod out of my pocket and rated it 5 Stars.

Personally I quite like this album, but that's just my opinion. Other people may have a totally different take on it, like my mum who found it stressful to listen to? You have to really be into this sort of music to like it I think. It's not your usual music that you hear on your radio so it could take a little bit of time getting used to if you new to Air, or any electronic/ambient band. If you are by any chance new to Air, start with Moon Safari it's a really good album and is a little easier to listen to for your everyday listener.

Pocket Symphony by Air.

★★★★ - 4 Stars out of 5. "Perfect for sitting back on your bed and dozing off to"