Air, Pocket Symphony.

Air, Pocket Symphony.
8.2

Well, this is considerably more to my taste. Substantially more active than the somnambulant Moon Safari, there are places on this album where it very nearly grooves. With substantially more varied instrumentation (i.e., sounds other than "swoony synth waves"), Pocket Symphony trounces Moon Safari so hard I almost wanna retcon the latter's rating to something lower, maybe in the 6 range.

The band expanded some for this album too, and it shows. Afrobeat legend (and The Good, The Bad, and The Queen alum) Tony Allen plays drums, which is awesome, and Britpop icon and legendary curmudgeon Jarvis Cocker shows up to shuck and jive all over "One Hell of a Party." The effect improves the band's sound exponentially. They actually sound like they're having fun, which can sometimes be the most helpful, infectious thing an artist can do.

Pocket Symphony is good, y'all. It's really that simple. Listen to it; you'll probably like it.

Next up is Talkie Walkie, which was Air's immediate follow-up to Moon Safari. (Pocket Symphony's from 2007). Huh.