TORONTO - You've probably heard the beautiful, mood-making music of Air, you just don't realize it unless you're already a hardcore fan.

That semi-anonymous status might explain the disappointingly half-full Kool Haus on Saturday night as the French electronica duo turned up in support of their latest album, Pocket Symphony.

When Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel aren't providing atomspheric tunes for the movies of frequent collaborator Sofia Coppola or commercials ranging from Nissan to Heineken, they're putting out some mighty cool-sounding albums. To be precise, about a half-dozen discs in the last 12 years.

And while Pocket Symphony was represented on Saturday night by such trippy songs as Once Upon A Lifetime, Napalm Love, Mer Du Japon and and Photograph, Air's set list was a democratic one.

Venus, Run, Cherry Blossom Girl and Alone in Kyoto from 2003's Talkie Walkie; Radian, People in the City and Don't Be Light from 2001's 10,000 Hz Legend; and crowd favourites Talisman, Remember, Kelly Watch the Stars, Sexy Boy and La Femme D'argent from their breakthrough disc, 1998's Moon Safari.

Smoke, purple lights and an ominous-sounding synth heralded their entrance before a bearded Godin on acoustic and electric guitars, and the synth-master Dunckel in head-to-toe white, took their positions with three backing musicians in shadows behind them.

The only problem was that the duo hardly moved for the next hour and 15 minutes and their stage banter was limited to the occasional "Thank-you," or a computerized voice reminiscent of Stephen Hawking's.

To say it was a static performance is a bit of an understatement and the cavernous surroundings of a half-empty Kool Haus didn't help matters.

Air, which is an anacronym for amour (love), imagination, and reve (dream), preferred instead to let their dreamy, laid-back and psychedelic music speak for itself amid the occasional backdrop of stars or more abstract visuals.

You could have been lying on your back at the planetarium and been much more entertained.

That's not to say their performance was boring, just underwhelming.

For example, when the energy kicked up a major notch in the concert's middle section on such tunes as Remember, People in the Sky, Mer Du Japon, Don't Be Light, and Kelly Watch the Stars, the shift in the audience's attentativeness was palatable.

And by the time Air returned for a three-song encore, the crowd was even clapping along to such songs as Alone in Kyoto, Sexy Boy and La Femme D'Argent.

My advice to Air would be to play a more intimate and stylish venue next time and bring more visuals and effects.