M83 - Live: Shepherds Bush Empire 16/02/12

I'm not sure why, but a strong proportion of tonight's crowd aren't dancing their faces off. M83 have just finished We Own the Sky and broken straight into Steve McQueen and still half of those in tonight's standing area gaze on in near stationary positions. It's not awe stricken paralysis, Gonzales and co aren't completely smashing it yet, but they're still being true to their records.

Tonight then brings M83’s European lap of glory to London. As fast as the city took in the likes of Midnight City, a few months down the line and it seems to have been all but forgotten. Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming may have been one of the best records of 2011, but it’s 2012 now and there’s new contenders to their crown. Shepherds Bush is tonight full to the brim with revellers but there’s only handfuls of people who look like they’re genuinely excited to be there. 

There's moments of genuine relaxation in which you could be in a James Blake or SBTRKT show, but the rest is pure dream-pop with a stunning dance floor outlook. It’s not all computers though. In a musical environment in which live music actually being played live is so important, they're a tight unit and as time progresses, those present start to realise that. There’s nods to their past as even their self titled album’s Sitting gets a play whilst Saturdays=Youth and Before the Dawn… tracks also feature. Perhaps the most interesting choices come at the end of the set. Midnight City, the track that everyone’s been waiting for erupts and even some people on the second tier of balconies can be seen dancing. This is followed by the distinctly post-rock A Guitar And A Heart as the band leave the stage for the accepted encore.

Returning to the stage with the atmospheric and newly freshened Skin of the Night you can tell why the band decide to play live. Vocalist and musician Morgan Kibby adds a huge amount of talent, depth and even glamour to Gonzales’ live show and in tracks such as Intro (vocals on record are Zola Jesus, but who needs her when you have Kibby) and Skin of the Night, she comes into her own and belts out a stunning vocal line. Closing the night with Couleurs, it’s not quite the dance party they might have hoped for, but for many, it’s perfection. Time and time again M83 pull it out of the bag and if you add a bit more alcohol and sunshine to the mix at the summer’s festivals, they could do it all over again.

Braden Fletcher

M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming



 Releasing a double album can mean a number of things, the main reasons being: an artist is releasing an album after a number of years and has an abundance of creativity and material, an artist is creating material with a concept or story too big for one album, or an artist is committing a plethora of throwaway tracks in a pretentious attempt to seem creative. For M83, the musical alias of 30-year-old Frenchman Anthony Gonzalez, there are hints of all three. ‘Saturdays = Youth’, the last album created by M83, was released to critical acclaim in 2008, despite Gonzalez’ lack of confidence in his own material. After its release, he relocated to California after living in Southern France for 29 years He often drove out to Joshua Tree to write and record music in a rented cabin in the middle of nowhere. Gonzalez’ fixation with double albums such as The Beatles’ ‘White Album’ and Smashing Pumpkins’ ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’, inspired him to create his own, Gonzalez calling it “a statement”.

The concept behind this double album being that one disc is “related” to the other. Track One on Disc One, the Zola Jesus featuring “Intro”, has a sibling in Track One on Disc Two, the grandiose “My Tears Are Becoming A Sea”. Listening to every song without knowing the concept makes this album a lot less enjoyable. The pairing of songs from different discs is reminiscent of Radiohead’s ‘01 and 10 Playlist’ which combined ‘OK Computer’ with ‘In Rainbows’. The only difference being that M83’s paired songs sound similar to one another, joining together almost seamlessly. The best combination is the second coupling of “Midnight City” and “New Map”, both being among the best tracks. “Midnight City” was released as a free download, which should be a crime seeing as it’s one of the best songs of the year.

However, this ambitious project isn’t without its flaws. Does a double album really need six interlude tracks? While it does make the whole thing more accessible, it seems like the idea was too big for Gonzalez to carry out, instead it’s a somewhat lazy attempt. Aside from the interludes, another deficient track is the weird children’s story of “Raconte-Moi Une Histoire”. While the music is good, the child’s narrative is odd, the track would benefit greatly without it, leaving Anthony’s woozy falsetto to truly shine in the last minute-and-a-half. Gonzalez’ vocals are a cross between Panda Bear’s croon and Ezra Koenig’s yelp, and while it suits the music well, it will grate on some people after a while, even more considering this is a double album lasting over an hour.

While the music is similar, each track blends well with its sibling which is essential in showing Gonzalez’ creativity and talent as a musician. It isn’t the best double album you’ll ever hear, but you can’t blame Anthony for taking on such a massively difficult task, he can definitely be confident in the material he has made on this project.

7/10

By Calum Stephen