M83
Dead Cities, Red Seas, & Lost Ghosts
(Mute)
First Appeared in The Music Box, August 2004, Volume 11, #8
Written by John Metzger
Titled after a spiral galaxy that happens to be one of the Milky Way’s
closest cosmic neighbors, M83 couldn’t have picked a better name for itself.
After all, the music featured on its astral-traveling, North American debut
Dead Cites, Red Seas, & Lost Ghosts unfurls in a similarly powerful fashion,
twisting and turning as it fills the universe’s great expanses with lush waves
of sound that pulsate, permeate, and penetrate the body, mind, and soul —
particularly when played at a deliriously high volume. Utilizing an array of
now-ancient synthesizers and drum machines, the French duo of Nicolas Fromageau
and Anthony Gonzalez conjures a space-age ambience that ties together the
compositions of Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno, and Air in a
manner that weaves a breathtakingly surreal tapestry of swirling colors and
hallucinogenic visions. Throughout the disc, the ensemble plays with a variety
of textures and dynamics, folding one track into the next with the utmost
precision of a well-paced, progressive rock band. Although it lacks the organic
edge of the finer efforts geared toward the shoe-gazer scene, Dead Cities,
Red Seas, & Lost Ghosts succeeds simply because of the shear force and
radiant beauty of M83’s colossal ruminations. 
½
Dead Cities, Red Seas, & Lost Ghosts is available from
Barnes & Noble. To order, Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2004 The Music Box