Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts

Anthony Gonzalez and Nicolas Fromageau, two young Frenchmen with a penchant for electronic music, released their first album as M83 in 2001. Two years later (three in the US), they upped the ante with DEAD CITIES, RED SEAS & LOST GHOSTS. It's easy to forgive the countless My Bloody Valentine comparisons the duo garners, especially when the ethereal-yet-organic flow of their swirling, sparkling sound pushes the same emotional buttons that LOVELESS did over a dozen years earlier. The main difference between M83 and MBV, however, is that in sharp contrast to Kevin Shields's lush guitar orchestrations, most of M83's sounds are electronically generated. The blissful swoops and shudders that grace every track may sound like forces of nature, but their origins are largely digital. In this respect, one might make just as valid a connection to the mid-'90s ambient folk-pop of Flying Saucer Attack. Reference points aside, DEAD CITIES is a standout recording of its time, whether you stack it among contemporaries in rock, electronica, or any other genre.