M83 Live

Sunday night, I had the privilege of seeing M83 in concert! I traveled to Omaha and walked around the Old Market during the early evening, which proved to be cold and uneventful, seeing as how everything there (save for a few restaurants and bars) closes around 6.

The show took place at the Slowdown, a newer bar and concert joint north of the Old Market, near the Qwest Center. I'm fond of the Slowdown, which has a reasonable beer selection and has proven to be a solid if undersized venue for a concert. It's not uncomfortably small, but latecomers will be lucky to have a decent view of the stage.

Anyway, the opening act was some boy, probably 20-22, named Landon. Landon played guitar and sang, and while he did neither poorly, I couldn't say I enjoyed his set much. He was, frankly, just a little too pathetic for me, between apologizing for potential screwups in a song or trying weakly to rail against his hecklers. I wanted to feel badly for him, but I think he felt badly enough about himself for everyone there.

Thankfully, Landon didn't stay on stage too long, and soon gave way to M83. I really didn't know what to expect, with M83 being something of an electronic post-rock group, but I enjoyed the show a great deal. The music was mostly live, though a dusty black Macbook was present for some recordings and effects. Thankfully, Anthony Gonzalez and company are a pretty decent band.

M83 seems to be embracing the 80's / New Wave Redux part of their image, from the Breakfast Club-looking posters to the feathered-hair-and-bandanna-on-the-neck headshot adorning the backdrop of the stage. It seems as though the crowd was buying this, to some extent; most of the people there looked like average concertgoers, but there were a few younger people who only danced to the more recent (i.e. 80's-influenced) M83 songs. These people also had tragically bad hair and fashion choices.

Aside:
I am not sure what I think of M83's current 80's-influenced direction; I want to like it, but it seems just a little too nostalgic, and I think that Anthony Gonzalez is too talented and creative to need such a gimmick. I suppose that if it results in a decent band gaining exposure and fans, I can't begrudge them success at such a price, but I hope that the success is a byproduct of the direction and not the reason for it.

Anyway, M83 did play songs from their entire catalog; I don't know that I have a favorite M83 song, but it was great to hear 'Moon Child' and 'Gone'. The show was surprisingly brief - not a complete surprise, given the venue and the fact that it was a Sunday - but I didn't feel cheated out of a concert. Being at a show without any vocals was a little unusual, but M83's uplifting style helped to keep the crowd lively.

All things considered, it was a good show! I should have taken earplugs, but I'm glad I went, and the chance to visit my favorite haunts in the Old Market was a bonus.

In Other News:
I picked up some fun beers in Omaha! How long will they last? Who knows.

I absolutely love having a record player again. I do need something I can store records in, but this is a small part of the equation compared to actually being able to listen to them.

This Just In

I'm going to see M83 this weekend! I'm really looking forward to it. The show is in Omaha, so it will be a chance to visit some of my old haunts and also buy exotic beers.

Somehow, I've managed not to get the new M83 album, which seems to be immensely popular among the kids with its 80's inspired sound. The stray tracks that I have listened to are pretty good, though.

I really need to blog about an older album, possibly something R.E.M. did.

I busted a guitar string two days ago! Tonight I go in search of guitar strings; please wish me luck. The guitar was basically all that kept me sane this weekend; I don't need it right now like I did a few days ago, but I still want to play.

Sorry today's blog was just things in my head rather than focusing on any actual album. Maybe tomorrow?

Dead Cities, Red Seas, & Lost Ghosts

Today's Music That Is Great But Not Super Friendly is Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, by M83. No history lesson today, let's just talk about the album.

This album (well, double-album) is pretty great! It's got a desolate feel to it; the sound is almost exclusively electronic post-rock in nature. By that I mean the tracks are drawn-out synthesizer driven affairs, mostly, with a number of other instruments and effects, and not much in the way of vocals. Some songs are more uptempo than others, but there really isn't much you can dance to here. I don't think most of the songs are as emotional as the tracks on Before the Dawn Heals Us, but rather more scientific (if it's possible to say that about an album like this). The overall mood is spooky, really, as though this is what you would hear in the night if the Thompson Twins got really into synthesizers and then died and decided to haunt your house. This album seems to make the assumption that our future will be both our past and our science fiction, and that this is what it will sound like.

I don't know that any one track highlights the album, but the title track is fairly epic. There are some really interesting tracks here: "Birds" is a fine opener, "In Church" and "Tsubasa" are strong, "Cyborg" and "America" are also pretty good. The whole album is consistently strong; I can't say it will appeal to everyone's taste, though. If you like your music more 'organic', then this may not be for you. If I was to have a party where I invited a lot of sexy, well-read gothic robots, this is definitely what I would play for them.

In Other News:
Today was perfectly gloomy until the sun came out and ruined everything.

I am sore as hell today. Mostly good-sore, but the gym is not going to be much fun.

I have a cousin's wedding to go to in a small town this weekend. If you don't have any plans this weekend, and are extremely desperately bored, you can go with me. Otherwise I'll probably hang out with my 18 month old nephew, drink Bud Light from a plastic cup, and check my email on my phone about 6,000 times. Should be ok, though.

Before The Dawn Heals Us, and others

I have a lot of things to think about today. But first, music.

Today's Music That Jason Stole From The Public Library is Before The Dawn Heals Us, by M83. This is an album that was recommended to me when I was looking for more electronic music, and I was fortunate enough to find it at the library. It's wonderful, ethereal music, the kind of music that makes me feel like I should be able to simply float off the ground and into the atmosphere somewhere. It's obviously influenced by some other artists I'm very fond of: My Bloody Valentine, Boards of Canada, even Wish You Were Here-era Pink Floyd. Keyboards are featured most prominently; some vocals exist, but they certainly don't drive the songs in the manner you would expect from a more 'pop' record. A few of the tracks are a little drawn out or too over-the-top for my taste, but as a whole the album shines.

I was surprised to find out (after a couple listens) that this is a relatively recent album; for some reason I always thought that it was almost as old as I am. It does have a little bit of a PBS vibe to it; I could easily see this music comprising the soundtrack for Stargazer though. If you've never seen Stargazer, just think about what a show about naked-eye astronomy for heavily medicated people would be like, and then animate most of it. (Side note: whenever I've seen Stargazer come on TV, it made me think that I should either start drinking or stop drinking, but that something definitely had to happen.) In any event, I am glad that M83 will (I think) produce more music for me to listen to and maybe blog about.

In other news:

I found some anime that I really like. It's called 'Seirei no Morobito', which roughly translates to 'Guardian of the Sacred Spirit'. Kind of a cheesy title, I know, but it's a very mature and smart anime with some great characters. Without spoiling too much of it for you, it's set in pre-industrial Japan, where a female spearfighter named Balsa is forced to protect a child bound to be assassinated. If you're curious, let me know and I can give you a link. It's very good. In particular, the main character (Balsa) is one of the best characters in anime that I can think of. (Note: I don't like a lot of anime, particularly stuff that has a serious premise but lots of dumb humor. I suppose the anime that I can stand is another blog altogether though.)

So tomorrow is testing! I'm actually looking forward to it, mostly. I have a hard time not thinking about it, and consequently being nervous, even though there isn't any reason for it. The only real concern I have is my back, which I injured at the gym a couple days ago. It isn't serious, but it will hinder me somewhat tomorrow. I think I'll be okay, though. Assuming it isn't so hot that we all perish, and that my back holds up for the first half of the day, testing will be a lot of fun. Wish me luck!