M83 (band)

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M83

M83 at Pully for Noise Festival
Background information
Origin Antibes, France
Genres New Wave
Electronica
Ambient
Shoegazing
Dream pop
Years active 2001–present
Labels Gooom Disques
Mute Records
Website M83's official website
Members
Anthony Gonzalez
with:
Yann Gonzalez (composer)
Morgan Kibby
Loïc Maurin
Pierre-Marie Maulini
Former members
Nicolas Fromageau

M83 is an electronic/dream pop act comprised of French musician Anthony Gonzalez. It is named after a spiral galaxy, Messier 83. The band was founded in 2001 by Gonzalez and former member Nicolas Fromageau in Antibes.[1] The musical style of M83 owes something to the shoegazing genre in its extensive use of reverb effects and lyrics spoken softly over loud instrumentals, though M83's songs employ considerably less guitar than most shoegazing bands. Gonzalez and Fromageau parted ways shortly after touring for their sophomore album Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts,[1] and now Gonzalez records mainly on his own, often with the help of his brother Yann Gonzalez, vocalist/keyboardist Morgan Kibby, guitarist/bassist Pierre-Marie Maulini, and drummer Loïc Maurin.

Contents

[edit] History

In spring 2001, M83 released their self-titled debut album. The album's release didn't span much further than Europe until September 2005, when Mute Records reissued the album for a worldwide release. M83's second album Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts followed in spring 2003 (and summer 2004 in North America) to widespread critical acclaim.[2] After worldwide touring for Dead Cities resumed, Nicolas Fromageau left the band. Gonzalez returned to the studio to record the third studio album Before the Dawn Heals Us, which was released in January 2005. The same year, M83 provided a remix of "The Pioneers" by Bloc Party, which was also included on Bloc Party's remix album Silent Alarm Remixed. M83 has also remixed Placebo's "Protège-Moi," Goldfrapp's "Black Cherry," Depeche Mode's "Suffer Well," and Bumblebeez 81's "Vila Attack." Similarly, M83's songs have been remixed by Gooom labelmates Montag and Cyann & Ben.

In 2006, after the Before the Dawn Heals Us US tour, Anthony Gonzalez continued to explore a musical direction already heard on earlier M83 tracks and began writing and recording a collection of ambient works.[3] The album was recorded primarily at his home studio with the assistance of Antoine Gaillet. The resulting project is called Digital Shades Vol. 1 and was released in September 2007 with a sleeve illustrated by Laurent Fetis (known for his work with DJ Hell, Beck, and Tahiti 80). It is intended to be part of an ongoing series of ambient works.

Saturdays = Youth, M83's fifth studio album, was released in April 2008. It was recorded with Ken Thomas (known for his work with Sigur Rós, The Sugarcubes, Boys in a Band, Cocteau Twins and Suede), Ewan Pearson (who has also produced for Tracey Thorn, The Rapture and Ladytron) and Morgan Kibby (of The Romanovs). The album features a more focused approach to song structure and form, and Gonzalez stated that the main influence of the album came from music of the 1980s: "I think that 80s music is such a brilliant period for music history. It was the occasion for me to do a tribute to this 80s music, but also a tribute to my teenage years. Because the main theme of the album is being a teenager, and being a teenager means a lot to me."[4] Four singles were released from the album: "Couleurs" in February 2008, "Graveyard Girl" in April, "Kim & Jessie" in July, and "We Own the Sky" in December. M83 also appeared on a limited edition split 7" single with Maps in 2008; M83 remixed Maps' "To the Sky," while Maps provided a remix of M83's "We Own the Sky."[5]

In December 2008, M83 supported Kings of Leon on their UK tour.[6] In January and February 2009, M83 supported The Killers across United States tour dates,[7] and toured with Depeche Mode on their stadium Tour of the Universe in Italy, Germany and France.[8][9] In July, M83 appeared at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan.[10]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

  • "Slowly"/"Sitting" (2002)
  • "Run into Flowers" (July 2003)
  • "0078h" (December 2003)
  • "America" (May 2004)
  • "A Guitar and a Heart"/"Safe" (November 2004)
  • "Don't Save Us from the Flames" (February 2005)
  • "Teen Angst" (May 2005)
  • "Couleurs" (February 2008)
  • "Graveyard Girl" (April 2008)
  • "Kim & Jessie" (July 2008)
  • "We Own the Sky" (December 2008)

[edit] Remixes

[edit] M83 music in films and TV

Question book-new.svg
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Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009)
  • "By The Kiss" in CSI Miami's episode Seeing Red (season 7, episode 25), in the finale of the chapter. It's too the finale of the season.
  • Cyann & Ben's remix of "In Church" was featured in Stranger Than Fiction.
  • "Unrecorded" in the trailer for the international release of the Russian movie Night Watch.
  • "Gone" was used in the trailer for the British drama trilogy Red Riding.
  • Superpitcher's remix of "Don't Save Us from the Flames" is heard throughout the sex scene in the movie Donkey Punch.
  • "*" is featured in Mash, a film documenting the Fixie phenomenon in San Fransisco.
  • "Teen Angst" in the trailer for A Scanner Darkly and the British channel E4 series Sugar Rush.
  • "Lower Your Eyelids to Die with the Sun" during the credits on Britney Spears' 2008 documentary, Britney: For the Record; as the opening song for the 2007 skateboarding film Fully Flared for Lakai Shoes by Girl Films; and was used as the background music for the first advertisement for the Palm Pre smartphone (link).
  • "We Own the Sky" and "Moonchild" were used in the 2008 movie That's It, That's All starring snowboarder Travis Rice.
  • "We Own the sky" in a trailer for the video game Stoked.
  • "Graveyard Girl" was used in a commercial for the British teen drama Skins.
  • "Kim & Jessie" was used in a British channel E4 advertisement for the American TV series 90210.
  • "Too Late" was used in The Debarted episode in Season Three of Gossip Girl.
  • Appearances in episodes of Top Gear:
    • "Unrecorded" in series 3, episode 2; and series 4, and episode 5.
    • "America" in series 3, episode 3; song is played briefly during a Saab commercial.
    • "Cyborg" on series 3, episode 5.
    • "Moonchild" in series 6, episode 6; series 7, episode 3; and series 7, episode 7.
    • "A Guitar and a Heart" in the first episode of series 11, shortly after the Ferrari runs out of petrol during the fuel economy tip sequence.
    • "Moonchild" during the McLaren vs. Boat race, during sweeping shots of Jeremy Clarkson crossing the Oresund Bridge in a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.
    • "*" in series 11, episode 3, during Clarkson's review of the Bentley Brooklands Coupe.
    • "Let Men Burn Stars" in series 11, episode 4, when introducing the Nissan GT-R in the Japan race film.
    • "Couleurs" in series 12, episode 4, used at the start of the economy race from Basel to Blackpool.
    • "Lower Your Eyelids to Die with the Sun" in series 12, episode 8, during several shots from the Vietnam special.

[edit] Gallery

Morgan Kibby

Pierre-Marie Maulini

Anthony Gonzalez

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b allmusic ((( M83 > Overview )))
  2. ^ Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts reviews at Metacritic.com
  3. ^ M83: Digital Shades Volume 1 < Reviews | PopMatters
  4. ^ M83 interview : Analogue Magazine
  5. ^ Maps / M83 - To The Sky / We Own The Sky at Discogs
  6. ^ M83 opening for Kings of Leon on U.K. tour - Prefix Magazine
  7. ^ M83 Killers Tour - antiMUSIC News
  8. ^ M83 - Tour of the Universe
  9. ^ M83 For Depeche Tour - 25 March 2009 | Clash Music
  10. ^ Fuji Rock Festival 09 - English (see Red Marquee stage)

[edit] External links

v • d • e
M83
Anthony Gonzalez · Yann Gonzalez · Loïc Maurin · Pierre-Marie Maulini
Nicolas Fromageau
Albums
Singles
"Slowly"/"Sitting" · "Run into Flowers" · "0078h" · "America" · "A Guitar and a Heart"/"Safe" · "Don't Save Us from the Flames" · "Teen Angst" · "Couleurs" · "Graveyard Girl" · "Kim & Jessie" · "We Own the Sky"
Related articles
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