M83
I'd only really heard one song by Ulrich Schnauss before he opened tonight, and I think "On My Own" is still my favorite. He had a pretty exciting final minute or two, but other than that I probably would have been just as happy listening at home. I thought about buying his record, but it came out two years ago, so I assume there will be a new one out soon, and also the one thing I really want at the moment is Early Pedro.
I apparently didn't know what to expect from M83, because I assumed it would just be Anthony Gonzalez standing at a synthesizer doing his thing, sort of like how it was with Ulrich Schnauss. Boy, was I ever wrong. If I were a namedropping hipster type, I would describe it like this: what if Jeff Lynne* joined Explosions in the Sky to play synthesizer (and supply weird vocal samples), told the rest of the band to shorten up their songs and get rid of some of the quiet parts, and then they went on an amazing tour to showcase their new sound.
M83 is touring as a four-piece band, which allows them to actually play most of the parts in the songs live. The bass was loud and throbbing and at times overpowering. Gonzalez sometimes played lead guitar and other times stood at the keyboard. He supplied vocals on a few tracks, but they also made use of a recording of a woman telling a story about being really scared in the car with her little girl, because Satan was coming to get them or something. I don't know if it's on the album or not, but it worked really well to sustain the mood between a couple of pieces. The drummer had, by the end, become predictably ferocious, but I don't think anyone was complaining. The main guitarist, well, he played the guitar with a strap over his shoulder most of the time, but he also used a little handheld fan (at least that's what I think it was) to hit the strings and get a sound most would only attempt with a pedal. I think at one point while he was playing the guitar with it flat on the table, which he did a few times, he had attached a screwdriver to the strings on the neck so it swung up and down for more homemade non-pedal effects.
They played for what seemed like close to an hour and a half, but the encore, which consisted of something really pretty and slow followed the band going into full-on assault mode for the last hurrah, probably would have been enough just by itself. Gonzalez kept apologizing in his thick French accent for their numerous technical problems, but the audience certainly couldn't notice any. If this was a poor show, I can't even begin to imagine what they sound like on a good night.
* = Think Electric Light Orchestra's "Fire on High".
I apparently didn't know what to expect from M83, because I assumed it would just be Anthony Gonzalez standing at a synthesizer doing his thing, sort of like how it was with Ulrich Schnauss. Boy, was I ever wrong. If I were a namedropping hipster type, I would describe it like this: what if Jeff Lynne* joined Explosions in the Sky to play synthesizer (and supply weird vocal samples), told the rest of the band to shorten up their songs and get rid of some of the quiet parts, and then they went on an amazing tour to showcase their new sound.
M83 is touring as a four-piece band, which allows them to actually play most of the parts in the songs live. The bass was loud and throbbing and at times overpowering. Gonzalez sometimes played lead guitar and other times stood at the keyboard. He supplied vocals on a few tracks, but they also made use of a recording of a woman telling a story about being really scared in the car with her little girl, because Satan was coming to get them or something. I don't know if it's on the album or not, but it worked really well to sustain the mood between a couple of pieces. The drummer had, by the end, become predictably ferocious, but I don't think anyone was complaining. The main guitarist, well, he played the guitar with a strap over his shoulder most of the time, but he also used a little handheld fan (at least that's what I think it was) to hit the strings and get a sound most would only attempt with a pedal. I think at one point while he was playing the guitar with it flat on the table, which he did a few times, he had attached a screwdriver to the strings on the neck so it swung up and down for more homemade non-pedal effects.
They played for what seemed like close to an hour and a half, but the encore, which consisted of something really pretty and slow followed the band going into full-on assault mode for the last hurrah, probably would have been enough just by itself. Gonzalez kept apologizing in his thick French accent for their numerous technical problems, but the audience certainly couldn't notice any. If this was a poor show, I can't even begin to imagine what they sound like on a good night.
* = Think Electric Light Orchestra's "Fire on High".
Labels: Music
Posted on Sunday, April 24, 2005
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