M83

M83- "Digital Shades, Vol. 1" (Mute, 2007)

a slow evening without anybody to hang out with except for my dog. so i gave her a bath, wrapped her in towels, squeezed her warm clean furry body in a bear hug, and listened to this. my first thoughts were that it didn't sound as qualified as other M83 releases, and couldn't possibly be an official studio album. i was right- it's really not- but in the end the difference was wonderful. m83 has been a favorite of mine for years, but i've sort of left them out of the player for awhile since their face melting 2005 release, "Before the Dawn Heals Us" (which is brilliant). i didn't anticipate them going anywhere BIGGER than they had achieved with Tony Gonzales' production on that record. it sounded immense and dramatic, amazing but also more guitar driven than ever before. m83's brilliance is in their invention of lush synthesized atmospheres- ones that sound like guitars but aren't. the title of this new record gives away its aim. it's a collection of more ambient pieces, assembled into a sort of compliation, the first of more, perhaps. in any case, it's warm, fuzzy, and totally eno (meaning Brian, not an "emo" with a typo). very simple, but inviting enough that i listened to it twice through tonight. it'll be on my regular rotation for my low key evenings for now.