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M83Midnight CityWe Own the Sky
In spring 2001, M83 released its self-titled debut album. The release didn't span much farther 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 group's 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 also remixed Placebo's "Protège-Moi," Goldfrapp's "Black Cherry," Depeche Mode's "Suffer Well," Van She's "Kelly," and The Bumblebeez'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 was 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 [it was] 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 its UK tour.[6] In January and February 2009, M83 supported the Killers across United States tour dates[7] and toured with Depeche Mode on its Tour of the Universe in Italy, Germany, and France.[8][9] In July, M83 appeared at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan.[10] In July 2009, M83 appeared at the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio. There was an altercation between Gonzales and a Wexner Center security guard, while on stage. M83 later apologized to its fans for the incident. In Spring 2010, M83 composed the score of French director Gilles Marchand's film Black Heaven. On July 5, 2010, the Black Heaven Soundtrack was released, which included two new songs by M83 called "Black Hole" and "Marion's Theme," along with five tracks from his back catalog. The soundtrack also includes songs from the score by Emmanuel D'Orlando, Moon Dailly, and John & Jehn. However, his feelings towards the record were largely negative, leaving him depressed.[11] In 2011 Gonzalez started working on a new batch of songs for an album slated release later in the year. He described the tracks as darker and "very, very, very epic". Speaking with Spin, he said of the new album "It's a double album. It's mainly about dreams, how every one is different, how you dream differently when you're a kid, a teenager, or an adult. I'm really proud of it. If you're doing a very long album, all the songs need to be different and I think I've done that with this one."[12] He plans on recording again with Morgan Kibby as well as others, including Medicine's mastermind Brad Laner, Nine Inch Nails bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen and Zola Jesus.[11] Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is Gonzalez's first double album, which he has dreamed of making ever since he heard Smashing Pumpkins' "Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness", however, it did not come easy. "I wanted to make a very eclectic album but also something not too long. Making a double album was a dream of mine for a long, long time and I felt ready to make this move,” he explains. Discussing the sound and process of creating this album, Gonzalez says it was "written like a soundtrack to an imaginary movie with different ambiences, different atmospheres, different tempos, different orchestrations and different instrumentation....When I make an album it's always about nostalgia, melancholy in the past and memories."[13] On July 19, 2011, "Midnight City", the first single from M83's new album, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, was released for streaming and free download on the band's official website.[14] The North American tour in support of the new album will kick off in Mexico City at the Corona Capital Festival on October 15. The tour will include shows across North America including Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, Montreal, Boston and New York. There is a European leg as well, which starts in Katowice, Poland. On the 13th of December 2011, it was announced that Pitchfork had named "Midnight City" the best track of 2011, making them the first artist not from the United States to top the list since 2005. On the 21st of December 2011, "Midnight
City" was used in the final moments of the second episode of HBO's television series "24/7 Flyers-Rangers: The Road to the Winter Classic". Released: 18 April 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - Released: 14 April 2003 116 - - - - - - - - - - - Released: 24 January 2005 103 - - - - - - - - - - - Released: 3 September 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - Released: 11 April 2008 173 - - - - - - - - - - 107 Released: 18 October 2011 70 37 30 58 37 70 53 210 18 65 44 15 "Slowly"/"Sitting" (2002) [edit] Remixes Steve & Rob – "Wallis & Futuna" (2000) [edit] M83 music in films and TV "Midnight City" is
the opening and closing song on Series Two of the E4 reality television
program Made In Chelsea. It has also been used in the final scene
and closing credits of the HBO television series How to Make It
in America (Season 2, Episode 5)[29] as well as in a Victoria's
Secret commercial. "Kim & Jessie" was
used in a British channel E4 advertisement for the American TV
series 90210.
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