M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts

One of the noughties’ most consistent electronic artists, Antibes native Anthony Gonzalez has dropped at least three excellent long-players since forming M83 in 2001. And with 2003’s Dead Cities… – an album recorded with since-departed fellow founding member Nicolas Fromageau – he delivered what is rightly considered a landmark in digital shoegaze. Richly textured layers of processed sound brush up against crashing guitars and dream pop keyboard crescendos to create an absorbing, heady squall of beautiful noise. Further proof, if it were needed, that French producers undoubtedly have a certain je ne sais quoi when it comes to crafting ground-breaking electronic music. (Paul Harrington)