Look! He Can Count With His Hoof!

M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us Woohoo! The day is finally here! Let the floodgates open and awash us in new music! I've got 6 new discs in my queue to listen to and review so I should be posting pretty regularly this week. Plus, I'm sure to find a few more throughout the week. First up is the release I have been most anticipating this week. I loved last year's album from this band (#25 on my Most worthyMUSIC 2004 list), but was curious what direction they would take with the new one. To me it seems that electronic bands are often one-trick ponies. Well, from the first few bars of music on Before the Dawn Heals Us, it is easy to realize that M83 has more to offer. While the "wall of music" sound is still present, still moving, and still beautiful, we now have wide-ranging variations of texture. This is mostly due to the introduction of new instrumentation into the mix like guitars and piano. The opening track, "Moonchild," starts off sounding like a lead-in track to a Boston CDand I'd swear the song "*" was Mars Volta and kept waiting to hear Cedric Bixler's high-pitched shrieking voice chime in. There are still downtempo, lush tracks to be found, but the further development of their themes and moods have truly made this a more exciting and entrancing album than their last. Enjoy!