Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts

M83 | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 27, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Mute U.S.
• ASIN: B0002IQB1W
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,421 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #43 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Ambient Pop

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Birds

2. Unrecorded

3. Run Into Flower

4. In Church

5. America

6. On a White Lake, Near a Green Mountain

7. Noise

8. Be Wild

9. Cyborg

10. 0078h

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Birds

2. Unrecorded

3. In Church (Cyann & Ben Version)

4. Gone (Live)

5. Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts

6. Run Into Flowers (Video)

7. America (Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts is the second album from French electronica duo M83 (Anthony Gonzalez and Nicolas Fromageau) who, thankfully, derive their name from a spiral galaxy in the constellation of Hydra and not from an interminably lackluster stretch of noxious British motorway. The name certainly nods to where their wide-eyed, spaced-out technicolor imaginations are fixed, but they also know how to sound ponderously intense--hence the cold, cello-aided sonority of "Gone," possibly the only track on the album that defies the lambent warmth of the purring analog synths and beguiling reveries that make the rest of the album as enticingly therapeutic as a thermal spa.

Humane post-rock is clearly M83's strongest attribute because both "Run into Flowers" and "On a White Lake, Near a Green Mountain" are curiously pretty cameos, far removed from the automatic anemia of other workmanlike button-pushers. The high point, though, is the symphonic sweetness and motherly female choral vocals of "Beauties Can Die," which is rather like being cradled in the arms of an angel, or at the very least the arms of Sigur Ros and Lesley Garrett. If one really has to die and go to heaven, one rather hopes the journey up there will sound like this. --Kevin Maidment

Product Description

Combining elements of My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai, Air, Sigur Ros & Tangerine Dream, France's M83 has a distinct sound that's modern, melancholic and mesmerizing. Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts is one of the most striking records you'll hear this year. Available on 2 CD (includes exclusive bonus disc) and 2LP. Debut US tour this September!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars bliss July 29, 2004

By Patrick Slawinski

Format:Audio CD

I've never written a review here before, but this album deserves it. I've been loving it in mp3 form for a while now, and I just picked up the domestic release yesterday. While the bonus disc may not warrant a new purchase for those who already have the import, it has some nice tracks. Those of you who don't own this album now, do yourself a favor and check it out. After you've heard a few tracks, you should know if it's your kind of thing or not. For sampling, standout tracks (in my opinion) are "America," "Run Into Flowers," and "Gone."

I personally find this album to contain some of the most beautiful, invigorating, and breathtaking music around This fact is especially remarkable when one considers the decidedly electronic aspects of obvious drum machines and buzzing synths. Merging these aspects with wholly organic samples and droning electric guitar, M83 makes some great music. Stunning climaxes abound, and the quiet that follows them is just as awesome.

I've read that this sounds like music for outer space travel. I have to agree, though listening to this album lends a touch of the fantastic to any setting.

"Dead Cities..." is definitely one of the best albums of 2003. And now it's affordable in the states as well. Don't miss it.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars M83 Something different September 30, 2004

By Andrew C. Rubalcaba

Format:Audio CD

This album is perhaps one of the best albums of the year. There is a song or 2 for everyone. Some songs sound like the soundtrack to things happening around you. My friend played a couple of tracks for me late one night and I was hooked on the real nice soundscape created by all the sounds and drowned out vocals. I couldn't find something or someone to compare it to. The album is amazing. Its chilled and dark. It takes you on some journey and in the end you don't want to comeback. You want to stay out there and hear the music forever.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Lush Electronica... November 24, 2004

By Cameron

Format:Audio CD

If you have ever heard of Ulrich Schnauss and have bought one of his cds, then I suggest you get this one..it has a similar vibe, dreamy synth pads, lush strings, etc...This is one of my favorite cds of 2004. Favorite songs are:

1. Gone-AMAZING!

2. On A White Lake, Near a Green Mountain-so smooth......!

3. Unrecorded-Synths with some distorted guitar(I think)..GREAT!

4. In Church.

Bascially most all the songs are pretty good to great...only one or two are weak in my opinion.

Get this now, if you enjoy lush/melodic electronic music.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Dreamy, beautiful space music for paranoid androids like me September 21, 2004

By J. THOMAS

Format:Audio CD

I have read review after review about how AMAZING this cd is...

and you know what? THEY ARE RIGHT! This cd blew me away! I first

heard them on the closing song, first disc of James Lavelle's

Global Underground: Romania (James Lavelle / UNKLE check him

out!)and loved "Run into Flowers". M83 IS NOT DANCE MUSIC THOUGH. Not alot of beats but beautiful layers of synths and angelic vocals, even dare I say, "Pink Floydy" at times,(definately NOT CHEESY, I promise).

If you dig what German producer Ulrich Schnauss is doing these days (last song on Sasha's Revolver cd if you didn't know)then you will dig these stargazers / shoegazers. M83 is even named after

a galaxy (not a motorway). Buy it and close your eyes and absorb... no need to go to a planetarium..."Ladies and gentlemen,

we are floating in space"...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but not worth import price December 25, 2003

By Matthew Gross

Format:Audio CD

There are a lot of things to like about this album. It was electronic French music that didn't sound like air. It was an album that relied heavily on the keyboard and didn't sound like Mu-Ziq. Most shockingly though was that the band set out to make a My Bloody Valentine record and actually succeeded. To be fair, Loveless was a once in a lifetime accomplishment and Kevin Shields' masterpiece will never be replicated with a bunch of cheesy synths. Dead Cities won't have that album's indeffinate selflife, but given what their working with, its about as close as you're going to come.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars LoFi FuzzyNoise December 8, 2005

By J. Lawrence

Format:Audio CD

Picked it up at a whim, and enjoyed the great moody piles of ambience layered on top of each other. Hey Melzer, show me what you cooked up in GarageBand in a weekend :) Is it on melzermedia.com? Oh wait.. that's a parked domain. I don't get the references to My Bloody Valentine at all, no comparison. Overall great sampling and production on this one, better than Before the Dawn Heals Us IMO. Check it out.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wall of sound September 29, 2004

By Marcy Cody

Format:Audio CD

I love this cd. If you have the chance to see M83 live, do it! I saw them a few weeks ago and was totally blown away. I was expecting another boring electronic show but these guys actually played their instruments and in a way that reminded me of Ride in the early 90's. Comparisons to Ride and MBV are apt, however they have a sound that is all their own. 2 thumbs up!

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars "..flowers are blooming and I am flying..." January 11, 2005

By Ashurra

Format:Audio CD

It begins with a static lull; out of it emerges a wall of 80's synths and a majestic wash of minor chords. They come into stately focus when a slow, steadily processed beat comes into the mix; on top rides a simple, wailing melody... The sound is absolutely huge; it seems every frequency your speakers produce are being utilized. Cue the My Bloody Valentine-like guitar feedback squalls, and your virtually swimming through sound...

Of course, I'm describing the fifth track of the album, On a White Lake, Near a Green Mountain. A simple title that paints a simple scene. Two colors, two objects; clarity and beauty. It's one of my favorite tracks on the album. These instrumental, layered symphonies invoke a similiar, albeit more emotional clarity. Still, my opening description could of matched a number of songs on this release. Their sonic palette remains static throughout, and each track is a variation of the same theme, here 3 minutes, there 5 minutes, and so on. It's not that the melodies aren't memorable or distinctive, it's that the melodies are so very basic and completely devoid of subtlety. 0078h, another one of my favorites, is one of the standout tracks, but the best point of comparison for it is the Legend of Zelda theme from the original NES. There simply isn't a whole lot there. Each track tickles your brains' pleasure center, but rarely your intellect.

Don't get me wrong- this is a lovely record. But, contrary to a number of published critical raves, it's an unassuming, passive album. Draw it in and enjoy it for the moments of beauty. Just don't expect to return with the same enthusiasm after the infatuation period ends...