M83: Saturdays = Youth | Album Review

M83 is a French electronic music band from Antibes, formed in 2001 by Anthony Gonzalez and Nicolas Fromageau. The band is named after the spiral galaxy Messier 83, and its musical aesthetic is influenced by shoegaze in its extensive use of reverb effects and lyrics spoken softly over loud instrumentals, although M83's songs employ considerably less guitar than most shoegaze bands.Saturdays=Youth- the electronic pop album from French musician M83 (aka Anthony Gonzalez) opens with a stately piano phrase. His music feels extremely stylish and fresh. It also lives up to its evocative title, but the youth it captures is filtered through nostalgia for the unrepentantly fake sounds of the '80s, transforming them into delicate fantasy pop. Synths whoosh like wind tunnels and ping like lasers, guitars are whipped into ethereal froth, the drums are robotic and proud of it, and the production reproduces the cleaner-than-clean, almost brittle style of the era almost too perfectly.This hyper-stylized teen romance and angst drive the album, taking it to the highest highs and the lowest lows. "We Own the Sky" is jubilant, stretching out into a summery haze of airy vocals and synths; "Too Late" ending with a whispered "you, always."

Alt J: An Awesome Wave | Album Review ∆

Alt-J, who met at Leeds University have been living and recording in a basement in Cambridge, are named after the Mac keyboard command for the "delta" sign. They are a British alternative indie pop quartet, formed in 2007. Their first ever debut album 'An Awesome Wave' was released in May 2012 in Europe. It is one of the favourites to win the 2012 Mercury Prize.Their album has gone Top 20 in the UK, and single "Tessellate" has been all over radio. My favorite song by Alt J is Breeze blocks, as it has unusual beats and sounds fresh and is also extremely creative with strange beats and unusual sounding vocals with different pitches and tempos. Each track by Alt J is swelling with emotion. Every single sound, no matter how small, has been purposely placed where you find it. These are not songs that have been bashed together, even if the melodies at the heart of them are strong enough without the subtle bells and whistles that make this album sound so sophisticated. electronica and bass music are the main genres throughtout this album.

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The xx: Coexist | Album Review

If generally successful on its own terms, Coexist also reminds us why exactly the debut was so brilliant. For one, xx had a very subtle and effective sense of dynamics. I'm thinking in particular of songs such as "Islands", with its halting beat that mapped the push-pull production of Timbaland onto an indie pop context. There are no such moments on Coexist, an album that moves from one song to the next like a slow-rolling fog with whispering vocals. You can't help but wish Jamie xx had experimented a bit more and borrowed ideas from his creative run of production work since the debut. With his remixes, DJ sets, mixes, and a brilliant single, he's proven to be one of the more adventurous and open-minded young producers going, hungry to incorporate all kinds of sounds and approaches into his music. The only real evidence of those explorations here is the steel drum that pops up on "Reunion", which brings to mind his use of the instrument in his single "Far Nearer" and gives Coexist a rare crack of light. There's no reason why the xx have to try something new sonically. But bands with a unique signature generally stick around by growing as songwriters and staying open to the possibilities of production. Coexist displays no such growth. With the music so focused and constrained, the album becomes slightly claustrophobic; where the first made you think about the different sounds that came from outside, this feels closed off.

In terms of lyrics, the xx have done away with specificity and chosen to focus on the travails of relationships using the broadest possible language. If I were to say, "You know the song that mentions a look in a lover's eyes?" you'd say, "Which one?" because some variation of the phrase pops up repeatedly. I see it in your eyes... the feeling in my heart... something has changed...the feeling goes on... never again... A handful of images and thoughts are shuffled and doled out, seemingly at random. And while Croft or Sim don't need to get near Frank Ocean's level of sophistication for their music to work, with music so minimal.

Shortcomings aside, I find myself enjoying Coexist and returning to it. It's hard not to be disappointed given what came before, but the xx are still a special band, and time could possibly be kinder to their second LP as its place within a longer career comes into focus. For now, they've earned the right to make this record. Every band that creates a new world deserves a chance to return to it, to play around some more and see how much inspiration still exists. Asking for a third shot at it, on the other hand, is generally a harder sell.
All there songs are at a very slow tempo and gradually get faster. Most of the lyrics are to do with love.