11 and 12 of 25: M83 - Saturdays = Youth; Daft Punk - Alive 2007

Okay... it happened again. I didn't plan on missing (essentially) two days of posts, but let's be honest. It was the weekend and you weren't going to spend your time indoors, reading a stupid blog and downloading awesome music anyways. Plus, I spent all day on Saturday shooting skeet in north Georgia. It was, without question, the coolest recreational activity of all-time. I'd highly recommend it to anyone. And it was also informative: apparently one of our friends is an assassin. Don't mess with Dan. Real talk.

Saturdays = Youth: Instead of two French guys, this time we just we have one. Anthony Gonzalez (backed on this record by 3 other musicians) develops big, anthemic albums full of synthesizer glorioliciousness. Unlike a lot of the other albums, it's hard to single out highlights. Instead, this feels like an extended, almost theatrical release that flows in order. All the pieces fit together: from the opening piano chords and vocal harmonies of "You Appearing," to the transition into the very 80s-ish (think "Sixteen Candles") "Kim & Jessie," to the dusky, moon-kissed sound on "Too Late"... the listener is allowed to revel in the large spaces that M83 create on Saturdays = Youth. Gonazles was born in 1983, which puts his youth in the late 80s and early 90s. Better that the album was inspired by the "Brat Pack" era of early to mid 1980s instead.


Alive 2007: Live albums are hit and miss... greatest hits album are even less likely to live up to expectations. But Alive 2007, by French house heros Daft Punk (Guy Manuel de Homen Christo and Thomas Bangalter), meets and far exceeds any expectations of both album genres. I don't plan on writing much about the actual album, because it's best to simply experience. Driving, walking to class, working out, studying... this could be the soundtrack to almost any part of your day. The only thing that could possibly be more exciting would be a DVD of their tour, but until that happens (and it doesn't look like it will), we'll have to settle for clips from YouTube, like the one below.

This effectively concludes our dance/electronic week... hope that people enjoyed it, and we'll be back on schedule starting tomorrow!