M83

Somewhere during "Couleurs" the house went apoplectic.  The layer-upon-layer instrumental continued to build during M83's encore, and it ultimately triggered a pogo-crazed euphoria.  We bounced until we could bounce no more.  It is always a blast when the best concert moments are so unexpected, as Anthony Gonzalez and his mates turned the Saturdays = Youth track into a total rave.  Flanked by Rip, Rizzo, and my nephew Ryan and his friends, we tapped into something deep and managed to keep jumping.

Gonzalez grew up in a small French town, and for the past 15 years he has taken his dreamy bedroom electronica to the world, reaching grand, cinematic heights.  The D Man always appreciates artists who transcend their beginnings by the sheer force of their own dedication, talent, and artistry.  So it goes with Gonzalez; few can rival his collection of life-affirming anthems.

The set was heavy with tracks from the double-album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming and this year's new release, Junk.  "Reunion" opened the evening followed by the winking "Do It, Try It."  "Steve McQueen" sounded massive - I woke up stronger than ever! - while "We Own the Sky" and "Intro" showcased the swelling electronic builds that are wholly M83.  "Wait" was a lovely surprise, as was the title-track to the film score for Oblivion.

On new tracks "Laser Gun" and "Go," Mai Lin appeared to offer her unique Asian pop vocals.  Those tracks led into "Midnight City," which, judging by the age of the crowd, was easily the M83 entry point for 90% of them.  So few would have recognized the night's epic closer from 2005's Before the Dawn Heals Us, "Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun."  The song slowly faded like stars winking out, and the band made their way off stage, leaving the rest of us in that fleeting feeling of immersive music now past.

1. Reunion
2. Do It. Try It
3. Steve McQueen
4. We Own the Sky
5. Intro
6. Walkaway Blues
7. Ok Pal
8. Road Blaster
9. Wait
10. Oblivion
11. Laser Gun
12. Go!
13. Midnight City
14. Echoes of Mine
15. Outro

Encore

1. For the Kids
2. Couleurs
3. Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun

A Moon Shaped Pool

Radiohead dropped their ninth studio album today.  A Moon Shaped Pool.  Just two full headphone listens in, it is an instant classic and worthy of the band's nearly unparalleled canon.  My first listen came while walking my dog, the low-hanging clouds of a wet-soaked Mother's Day holding in the smell of wet grass in my lungs.  Perfect weather to accompany the record.  I had that giddy moment where just at the midpoint of my first listen, I understood that I was hearing a masterpiece.  It is one of the most exciting feelings any music nerd can have during a first listen: self-aware reckoning of a classic before the music has even stopped playing.

Radiohead's symphonic record is an easy shorthand.  Jonny Greenwood's cinematic arrangements (with gorgeous strings provided by the London Contemporary Orchestra) cut through many of the tracks in arresting ways.  Other early instrumental impressions: the striking piano/keyboard runs, the ridiculous guitar solo (a Radiohead guitar solo!) on "Identikit," and the slithery baselines that undergird many tracks.  The band has created something massive sounding and deeply intimate in one fell swoop.

Spectral, cavernous, and beautiful, the record may be the most Radiohead-ey thing they have ever released.  It sounds like what I hear in my head when I think of the band.  Perhaps it is the fact that many of the songs have been in gestation for so long, including long-time fan favorite "True Love Waits," which serves the role of crushing closer.  That is not to say the album does not feel fresh or in-the-moment, especially with many exciting instrumental episodes like the savage strings on opener "Burn the Witch" or the soft-hewn keys on "Daydreaming."  It just feels strangely familiar in all the best of ways.

The band deconstructed the titanic rock record - their own! - on Kid A and then, after furious political agitation on Hail to the Thief, arced through interpersonal drama on In Rainbows.  The King of Limbs followed, which felt more like a collection of disparate sonic experiments pulling the band in myriad directions: skittering electronica, haunting acoustic rock, and downtempo dirges to name just a few.  A Moon Shaped Pool seems to move beyond any useful narrative.  Out past the paranoia or the politics, it settles into the thick of thick things, weighing and considering life's mysteries, resisting at times the nagging sense of dread with something approaching resolve.  But how long can the center hold?

And the video below?  Sheesh.

Song of the Week

Radiohead released its first single in 5 years today.  "Burn the Witch" is accompanied by a Wicker Man-inspired video, underscoring the track's unsettling lyrical content and pulsating string section. "Stay in the shadows / cheer at the gallows," Yorke sings.  "Abandon all reason / avoid all eye contact."  The video and the song are already being psycho-analyzed by legions, which demonstrates that people are stoked for the group's new album and this mesmerizing piece of art is ready-made to be decoded.

Wild Nothing (and other things)

Before the Wild Nothing show on Friday, The D Man snagged the entire and elusive Red House Painters catalog on vinyl.  With Stark the Vinyl Shark's expert eye and advice, it was a thrilling trip to the record store.

• Wild Nothing capped a great evening with a run of "Paradise," "Reichpop," and "Shadow."  "This is usually where we end things," Jack Tatum said before the final three-songs.  "But we are feeling so good tonight, we will keep playing."  When Tatum and his mates lock into a new wave groove, it taps into a vein of pure nostalgic bliss for The D Man.  Though the venue was absolutely pathetic--looking at you, The Loading Dock--the band made the best of it by playing hard and tight, weaving their melodic guitars over the top of dreamy bass lines and keyboards.  Other highlights included "Only Heather" and Gemini standouts "Live in Dreams" and "Summer Holiday," which surprisingly rocked throughout the chorus oohs and aahs.  Stark the Vinyl Shark stayed strong throughout the night, while Rip, Ryan, Mr. Diddles, and Rizzo all made solid cameo appearances.  Good vibes all around.
• Whitney opened for Wild Nothing and confirmed, once again, the standing premise: if it has horns, it is usually good.  "No Woman" has been getting plenty of Sirius XM love and for good reason: it is an excellent throwback to hazy folk magic.
• Band of Horses will be releasing a new album this summer.  Check out "Casual Party," a fun new single from Ben Bridwell and company.
• Night Moves really do sound like a cross between the Bee Gees and My Morning Jacket.  Enjoy "Carl Sagan," the opening track from their new album Pennied Days.
• And then there is this.