popwreckoning

Sunday evening I witnessed short sets from two great bands, Active Child, and M83. It was a sold out show, the first of two the bands would play that night.

Up first were Active Child.  The lights went down, and three men came out, one sitting before a harp. I remember thinking: “OK,  a goddamn harp. This should be interesting.”  Then the guy opened his mouth, and the essence of pure beauty poured out.

Active Child is primarily the solo project of Los Angles’ Pat Grossi.  To a guy who has seen entirely too many god-awful opening acts in the last few months they might seem horrifying on paper: inspired by days as a choir boy, synths, drums, harps and… oh shit, another guy with a laptop.  Live it’s an entirely different story.

Active Child plays otherworldly music that dredges up the old cliché of being almost indescribable. Grossi knows what he’s doing, and he’s picked his sidemen well. The crowd around me seemed as impressed as I was. It was synth pop, in a way, but it was influenced by natural instruments as well, a lush, almost hallucination inducing blend of strings and machines.

If you get a chance to see Active Child, do so. They sound great on record, but to truly do them  justice they must be experienced in person.

Up next was the headliner, M83. I was a bit late to the party with this band, as I only came on board with their new album, Hurry Up We’re Dreaming. I was impressed however, because how many bands sell out two shows in one night?

The band opened  (not surprisingly) with “Intro” off the recent album.  They then tore through a set that was designed to get the crowd pumped. The highlight was “Midnight City,” which immediately turned the room into a dance floor.

The set was vibrant, exciting, and occasionally brilliant. It did seem like a bit of a cheat, though. It seemed more like a warm-up for the later gig, than an actual performance.  Though I enjoyed the set, I probably wouldn’t go see M83 again. Active Child, however… you’d have to fight to keep me away.

Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is the sixth album from M83, AKA France’s Anthony Gonzalez.  The album is sprawling and ambitious, full of huge electronic hooks and filtered vocals. It’s brilliant, and occasionally bizarre dance music. Nearly every track sounds like it could be a pop hit.

The album begins with a five minute intro that begins with ambient synths, and whispered vocals. The song continues with Gonzalez reciting the phrase “carry on.” The song gets very big, very quickly. Zola Jesus joins in a kind of duet, and the sound of hope floats in. The song introduces us to the sound of the record, which is ‘80’s synth pop filtered into ‘70’s arena rock bombast, and Brian Eno ambience.

The next track, “Midnight City,” begins an instant hooks, which leads into a big ass beat. The hook continues through until the end. The song eventually fades out with the sound of saxophones. It’s interesting, this is obvious pop music, but it’s almost impossible to sing along to. This is music made for either car stereos, or to be heard through headphones. It’s rare that music can be heard so well as both.

Of course, not everything here is a pop song. “Raconte-Moi Une Histoire” is a spoken word piece. It’s basically the sound of a child actively endorsing the licking of psychedelic frogs. No, seriously. It’s funny once or twice, but it gets grating after a while. It interrupts the flow of a record that often works great as background  noise.

The only other real flaw is the length. At 72 minutes, spread over two discs, it’s a chore to listen to in one sitting. It’s a great record, but a bit extravagant. Still, as the outro fades out you won’t be disappointed. The anthemic songs will hook you into the dreams of the brilliant songwriter who made the record, and you’ll be coming back for more.

Tracklisting
CD1
Intro (featuring Zola Jesus)
Midnight City
Reunion
Where the Boats Go
Wait
Raconte-Moi Une Histoire
Train to Pluton
Claudia Lewis
This Bright Flash
When Will You Come Home?
Soon, My Friend

CD2
My Tears Are Becoming a Sea
New Map
OK Pal
Another Wave From You
Splendor
Year One, One UFO
Fountains
Steve McQueen
Echoes of Mine
Klaus I Love You
Outro

Asheville, North Carolina festival Moogfest, scheduled for October 28-30, announced its initial lineup via AC Entertainment. Moogfest’s Halloween harvest of musical delights builds on the success of last year’s reinvention of the Moogfest concept in the city that Bob Moog, founder of the Moog synthesizer, called home.

The initial lineup includes The Flaming Lips, Passion Pit, STS9, Ghostland Observatory, Crystal Castles, Chromeo, Battles, Umphrey’s McGee, Mayer Hawthorne & The County, M83, Holy F**k, Matthew Dear, Twin Shadow, Toro y Moi, The Naked And Famous, Tim Hecker, Anika, Austra, Causing A Tiger, and Gold Panda, with many others still to be announced. ‘70s innovators, including Tangerine Dream, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Suicide, will present rare US performances as they are also included in the festival lineup.

The final Moogfest 2011 lineup will feature performances by over 60 artists in numerous venues throughout downtown, including the Asheville Civic Center Arena, the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, and Orange Peel Social & Pleasure Club. The festival will also host workshops, talks, interactive experiences and art exhibitions and installations.

Weekend passes for Moogfest 2011 will go on sale on Saturday, June 4, at 12 Noon Eastern exclusively at www.moogfest.com.

M83‘s Morgan Kirby has announced her debut solo project, White Sea. White Sea’s first release will be the This Frontier EP due out digitally October 5.

“While on tour with M83, I was exposed to so many new things,” Kibby explains. “When I returned home, I sat down and taught myself Pro Tools, and how to produce. I’ve really spent the last year figuring out what music I’m excited about making.”

The 5-song indie pop release explores cinematic elements paired with big bass lines and synthesizer melodies with Kirby’s sweet voice adding a final texture.

Kibby also is set to release a remix of School of Seven Bells‘ “Dust Devil” on Sept. 14 with the release of her single, “Heart is Strange.”

Tour dates are in the works.