Synthy shoegaze and other people’s writing

So, I went to see M83 last night, a band that I have next to no knowledge about…and I’m going to be hacking through some kind of review later day. (I also didn’t know jack shit about School of Seven Bells, so it’ll be good times cobbling together track titles, but anyway…) Both bands were quite good, though and worth further exploration. School of Seven Bells is a trio, synthesizer and two guitars…twin sisters (the synth player and one of the guitarists) singing very high sweet, almost Japanese pop harmonies over turbulent waves of sound. M83 is also synth-based, pitting hard techno beats (though they have a very powerful live drummer) against shivering walls of guitar and synth (you can hear a little bit of MBV, Kraftwerk, the Cure and sometimes J&MC …weird combination but it works).

A video for M83’s “Kim & Jessie” which I am almost certain they played last night.

School of Seven Bells’ “Half Asleep”


Anyway, I’m going to tackle that, and a review of Lungfish offshoot Zomes later today, but meanwhile PopMatters is running two pieces about bands I’ve written about…a Q&A with Roy Harper and a think piece on David Eugene Edwards .