2. M83- Before The Dawn Heals Us



M83 in astronomy terms is also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, a large spiral galaxy that's named like that because its spiral arms...15 million years distance but still visible with binoculars. Unimaginably huge. That connotation fits Anthony Gonzales, the main protagonist of this outfit to a tee as his ideas and translation into music transcends by far the utter simplicity of this planet and searches out nearby stars and galaxies. Quite simply, this is big music.
Before The Dawn Heals Us is the follow-up of the much loved Dead Cities Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, an electronic odyssey with light shoegazerish effects but with an amazing warm feeling throughout. As much as the ingredients are the same, the tone of this album's more aggressive. One moment it roars and powers on like the alternative soundtrack to Gone In 60 Seconds then to pull on the brakes and go right into the subconscious with some ambient electro. The single Don't Save Us From The Flames thunders on with theremin-like backing and a Polyphonic Spree-like vocal on top, Teen Angst even turns the speed up to a dizzying electro ride. Fuzzed out keyboards melt with guitar to provide the wall of sound but it's not the Gonzalez' goal to pound the listener into submission but create many different scenes with them. That's where the ambiance can shoot from exhilarating to moody (Farewell/Goodbye, with nice vocals), pompous (opener Moon Child) or scary, as in the narrated Car Chase Terror, where a mother's fear for the life of her child and herself takes centre stage under a dark cloud of electronics. It's majestic and entertaining like the vast array of stars clustered together within that galaxy giving its luminescence so far away. On a final note- the epic 10-minute closer Lower Your Eyelids To Die With The Sun was my favourite track of 2005- an amazing glide into eternity, slow and deliberate with children's choir, tympani, drums and an electronic symphony orchestra providing one of the most bombastic, dramatic and ultimately most beautiful tracks ever.