SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2009, AT 9PM
TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY, JANUARY 30 at 10AM PST
Media support provided by 89.9 KCRW
M83 and the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform a co-headlining concert that pairs the orchestra and M83’s chief star-gazer Anthony Gonzalez in a program that features individual performances, as well as M83’s debut performance with an orchestra. This one-night-only concert, held on Saturday, March 7, at 9 p.m., also marks M83’s debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Julian Kuerti, Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducts.
This concert includes three sets that will be performed in an order to be determined: the Los Angeles Philharmonic performs by itself in a program that includes orchestral pieces chosen in collaboration with M83; M83 performs solo material; and the Philharmonic performs a selection of songs with M83, (featuring orchestral arrangements by Sean O’Loughlin, who also wrote the arrangements for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s performances with Belle & Sebastian, The Decemberists and others at the Hollywood Bowl).
M83 recently wrapped up a 2008 UK tour with Kings of Leon, concluded a sold-out North American tour, and joined The Killers for the first leg of their 2009 tour. Released in April 2008, M83’s fifth album, Saturdays=Youth, has taken them to new heights, outselling anything else from the M83 catalog thus far. Saturdays=Youth debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top New Artist Heatseekers Chart, went to No. 1 on the CMJ Top 200, and received an NPR nomination for Album of the Year. The record received an 8.5/10 review ranking from Pitchfork, and an 8/10 review ranking from Wired. London Informer stated, “French electro band M83's chief synth man Anthony Gonzalez has delved into the dreamy melodrama of his youth to set the tone for their finest album to date.” Saturday=Youth also topped the list of KCRW Music Director Jason Bentley’s Top 10 Albums of 2008.
M83 - For most of us, our teenage years were an awkward time full of embarrassing moments we'd rather forget. For M83's chief stargazer Anthony Gonzalez, however, his adolescence turned out to be the most important period of his life, one he looks back upon with great affection. Now, he's made it the defining theme of his new album, Saturdays=Youth. The idea of youth – wasted, gilded or otherwise – has featured prominently in M83's music. From early fumblings, like “At The Party” on 2001's self-titled debut, to the bliss-fuzz of "Teen Angst" from 2005's breakthrough album Before The Dawn Heals Us, the French producer's dramatic space-rock tends to evoke the innocence and wonder of this hormonally charged time. Saturdays=Youth is his most explicit celebration yet of how it feels to be dazed, confused and 15 years old. The record marks a change in a friendlier, pop-shaped direction for M83. After touring Before The Dawn Heals Us around the US with his band for much of 2005, Gonzalez decided to give the noisy rock side of things a rest. In 2006, Gonzalez started work in his home studio on material that would become Digital Shades Volume 1 and Saturdays=Youth. The former, a collection of ornate ambient pieces, was released n 2007, whetting appetites for M83's fifth album. But fans expecting more of the same would be disappointed – Gonzalez already knew what he wanted to do with Saturdays=Youth: "I wanted to make the record sound really Eighties." He succeeded. If the doomy synthetic romance of his earlier work hinted at a fetish for Eighties goth staples such as Sisters of Mercy and the Cure, this album's chiming astro-pop finds Gonzalez taking a stroll on the sunnier side of the decade. Serene numbers such as "Kim and Jessie", "Graveyard Girl" and "Up!" are haunted by Kate Bush and the Cocteau Twins. The dulcet female voice on the album belongs to Morgan Kibby, singer in an LA band called the Romanovs. Gonzalez says his main influences for the album are English bands like Tears For Fears and Cocteau Twins, as well as classic John Hughes teen movies such as The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. With its jagged Simple Minds riffs and punk-funk breakdown, nine-minute slow-burner "Couleurs", the first single, is an epic slab of emotional Balearic disco. Sombre closer "Midnight Souls Still Remain" could have slipped off Angelo Badalamenti's score for David Lynch's Mulholland Drive. Dream-drone stunner "Highway Of Endless Dreams" should give Kevin Shields cause for concern, while digital kiss "We Own the Sky" distils the essence of Slowdive into five minutes. Best of all is "Kim and Jessie", the first proper M83 pop song. Producers Ken Thomas and Ewan Pearson assisted Gonzalez with the sound of Saturdays=Youth.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, presents the finest in orchestral and chamber music, recitals, new music, jazz, world music and holiday concerts at two of the most remarkable places anywhere to experience music — Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. In addition to a 30-week winter subscription season at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the LA Phil presents a 12-week summer festival at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the Association’s involvement with Los Angeles extends to educational programs, community concerts and children's programming, ever seeking to provide inspiration and delight to the broadest possible audience.
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:
SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2009, AT 9 PM
WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, 111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC
Julian Kuerti, conductor
Arrangements by Sean O’Loughlin
M83
Anthony Gonzalez
Media support provided by 89.9 KCRW
Tickets ($28-$37) are on sale Saturday, January 30 at LAPhil.com, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, open at 12pm, or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000, beginning at 10am. For more information, please call 323.850.2000.
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Lisa Bellamore, 213.972.3689, lbellamore@laphil.org; Leslie Hermelin, Mute Records, 212.886.7679, leslie@mute.com; Photos: 213.972.3034