Mute

The French electronic artist Anthony Gonzalez makes the sort of lush, operatic compositions that movie producers love to snatch up in order to save some money on scoring—and so it is that you may have heard M83’s work in the background of Stranger Than Fiction, or beneath the trailers for Night Watch and A Scanner Darkly. However, there’s a growing divide between the earlier work, completed with erstwhile partner Nicolas Fromageau, and what’s happened since the 2005 split. What was once comfortably describable as shoegazing electronica—stadium emo for people who forgot to learn guitar—is rapidly morphing into the sort of ambient techno that used to play at 6 a.m. as the sun rose on an outdoor rave. If this release—purportedly the first of many in this vein with a second volume due out in January—is any indication at all, Gonzalez is chasing the tail of ambient master Alex Peterson (The Orb) for reasons that are too inscrutable for me to decipher. This is a step back from a sonic landscape already explored 20 years ago with more artistry and layering; it’s boring. If you’re looking for the go-big-or-go-home flood of noise that won everyone over on Before the Dawn Heals Us, pop M83 into Pandora and try some like-minded artists, because this one’s on a break in Selfindulgistan.

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