Summer Series: M83 at Somerset House

WinkBall Reporter: Laurent Betton

WinkBall Reporter: Laurent Betton

Somerset House’s annual series of outdoor concerts have firmly established themselves as the highlight of London’s festival season – and last night’s (Tuesday 17 July) showing of French electro-proggers M83, was no exception. The venue is the real selling point for so many of the headliners of this series – an opulent courtyard, hosting an outside concert of great spectacle. It’s outside element combined with it’s comparably intimate staging makes it a very special and unique place to listen to live music. M83 is an electronic music band by French musician Anthony Gonzalez. It is named after a spiral galaxy, Messier 83. The band was founded in 2001 by Gonzalez and former member Nicolas Fromageau in Antibes, France. The musical style of M83 owes something to the shoegazing genre in its extensive use of reverb effects and lyrics spoken softly over loud instrumentals, although M83's songs employ considerably less guitar than most shoegazing bands. Gonzalez and Fromageau parted ways shortly after touring for their second album Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts and now Gonzalez records mainly on his own, often with the help of his brother Yann Gonzalez, vocalist/keyboardist Morgan Kibby, and drummer Loïc Maurin.

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Summer Series: M83 at Somerset House

Event Date: 17/07/2012

Somerset House’s annual series of outdoor concerts have firmly established themselves as the highlight of London’s festival season – and last night’s (Tuesday 17 July) showing of French electro-proggers M83, was no exception. The venue is the real selling point for so many of the headliners of this series – an opulent courtyard, hosting an outside concert of great spectacle. It’s outside element combined with it’s comparably intimate staging makes it a very special and unique place to listen to live music. M83 is an electronic music band by French musician Anthony Gonzalez. It is named after a spiral galaxy, Messier 83. The band was founded in 2001 by Gonzalez and former member Nicolas Fromageau in Antibes, France. The musical style of M83 owes something to the shoegazing genre in its extensive use of reverb effects and lyrics spoken softly over loud instrumentals, although M83's songs employ considerably less guitar than most shoegazing bands. Gonzalez and Fromageau parted ways shortly after touring for their second album Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts and now Gonzalez records mainly on his own, often with the help of his brother Yann Gonzalez, vocalist/keyboardist Morgan Kibby, and drummer Loïc Maurin.