i heart M83

It kind of makes sense that I would fall for a group that's named after a galaxy. M83 is the name of the musical undertaking of Frenchman Anthony Gonzalez, who apparently liked the Messier object No. 83 so much he decided to name his group after it.

M83 is mostly known as an ambient electronic synth group, but for their most recent album, Saturdays = Youth, 80s new wave electronica is in full force. I managed to catch the second of two sold-out shows in New York, and it was pretty amazing. Lush chords often found themselves being slowly drowned out by pulsating guitars and, at other times, punctuated with gorgeous vocals from contributor Morgan Kibby, whose breathy overtones recall Alison Goldfrapp, Elizabeth Fraser (of the Cocteau Twins), and Kate Bush.

I won't gush any longer - just go and check M83 out right now!