Track Listing

1. Waves, Waves, Waves
2. Coloring the Void
3. Sister, Pt. 1
4. Strong and Wasted
5. My Own Strange Path
6. Dancing Mountains
7. Sister, Pt. 2
8. By the Kiss
9. Space Fertilizer
10. Highest Journey

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #192467 in Music
• Released on: 2007-09-04
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import

Album Description
Digital Shades Vol. 1 is the precursor to the fourth album from M83, essentially the brainchild of Anthony Gonzalez, a resident of Antibes, France. Just after the Before the Dawn Heals Us US tour, Anthony decided to develop a musical direction already heard on some earlier M83 tracks and he started to write and record a collection of ambient works. Having long been a Krautrock and Eno fan this was a kind of music that Anthony has always been familiar with. Recorded primarily at his home studio with the assistance of Antoine Gaillet, who had previously worked on Before the Dawn Heals Us, Anthony was able to work without pressure, knowing he could work on the record at his own time and pace. The idea of digital, relevant during all the process (from creating the music to sharing it), gave him the idea to call the project Digital Shades Vol.1, and to make the album part of an ongoing series. EMI. 2007.

Customer Reviews

Best of 2007: Even better than "Before The Dawn Heals Us"
Two years after M83 released "Before The Dawn Heals Us", the brainchild of Anthony Gonzalez comes back with an album that takes their sound to a place that is even more heart wrenching than it was before. Picking up the quieter, more ambient moments of the previous album, "Digital Shades Vol. 1" is positioned to become an ambient classic from the get-go.

If you like what you listen, you should go and dig into Raising Your Voice Trying to Stop an Echo by Hammock, The Dead Texan and And Their Refinement of the Decline by Stars of the Lid. If you don't like what you hear... get yourself checked. :)

M83 goes New Age this time around.
This time around, Anthony Gonzalez (now the sole member of M83) tries his hand at New Age essentially. Casual fans of the band be warned that this album is largely two-track compositions performed on synthesizer. No drums, no guitar. Unless one is a fan of ambient New Age music, then they should pass on the "Digital Shades" series. That said, the music here is an effective exercise in minimalism, both in melody and arrangement. The fact that Gonzales is able to hold our attention with very little effort for 35 minutes is a testimony to his gifts as a composer. While this album does remind one of the early works of New Age giants like Jean-Michel Jarre & Vangelis, it lacks the depth needed to rise above mediocrity. Still, the hushed sweetness of this work is welcome from an artist known more for his abrasive intensity.

Highlights include the voice-synth magic on "Coloring The Void," the pulsating "My Own Strange Path" which sounds like a reprise of Ennio Morricone's "Gabriel's Oboe," the piano/synth-string lead "Dancing Mountains" & the heavenly finale called "The Highest Journey." For newcomers to M83, start with the band's third album "Before The Dawn Heals Us" as it best represents what Gonzalez's music is all about. He has proven himself to be a master of contrasting the light and dark elements of melody into a symphony of grey.

This is an album for the devoted M83 fan, but Post-Rock music hunters should pass on this effort in favor of the band's first three albums. The final verdict for me is "Digital Shades, Vol. 1" is an interesting work of ambient mood music, which further extends the range of this remarkable Dream-Pop band.

Excellent Ambient
If Ambient isn't your style you may not like this, though I don't know who wouldn't. If you do like Ambient, this is a classic. A gorgeous, sublime album.