Like they did last Spring, M83 sold out the Middle East Downstairs, playing in support of their latest release, Saturdays = Youth. Performing in almost complete darkness, M83 filled the room with their rich, electronic textures and signature breathy vocals, causing the packed crowd to get lost in true, shoe-gaze bliss. With Saturdays = Youth, M83 has added more structured pieces to their repertoire (verses and choruses, gasp!); tracks like "Kim and Jessie" and "Graveyard Girl" prompted kids to raise their eyes from the ground and dance to the catchy tunes.
School of Seven Bells offered a lovely, complementary opening set of mellow, rich electronic music. Like M83's more recent work, School of Seven Bells falls on the melody-rich end of the shoe-gaze spectrum. Identical-twin vocalists Claudia and Alejandra Deheza, who are stunningly beautiful, harmonize over droning guitars and the blips and beeps of the synthesizer, creating a reserved, yet positive sound.
There's nothing aggressive or riot-inciting from these two bands-just soothing, atmospheric music that occasionally makes you dance and always makes you smile.
