Wednesday 18/05/05 M83 @ Barfly, Liverpool

Anglo-Franco relations are enjoying an all time high at the moment. Thanks to the work of Daft Punk, Air and Thierry Henry the English have become much more chummy with our friends over the water. M83 are also doing the best to dispel the casual bigotry we have been throwing at each other over the last few centuries with a set of brutal beauty beamed straight in from planet X.

Sounding like My Bloody Valentine having a dust up with Mogwai, M83 fire their songs like weapons rather than just playing them. The gathered crowd are plain blown away by the ethereal majesty of songs like ‘Run Into Flowers’, ‘0078h’ and the phenomenal ‘Teen Angst’. The latter being easily the most complete example of how a choon can be sultry and  aggressive therein lying the real charm of the french noiseniks. A besuited Nicholas Fromageau looks effortlessly cool smashing his guitar with Nicholas Barlet occasionally adding hushed vocals to the hip fury they conjure. Never once addressing the crowd they let the music do the talking and it whispers sweetly with the sexy grace of a cricket bat wrapped in velvet.

The only real problem with their entire set is you how easy it is to get lost in the cacophony. Chances are if you haven’t heard the records a lot of what they offer will wash over you. This is not to say you wouldn’t enjoy M83 if this was your first time but the swirling synths, backbreaking beats and guitar twatting sound a tad repetitive after an hour. This is a petty gripe though as the overall feeling at the gig is one of awe. Nothing sounds quite like M83 and its safe to say nothing ever will. A lesson, if you will, in how to sound horny, violent and beautiful and all in a french accent. Tres bien x…