M83

On French duo M83's debut album, Dead Cities, Red Seas, and Lost Ghosts, twelve sharply defined, high-energy instrumentals are in full bloom, and absolutely euphoric. "Run Into Flowers" rushes over you and freezes your brain with synthesizer arpeggios and orchestral string samples coordinated into a reach toward the heavens. Meanwhile "Gone" is moodier, opening with a muted kick drum and simple keyboard hook before rushing forth with a cry of overwrought, albeit ambient, feelings that recalls the work of Harold Budd and Future Sound of London.

Recently issued in America after being released in Europe last year, Dead Cities, Red Seas, and Lost Ghosts aims for melodies previously mined by maligned trance and New Age artists, which makes it ironic that indie hipsters are now championing it as an IDM classic. The album is worthy of the plaudits, though, since its keyboard attack can be disassembled into several layers of interlocking fills and riffs that substantiate its heady emotions.