Repose in Blue

PRIMAVERA PRIMAVERA PRIMAVERA PRIMAVERA PRIMAVERA PRIMAVERA PRIMA...

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 01:31:52 +0000

PRIMAVERA

HOOOOOOOOOLY FUUUUUUUUUUCK.

AAAAAAAAAHHHH.

thats me and three of my best pals outside the fucking Reichstag...

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:06:49 +0100

thats me and three of my best pals outside the fucking Reichstag in June.

I miss the summer and I kinda just wish I was back on a train heading to another different European city right now.

thedailywhat: Mashup of the Day: It’s 1992, Bill Clinton’s on...

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 17:14:02 +0100

thedailywhat:

Mashup of the Day: It’s 1992, Bill Clinton’s on the sax on The Arsenio Hall Show, and he’s jamming along to M83′s “Midnight City” from Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.

Wait, what?!

[hypervocal]

I love the internet.

dereken: the first time I heard of M83 was when the song ‘Teen Angst’ was used on an advert for...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:38:50 +0100

dereken:

the first time I heard of M83 was when the song ‘Teen Angst’ was used on an advert for that TV show Sugar Rush, which I think first broadcast in 2005. seven years and three albums later, I would finally see my favourite current artist come to Glasgow.

it took me about a year to finally get hold of Before the Dawn Heals Us, the album on which ‘Teen Angst’ appeared. I don’t know why, but it wasn’t until I saw ‘Don’t Save Us From the Flames’ on a ‘videos of the year’ list at the end of 2005 that I became genuinely intrigued. up until this point in my life, I had quite frankly heard nothing that even compared to this album, in terms of just how different, creative and BIG it sounded. by the time I had started listening to it properly, I was just starting fifth year of school. I hated school, but this album really helped me get through that last year and out into student-hood.

after I had went back and listened to the older stuff, and a widely-overlooked ambient album in 2007, Saturdays=Youth was released in 2008, just as I was starting first year at uni. a lot of my favourite things (music, films, etc.) are from the 1980s, and this album just sounded like it belonged there. again, it really was like nothing I had heard before, and it quickly became one of my favourite albums. at this point, M83 played King Tut’s, probably my favourite venue in Glasgow. it would have made my life to have went to that gig, but the venue is 18+, and I was still 17 at the time, as well as quite socially inept and unwilling to chance it. I would have to wait.

M83 used to be a two-man venture, but I’ve always known it as the musical vehicle of Anthony Gonzalez, and as such he has always been a personal hero of mine. not only the fact that he looks like a ‘Ralph Lauren model’ (as he was described in a recent Guardian article), but he seems to share a lot of philosophies of mine, such as the importance of dreaming and imagination when it comes to writing music.

this particular ideology was the fuel behind his latest release, the immense double album effort of Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, released in October. the first single, ‘Midnight City’, with its other-worldly synth line and nostalgia-inducing sax solo, has since been played just about everywhere, and hopefully will finally get M83 some of the recognition they deserve.

towards the end of 2011, I finally got to see M83. on November 30th, two days before my 21st birthday, I saw them at La Gaîté Lyrique in Paris. it quite simply was everything I could have wished for, and more. they omitted quite a few songs that I would have liked to have heard live, but everything that they did play was utterly stunning, from the completely re-worked versions of old songs (‘We Own the Sky’, ‘A Guitar and a Heart’) and the fan favourites (‘Kim & Jessie’), to the new stuff (‘Intro’, ‘Steve McQueen’) and raved-up encore (‘Couleurs’). the highlight, however, was the slightly new version of ‘Skin of the Night’, originally a duet between Gonzalez and female vocalist Morgan Kibby (of White Sea). this time sung in its entirety by Kibby, with added guitar epicness (deal with it) from Gonzalez, it was simply stunning, and moved me more than I think anything has ever done before.

this evening I went to see them at the Arches in Glasgow. I was thrilled that my favourite artist had come back to my home city, and I did enjoy seeing them again, but the sound in the venue was atrocious and did no justice to any of the material whatsoever. the early curfew of 10pm did the band no favours either, as several songs from the Paris set were cut, although there was a surprise rendition of a track from all the way back in 2001 (‘Sitting’) that went down fairly well.

I love M83, and I will never get sick of them. there’s barely a song of theirs that I dislike, and they will continually be an influence on anything and everything I do within the musical world. and I’m eternally grateful to Channel 4 for choosing such a fantastic track to soundtrack an advert for what turned out to be a fairly mediocre series.

reblogging cause I have more to add.

on June 1st 2012 (early hours of June 2nd, to be precise), at Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, I genuinely had my favourite experience at a musical event, EVER. a group of about 8 of us watched M83 play an admittedly shortened but no less enthralling set, and we just drunkenly danced and sang our way through the entire gig. I almost feel as if it was the culmination of all the years I’ve put into listening to and loving M83, and I’m not sure if anything in my life will top the feeling I had that night, at least not for a while.

on Wednesday, I’ll be seeing M83 again at the Picture House in Edinburgh. the fourth time I’ll have seen them, in a fourth different city. naturally, I cannot wait. also, the band who are supporting them, Man Without Country, are headlining a gig that my own band are playing on July 17th. so I can now claim two degrees of separation to my musical heroes. life is good.

Derek Connor BA(Hons)

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:16:08 +0100

fucking hell.

soundboard: Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built I’ve been...

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 06:07:43 +0100

soundboard:

Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built

I’ve been wanting to post these guys for a long time now. This Vancouver-based noise rock duo is set to release Celebration Rock, the follow-up to 2009’s fantastic Post-Nothing, on June 5th. They just released this track today as the first single. If you’re familiar with Japandroids, you know what kind of sound you’re getting. It’s anthemic, brash, and heavily distorted. That’s not to say that it’s unsophisticated. They actually approach some pretty deep issues, and Brian King, as always, absolutely pours himself into his music. Just about every time I listen to these guys, I want to leap out of my seat and pump my fist to the song, but unfortunately, I usually choose to be respectful of my surroundings. Unless of course, I’m alone. In that case, I may or may not crank up the speakers and jump around. Give it a try, and don’t forget to mark June 5th on your calendars. I can’t wait for the full album.

Enjoy!

-Andrew

imperfect-tense: There’s a girl who always appears in one of my Facebook friend’s photos and I...

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:37:43 +0000

imperfect-tense:

There’s a girl who always appears in one of my Facebook friend’s photos and I sometimes find myself looking at her and getting extremely annoyed. It’s just so ridiculous how someone can be that good looking. Honestly, it’s like she’s been sculpted out of nothing but hope and glory.

I’d tell you all that I love her, but I don’t. There’s no point in loving a girl like that. She’s the type of girl who could sell her chewing gum on Ebay to guys like me.

I also know a girl like this. I feel like the worst kind of facebook creep every time I ‘accidentally’ see a photo she’s been tagged in.

gabbydotco: Late night cover enjoy ! BET YOU WISH SHE...

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 01:36:02 +0000

gabbydotco:

Late night cover enjoy !

BET YOU WISH SHE SANG IN YOUR BAND.

seriously though, this is lovely.

DEREK CONNOR IS A COMPLETE CUNT!

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:20:25 +0000

I am. I endorse this fully.

I barely talk to any of them anymore, and this was probably the...

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:49:52 +0000

I barely talk to any of them anymore, and this was probably the worst week of our lives, certainly in terms of the friendships between our group at that time.

but I dunno, I kinda miss it.

Burial + Four Tet - Nova this somehow manages to sum up how...

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:13:00 +0000

Burial + Four Tet - Nova

this somehow manages to sum up how I’m feeling right now. too good.

Lyndsay, correct me if I'm wrong

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:31:08 +0000

are these our plans?

Primavera Sound/Barcelona: May 30th - June 3rd
Budapest: June 3rd - June 6th
Prague: June 6th - June 9th
Berlin: June 9th - June 12th
Amsterdam: June 12th - June 14th
Paris: June 14th - June 16th

aw ffs. I really hope I get these two weeks off, just seeing that written down makes me want to squeal like a little girl. SO EXCITED.

a "proper Derek moment"

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 23:37:00 +0000

defined as “hating [one’s self] after being drunk”

cheers, Gillian.

just found an old maths jotter from fifth year

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 00:51:21 +0000

I have absolutely no idea what any of the stuff inside it means anymore. but I’m glad there’s still at least some proof that I fuckin’ ACED higher maths without even really trying.

I really have an unhealthy obsession with the fact I used to be a maths whizz-kid. I wish I still was. saddest person alive, that is me.

actsofwhimsy: Well this was basically the whole of final year...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 20:55:05 +0000

actsofwhimsy:

Well this was basically the whole of final year for us wasn’t it?

And second year.

And first…

this is essentially my life, always.

I really abhor shaving. it’s one of my least favourite things to do in the world. nothing...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:37:14 +0000

I really abhor shaving. it’s one of my least favourite things to do in the world. nothing would please me more than being able to grow some actual proper facial hair so that I never have to bother with it.

Set list from last night... I think. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:11:08 +0000

fghtffyrslf:

Welcome To Bangkok
The Archers Bows Have Broken
Sowing Season
Millstone
Vices
Sink
Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades
Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don’t
The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
Me vs Maradonna vs Elvis
Jude Law And A Semester Abroad
Seventy Times Seven
Soco Amaretto Lime
Limousine
Jesus Christ
Degausser
You Won’t Know

probably the most perfect set I could have ever wanted them to play. Michael and I pissed off quite a few folk around us with our horribly off-key singing but I don’t give a fuck. it was amazing.

my mate from Edinburgh, who I haven’t seen since the Mogwai/The Twilight Sad gig at the...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:18:00 +0000

my mate from Edinburgh, who I haven’t seen since the Mogwai/The Twilight Sad gig at the Picture House last year, and will be reunited with a year to the day since that gig at Brand New on Tuesday, has started texting me random Brand New lyrics at all hours of the day in the lead up to this fantastic occasion.

I’m okay with this.

this my band. we are Lost Ghosts and this is a fairly accurate...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:52:17 +0000

this my band. we are Lost Ghosts and this is a fairly accurate summation of what we do every band practice.

ha.

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:32:08 +0000

ha.