Jun 21 2024 - M83's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
                (is JonSharp.net's 2011 Album of the Year)
            (we just givin' out awards over here!)
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Tags: music, album review

The (ridiculously belated) JonSharp.net "Album of the Year" award for
2011 goes to M83's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.  The following is a brief
review:

I can't actually remember the first time I heard any of the tracks on
this album, but I *can* remember clearly the first time I listened to
this album straight-through...  My family and I were at my parents house
for the holidays.  My younger brother is also a huge music fan (not to
mention a talented musician, as well) and I was exploring his vinyl
collection while I stayed up late, working.

I'm not sure I'd even started my own vinyl collection at that point, so
I was really enjoying thumbing through his expertly-curated collection
of eclectic, contemporary releases amongst some of my favorite classic
albums.  I can't recall what drew me to the apparently hefty "Hurry Up,
We're Dreaming," but I was not expecting to be so impressed as I was.
I probably just thought it would be good music for coding.  (And... to
be sure, it _was_ good music for coding)  So I guess some details are
hazy ... (this was probably actually several years after 2011)

.... but the feeling I got from listening to the album -- that! -- is
what I remember clearly ... music that wrapped me up in sonic goodness like
a blanket ... music that made me "feel" like listening to 1996's epic
album, "Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness," made me feel.  My mind made
this immediate association between the two, which ended up making so
much sense when I heard later that M83 had drawn inspiration from that
seminal double-album for this, their own grandly-scoped artistic expression.

It's an album I keep going back to, (much like MCIS) and I keep finding
new things each time I do.  I put together my recent phlog post (ascii
meme?) titled "Kenny G" in response to a recent listen-through -- I
imagined the suave, Silhouette-era Kenny G smiling approvingly as the
sax sneaks into the dense layers of sophistication on "Midnight City."

.... I'll pause here for you to consider the relative diversity of music
genres represented in these initial "music" "album review"-tagged posts.
I think I may continue to write about signifcant albums from my past and
who knows? Maybe my appreciation for 90s CCM makes an appearance at some
point ...