Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts

Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts (stylised without spaces) is the second studio album by the French electronic group M83. The album was first released in Europe on 14 April 2003, then in North America on 27 July 2004. The cover art is the photograph Snow Angels by Justine Kurland. This album was founding member Nicolas Fromageau's last album with the band.

Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
Studio album by
Released14 April 2003
Recorded2002
StudioM83 Studio
Genre
Length56:51
LabelGooom
Producer
  • Anthony Gonzalez
  • Nicolas Fromageau
  • Nicolas Barlet
  • Morgan Daguenet
M83 chronology
M83
(2001)
Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
(2003)
Before the Dawn Heals Us
(2005)
Singles from Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
  1. "Run into Flowers"
    Released: 23 June 2003
  2. "0078h"
    Released: 2 December 2003
  3. "America"
    Released: 26 April 2004

The North American pressing of the album comes with a bonus disc, containing five additional tracks, including the title track of the album and a live version of "Gone", as well as the enhanced videos of the singles "Run into Flowers" and "America".

Reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic86/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [3]
The Austin Chronicle     [4]
Drowned in Sound9/10[5]
Pitchfork9.2/10[6]
PopMatters8/10[7]
Stylus MagazineA[8]
Uncut     [9]

Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts has received widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 86, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[2]

In August 2009, Pitchfork placed Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts at number 188 on their list of the "Top 200 Albums of the 2000s".[10] As of 2005 close to 25,000 copies of Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts had been sold in the United States.[11]

Track listing

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Standard track listing

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Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Birds"
  • Anthony Gonzalez
  • Nicolas Fromageau
0:53
2."Unrecorded"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
4:11
3."Run into Flowers"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
  • Benoît de Villeneuve
4:09
4."In Church"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
3:58
5."America"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
3:06
6."On a White Lake, Near a Green Mountain"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
4:43
7."Noise"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
3:54
8."Be Wild"Gonzalez3:19
9."Cyborg"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
3:48
10."0078h"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
  • Morgan Daguenet
4:01
11."Gone"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
6:07
12."Beauties Can Die" (ends at 9:17; contains a hidden track at 11:17, after a period of silence)Gonzalez14:38
Total length:56:45
Bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Tsubasa"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
4:09
2."God of Thunder"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
5:55
3."In Church" (Cyann & Ben version)
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
7:05
4."Gone" (live)
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
5:50
5."Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
17:42
6."Run into Flowers" (enhanced video) 4:08
7."America" (enhanced video) 3:06
Total length:97:26

Notes

Vinyl track listing

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Vinyl issues of this album came with an extra track, a nearly 18-minute long piece named "Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts".[12]

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Birds"
  • Anthony Gonzalez
  • Nicolas Fromageau
0:53
2."Unrecorded"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
4:11
3."Run into Flowers"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
  • Benoît de Villeneuve
4:09
4."In Church"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
3:58
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Be Wild"Gonzalez3:19
6."America"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
3:06
7."On a White Lake, Near a Green Mountain"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
4:43
8."Noise"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
3:54
Side C
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."Cyborg"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
3:48
10."0078h"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
  • Morgan Daguenet
4:01
11."Gone"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
6:07
12."Beauties Can Die"Gonzalez9:20
Side D
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts"
  • Gonzalez
  • Fromageau
17:40
Total length:1:09:09

Charts

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Chart performance for Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
Chart (2003) Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP)[13] 116

References

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  1. ^ a b Moon, Tom (28 August 2008). "M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts". 1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die. Workman Publishing Company. pp. 493–494. ISBN 9-780761-139638.
  2. ^ a b "Reviews for Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts by M83". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  3. ^ Pytlik, Mark. "Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts – M83". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  4. ^ Stevens, Darcie (27 August 2004). "M83: Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts (Mute)". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  5. ^ Dobson, Gareth (28 October 2003). "Album Review: M83 – Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  6. ^ LeMay, Matt (12 May 2003). "M83: Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts". Pitchfork. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  7. ^ Sawdey, Evan (5 September 2014). "M83: M83 / Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts / Before the Dawn Heals Us". PopMatters. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  8. ^ Southall, Nick (1 November 2003). "M83 – Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 March 2006. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  9. ^ "M83 – Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts". Uncut (77). October 2003. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  10. ^ Pitchfork staff (28 September 2009). "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 200–151". Pitchfork. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  11. ^ "RFI Musique - - M83 takes on America".
  12. ^ "M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts". Discogs. 15 April 2003. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Lescharts.com – M83 – Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 January 2023.