On the subject of B&S, I only own If You Are Feeling Sinister. It is the only one that really caught me. It really seems to be head & sholders above the rest of their catalouge.
Are any of you Elliot Smith fans?
JM
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On the subject of B&S, I only own If You Are Feeling Sinister. It is the only one that really caught me. It really seems to be head & sholders above the rest of their catalouge.
Are any of you Elliot Smith fans?
JM
If You're Feeling Sinister really is great. Tigermilk is also fantastic. But like sggg said, the albums seem to get progressively less interesting.
I've never heard of Elliot Smith. Do tell more ...
Big Elliot Smith, too. I got all of his stuff except the Roman Candle album and maybe some singles here and there. Just like BandS, I hardly listen to him anymore:) His stuff on Mic City Sons (the great Heatmiser album) is good, too. Figure 8 was good, some of it was great (like Can't Make a Sound), but I didn't like it as much as XO or Either/Or or even the self titled album. I got my first ES album on the day of a really bad break up, so that stuff meant a lot to me back then.
Going along with the ES type stuff, any Cat Power or Bright Eyes fans here?
Elliott Smith I used to listen to very heavily a few years back. either/or is a particular favorite of mine. He has such a beautiful voice.
Cat Power is always fantastic, espically her most recent album You Are Free. And I like a good bit of the Bright Eyes I've heard, though I have not heard the majority of his music.
That reminds me, I remember reading in Pitchfork a while back that Elliot Smith plans to release an album this year, maybe even a double album. He was supposed to release some mainly accoustic stuff he recorded in a basement last year, but that never happened.
Q: What do you guys like better about Drive Like Jehu (over Hot Snakes)?
Impressions-
Polvo - Exploded Drawing -- Absolutely amazing. I love it. Funny thing with some of these albums is I download some tracks, I like a few, then delete them and weeks or months later I'll start getting a craving for the songs again and realize how much I like them. That's the case here, and hearing the other songs really puts the pieces together - and the songs really come to life when you're listening to a CD instead of MP3s. Lots of great songs here. Any other Polvo fans?
Enon - In This City -- First, the music videos (for In This City and two of my favorites on High Society: Carbonation and Pleasure & Privilege). I was shocked to see how well the In This City video turned out. The quality is top tier... it has to be one of the best videos I've ever seen. The other two were more what I was expecting, lower budget affairs. It's cool seeing the band perform, even if it's just in video form. For the music, the remixes really don't do much for me, but I still like them. More interesting are the instrumental Murder Sounds and Inches.
Hot Snakes is cool Post Punk/Rock. They jam & it is catchy as hell.
Jehu is fucking crazy. Very odd tunings, weird time signatures, slowly building songs that eventually explode. It's kinda like dilapidated math rock, but good. Rick Froberg is the singer for both, & is my favorite screamer of all time. Go read the Pitchfork review of the re-release of Yank Crime. It is pretty much spot on. I have heard a lot like this album since, but when I got it, it was just such a great new take on rock. It was a heavy album that didn't resort to Metal's theatrical schick.
JM
Hey, I notice no one mentioned an Indie Rock band I really like, called Feeder. They're Welsh I guess, and I dunno if any of you guys have heard of em or like em or anything, but check out their latest album Comfort In Sound, it came out last month over in the US, just went platinum here in the UK. Oh, and they're just finishing up a tour with Am Radio and Rooney in the States too.
Ah, I see JM mentioned Slowdive's "Souvlaki". "Pygmalion" is their best album IMO ("souvlaki" is the most accessible though), though all three ("Just for a day", "souvlaki", "pygmalion") are wonderful, perfect albums. They are the best band in the world for me. I have almost 90 live slowdive gigs on CDR, DAT and cassette (yes, I'm hardcore). Too bad they broke up in 1995. They were THE best shoegazing band ever.
Other shoegaze/indie faves of mine:
Chapterhouse
Rollerskate skinny
Medicine
My bloody valentine
The Charlottes
Piano Magic
Bark Psychosis (they ruled!! They invented the "post-rock" sound)
Lilys
Mercury Rev
Difference Engine
Transient Waves
Club 8
Ulrich Schnauss
Mahogany
Grimble Grumble (the best shoegaze band you've never heard)
Trembling Blue Stars
Field Mice
Emiliana Torrini
Verve
Mojave 3
Lush
Ride
Magnetophone
Labradford
Jesus & Mary Chain
Amp
Blind Mr. Jones (the other best shoegaze band you've never heard!)
bowery electric
Closedown
Cranes
Drop nineteens
Eternal
Ecstasy of St. Theresa
Fuxa
isan
Moose
Mosaic Eyes
Pale Saints
Northern Picture library
Revolver
Swervedriver
Seefeel
Smashing Orange (THEY RULED!!!)
Third Eye foundation
Children's Ice Cream
Tomorrowland
Secret Shine
Silvania (one of my faves)
....I could go on and on...if you're into shoegaze/indie stuff, you can't go wrong with any of the bands listed above. Check out the ones you've never heard of!!
(I have more live recordings by the above bands than I can count...)
Current fave of mine:
ULRICH SCHNAUSS (this guy is a genius and you MUST listen to his music if you like shoegaze/electro-ambient!! Get his new album "a strangely isolated place" now.)
Congrats, you're my new favourite poster! ;)Quote:
Originally posted by blueskied
[Slowdive]
Chapterhouse
My bloody valentine
Club 8 (!!!)
Trembling Blue Stars
Verve
Mojave 3
Lush
Ride
Northern Picture library
Secret Shine
I have not heard a lot of the stuff you listed, which is strange because that's what people usually say to me... (I even posted a list like that once but it was met mainly with blank stares: Link)..... but considering the number of excellent bands you posted I am going to have to investigate some of them! :)
ps. Check out The Radio Dept.: Link
SGGG: good to see others with good taste in music.;) I checked out your long list of fave bands, and while I recognized most of them, there were some I really don't care for (cloudberry jam :wtf: ), but overall lots of good stuff there!
If you haven't heard stuff like Blind Mr. Jones, Difference Engine, Silvania, Transient Waves, Grimble Grumble, Ulrich Schnauss or Smashing Orange (anything 1992 or earlier, the stuff after that date was crap), you're really missing out on some amazing stuff. Get Silvania's "Paisajes III" LP (1994) or "en cielo de oceano" LP (1992)(or "juniperfin", which is great too but more electro-ambient). Blind Mr. Jone's 1992 LP "stereo musicale" is essential. Smashing Orange's s/t 1991 EP and 1992 album "the glass bead game" are also essential. Anything by Grimble Grumble is very hard to find now (I own everything they ever released though), but if you can get hold of their 1997 s/t LP on Won't Go Flat records, snag it. They broke up soon after that, but half the band still apparently continues on (but they're crap now as the song writer --and my good friend-- Reuben Rios left).
BTW, have you heard the new Club 8 album? I just got the Japanese version (as I live in Japan) on Quince records, that comes with an exclusive beautiful photo cover of Karolina and Johan. It's a good album, but not quite as good as their previous two albums. The tracks on the "saturday night engine" single are better IMO.
It was a long and ecclectic list, there was bound to be some stuff on there you didn't like. ;)Quote:
Originally posted by blueskied
SGGG: good to see others with good taste in music.;) I checked out your long list of fave bands, and while I recognized most of them, there were some I really don't care for (cloudberry jam :wtf: ), but overall lots of good stuff there!
It's all noted. I'll definitly try to hear this stuff and hopefully it'll be up my tree. :)Quote:
If you haven't heard stuff like Blind Mr. Jones, Difference Engine, Silvania, Transient Waves, Grimble Grumble, Ulrich Schnauss or Smashing Orange (anything 1992 or earlier, the stuff after that date was crap), you're really missing out on some amazing stuff. Get Silvania's "Paisajes III" LP (1994) or "en cielo de oceano" LP (1992)(or "juniperfin", which is great too but more electro-ambient). Blind Mr. Jone's 1992 LP "stereo musicale" is essential. Smashing Orange's s/t 1991 EP and 1992 album "the glass bead game" are also essential. Anything by Grimble Grumble is very hard to find now (I own everything they ever released though), but if you can get hold of their 1997 s/t LP on Won't Go Flat records, snag it. They broke up soon after that, but half the band still apparently continues on (but they're crap now as the song writer --and my good friend-- Reuben Rios left).
Yes, I have it. I am friends with the band and I design and maintain their website. Speaking of which, it's due for a complete overhaul in the very near future so stay tuned. :)Quote:
BTW, have you heard the new Club 8 album? I just got the Japanese version (as I live in Japan) on Quince records, that comes with an exclusive beautiful photo cover of Karolina and Johan. It's a good album, but not quite as good as their previous two albums. The tracks on the "saturday night engine" single are better IMO.
As for Strangely beautiful, I like it a lot but I think I agree that I like the last two albums more. Actually, The friend I once had is probably still my sentimental favourite. I have been listening to the self titled album a lot lately for some reason. "Hope for winter" is my unofficial themesong lately.... I also agree that the "Saturday night engine" single is better than the album. I find I listen to it more often.
Wow, SGGG,, you maintain Club 8's website???:eek: That's super cool indeed. Actually, I really really recommend you get Ulrich Schnauss's new album "a strangely isolated place" first, more than anything. It's seriously one of the most amazing things I've heard in ages. Here's what some people have written about Schnauss and the new album:
"Since the release of his amazing debut album "Far Away Trains Passing By", Ulrich Schnauss has been overwhelmed by a viral spread of appreciation for his music. From the zeitgeist-crazed message boards and forums of cool record labels to the license-requesting teams working behind the scenes for trend-setting compilations, Ulrich's sound has managed to do that rarest of things and has crossed-over beyond the parameters of the electronic music club and has leaped into a wider public domain. Electronic music has rarely found itself a popular home. Switch on your TV set or go to the cinema, however, and you'll discover a world of vast and endless possibilities brought to life with instrumental textures designed to arouse an emotional response. Add some guitars, unforgettable tunes and even a sliver of voice here and there, and you have yourself a soundtrack with instant mass appeal and an emotional vocabulary that is enriched with every single listen. Ulrich's debut album followed these principles perfectly, and this, his long-awaited follow-up "a strangely isolated place" extends and expands on a formula which is uniquely and unforgettably his own. This is a record with an unashamed love of many forms of popular music, as well as a technologically inspired method of delivery, "...isolated place" starts off with timeless melodies and embroiders itself with pop stylings, some vocals and a euphoric, larger than life sound that betrays the loneliness of its highly evocative title. Moving away from the widespread fascination with all things "micro", the scope here is BIG, although every fragment of sound from the opening melancholy bliss of "Gone Forever" to the dusty detuned breakbeat of "A Letter From Home" has been carefully wrapped and labelled "Fragile". For this is music that has been assembled piece by piece, every fragment carefully chosen and given a sense of belonging, a home. Ulrich Schnauss has brought to life a place that you may have never visited, but it's a place that you have always known. Unmissable. "
PS-SGGG, if you're interested in hearing live recordings from some of the bands you like, drop me a PM sometime.
After reading all that I must say that Ulrich Schnauss sounds quite intriguing. Strangely enough, I can't really picture what it's going to sound like at all..... but I'd like to find out so colour me interested. :)
Also, consider yourself PM'd! ;)
blueskied, any fan of Club 8 is certainly très cool in my book. I also like a lot of the other bands you mentioned (including the Sarah records bands)... especially Field Mice (there is a song with my name in it :p).
I found a link for an mp3 of Ulrich Schnauss: linky . Just in case anyone else is interested. :)
Cool stuff, btw.
That mp3 link is great icepop, thanks! The song is "on my own", and it's one of my faves from the new album. Definitely give it a listen.:)
You are quite welcome! You can also check this out: link. It has some other interesting stuff there as well.Quote:
Originally posted by blueskied
That mp3 link is great icepop, thanks! The song is "on my own", and it's one of my faves from the new album. Definitely give it a listen.:)
I downloaded the Ulrich Schnauss mp3 and I liked it.... a lot! Thanks to blueskied for the recommendation and to icepop for the link. I think I'll pick up the album during my next record shopping session. :)
Also, while looking at that Autre Directions website I checked out Aerôflôt - very nice as well. This so does not belong in an Indie "Rock" thread though. :p
/me downloads some more stuff....
The Autres Directions website is very nice, you can download two full songs off Schnauss's first album "far away trains passing by", which I'd definitely recommend you do.
Strangely, I think Schauss's best song ever is "wherever you are", which is only available on the Slowdive tribute 2CD album called "blue skied an' clear". He also did a cover of Slowdive's "crazy for you", which is AMAZING. I'd definitely recommend you pick up that 2CD album, it's only about $15 and well worth it. BTW, you can pick up that album and all of Schnauss's other stuff (on CD and Vinyl) at my fave internet record shop www.tonevendor.com (hardcore lilys fans will recognise that's a tribue to the lily's shoegaze classic single "tone bender";) ). Check it out!! You can also buy most of Silvania's albums there, which you should definitely consider doing.
You can also buy Grimble Grumble's album on tonevendor, which you should check out! It's the german release that includes the 3 songs from their first 10" as well. Besides that their "fucked in the head" 7" is great and only $4.50. Don't buy their "sad" CD though, that's the band after Reuben left and they're crapola.
No! I disagree about Pygmalion! I love Blue Skied and Crazy but the rest of that album was a failed experiment of boredom to these hazy ears. And I have an appreciation and high tolerance for boring music as Seefeel is one of my all-time faves (the later, darker releases anyway). With Slowdive though, it was like, "hey, here's two perfect shoegazer albums that really couldn't be any better, and now, hey, here, take this, it's a bunch of really long, drawn out sleep-inducers with a couple strokes of genius thrown in just to remind you of what we're really capable of!" Indeed.Quote:
Originally posted by blueskied
Ah, I see JM mentioned Slowdive's "Souvlaki". "Pygmalion" is their best album IMO ("souvlaki" is the most accessible though), though all three ("Just for a day", "souvlaki", "pygmalion") are wonderful, perfect albums. They are the best band in the world for me. I have almost 90 live slowdive gigs on CDR, DAT and cassette (yes, I'm hardcore). Too bad they broke up in 1995. They were THE best shoegazing band ever.
Then the first Mojave 3 album was released and it was like, "phew, so they haven't flipped their lid entirely then!" (unfortunately things went downhill from there including such problems as NO SARAH SINGING? WTF? and WAIT, THESE SONGS JUST AREN'T GOOD! WHAT'S WRONG?!).
Funny though, I have a friend with similar shoegaze interests who feels the same as you, that Pygmalion is the underrated gem, and we've discussed his wrongness several times. :)
Damn, that is one serious list. Many years ago, I made it a mission to seek out anything shoegazer I could get my hands on and I've never even heard of about a third of these and prolly only own a third. Some I bought because of their ties to shoegazing but ended up being very disappointed: 3EF (except for like one song out of two or three CDs I have), Bowery Electric (I have the first and third albums and good lord, there's just nothing going on of any interest), Mahogany (have one EP that doesn't thrill me but I suppose it's pretty enough). Bark Psychosis' HEX was decent but I never saw the huge deal.Quote:
Originally posted by blueskied
Other shoegaze/indie faves of mine:
Chapterhouse
Rollerskate skinny
Medicine
My bloody valentine
The Charlottes
Piano Magic
Bark Psychosis (they ruled!! They invented the "post-rock" sound)
Lilys
Mercury Rev
Difference Engine
Transient Waves
Club 8
Ulrich Schnauss
Mahogany
Grimble Grumble (the best shoegaze band you've never heard)
Trembling Blue Stars
Field Mice
Emiliana Torrini
Verve
Mojave 3
Lush
Ride
Magnetophone
Labradford
Jesus & Mary Chain
Amp
Blind Mr. Jones (the other best shoegaze band you've never heard!)
bowery electric
Closedown
Cranes
Drop nineteens
Eternal
Ecstasy of St. Theresa
Fuxa
isan
Moose
Mosaic Eyes
Pale Saints
Northern Picture library
Revolver
Swervedriver
Seefeel
Smashing Orange (THEY RULED!!!)
Third Eye foundation
Children's Ice Cream
Tomorrowland
Secret Shine
Silvania (one of my faves)
But let's not focus on the bad. Moose was my favorite band for their early EPs and Honey-Bee. God, I loved that stuff. Trembling Blue Stars is my current Slowdive equivalent these days. 95% of his songs are for that one girl, that rules! All of these albums are classics in my book ('cept maybe the last one which I still like however). Lush, Ride, Chapterhouse, Revolver, Swervedriver, Mercury Rev, ah, you're bringing back the memories.
A lot of the ones you listed I had read about but could never find and I lived near Hollywood (this was before I was online really). So I still have these crumpled pieces of paper with all these old bands written on them to remind me to seek them out. :lol: The sad thing is though, I think the whole shoegazer sound has sorta run its course with me. :( I've gotten much more into mathier stuff and drum'n'bass the past several years. Perhaps, it'll come back around eventually.
I'm very interested in hearing this now after your endorsement and that paragraph you quoted. I'll definitely keep an eye out.Quote:
Originally posted by blueskied
...
Current fave of mine:
ULRICH SCHNAUSS (this guy is a genius and you MUST listen to his music if you like shoegaze/electro-ambient!! Get his new album "a strangely isolated place" now.)
Yeah I know some people didn't get into Pygmalion. But for me, that album is a masterpiece, as when it came out it sounded like NOTHING that had come before it. Pure innovation, pure genius. Countless bands have copied off that sound, and it has influenced more artists than you think. Today I listen to Souvlaki and their EPS ("morningrise", "5ep", "outside your room EP", etc) more than pygmalion. Pygmalion is an isolating album to listen to at times, and it sorta brings me down sometimes. But I do put it on everyonce in awhile to be reminded of what perfection sounds like.:) Slowdive actually recorded TONS of songs they never released, enough to make 3-4 full albums. A lot of those tunes are EXCELLENT. Neil Halstead (their songwriter) actually recorded a whole different "pygmalion" album in March 1994, of about 15 songs. He then went on tour and then came back and hated the songs, and threw most of them away and started over. His end result is the album we have today, and the previous version will never be released (he's stated he hates the songs and will never release them). It's good stuff though, a different version of "miranda", and "crazy for you". They also did a whole soundtrack album for the indie film "i am the elephant you are the mouse", which is SUPERB. It sounds like a mix of pygmalion and "ask me tomorrow" Mojave 3, as it was recorded between those phases.Quote:
Originally posted by Compass
No! I disagree about Pygmalion! I love Blue Skied and Crazy but the rest of that album was a failed experiment of boredom to these hazy ears. And I have an appreciation and high tolerance for boring music as Seefeel is one of my all-time faves (the later, darker releases anyway). With Slowdive though, it was like, "hey, here's two perfect shoegazer albums that really couldn't be any better, and now, hey, here, take this, it's a bunch of really long, drawn out sleep-inducers with a couple strokes of genius thrown in just to remind you of what we're really capable of!" Indeed.
"Ask me tomorrow" is a good album. It's no pygmalion but it's quite lovely in its own right. "NO SARAH SINGING"??? Who is "Sarah"? Are you referring to the song "sarah" on the LP? Slowdive/Mojave 3's female guitarist/singer's name is Rachel Goswell (she has a solo album coming out this january BTW), not Sarah. :wtf: :lol:Quote:
Then the first Mojave 3 album was released and it was like, "phew, so they haven't flipped their lid entirely then!" (unfortunately things went downhill from there including such problems as NO SARAH SINGING? WTF? and WAIT, THESE SONGS JUST AREN'T GOOD! WHAT'S WRONG?!).
It's all good stuff. I'm guessing stuff like Difference Engine, Closedown, Mosaic Eyes, Eternal, Silvania, etc, you haven't heard? Most of those bands (except Silvania) only released one album, or in some cases only one SINGLE. But they're all quite good and worth hunting for. Have you heard Blind Mr. Jones? They were an awesome, awesome band. Sounds like slowdive/chapterhouse/ride, and in fact they recorded at the same studio as chapterhouse and slowdive.Quote:
Damn, that is one serious list. Many years ago, I made it a mission to seek out anything shoegazer I could get my hands on and I've never even heard of about a third of these and prolly only own a third.
Transient waves and grimble grumble...those are are two bands more on the drone side of shoegaze, they're amazing but cruelly ignored/unknown.
Yeah mahogany is alright. I'm guessing you have the "what will become of the key of reason" EP? That's probably my least fave release by them. Not my fave band, but their early 7" singles were SUPERB. Much better than the stuff they released later, but sadly near impossible to find now. I love Bowery's first LP, as well as their second. Their third was average and I never even bought it. I love "hex", but it's sorta like "pygmalion" so I can see why you didn't fall head over heals for it. :lol:Quote:
Some I bought because of their ties to shoegazing but ended up being very disappointed: 3EF (except for like one song out of two or three CDs I have), Bowery Electric (I have the first and third albums and good lord, there's just nothing going on of any interest), Mahogany (have one EP that doesn't thrill me but I suppose it's pretty enough). Bark Psychosis' HEX was decent but I never saw the huge deal.
Moose ruled, and they still do. Their album from 2000 is GREAT!! Have you heard that?? Schnauss rules, check him out.;)
Wow, I had no idea about all those lost Slowdive songs. People would kill for that stuff (including me about six or seven years ago)!Quote:
Originally posted by blueskied
Yeah I know some people didn't get into Pygmalion. But for me, that album is a masterpiece, as when it came out it sounded like NOTHING that had come before it. Pure innovation, pure genius. Countless bands have copied off that sound, and it has influenced more artists than you think. Today I listen to Souvlaki and their EPS ("morningrise", "5ep", "outside your room EP", etc) more than pygmalion. Pygmalion is an isolating album to listen to at times, and it sorta brings me down sometimes. But I do put it on everyonce in awhile to be reminded of what perfection sounds like.:) Slowdive actually recorded TONS of songs they never released, enough to make 3-4 full albums. A lot of those tunes are EXCELLENT. Neil Halstead (their songwriter) actually recorded a whole different "pygmalion" album in March 1994, of about 15 songs. He then went on tour and then came back and hated the songs, and threw most of them away and started over. His end result is the album we have today, and the previous version will never be released (he's stated he hates the songs and will never release them). It's good stuff though, a different version of "miranda", and "crazy for you". They also did a whole soundtrack album for the indie film "i am the elephant you are the mouse", which is SUPERB. It sounds like a mix of pygmalion and "ask me tomorrow" Mojave 3, as it was recorded between those phases.
"Ask me tomorrow" is a good album. It's no pygmalion but it's quite lovely in its own right. "NO SARAH SINGING"??? Who is "Sarah"? Are you referring to the song "sarah" on the LP? Slowdive/Mojave 3's female guitarist/singer's name is Rachel Goswell (she has a solo album coming out this january BTW), not Sarah. :wtf: :lol:
It's all good stuff. I'm guessing stuff like Difference Engine, Closedown, Mosaic Eyes, Eternal, Silvania, etc, you haven't heard? Most of those bands (except Silvania) only released one album, or in some cases only one SINGLE. But they're all quite good and worth hunting for. Have you heard Blind Mr. Jones? They were an awesome, awesome band. Sounds like slowdive/chapterhouse/ride, and in fact they recorded at the same studio as chapterhouse and slowdive.
Transient waves and grimble grumble...those are are two bands more on the drone side of shoegaze, they're amazing but cruelly ignored/unknown.
Yeah mahogany is alright. I'm guessing you have the "what will become of the key of reason" EP? That's probably my least fave release by them. Not my fave band, but their early 7" singles were SUPERB. Much better than the stuff they released later, but sadly near impossible to find now. I love Bowery's first LP, as well as their second. Their third was average and I never even bought it. I love "hex", but it's sorta like "pygmalion" so I can see why you didn't fall head over heals for it. :lol:
Moose ruled, and they still do. Their album from 2000 is GREAT!! Have you heard that?? Schnauss rules, check him out.;)
Oops! on the Sarah thing. I don't know why, I guess 'cause of that song, I always want to say 'Sarah' when of course any shoegaze fan worth his salt knows it's Rachel. yeah, the extent of my personal slowdive contact is an email she sent me. i saw mojave live several times but didn't have the guts to say anything to any of 'em (and really, what would i say, "um, i like yer musics."). but yeah, why didn't they (prolly neil) let her sing on subsequent mojave 3 albums? i think i have the first three and she was barely heard in the latter two. her voice was my favorite part of "ask me tomorrow". (i didn't know about the goswell solo effort, that's cool! damn, i'm so out of it when it comes to indie stuff these days).
Moose did rule but I didn't like "Live a Little..." or "...XYZ" much at all. I haven't bought anything since like '98 I think and didn't realize there was a 2000 release.
The mahogany ep i have is ... er, couldn't find it. I bought it new on CD back in '99 I think though.
I always heard about Blind Mr. Jones but never sought it out (maybe 'cause I didn't like the name?). Transient waves, Grimble Grumble, Difference Engine, Closedown, Mosaic Eyes, Eternal, Silvania, I've never even heard of except Difference Engine which I could never find and Closedown which is IMPOSSIBLE to find from what I hear and my own experience. Transient waves and Grimble Grumble I'm now interested in especially if they're "cruelly ignored".
Have you ever heard of shiFt who eventually changed their name to should? The should release I have is pretty good (slowdive-ish). That was one that took me forever to track down. Also, loveliescrushing and soul whirling somewhere (not particularly shoegazer but great at times, nonetheless) can be awesome. Lovesliescrushing has this one song on "xuvetyn" called "blooded and blossom blown" that's about as great as any mbv-type shoegaze soundscape can get. I remember dropping my pen in astonishment the second time I heard this track (I was doing physics homework). Projekt is kinda 4AD-lite but I do like those two bands.
Yeah, I love shiFt!! I have their original 7 song EP from 1994 called "a folding sieve" (gotta love tracks like "breathe salt" and "feels like morning", etc!). I love that. I also have their "own two feet" 7", which is GREAT!! Only 500 copies of that were pressed. I have the Should album as well, it's good but not quite as good as the shiFt stuff.Quote:
Originally posted by Compass
I always heard about Blind Mr. Jones but never sought it out (maybe 'cause I didn't like the name?). Transient waves, Grimble Grumble, Difference Engine, Closedown, Mosaic Eyes, Eternal, Silvania, I've never even heard of except Difference Engine which I could never find and Closedown which is IMPOSSIBLE to find from what I hear and my own experience. Transient waves and Grimble Grumble I'm now interested in especially if they're "cruelly ignored".
Have you ever heard of shiFt who eventually changed their name to should? The should release I have is pretty good (slowdive-ish). That was one that took me forever to track down. Also, loveliescrushing and soul whirling somewhere (not particularly shoegazer but great at times, nonetheless) can be awesome. Lovesliescrushing has this one song on "xuvetyn" called "blooded and blossom blown" that's about as great as any mbv-type shoegaze soundscape can get. I remember dropping my pen in astonishment the second time I heard this track (I was doing physics homework). Projekt is kinda 4AD-lite but I do like those two bands.
Closedown isn't all that hard to find. Well maybe it is now, what do I know. I bought their album years ago (it was released in 1994), it's quite good. I'm closedown hard core, I have a set of unreleased demos (about 40 min worth) as well as a live gig on tape!:lol: Talk about obscure (I also have live recordings of Grimble Grumble, Mosaic Eyes, Blind Mr. Jones, Transient waves, etc., which is pretty much on par obscurity-wise). I knew a tape trader in Belgium years ago that was obsessed with Closedown, and he had all these tapes of their fucking REHEARSALS and stuff, just crazy obscure stuff.
Transient waves is perhaps better known than Grimble Grumble. But they're both pretty much ignored. I love Transient waves' two LPs-- "Wading and waiting", and "Sonic Narcotic", as well as their singles, etc. I love them because they are pretty much the ONLY shoegaze band post 1995 to have a really "original" guitar sound. It's just brilliant, nothing really sounds like it. It's all heavily drenched in reverb of course but it's flanged and phased like heck (among other effects) and the end result is a slow, soupy wash of sound that is so full and vibrant, agh, it's brilliant. It doesn't sound overly digital and sounds remarkably warm and analog for what it is.
OHHH, I forgot one last shoegaze great, COLFAX ABBEY!!! Have you heard them? Their ep from 1996 RULES. I need to find my copy of that....
You need to hear Difference Engine's 1994 album "breadmaker". It's just awesome, some of the best shoegaze drum work ever. Classic chorus in the opening track: "hand drops you, it's a long way down..." sung by a gorgeous female singer (sounds sorta like Slowdive's rachel). They actually opened for Slowdive in a gig in 1994 in Providence, RI. Yes, I know way too much slowdive trivia.:lol: I have a private interview with slowdive on tape before that Providence gig, and you can hear Difference engine playing in the background! Now that's the definition of obscure!!:lol:
That's strange, I felt the opposite about shiFt and should. A Folding Sieve took me an eternity to find and then I was sorely disappointed once I got it. I thought feed like fishes (or something like that) was much better.Quote:
Originally posted by blueskied
Yeah, I love shiFt!! I have their original 7 song EP from 1994 called "a folding sieve" (gotta love tracks like "breathe salt" and "feels like morning", etc!). I love that. I also have their "own two feet" 7", which is GREAT!! Only 500 copies of that were pressed. I have the Should album as well, it's good but not quite as good as the shiFt stuff.
Closedown isn't all that hard to find. Well maybe it is now, what do I know. I bought their album years ago (it was released in 1994), it's quite good. I'm closedown hard core, I have a set of unreleased demos (about 40 min worth) as well as a live gig on tape!:lol: Talk about obscure (I also have live recordings of Grimble Grumble, Mosaic Eyes, Blind Mr. Jones, Transient waves, etc., which is pretty much on par obscurity-wise). I knew a tape trader in Belgium years ago that was obsessed with Closedown, and he had all these tapes of their fucking REHEARSALS and stuff, just crazy obscure stuff.
Transient waves is perhaps better known than Grimble Grumble. But they're both pretty much ignored. I love Transient waves' two LPs-- "Wading and waiting", and "Sonic Narcotic", as well as their singles, etc. I love them because they are pretty much the ONLY shoegaze band post 1995 to have a really "original" guitar sound. It's just brilliant, nothing really sounds like it. It's all heavily drenched in reverb of course but it's flanged and phased like heck (among other effects) and the end result is a slow, soupy wash of sound that is so full and vibrant, agh, it's brilliant. It doesn't sound overly digital and sounds remarkably warm and analog for what it is.
OHHH, I forgot one last shoegaze great, COLFAX ABBEY!!! Have you heard them? Their ep from 1996 RULES. I need to find my copy of that....
You need to hear Difference Engine's 1994 album "breadmaker". It's just awesome, some of the best shoegaze drum work ever. Classic chorus in the opening track: "hand drops you, it's a long way down..." sung by a gorgeous female singer (sounds sorta like Slowdive's rachel). They actually opened for Slowdive in a gig in 1994 in Providence, RI. Yes, I know way too much slowdive trivia.:lol: I have a private interview with slowdive on tape before that Providence gig, and you can hear Difference engine playing in the background! Now that's the definition of obscure!!:lol:
colfax abbey is one I *always* heard about but never sought it out. So I guess I was exagerrating when I said I made it my mission to try to track down *every* shoegazer band I'd heard of. :chick:
And when I say such-and-such is hard to find, I guess I just mean it was hard for me to find when I started looking for it but that was most likely from '95-'98. That's when I was most into that style of music and a lot of it had already dried up at that point. Closedown I didn't look for until like '99 and people told me, "good luck". I remember bands in Melody Maker and NME seemed to be ashamed to be associated with the term right when I discovered the pseudo-genre. Shoegazer was written sh*eg*zer like it was a bad word. And bands who had changed their sound like Ride and Slowdive, I specifically remember reading how they weren't proud of their previous work. I think I even remember (and don't quote me on this 'cause I am the student here) Neil Halstead saying he thought Souvlaki was straight-up rubbish in retrospect.
Geez, you seem to be the be-all end-all reference for shoegaze stuff what with all the releases you own, fun facts you know, etc. You should write a book! ::serious:: I know I'll be saving this thread for future reference for some of these bands. thanks. :)
p.s. first Boo Radley's album is great! another band that seemed to want to escape their shoegaze trappings once word spread that it was no longer "in".
I just dug out Difference Engine's "breadmaker" LP and I'm listening to it now. Man, I forgot how great this is. Rocking bass and drums, great guitars (not overly dreamy/experimental, more rhythm based like Ride, Lush, Revolver, Swervedriver, Chapterhouse, and the like), great guy/girl vocal harmonies, etc. Great stuff! Do you have a CDR burner Compass? If so, maybe we could trade some CDrs when I move back to the USA at the end of July. I could make copies of all these hard to find releases (they're all long out of print anyway, so trading copies today is OK in my opinion). Send me a PM sometime if you're interested.
It's nice to talk to other shoegaze fans. It's pretty rare for me to find other people to talk with about these bands, and so when I do I tend to ramble (I could go on and on...). Shoegaze is a genre of music that is incredibly strange because it was ignored completely by the USA press, and today most people in the USA don't even know what it is. It's like some big secret music scene from the early-mid 90s that continues on today with even more obscure bands. Some good current shoegaze bands include Malory and Air Formation. Check those two out sometime. I'd write a book sometime, but I have no time really. Maybe some day. I certainly have enough source material to write a book about it, and I'm in contact (or have been in contact) with many shoegazing bands. I think I'd like to write a book on slowdive someday!:) I probably shouldn't post this, but I even have the rarest Slowdive-related item of all-- their 1989 demo tape when they were called "The Pumpkin Fairies" (only about a dozen copies are said to exist today), which is sorta gothy and rather good considering they were all like 17 years old. :chick: (runs and hides in a forest where rabid slowdive fans can't find him and steal his copy of this tape)...
Haha, that's crazy. The Pumpkin Fairies?! lol. You really are the master of obscure releases. I didn't even know they were together when they were so young. And yeah, Difference Engine was at the top of my must-have list for awhile so I probably read a review in Alternative Press or something that made it sound as good as you do.
I know what you mean about finding people to talk to who know about the scene. I'm the shoegaze-knowledge master compared to most people I've met (and we've learned in this thread that I know very little in the grand scheme of things). The point is that even my meager experience is *much* more than most people who, like you said, never noticed this music in the first place (except Lush 'cause they were on Lollapalooza! ;)).
Malory comes up now and then but I find in general I'm not terribly interested in a modern band's take on the genre. Maybe I'm being unfair and missing out but I think I'd rather track down stuff from the nineties rather than listen to bands trying to sound like the stuff they remember from the nineties.
Maybe I'll put on shiFt's CD while I level up in Legaia and try to see if I missed something.
And hey, wait a sec, you have time to hit the top twenty in the Ikaruga rankings but you don't have time to write a book?! But seriously, I think there would be a lot of interest in this. Nobody's tried to do it yet that I know of and there's a grand story to be told. I know I used to have a lot of unanswered questions; a book like that would've made me very happy. (And I never had the questions answered, I just forget about them as I found other styles of music). And if you don't write it somebody else is bound to try eventually.
Hmm, missed this whole part the first time I read it. I usually insist on buying and having the original copies of CDs, games, etc. but yeah, I'd be interested in copying some of the rarer things that I know damn-well I'll never find like Closedown. Also, if I have anything you would want, (prolly not but who knows) I could do the same for you or let you borrow or whatever. I'm up for it.Quote:
Originally posted by blueskied
... Do you have a CDR burner Compass? If so, maybe we could trade some CDrs when I move back to the USA at the end of July. I could make copies of all these hard to find releases (they're all long out of print anyway, so trading copies today is OK in my opinion). Send me a PM sometime if you're interested.
...
Haha, you got me there!:lol: I play Ikaruga all day. Yes. That is true (actually I'm pretty close to giving up on it now, it's beginning to drive me crazy:bang: ). Seriously, I think something realistically I could do, and want to do, is put together a really comprehensive Slowdive website, featuring a full archive off all their gigs, setlists, unreleased demos, etc. I mean, I HAVE all that crap. I just need to slap it all together some day and write it up. A book on "shoegaze" would be very difficult and a ton of work, you'd have to go year by year and chronicle every shoegaze band that sprout up, their sound, all that. I suppose it's something I've thought about, but I don't know. I'm starting grad school in August and I'll have that to focus on for the near future. But who knows!Quote:
Originally posted by Compass
And hey, wait a sec, you have time to hit the top twenty in the Ikaruga rankings but you don't have time to write a book?! But seriously, I think there would be a lot of interest in this. Nobody's tried to do it yet that I know of and there's a grand story to be told. I know I used to have a lot of unanswered questions; a book like that would've made me very happy. (And I never had the questions answered, I just forget about them as I found other styles of music). And if you don't write it somebody else is bound to try eventually.
And like I said the cd-swap is cool with me if you're up for it. Send me a PM or click on my profile, go to my website, and you can email me from there.
i suggest anyone who likes the Omaha scene (sattle creek, desiparacidos, cursive, etc..) to get Criteria - En Gaurd on Initial records (Green this means you). A very unexpectedly great cd. Gaurenteed to be in my top 10 this year.
http://www.adequacy.net/reviews/c/criteria.shtml
uh... back to shoegaze!:bang:
I've heard very little of this side of credible music, though I've always wanted to get into it. However, a mixture of being on 56k and artist obscurity has really slowed me down.
after much searching, I managed to get 1 and a half songs by "Drive Like Jehu" (how on earth do you pronounce jehu?), and they sound pretty great. The lead singer has a voice that sounds like a mix between the guy from Ween and the guy from Sparta. I really dig the wierdness of the music (I got "if it kills you" and half of "do you compute?"). If I get the chance, I'll get an album of theirs.
I was wondering what is "indie rock" exactly? is it anything thats 'underground' or independantly released or what?
I think the term "indie" gets thrown around so much these days that it's lost a lot of the meaning it once had. I think this goes for both "indie rock" and "indie pop". Originally, it referred to bands released on independent labels but I think now it tends to refer to a general sound rather than any technical definition.
Personally, I am not very into "indie rock" but I am much into what is considered to be "indie pop". A lot of the bands I tend to like actually are very independent (small bands on small independent labels with limited distribution ... usually bands no one's ever heard of) ... However, I've heard people refer to bigger, more well known and certainly no longer "independent", bands as being indie pop music. So my guess is that when people use the word indie they are referring more to a sound or style than anything else. Just my two cents.