Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Surfingelectrode
Jan 17, 2006

Yeah, I know it's a drag...
but wastin' pigs is still radical.

hatelull posted:

Finally, I think Mercury Rev deserves a mention here if only for Yr Self is Steam.

Mercury Rev - Chasing a Bee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztKNzjgshfY

They probably drift more toward the psychedelic pop territory where the Lips reside, but a track like "Frittering" just begs for some walls of distortion.

Mercury Rev - Frittering
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dms5WyiNZJU

It might just be me, but I think Boces is a lot better thant Yerself is Steam. It's poppier and noisier, and just a lot loving weirder. See You On the Other Side is also great and way overlooked.

Here are some tracks from Boces:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h2VvMgwIF4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2VffKMuFKo

And just because the Lips and Mercury Rev are a lot more psychedelic doesn't mean they don't fit into the whole noise pop category.

I think these Lips albums are all essential noise pop...

In a Priest Driven Ambulance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UGdPeMC2ac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WPbLdmoVFg

Hit to Death in the Future Head
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A9VcPKV4m0
http://vimeo.com/13902189

Transmissions from the Satellite Heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAXEsq6A0v4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guCdR2jnkls

Clouds Taste Metallic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtNhRdMozR0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n62w20H5foM

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

WhiteHowler
Apr 3, 2001

I'M HUGE!
I've been exploring new music on Spotify lately, and I've absolutely fallen in love with Devics. They're definitely more on the dream-pop side of things, but some of the tracks on their newer albums get into "wall of sound" territory, even including a post-rock tone occasionally. Everything they record is beautiful, but the music is challenging enough to keep from being boring. I shared a Spotify playlist (which is sadly missing the newest album) here.

Also, Lush. Goddamn it kills me that they only released four albums (well, three plus an EP compilation). Unlike most bands, their sound actually seemed to improve as their songs got a bit poppier. Split is probably my favorite album of all time, and I would have liked to see their continuing evolution after Lovelife.

Are there any currently-active bands with the same sort of sound? I prefer female-fronted dream-pop to stuff like My Bloody Valentine, but most of what I see billed as dream-pop is pretty boring and uninspired. I'm looking for more Halou and less Mazzy Star, I guess.

hatelull
Oct 29, 2004

They're not new and certainly not around, but Drugstore did an interesting mix of Mazzy Star and Jesus and Mary Chain. Their first album (released in 1995) was a permanent fixture in my CD player. The other ones were not so great.

Drugstore - Baby Astrolab
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdk5irzWNrE&feature=related

chime_on
Jul 27, 2001

hatelull posted:

They're not new and certainly not around, but Drugstore did an interesting mix of Mazzy Star and Jesus and Mary Chain.

They just put out a new album this month.

AcidCat
Feb 10, 2005

Here's a couple.

Bowery Electric
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lczCBvKW_TE

Bethany Curve
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeYj6CRzE7k


And as much as I dig MBV, Slowdive will always represent the apex of this genre IMO.

hexwren
Feb 27, 2008

TheIndividual posted:

And here's a weird one. Back in the early 90s, Blur and Slowdive used to attend each others concerts pretty regularly. This lead to Blur becoming a little bit interested in shoegaze, and creating easily their finest b-side (and probably the one one worth a drat), Sing.

Sing - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrFpPJgxC4

In the UK, it wasn't a b-side, it was actually on their first record, Leisure. The problem was, it was on Leisure, which was a kinda-listless post-Madchester mishmosh and, in fact, 80% poo poo. They'd half-heartedly approach shoegazey guitars again some years later, through their lo-fi self-titled record's sessions---Swallows in the Heatwave and Bustin' + Dronin' are the relevant B-sides from that period. The US version of the self-titled record also ends with a bizarre triple-threat of noise guitar and muttered imprecations, combining the album track Essex Dogs, the b-side Dancehall and a further instrumental called Interlude into one eleven-and-a-half-minute weirdness device. I used to snowblow the driveway with earbuds in under my hearing protection listening to that record, and it was amazing.


As the thread itself goes, I am so glad this is here. I'm just starting to get into the scenes talked about here---I have Loveless, Saturdays = Youth and a few other bits and bobs, and the band of goons I am in has covered Primal Scream (Velocity Girl) and Jesus and Mary Chain (Just Like Honey), so. Yeah.

Here's a bit of an under-noticed gem that I think of when people start talking dream pop and similar: the Ray Davies/Kinks tribute album This Is Where I Belong. Bebel Gilberto goes exotica on No Return, Josh Rouse gets dreampop as gently caress on Well Respected Man (sorry, doesn't look like it's on youtube, but it is on spotify), Yo La Tengo take on Fancy with the delightfully expected result (but the unexpected result that it's neither on youtube nor spotify...), and several others (Lambchop's haunting, reverb-soaked take on Art Lover most notably) fit the bill. The remainder of the album is quite good (Fountains of Wayne, Ron Sexsmith) to fairly what-the-christ-is-this-doing-here (Queens of the Stone Age), but enjoyable nevertheless.

edited because the day I decide to shut my mouth about music is the day I'm in a vegetative state

hexwren fucked around with this message at 00:26 on Aug 27, 2011

The Doo Do Chasers
Dec 27, 2008

:fella:Life is overwhelming:fella:

hatelull posted:



Experimental Audio Research - Transistor Music for Ring Modulators and Tremolo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ-k_jJVwpA&feature=related

Experimental Audio Research - Data Rape
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy8DNVMZuBY

Kevin Shields (of MBV duh) worked with them on at least one album (Beyond the Pale I think) and it has some eriously great drone. Not a whole lot of guitar based drone does it for me, but holy poo poo does that album have some great textures

drainpipe
May 17, 2004

AAHHHHHHH!!!!
Are there any good blogs for finding new shoegaze?

Ras Het
May 23, 2007

when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child - but now I am a man.

Allen Wren posted:

Bebel Gilberto goes exotica on No Return

"Goes"? This sounds exactly like everything else she has ever done, that is, gluttonously cheesy synth-bossa? I haven't heard the original though, so maybe it's cool in juxtaposition or something.

hexwren
Feb 27, 2008

Ras Het posted:

"Goes"? This sounds exactly like everything else she has ever done, that is, gluttonously cheesy synth-bossa? I haven't heard the original though, so maybe it's cool in juxtaposition or something.

Just a turn of phrase, not trying to make a judgement about Gilberto's work---the Kinks original is also bossa nova-inflected as well, so it's not really all that far from what the Davies were doing. I just think it's a good song, in either incarnation.

FetusOvaries
Jun 16, 2010

I'll kiss you in the rain
Brian Eno making shoegaze in 1974:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP-RFsuv-8Q

what!!

XMD 5a
Aug 28, 2011

money is flesh

drainpipe posted:

Are there any good blogs for finding new shoegaze?

http://shoegazeralive5b.blogspot.com/
http://whenthesunhitsblog.blogspot.com/

Also, these compilations feature a metric fuckton of "newgaze". Very hit-or-miss, but there's some good stuff in the mix:
http://killredrocketrecords.bandcamp.com/album/killredrocketrecords-jesus-in-space-compilation-2010
http://killredrocketrecords.bandcamp.com/album/jesus-in-space-2011-the-resurrection

Tre Past Cool! posted:

Did you know?: Some people say Slowdive is better than My Bloody Valentine. These people are wrong.

Wrong me the gently caress up then. Slowdive is achingly close to being my all-time favourite band.
Under-appreciated gems (ie not on Souvlaki):

"Primal" (AKA dat climax, AKA best song ever)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3TG7d9N7J4

"Catch the Breeze"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVY9p1IHops
-> Kickass live version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-Y7fOYxl1E

"She Calls"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxfydMKStuU&feature=related

"Albatross"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woPp5R1KGX8

"Miranda"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jphrbNdXMc4

"Watch Me (Film Mix)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u21beb1l2Ks

"Untitled No. 2"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5TeFhHy71c

Just so my post isn't purely a Slowdive wankfest, I'll make a massive recommendation of everything out of the Enemies List Home Recordings (http://enemieslist.net/kvlt/) camp. Most of the acts feature a similar aesthetic and penchant for genre-blending. Also going to +1 the recs for all of the post-Spacemen 3 splinter projects (Spiritualized, Spectrum, EAR, Sonic Boom).

While I'm at it, LOOP!!!!!!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIKS1tFzvr8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbmhoMpoTac

Main (Loop side project) are excellent too, but that's another tangent...

XMD 5a fucked around with this message at 09:52 on Aug 28, 2011

TheIndividual
Apr 22, 2010

FetusOvaries posted:

Brian Eno making shoegaze in 1974:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP-RFsuv-8Q

what!!

This song always sounds so much like what Yo La Tengo is doing now, and it's really wonderful. One of my favorite songs ever.

Also, it should be noted that Brian Eno produced Slowdive's Souvlaki, and helped quite a lot in the studio to make it the masterpiece that it is. People should also listen to the bootlegged demos from the Souvlaki sessions, because there are some great tunes there that regrettably got left off. My personal favorite is titled "AB", which I really wish they had finished.

Slowdive - AB - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1d7r__XLEY

texting my ex
Nov 15, 2008

I am no one
I cannot squat
It's in my blood

XMD 5a posted:

Slowdive stuff

Nice selection, though I always thought that Untitled 3 is their best unreleased song. It's also probably the most representative of their sound overall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZhygqZr2MA

Slowdive warms my heart because I have a story associated with them. My father used to play "Machine Gun" sometimes when I was little, and it kind of stuck with me. I could remember the melody, but didn't remember what band it was band, nor did my father ever know what I was talking about. Ten years later I'm on a 90's music binge, and behold, the song I remembered from my childhood. It was such a good feeling, and then it happened all over again with Crazy for You :swoon:

edit: have more Slowdive, here's Sleep:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7bTuvKUJ-M

FetusOvaries
Jun 16, 2010

I'll kiss you in the rain
Slowdive!!

"I Saw The Sun" is just pure bliss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=934_0PC-6RY

"Richard" is a depressingly beautiful song that comes off as a dreamy slow version of "Don't Fear the Reaper"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ettEOTJ7X_E

The long climax of "Golden Hair" is perhaps their finest work. These guys made some beautiful noises with guitars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXZAzOnrF1g

Rageaholic
May 31, 2005

Old Town Road to EGOT

I think my two favorite Slowdive songs are When The Sun Hits (which has already been posted) and Machine Gun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ylunl72PyE

Really feels like something out of a dream. I mean, I know that's the reason for it being called "dream pop". But I honestly feel like I'm in another dimension or something whenever listen to them.

Pomplamoose
Jun 28, 2008

FetusOvaries posted:

Brian Eno making shoegaze in 1974:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP-RFsuv-8Q

what!!

I think I already mentioned "Tomorrow Never Knows" by the Beatles, so here's "Bo Diddley" by Bo Diddley in 1955. Bo Diddley is Jesus.

By the way I added a collaborative spotify playlist I found as well as some recent albums to the OP (3rd post).

http://open.spotify.com/user/gee2909/playlist/6PbYczSgal0BN5D4cQKwxB

chime_on
Jul 27, 2001
Eno didn't produce Souvlaki, really. He collaborated with them on like 2 or 3 songs on it.

DLC Inc
Jun 1, 2011

School of Seven Bells has been making some wonderful music over the past few years which could all be considered "dreampop" I suppose. They just had a show here in Brooklyn, NYC a few days ago previewing some brand-new songs from an upcoming third album. Their first album was sort of an electronica-tribal affair, but with the second (and third) album, the stuff gets into darker, more surreal territory.

You can actually listen to all of their second album Disconnect From Desire on their YouTube account, as well as a few songs from the earlier years. They're getting better and better all the time, so jump in on this.

http://www.youtube.com/user/SchoolofSevenBells

e: Also, echoing the love for Lush; if you like MBV, definitely pick up their album Gala, which was the the band at their most raw, free-formed stage and in my opinion, they were at their best when they were this experimental with the vox and feedback.

WhiteHowler
Apr 3, 2001

I'M HUGE!

MinibarMatchman posted:

e: Also, echoing the love for Lush; if you like MBV, definitely pick up their album Gala, which was the the band at their most raw, free-formed stage and in my opinion, they were at their best when they were this experimental with the vox and feedback.
I think Split is my favorite album because it struck just the right balance between shoegaze and dream-pop. It has its hauntingly beautiful moments (Desire Lines and When I Die) and its rock-out moments too (Hypocrite and Black Out).

Lovelife was good too, but it was obvious that they were (intentionally or not) gradually moving to a more accessible, radio-friendly indie-pop sound.

Also, referring back to the OP, I have no idea what the hell "twee" is, but I really like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart -- and especially their newest album -- so I guess I'm into that too.

Pomplamoose
Jun 28, 2008

WhiteHowler posted:

Also, referring back to the OP, I have no idea what the hell "twee" is, but I really like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart -- and especially their newest album -- so I guess I'm into that too.

Well, for the long answer read Twee as gently caress.

The short answer:

quote:

In a pop music context, the term “twee” was originally used by British music journalists in the mid- to late 1980s as an abusive term for indie pop. It has since been ‘reclaimed’ by some indie pop fans and used in a neutral sense.

Musically its key characteristics are jangling guitars, a love of sixties pop and often fey, innocent lyrics. It is not at all uncommon to find hand claps, rubber bands or ukuleles in the background of these songs.

Some bands:

http://www.last.fm/tag/%20twee
http://www.last.fm/tag/twee%20pop
http://www.last.fm/tag/twee%20as%20fuck
http://www.last.fm/tag/twee-pop

For shoegaze/twee there's also Black Tambourine (you can get their whole discography on one CD)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_pQYGs0ysU

and My Bloody Valentine's EP Ecstacy was pretty twee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlwMx9DFLWo

For regular twee I like Beat Happening and Los Campesinos! the best.

Pomplamoose fucked around with this message at 03:42 on Aug 29, 2011

The Doo Do Chasers
Dec 27, 2008

:fella:Life is overwhelming:fella:
Yeah if you like shoegaze you should probably listen to twee. It can range from just indie pop (Biff Bang Pow!, The Flatmate, The Razorcuts) to coy/fey/"adorable sloppy pop (Beat Happening, Talulah Gosh, The Primitives). Jut listen to anything on Sarah Records or Creation records (which had the best MBV stuff on it)

XMD 5a
Aug 28, 2011

money is flesh
Aside from Slowdive, my other favourite band to be associated with the shoegaze/dream pop scene would have to be Cranes. They've got one of the most eclectic discographies in the genre, Neubauten-esque industrial -> Cure-esque goth rock -> shoegaze -> dream-pop laced electronica. The stuff from the most recent albums is a touch twee too, BTW. For the record, their entire catalogue is awesome. Made especially so by Alison Shaw's amazing voice.

Favourite trax:

"Things That I Like" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t41z0_etxdk

"Heaven or Bliss" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPycEtV8lr0

"Give" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftsHFDJIHrs

"I Hope" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=303UmEB4ZsM

"Bewildered" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a87YILRnK0o

"Adrift" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKZZ8NPSEUk

"Lemon Tree" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPRWYjjmZ0s

"Flute Song" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iQ_pzpF7lk

Grandmaster.flv
Jun 24, 2011
This is more trip-hop than shoegaze but at least it's not from 1993 - Phantogram.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F2tfSnPPXg&feature=related

I dig this tune but I'd say the majority of their material is stronger when the dude is not the lead singer.

Ras Het
May 23, 2007

when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child - but now I am a man.

The Doo Do Chasers posted:

Yeah if you like shoegaze you should probably listen to twee.

This is true, but not just because you'll probably like it, but also because twee as a genre/scene contains all the talent the lack of which shoegaze musicians hide behind their awful meandering song structures and pointless "noise" ("sound" would perhaps be more accurate). To me, almost all acclaimed shoegaze sounds like a combination of the worst aspects of Jesus & Mary Chain's (anaemia) and Sarah Records' (lyrical and artistic banality) musics, though there's a couple of modern bands I like (I can only think of Asobi Seksu but I do think there's others).

WhiteHowler
Apr 3, 2001

I'M HUGE!

origami posted:

This is more trip-hop than shoegaze but at least it's not from 1993 - Phantogram.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F2tfSnPPXg&feature=related

I dig this tune but I'd say the majority of their material is stronger when the dude is not the lead singer.
I discovered Phantogram on Spotify last week. I'd say they're more experimental trip-hop than anything else, but I like their sound.

I just saw that they're playing in my town in a couple of months, so I'm definitely going to check them out live. For electronic-based bands like this, it's always interesting to see how much they can actually play live as opposed to recorded loops and such.

hatelull
Oct 29, 2004

Ras Het posted:

To me, almost all acclaimed shoegaze sounds like a combination of the worst aspects of Jesus & Mary Chain's (anaemia)

Because I dig the Reid brothers (and admittedly know gently caress all about Sarah Records), what do you mean by "anaemia" in association with the Jesus & Mary Chain? Is this a reference to how utterly bored, laissez faire, just-don't-give-a-gently caress they sound or is there something else I'm missing? I'm not looking to start some nasty fight. I just wanna know what it is about their sound or production that leads you that specific descriptor.

Chim
Jun 23, 2004
Shop Smart, Shop S-Mart!
Radio Dept was mentioned earlier but tragically overlooked -

This is the only recent band that carries the shoegaze torch, my friends.

The Radio Dept - Pulling our weight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1aT8fNBts8

and my personal favorite Radio Dept song of all time (that guitar riff!)

The Radio Dept - Always a relief
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OynTPEilyVs

Chim fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Aug 30, 2011

Ras Het
May 23, 2007

when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child - but now I am a man.

hatelull posted:

Because I dig the Reid brothers (and admittedly know gently caress all about Sarah Records), what do you mean by "anaemia" in association with the Jesus & Mary Chain? Is this a reference to how utterly bored, laissez faire, just-don't-give-a-gently caress they sound or is there something else I'm missing? I'm not looking to start some nasty fight. I just wanna know what it is about their sound or production that leads you that specific descriptor.

Yeah that's pretty much it. I'm thinking of stuff off Darklands (or Stoned & Dethroned, but that's a different matter...) specifically, there's this irritating complete lack of energy in a few songs, kinda reminds me of Velvet Underground a lot (an obvious comparison, but I'm not thinking in terms of music, mood rather), in a bad way. Maybe it's the heroin. JAMC are one of my favourite rock bands though, so that's not so much a complaint as an observation.

Rageaholic
May 31, 2005

Old Town Road to EGOT

Since Ulrich Schnauss has been touched on in this thread, I'm assuming this is to place to talk about electrogaze. So can we talk about how loving incredible the new M83 album is? Because Jesus Christ. I'm on my first listen now and it's one of my favorite records of the year already.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDyonn3mQj8

This is the first single, Midnight City, and it's like electro, shoegaze, post punk and new wave all wrapped up in a distorted, dreamy, beautiful package.

doug fuckey
Jun 7, 2007

hella greenbacks
Someone pointed these guys out to me a while back:

Whirl--"Leave"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5vpPgIxYoE

Fairly MBV-like band. Unintelligible lyrics, lots of fuzz but a repetitive melody throughout, ya know.

Pomplamoose
Jun 28, 2008

Ras Het posted:

This is true, but not just because you'll probably like it, but also because twee as a genre/scene contains all the talent the lack of which shoegaze musicians hide behind their awful meandering song structures and pointless "noise" ("sound" would perhaps be more accurate). To me, almost all acclaimed shoegaze sounds like a combination of the worst aspects of Jesus & Mary Chain's (anaemia) and Sarah Records' (lyrical and artistic banality) musics, though there's a couple of modern bands I like (I can only think of Asobi Seksu but I do think there's others).

It's true that some popular bands like MBV, Slowdive, Spacemen 3, and Cocteau Twins have repetive song structures that emphasize sound over writing but there's still plenty of bands that place a greater emphasis on songwriting like Ride, Swervedriver, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and later M83. I'm not sure what Sarah Records' has to do with it, are you saying you dislike twee as much as shoegaze? Maybe I'm misunderstanding your post.



Anyway, I edited this into the OP a while ago but I wanted to talk about Big Troubles. Their album Worry from last year had some of the best lo-fi shoegaze I've heard. It follows the MBV model and includes some tremolo bending 'glide guitar' (but without the overdubs) and despite all the haze the melodies come through pretty strongly. So maybe that's not the most flattering discription, but why not give it a try?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_GVd_lkqMs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8MVf4Lcpeo

They're also releasing an album later this month on Slumberland and like labelmates the Pains of Being Pure at Heart they've cleaned up their sound and absorbed some Smashing Pumpkins influence. I'm not sure how I feel about this since I'm pretty ambivalent about the Smashing Pumpkins but I can't stop listening to their new songs. They just released a new single "Sad Girls" and you can hear it on their bandcamp.

http://bigtroubles.bandcamp.com/

thisdestruction
Jul 17, 2006

she used to be so radiant, so sexy when she laughed. now her eyes look like gravesites as she speaks in epitaphs.
I just wanted to second Asobi Seksu since they're one of the first dream pop sort of bands that I latched onto. I haven't been as happy with their more recent albums, but listening to their older stuff instantly puts me in an awesome mood.

This song popped up on my iPod driving home from work and it was perfect - New Years
http://youtu.be/n0Gbue7idgY

And then this older song always rocks me, I don't care if it sounds like a total and complete absolute rip-off of MBV - Sooner
http://youtu.be/whn2vZGk2Gk

(sorry for the weird animations in the videos instead of real videos :blush:)

Ras Het
May 23, 2007

when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child - but now I am a man.

Tre Past Cool! posted:

I'm not sure what Sarah Records' has to do with it, are you saying you dislike twee as much as shoegaze? Maybe I'm misunderstanding your post.

No, I just meant that the much more song-focused craft of indie pop is generally appealing to me, unlike the swiish and swoosh of shoegaze, but '80s Sarah Records style twee and most popular shoegaze are pretty similar in terms of lyrics, performance and even song structures. And, on that note, I would say Pains fall quite firmly into the twee/indie camp.

That said, even though there's a few Sarah records I love to bits, I think twee (much like shoegaze) got significantly better in the mid-'90s when most bands dropped all the horrible '80s production aesthetics and toned down the Smiths aping.

Brodeurs Nanny
Nov 2, 2006

I won't get too into them because they're more metal-oriented and everyone knows them (they are recently defunct), but in terms of layering guitars to form lush intense melodies, Isis always gets me. They're not an incredible band or anything, but their riffs and layers and build-ups are really nice. Their albums "Panopticon" and "Oceanic" specifically are amazing.

Anyway, in terms of shoegaze, other than MBV, my favorite is a band that has not yet been mentioned (probably because they're Canadian) is SIANspheric. They put out a few albums, broke up, and are now getting back into the fold. I recommend the album "There's Always Someplace You'd Rather Be."

A great song by them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbSFNZczM38&feature=related

28 Gun Bad Boy
Nov 5, 2009

Never been to Belgium

Ras Het posted:

No, I just meant that the much more song-focused craft of indie pop is generally appealing to me, unlike the swiish and swoosh of shoegaze, but '80s Sarah Records style twee and most popular shoegaze are pretty similar in terms of lyrics, performance and even song structures. And, on that note, I would say Pains fall quite firmly into the twee/indie camp.

That said, even though there's a few Sarah records I love to bits, I think twee (much like shoegaze) got significantly better in the mid-'90s when most bands dropped all the horrible '80s production aesthetics and toned down the Smiths aping.

I definitely agree with the twee production values thing. Recording on a mates 4-track Ampex in their bedroom or whatever really dissolved a lot of the impact their songs may have actually had, as many of them are actually quite well written. And the poor production I think has really stopped them from being as well known and popular as they could be.

A good example is german band The Bartlebees, some absolutely fantastic songs slightly let down by the poor recording. Recording in even a cheap recording studio with a trained engineer shouldn't be something to shy away from in my mind.

I think I said this in the last Shoegaze thread, but really when you look back nowadays a lot of the classic Shoegaze bands and the music they created really isn't that good. I just don't think they've aged that well sadly. I bet more than one of you do what I do in the case of Ride's first album, you stick the disc in, flip it forward to Vapour Trails then turn it off again. Though actually in Ride's case I find their first few EPs better than the album.

The bands that inspired the original Shoegaze bands (like AR Kane and Galaxie 500) and those that were inspired by the original Shoegaze bands(the first Brians Jonestown album is really loving fantastic Shoegaze-esque music) vastly outperform the original core groups in terms of making some really good music, though the likes of Loveless and Souvlaki are obviously great albums which is why they're still remembered. Though it's interesting with those two groups in particular the majority of their early stuff just was pretty horrible, then they somehow managed to pull it together for those releases (though I've never heard Pygmalion so can't comment on that).

Calvin Camus
Apr 7, 2005

Master of Karate and Friendship for Everyone
I'm a big dream pop fan but somehow I missed Spiritualized. Thanks to this thread, I can't stop listening to "Ladies and Gentlemen..."

jazz babies
Mar 7, 2007

Silversun Pickups are so loving great. :allears: Definitely checking out these other bands.

hatelull
Oct 29, 2004

Calvin Camus posted:

I'm a big dream pop fan but somehow I missed Spiritualized. Thanks to this thread, I can't stop listening to "Ladies and Gentlemen..."

You should absolutely work backwards and check out Pure Phase and Lazer Guided Melodies, especially if you're a fan of the dream poppiness found in LAGWAFIS.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

XMD 5a
Aug 28, 2011

money is flesh

hatelull posted:

You should absolutely work backwards and check out Pure Phase and Lazer Guided Melodies, especially if you're a fan of the dream poppiness found in LAGWAFIS.

Lazer Guided Memories is one of my all-time favourite albums. It's definitely the band's most "spacey" and psychedelic work.

I'd also suggest checking out Let it Come Down as well. It's nowhere near as "dream pop" as the earlier stuff, but it has an amazing "epic" (loving stupid word I know) orchestral quality works so well with J's established sound.

"Out of Sight"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8fripJC6l0

"I Didn't Mean to Hurt You"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwL3siS5OUI

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply