Showing posts with label Shoegaze. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shoegaze. Show all posts

Friday, 11 August 2023

Nadja – "Radiance Of Shadows" - (Alien8 Recordings – ALIENCD72) 2007



One day we will look back at the CD era with fond affection for the times we selected a CD from the endless racks in HMV or Virgin megastores ,endured the minuscule text,and proceeded to listen to an hour and twenty minutes of whomsoever the lucky band were,but pressing stop on the remote at around the  40 minutes mark whilst stifling yawns .....ironically, the length of two sides of a vinyl LP. A natural ending point for any album in the modern age of pop.
There was a compulsion for artists raised in the Vinyl era to put as much material as possible on this new extended format,even if it was the shite usually reserved for the 'Bonus Disc' of  an anniversary remaster.
So what we have here is an artist determined to fill up every nano-second of memory space provided by the aforementioned Digital Compact Disc format,rather than just satisfying the ever shortening Human attention span. Mine is currently about twenty minutes max of anything.A limit I have always adhered to in the live arena. Twenty minutes, then its off to the bar.
First wave Ambient Doom originators Nadja, are very typical of the CD age .Releasing a dumpster full of very similar sounding drone metal versions of wonky airport noises that very rarely clock in at less than twenty minutes a track,like a fuzzy Tangerine Dream fed through a cheap Flanger.
One of  those unfortunate groups who sadly fall between several stools of the 'Metal' category,so frequently get labeled as any one of the following: Doom Metal.,Ambient Metal,(my personal favourite) Dreamsludge (?), ambient-doom, and shoegaze-metal.
Sounding more like My Bloody Valentine rather than Sunn O))) , the Metal label is becoming a more and more tenuous a description for any experimental Rock band,but if it contains any hint of a 'Heavy' riff it's 'Metal',filtered through a barrage of pro-nouns ,prefix's and suffix's.
Topical Oppenheimer references aside, It has it's quiet moments,so Ambient Doom is arguably the most accurate sub-genre of the available choices? Not a large section in your resurgent vinyl store, but I'm sure it exists somewhere?

Am I getting too mainstream?

Tracklist:

1 Now I Am Become Death, The Destroyer Of Worlds (23:26)
2 I Have Tasted The Fire Inside Your Mouth (27:26)
3 Radiance Of Shadows (28:59)

Friday, 3 March 2023

The Sweetest Ache – "Jaguar" - (Mini Album - Danceteria/Sarah – TUE9207) 1992


Just over the Bristol Channel lies Wales,which, thanks to the Severn Bridge that brings within range,the Bristol area for welsh shoegaze groups to exploit.One of which was The Sweetest Ache;whose suitably bowl cut coiffured awkward indie elegance seemed to fit the bill,all they had to do was sound like every other shoegaze band in the area, and they'd inevitably get signed up to Sarah Records,and unleash that much coveted mini-album on a generation of pasty-faced yoof.
This is that very same Mini-Album,which in fact the very same length as a normal album(uh?),and for any Americans watching incongruously, it's pronounced 'Jag-U-Ah' rather than 'Jag-wah'.

Tracklist:

1 Briaris 5
2 Capo 4:48
3 She Believes 5:10
4 More Than This 5:13
5 Jaguar 5:03
6 Bitterness 5:34
7 Climbing 6:15
8 Selfish 3:22

Black Tambourine – "Complete Recordings" (Slumberland Records – slr 37) 1999



Shoegaze had so many dimensions, and I suppose this lot are on the Jesus And Mary Chain side of it all.
They sound so English, even JAMC sounded English until they sang, in a decidedly american accent,it's almost embarrassing,except....They,Black Tambourine, areas it turns out, Americans who sing in an English accent??? They had me fooled for several decades,until all this got put on to a compact disc.
I thought they were Scottish!?
Just like the first British Invasion in the 60's ,which spawned a legion of Animals sound-a-likes,and Stones wanna-be's which lurked in Dad's garage...The Nuggets generation,otherwise referred to as 60's Punk.Those Uk Indie imports sounded alien enough for America's teenagers to embrace it, despite the obvious influence of american Group, Third album in Velvet Underground,which apparently didn't have the same effect stateside as it did in the post punk generation in Britain.
There was no American equivalent of the UK Indie underground in 1991 when the Tambourines were about.Depending on whereabouts you lived in the US of A, sounding this drippy but noisy could put your life in danger.Whereas in Britain, it was just a good old honest beating that awaited you if  you came across some Skinheads or some eternal Punks.However, in 1991 they were all 'luvved Up' on 'E',back when the tambourine was a lead instrument.So everyone were, ironically, safe,yes...even attending Football matches???
Therefore, Black Tambourine get the credit for kick starting the US Indie scene...it says here!?
Basically they sound like Psychocandy Jesus and Mary Chain as fronted by a nice twee-enabled Girlie singer.

Tracklist:
1.For Ex-Lovers Only
2.Black Car
3.Pack You Up
4.Can't Explain
5.I Was Wrong
6.Throw Aggi Off The Bridge
7.Drown
8.We Can't Be Friends
9.By Tomorrow
10.Pam's Tan
11.For Ex-Lovers Only (First Demo)
12.Throw Aggi Off The Bridge (First Demo)
13.Heartbeat
14.Lazy Heart
15.Tears Of Joy
16.Dream Baby Dream

Wednesday, 1 March 2023

Brighter – "Laurel" (10 inch ep plus singles)" (Sarah Records – sarah 404) 1991


Another ten inches of shoegazing twee-ness from Brighton's Brightest, "Brighter", on Sarah Records, floating like a fluffy mushroom cloud looking down upon the ruined planet that this gentle music is intended to escape from for an hour or so. Once described as 'Deeply Drippy' by a celebrated national music newspaper,their wistful fragile melodies drift as clear as a mountain stream, the perfect whispering soundtrack to break the silence of a morning after a break-up....or a breakdown. These gentle shy folk may just need a hug and the belief that everything's gonna be alright.....when of course it generally isn't...but I have a suspicion that they knew that already.
If you can't identify with these Songs about daydreams,regrets, irrational passions,then you are probably dead....at the very least emotionally.Noticeably,they manage to keep up the Sarah predilection towards months and seasons,revealing another case of Seasonal Affected Disorder(SAD),played out on a couple of guitars.
Nostalgic, childlike and melodically melancholic is what this is,made better for the welcome sparing use of drums and a refreshing lack of effects pedals. Keep it simple ladz'n'lasses.


Tracklist:

1 Christmas
2 Frostbite
3 Summer Becomes Winter
4 Something To Call My Own
5 Ocean Sky
6 Out To Sea
7 Maybe
8 Journey's End

Singles 1989-92:

9 Inside Out 4:03
10 Tinsel Heart 3:24
11 Around The World In 80 Days 4:25
12 Things Will Get Better 3:52
13 Noah's Ark 5:06
14 I Don't Think It Matters 3:01
15 Does Love Last Forever ? 2:32
16 Poppy Day 2:07
17 Half-Hearted 2:44
18 So You Said 5:24
19 Killjoy 4:14
20 British Summertime 2:40
21 Hope Springs Eternal 4:41
22 Never Ever 2:45
23 End 2:30

DOWNLOAD laurel without the hardy HERE!

Monday, 27 February 2023

St. Christopher – "Bacharach" (Sarah Records – SARAH 403) 1990


I've made this joke before, but i like a good ten incher in my hands,so here's another Sarah Mini album which fulfills the current Twee Dreampop remit,yet also manages to pay Tribute to the recently departed genius of one Mr Burt Bacharach. 'Genius' is a word I try and avoid, but i'm afraid there is no other adjective than can describe Burt's lengthy back catalogue of sheer blinding brilliance-ness. Not many achieve genius status,and i'd be challenging myself to name but a few....i'll take a chance.....Dylan(?).....they must always be referred to by family name only....so for Dylan that must be Zimmerman.....or was that Hitlers real name????.....ah...Shciklegruber wasn't it. That's a jolly fine name for a band of gay twee pop playing skin'eads innit?
Ok, reluctantly, I'm adding McCartney to the list,despite the last 40 dreadful years of his work, he did enough by 1971 to warrant a mention. Ray Davies???.....nah...not good enough, and no-one uses just his surname in reference to the great man,so is automatically rejected to the second tier. Maybe Mozart?....sorry, only limited to 20th century and onward genius's (Collective noun alert!)......he used too many notes anyway.
Not particularly a 'fan' of any of these nominations, but one has to be objective doesn't one?
And NO, Jandek is NOT a Genius!

I've used the rear of this Mini-Album by yee olde York in yorkshire based twee pop combo St. Christopher, because the cover is too garish and offensive to the eye to feature here...the rear is acceptable,so I'll use that.
This jangly bunch of earnest young men get the Digital reverb setting stuck on Large Hall,close to saturation levels as the singer croons in a Pete Wylie-esque fashion,fighting for space with the drums,while the sparkly guitars cut through the fog to restore some focus for us cloth eared bastards at the other end of the XLR cables.
They also use the obligatory reference to the Autumn and Winter winter months that Sarah bands seem obsessed with.
Awww they sad.

TrackList:

A1 A Prayer For The Sea 1:56
A2 The Thrill Of The New 3:14
A3 And I Wonder 2:42
A4 Almost December 2:46
B1 She Can Wait Forever 3:41
B2 Who's Next On Cupid's Hit-List ? 2:34
B3 The Love Of A Sister 2:44
B4 Gabriel 3:01


Friday, 24 February 2023

The Field Mice – "Snowball 10" + Singles" (Sarah Records – SARAH 402) 1989



The original Snowflakes and Twee giants The Field Mice,could have been The Stone Roses if they came from some northern ghetto and walked like a bunch of monkey's.
Of course The Stone Roses were obviously Twee shoegazing wannabe's on drugs,rather than sensitive young men and ladie(s) from the stockbroker belt running light on mental issues.
You all know I like a nice mauve ten incher in my hand every now and again,and this one is a classic of the Twee genre,with the occasional rocker tucked in there for good measure.
Even better than this mini-album would have to be the 5 or so singles that came out around the same time,including the rather groovy "Sensitive",which i guess is their signature tune Stone Roses album ender on 45.
Blissfully oblivious of the Madchester nonsense that would eventually kill The Field Mice and shoegaze off,of which,there was a lot about in '89 ,unfortunately;these nice young snowflakes, stuck stubbornly to their post C-86 indie pop and made a bucket full of sweet tunes for us,from a much better time to be alive.....No Internet full of nutjobs,True Patriots,Critical Race Theorists, or impending Facist takeovers or failed coup's back then. Maybe send a copy of this to mark the first anniversary of the Ukraine WAR,(packed with explosives?), to Mad Vlad....he really does need to relax a bit and calm the fuck down!? I'm really worried about the Cunts mental health....Honest.

"Snowball 10"er):

1.Let's Kiss And Make Up 6:12
2.You're Kidding Aren't You? 2:30
3.End Of The Affair 4:14
4.Couldn't Feel Safer 3:47
5.This Love Is Not Wrong 3:21
6.Everything About You 2:30
7.White 4:48
8.Letting Go 6:33

Singles:
9.Sensitive 5:04
10.When Morning Comes To Town 5:14
11.Emma's House 3:37
12.When You Sleep 3:32
13.Fabulous Friend 2:53
14..The Last Letter 2:46
15.I Can See Myself Alone Forever 5:20
16.Everything About You 2:21
17.That's All This Is 3:16

Sunday, 5 February 2023

Pale Saints – "Some New Songs By Pale Saints" (Self-Released) 1988


Some 35 year old songs by Pale saints,who were 3 pale young boys (+ later pale young lady addition) from Leeds in Yorkshire, which is,basically, the UK's version of Australia,overflowing with undiluted toxic masculinity,prison tattoo's, and fat footy hooligans;but not too many mullets in evidence as the hairstyle of choice is the number two, in non-toilet terms. These increasingly common,cow bellied throwbacks can be seen on away matchdays, unleashing minor tributary's of dark yellow piss, like objectionable ambassadors from the home of the missing link,stumbling through the streets of their rival conurbation, whilst lobbing stale and partly chewed pukka pies in the general direction of the repulsed local woke tribe of new men.
Only Millwall fans have unleashed my inner snob more quickly.
Therefore,one must applaud the often overlooked pasty faced Twee/Shoegaze combo Pale Saints,for existing in such an environment.They seemed sensitive types,and sang in a girly way that would have yer average Yorkshire-man demanding that they make him a meal immediately,with gravy that you could stand yer bloody spoon up in.
Naturally, 4AD snapped these delicate chaps up within three seconds of the first track of this demo,and the rest is history....especially the bit where The Pale Saints are nothing less than forgotten in the annals of Twee indie Shoegaze music;but at least it got them away from Leeds United Football fans eh?

Tracklist:

1.Wasting My Time 2:16
2.Children Break 2:46
3.The Way The World Is 2:04
4.Sea Of Sound 5:15
 

DOWNLOAD these pale strangers to elland road HERE!