Shoegazer Mix
Video Link: I Want to Touch You by Catherine Wheel
Here She Comes Now (Velvet Underground cover) by Galaxie 500
Vapor Trail by Ride
Come In Alone by My Bloody Valentine
Rave Down by Swervedriver
Delaware by The Drop Nineteens
I Want to Touch You by Catherine Wheel
Claire Hates Me by The Lilys
Some Velvet Morning by Slowdive (Lee Hazelwood cover)
Lazarus by The Boo Radleys
Weeping Willow by The Verve
Jennifer by The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Shade of Blue by The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Turnstyle Blues by Autolux
Let's Just See by The Engineers
Wanna get lost in some swirling sheets of sound? Wanna be embraced by entrancing vocals and crunchy effects pedals? I thought you might, so I decided to revist a music genre that has kind of faded into obscurity with the revival of the pseudo 80's emo/"punk" bands of late. I decided to compile a chronogical list of music from one of my favorite musical areas: shoegazing. What is shoegazing exactly? Its hard to classify, but I can give you a brief description from wikipedia if you'd like:
Shoegazing is characterised by a self-deprecating, introspective, non-confrontational feel. Generally employed are distortion and the fuzzbox, droning riffs and a Phil Spector-esque wall of sound from the noisy guitars. Another way to describe the guitar effects would be "lead-guitarlessness", typically with two distorted rhythm guitars interweaving together and giving an exceptionally muddied sound. Although lead guitar riffs were often present, they were not the central focus of most shoegazing songs.
Vocals typically are subdued in volume and tone, but underneath the layers of guitars is often a strong sense of melody. While the genres which influenced shoegazing often used drum machines, shoegazing more often features live drumming.
I first got into shoegazing when I, on a brief whim of destiny, decided to pick up a copy of The Verve's final album, Urban Hymns. I bought this back when when the top 40 radio still found its way into my life...I have to admit that when I heard the gorgeous and melodies and guitar wall of this band, I didn't want to go back to that sh**. So if you are new to this genre, this mix should be a good start. Even if you've been a fan of shoegazing for awhile, I know most of you probably haven't heard of The Drop Nineteens. The song I included from them, "Delaware," can only be found on their out of print 1992 album, Delaware. Trust me, if you want to buy a copy now (used of course), it will set you back at least 30 American dollars. Its probably worth the money though, since the little I've heard from them has completely knocked my socks off.
So yes, remember...this list is mostly chronological, starting with the earliest shoegazing band to the nu-gaze of today. Definitely check out The Engineers track I put on there; it will excite you to know that not all the newer bands have forgotten about shoegazing.
Shoegazing is characterised by a self-deprecating, introspective, non-confrontational feel. Generally employed are distortion and the fuzzbox, droning riffs and a Phil Spector-esque wall of sound from the noisy guitars. Another way to describe the guitar effects would be "lead-guitarlessness", typically with two distorted rhythm guitars interweaving together and giving an exceptionally muddied sound. Although lead guitar riffs were often present, they were not the central focus of most shoegazing songs.
Vocals typically are subdued in volume and tone, but underneath the layers of guitars is often a strong sense of melody. While the genres which influenced shoegazing often used drum machines, shoegazing more often features live drumming.
I first got into shoegazing when I, on a brief whim of destiny, decided to pick up a copy of The Verve's final album, Urban Hymns. I bought this back when when the top 40 radio still found its way into my life...I have to admit that when I heard the gorgeous and melodies and guitar wall of this band, I didn't want to go back to that sh**. So if you are new to this genre, this mix should be a good start. Even if you've been a fan of shoegazing for awhile, I know most of you probably haven't heard of The Drop Nineteens. The song I included from them, "Delaware," can only be found on their out of print 1992 album, Delaware. Trust me, if you want to buy a copy now (used of course), it will set you back at least 30 American dollars. Its probably worth the money though, since the little I've heard from them has completely knocked my socks off.
So yes, remember...this list is mostly chronological, starting with the earliest shoegazing band to the nu-gaze of today. Definitely check out The Engineers track I put on there; it will excite you to know that not all the newer bands have forgotten about shoegazing.
Here She Comes Now (Velvet Underground cover) by Galaxie 500
Vapor Trail by Ride
Come In Alone by My Bloody Valentine
Rave Down by Swervedriver
Delaware by The Drop Nineteens
I Want to Touch You by Catherine Wheel
Claire Hates Me by The Lilys
Some Velvet Morning by Slowdive (Lee Hazelwood cover)
Lazarus by The Boo Radleys
Weeping Willow by The Verve
Jennifer by The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Shade of Blue by The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Turnstyle Blues by Autolux
Let's Just See by The Engineers
posted by Esquirrel, yo! at 16.7.06
11 Comments:
Fantastic Mix. Any post that has some Swervedriver gets my vote.
Catherine Wheel, MBV, Ride, Swervedriver, BRMC...great stuff. Since you dig this style of music you might check out Charmparticles (www.charmparticles.com). Thanks for the post.
- J
www.sweetoblivionblog.org
Thank you for further feeding my unhealthy shoegazer fetish.
This is going on my iPod right now!
Another really great post!
Merz, does that mean I have to footnote you each time I use it (which will be a bunch) or should I just paypal you a royality check ? :P
BTW, dig your blog. :)
i didnt think it was possible to talk about shoegaze without mentioning the autumns...:)
DJKL here. Oh yeah, I had forgotten how much I love Rave Down. Well, I sort of remembered, but hadn't heard it in so long that it had faded. I think I'll have to put some Lush on my blog to really go shoegazer crazy. Keep up the great work. http://www.djkl.com
Perfect collection.
Many thanks.
Z
i agree wiath all above...
i'm a fan of shogaze...
very nice selection...
It really is time for another great movement like this to get started. And soon!
if you like this kind of music you should check out ANYTHING AFTER their the best new shoegaze that i've herd in a long time check them out at www.myspace.com/anythingafter
Good choices. I would also have included Nothing Natural by Lush and Die Like a Dog by Curve (even though they would wince at the term Shoegazer considering it trite).
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