SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING OLD - THE ASTEROID NO. 4 - Honey Bee (1998) + THE BILINDA BUTCHERS - Seafoam Green (2011)



I was a 21 year old living in Brooklyn, New York and the year was 1997. I had been going to shows mostly at NYC's IRVING PLAZA venue seeing a number of cool bands such as Stereolab, Ash, The Charlatans UK, Kula Shaker, Wilco (whom I walked out on), etc. I had heard of the Brian Jonestown Massacre and their My Bloody Valentine-like sound and read they were playing at a little bar called Brownies. So off I went to a night that changed my life. Asteroid No. 4 were the first band up and they played a short set that nevertheless blew me away. Been a fan ever since...

 

Here's a lovely instrumental by a band named after My Bloody Valentine lead vocalist (you guessed it) Bilinda Butcher. A new favorite band. They hail from San Francisco.

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW - MY BLOODY VALENTINE - Map Ref. 41N 93W (1996) + SHANA FALANA - IN THE LIGHT (2012)

With the good news that Kevin Shields is releasing a 'new' MY BLOODY VALENTINE record in the upcoming year, after eons of waiting amongst their hunger starved fans, here is one of the last 'new' tracks they released, a cover of a WIRE song on a compilation known as 'Whore' which was released in 1996. Which is simply stratospheric in terms of sound. Let's hope we can soon add My Bloody Valentine to the 'New' Category :-p

 

From more recent pastures we have Rosendale, New York resident (via San Francisco) SHANA FALANA with her dreamy-esque type of modern (at times chant-driven) dreampop that ebbs under your skin and lifts up the wings you didn't know you had. One example being this song, which is one of the most uplifting beautiful songs that I've heard in my young life. A positive vortex of dreampop sound. Pretty cool video shot in upstate NY as well.

Something Old, Something New - THE TELESCOPES - PERFECT NEEDLE (1989) + SPOTLIGHT KID - "PLAN COMES APART" (2011)

This right here is the missing link between the JESUS AND MARY CHAIN and THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE...

...and some new gaze from Nottingham, England. This is from Spotlight Kids' 2nd album "DISASTER TOURIST", nice...

RECENT DISCOVERY #1 - CHIMERA - THE DAY STAR EP (1995)

Picked this one up recently at a local Salvation Army. The name seemed strangely familiar so I took a chance with it as it had a dreampop/shoegaze type of presentation. 4 songs with titles such as "2 SUNNY", "LET ME BE AROUND", "CLOSER", &...(wait for it)..."UNTITLED".

The band hailed from Ireland and as I heard the 4 tracks with it's clear (un-shoegazy like) female lead vocals and nice sounding slightly distorted guitars I could swear the light through my blinds started to intensify and the November sun became more robust as if seeking to pull back it's August strength.

This is everything you wanted the Cranbrerries to be (if you ever cared for them, that is). Or what would of happened if the Cranberries vocalist joined up with My Bloody Valentine and they decided to head in a poppier direction. Beauty, sweetness...and light.  

Something Old, Something New - PALE SAINTS - SIGHT OF YOU (1990) + THE NEW TIGERS - NEVER SAY GOODBYE (MBV COVER, 2008)

Pale Saints, sometimes overlooked UK shoegaze, noisepop makers. This from 1990 on the legendary 4AD Label,

From Finland The New Tigers, a few chaps covering an old My Bloody Valentine tune a la Jesus And Mary Chain style. Not bad...

Something Old, Something New - THE WAKE - TALK ABOUT THE PAST (1984) + STELLARSCOPE - BEAUTY AWAITS (2011)

This one is more on the Synth-Pop side but it does feature dreamy voices by the male singer. It's a dreampop mover of sorts! They do fit the Dreampop criteria by featuring a pretty/ethereal-like female. Scottish band from early 80's just like the Cocteau Twins. I do admit it's a bit New Order-like as well but well done! Not at all bad:

From Philly here is a new track from Stellarscope who have been at it for the past few years recreating that dancy, trippy shoegaze vibe from the early 90's and they do a good job of putting out a sound reminiscent of 1993 or so. This is off their new album due out November 25th on Patetico Records. Have a look/listen:

Something Old, Something New - SWERVEDRIVER - FEEL SO REAL (1991) + THE SKY DROPS - GREEN TO RED (2006/2007)

In 1991 there was nothing happening in the US remotely as cool as SWERVEDRIVER. Nirvana were just in their training shorts, their low-fi debut possesing none of the devastating qualities of Swervedriver's powerful debut RAISE. Nothing else in the US at least came close. Like what did you have? Grunge? Please...

From more recent pastures we have Deleware's THE SKY DROPS. Back when MySpace was at it's peak this duo was making a splash in the cyber waters touring throughout the US. Need your MY BLOODY VALENTINE FIX? Step right up, put on your headphones (optional), turn up the volume, sit back relax and PLAY BLOODY LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Something Old, Something New - DEUX FILLES - "THE LETTER" (1982) + ELECTRIC ASSEMBLY - "CAN CARE BE WRONG" (2006/2007)

Here is an beautiful, haunting, early instrumental example of what can be termed 'dreampop'. Deux Filles were Simon Fisher Turner, former child star/teen idol and future soundtrack composer, and his mate Colin Lloyd Tucker. Turner and Tucker left an early incarnation of The The in 1981 to pursue another musical direction. Turner claims that the idea of Deux Filles came to him in a dream, and he and Tucker strictly maintained the fiction throughout the duo's career. Not only did they pose in drag for the album covers, the duo once even played live without the audience realizing that the tragic French girls on-stage were actually a pair of blokes from south London having a giggle. Deux Filles released two albums through Turner and Tucker's Papier Mache label, 1982's Silence & Wisdom and 1983's Double Happiness. After that, the duo scrapped the Deux Filles concept and released two ambient pop albums as Jeremy's Secret."

...and from just a few years back we have Londoners THE ELECTRIC ASSEMBLY with a lovely shoegaze inflected tune "CAN CARE BE WRONG". These guys were led by my friend David McHugh.

Tuesday, October 11th 2011 WE HAVE LIFTOFF!!!...

This is a blog that I have begun, dedicated to those sounds that such pioneering bands as the JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, THE COCTEAU TWINS, LOOP, A.R. KANE, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, and the like, had a hand in developing and creating. I am talking about what has come to be termed SHOEGAZE and DREAMPOP and you can also lump in it's descendants, 'NEWGAZE' 'DREAMFOLK' and the like etc., etc.

These sounds first caught my attention around the time I was 15 or 16 and I read about My Bloody Valentine in Rolling Stone Magazine in the early 90's and their group photo fascinated me and shortly after I purchased their monumental and groundbreaking LOVELESS shortly after that and haven't been the same since! Soon to follow were other groups I heard of and got know about such as RIDE, SLOWDIVE, SWERVEDRIVER and other on a similar wavelength.

There is a certain otherworldliness and etherealness (spiritualness?...too much 'ness' going on here!) that can be attached to many sounds of the genre and that you can say is what makes it unique. I will review every week (as many days of that week) sounds of the genre, old and new. Submissions are always accepted and all will be reviewed. So...let the fun begin!