Shoegaze Week: Mixtape #36 - The Ultimate Shoegaze Mixtape...?
Ok, so what with this being Shoegaze Week here on DiS, we thought what better way than to round the whole thing off than by compiling the ultimate Mixtape for the genre.»
domgourlay has written the following articles:
Of all the bands who came through the second wave of post-millennium indie rock's discerning upsurge, The Maccabees seem to be one of the few who've not only managed to retain a certain level of credibility about them, but also managed to up their game and build on the foundations laid by debut album Colour It In two years ago...»
In all honesty, Music For The People isn't as bad as many of The Enemy's critics had expected it to be, it's actually much, much worse...»
For a night steeped in chaos, debauchery and general mayhem, it is something of an achievement that Nottingham's Liars Club managed to sustain itself for six months, let alone six years, which tonight's birthday-related event happens to be a celebration of...»
Although more than a decade has passed since their initial formation, Jeniferever first came to prominence courtesy of 2006's Choose A Bright Morning, released by this very site's sister label...»
Ok, so what with this being Shoegaze Week here on DiS, we thought what better way than to round the whole thing off than by compiling the ultimate Mixtape for the genre.»
Here's a special DiScover column of new bands who fit beneath the arc of "shoegaze".»
Completing our trilogy of record labels exclusively operating in the shoegaze field and its many related sub-genres is the excellent Northern Star. »
Simon Scott has spent over twenty years making music with numerous outfits. It would be fair to say, however, that he is perhaps best known for being one-fifth of iconic shoegaze outfit Slowdive...»
Robin Allport and Duncan Jones are the guys behind Club AC30, yet another successful club night that morphed into one of the most vital, and groundbreaking independent record labels of the past decade. »
Neil Halstead really doesn't need any introduction. As one of the main songwriters in Slowdive he can can already claim credit for fronting one of the most inspirational UK combos of the past twenty years. »
Ulrich Schnauss is a name that is just as familiar to techno boffins as it would be to those who perhaps favour the more noise-saturated elements of shoegaze-inspired guitars. »
Four-and-a-half years ago, Nathaniel Cramp started a clubnight amidst a London scene still hanging off the remnants of The Libertines grotrock coat tails that was to raise more than a few eyebrows. Sonic Cathedral: The Night That Celebrates Itself was responsible for giving UK audiences their first opportunity to see the likes of The Radio Dept. and School Of Seven Bells, whilst simultaneously providing a platform for shoegaze luminaries such as Mark Gardener and Neil Halstead to relaunch their solo careers in more familiar surroundings.»
Mark Gardener should need no introductions. As a founder member, songwriter and frontman of Oxford four-piece Ride, his band were undoubtedly one of the pioneers of the whole "shoegaze" movement, and for a time, its most commercially successful and well-known export at that. »
This week, Drowned In Sound celebrates the scene that allegedly "celebrated itself". Shoegaze. We'll be bringing you commentaries and interview pieces with those who played a part in the movement's initial discourse at the turn of the 1990s and those who are taking the genre into further undiscovered territories almost two decades later.»
As hidden musical treasures go, The Wave Pictures are definitely vying for a place at the top of the pile. Despite releasing one of 2008's finest records in Instant Coffee Baby, not to mention wowing festival goers up and down the land with their incisively cutting melancholia, they're still relatively unknown outside of the world of limited seven-inch singles and fanzines.»
With a reputation as one of the loudest bands in the world, A Place To Bury Strangers must be wondering whether or not people actually bother to pay attention to their songs and just concentrate on the noise elements instead.»
Since their self-titled debut EP on Modular Records dropped late last year, DiS has been keeping an eye on Perth-based (that's the Australian one, not the colder Tayside variant north of the border!) trio Tame Impala's progress, including a recent DiScover show in Manchester...»
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart don't need any kind of gimmick.»
The lack of charisma emanating from the stage makes it difficult to recommend Red Light Company's live show, and even though the instrumentation is pretty much faultless, there's little to be found here that you wouldn't get from sitting at home listening to one of their CDs. »
Dom Gourlay speaks to Mancunian trio Doves about their forthcoming fourth album, Kingdom Of Rust.»
On first hearing Furious Sons, one could be forgiven for easily mistaking Favours For Sailors for the latest ensemble of US college rock post-graduates.»
Alight Of Night is one of those records that is already, even in the earliest stages of 2009, showing signs it will undoubtedly figure prominently in the end of year lists come yuletide.»
Native Bristolians but now firm London socialites New Rhodes aren't so much this decade's forgotten band, but more a case of the ones that should've been yet never were.»
Meet Nathan Williams, a one-man noise machine from California. You probably know him better as Wavves, the name by which he releases his surf punk anthems and the moniker he chose due to being scared of the ocean.»
For all its good intentions, Floored Memory...Fading Location is slightly flawed and is one of those compilations that doesn't quite measure up to the separate sums of its parts.»
That the room is full of band members from many of Nottingham's finest musical ensembles of recent times both past and present tells its own story; the hype bubble is floating ominously above Crystal Stilts collective heads. »
Having covered nearly all of the summer's best festivals from both home and abroad in this week's previews, it's been left to DiS' man in the Midlands to focus on the fun a little bit closer to home - literally - on three eye-catching events all taking place in the East Midlands later this year. »
If it weren't for Juanita Stein's admittedly striking good looks, would as many people really care two hoots for this band? Like it or not, for this writer, Ms. Stein is to Howling Bells what Louise Wener was to Brit-poppers Sleeper...»
Having conquered their fear of being irrelevant for the first half of this decade, it seems U2 are once again more concerned about growing old disgracefully rather than concentrating all their efforts into making a great record, and as a result, No Line On The Horizon suffers through a sense of desperation.»
This past week's run of excellent features on slowcore reminded Dom Gourlay of the influence the initial wave of "shoegaze" labelled bands had on many of the artists aligned with that genre. »