Shoegazing
March 21, 2006 at 5:10 pm
Everytime I listen to shoegaze millions of scared hippies always come to mind.
Amelie counted orgasms. I count the number of bad trips in woodstock, had bands like Loop and My bloody valentine been present at the time.
Although I wasn’t listening to the sounds around me while growing up in the 90’s, I later (when I was about 16) rediscovered amazing shoegazer albums like Slowdive’s “slouvaki”, Spiritualized’s “ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space” and of course, My bloody valentine’s “loveless” that cracked my head open. So whilst most of the people in my generation were listening to grunge and that alternative genre later baptized as “nu-rock”, I was in my room shoegazing and listening to Radiohead and 60’s and 70’s rock bands. I still think very fondly of those times…
You’ll see while “OK Computer” is the record that started me buying and paying more attention to music, records like “Souvlaki” and “Ladies And Gentlemen…” are the ones that contain the outlines of a depressively large proportion of the music I enjoy today, reason I treasure them as one of the most important records in my collection.
Note: The songs in the playlist are organized by their original release date.
My bloody valentine - strawberry wine (1989)
Ride - dreams burn down (1990)
Kitchens of Distinction - under the sky, inside the sea (1991)
My bloody Valentine - soon (1991)
Slowdive - machine gun (1993)
Swervedriver - duel (1994)
Medicine - all good things (1995)
Chapterhouse - mesmerize (1996)
Spiritualized - broken heart (1997)
Should - sarah missing (1998)
The meeting places - see through you (2003)
Destroyalldreamers - destroy all dreamers (2004)
Readymade - rehearsed disaster (2005)
Silver Screen - all I have (2005)
The fleeting joys - go and come back (2006)
Astrobrite - miss teen USA (2006)
Also check: This post about Loop and this Jesus and Mary Chain post that makrugaik wrote last week and Carl Kruger’s mixtape memories.
Image credit: ofthesky
oddly enough, i was unaware of the term “shoegaze” until a few years ago when i was googling ride for some discog info, honest!
in regards to the genre, the first slowdive lp, “just for a day” IS showgaze, imo/ … no chords, no notes, just the pure experience of sound
washing over you in wave after gorgeous wave ///
Nice shoegaze mix, muchas gracias. I’ve seen fleeting joys and readymade live and they rock, been a huge fan of them since then, thanks for including them.
Slouvaki is one of my favorite records from all time.
Keep it up, this blog is becoming the talk on the blogosphere lately (honestly I’ve seen it mentioned in three of my favorite sites this week, pop mp3 blog chromewaves among them).
I have that spiritualized CD. and I thought it is the crappiest song that I can’t stay away from keep listening on.
Slowdive should be called classic by now.
I hope Moka is not giving us homework after this lesson in history. :D
Carl: well the shoegaze genre was some sort of variation between space rock and dream pop and it was originally conceived by one of those “witty” english critics as a pun on the performers’ style when playing live because they all stared at the floor when playing.
Alison: thanks to you.
Hey squashed, did I hit the right spot with that mvb track or did you already had that?
I’m a new reader, but I’ll be checking Mookamotel on a regular basis now. Love me some Shoegaze, and wish it was more plentiful. New discovery in the genre is Serena Maneesh. Thanks for the excellent post.
You guys should really check out AIRIEL!
Great stuff in the MBV, Lush and Ride tradition.
Also, does anyone else remember the DROP NINETEENS?
-carlosNYC
Yes, Airiel and Air Formation too. Both really great. Check my post abou Slowdive “Souvlaki”. 5 stars selection, anyway.
Between muzzle of bees and what you said about Soon by MBV I just can’t listen to that track in the same way anymore…;)Thanks for the more recent Shoegazer stuff, the genre in present terms really interests me. As far as the hippies, I reckon if The Velvet Underground had played Woodstock it may have had the deisired effect. Besides being the forerunners of JAMC, MBV et al., they did also puposefully try to freak the hippies out. This post is really incredidble in it’s scope, btw. I vote for a compilation compiled by you with a cover by Audrey Kawasaki. Yes, I’m giving these ideas away for free!!!!
Oh, and thanks for the props!
Also Radiohead change the way I feel the music.
awesome! love this post and many others. i love shoegaze, space et al. i have some of this but i’ll keep your mix intact. thanks!
Moka said…
Hey squashed, did I hit the right spot with that mvb track or did you already had that? ”
yeah that’s the one. (you’re right. that album really does have below par recording quality)
Me pasó lo mismo a comienzos de los 90. Mientras la atención de todos estaba en Seattle, yo estaba descubriendo (tarde) a los smiths, love and rockets y my bloody valentine…
Super buen post.
Saludos.
these days, not knowing MBV is like a crime. but yeah, i truly adore the band. Kevin Shields has always been a genius. the 1st time that shoegaze probably got given (overdued)props in a movie was on that LOST IN TRANSLATION soundtrack. obviously, Sofia’s a big fan. after that, they’re all hip again. as if the band never broke up. but yeah, there’s always the rumour of a comeback. i think Shield’s still up for it. btw, i love that bootleg that he did for THE GO! TEAM a while ago.
for those who want more nu-gazer stuff, here’s some that i’d recommend: M83, AMUSEMENT PARKS ON FIRE, GUITAR, ASOBI SEKSU, SOUNDS LIKE SUNSET, and also that SLOWDIVE tribute compilation called BLUE SKIED AN’ CLEAR. MUM did a cute rendition of “machine gun”.
again, great work guys!
Thanks for the recommendations I’ll keep them in mind for a future shoegaze post. I really forgot about Airiel, nice shoegaze band.
Gracias por los comments y las recomendaciones. Una sonrisa.
funny that, I just posted about Shoegaze on Monday, it is my favorite genre of rock music.. Love all those bands you posted tracks from.. Didn’t think anyone cared these days about shoegaze but looks like you got a good reception…next time I need to post more tracks I guess..
great stuff — a hugely influential time period for fringes, effects pedals and great music… carlosNYC - i posted on the drop nineteens over at my place not so long ago - go check it out! moka, fantastic selection - was especially made up to see the Kitchens amongst your picks… one of my all time favourite bands… will be coming back to your blog!
Nice shoegaze post merz, cat-a-tac was a pleasant found. I also forgot on purpose to include televise because I was saving them for a second shoegaze post that god knows when I’ll do it…
let’s kiss and make up: nice to find another kitchens fan. will lookey at your posts this weekend. Cheers.
thanks for all those. but you missed the one and only. catherine wheel’s flower to hide. when shoegazing gets transcendent. psychedelic heaven. keep up the good work.
anyone notice that chapterhouse’s whirlpool is being re-released?
And I´m sure you´ve all heard of Fathom 5?
All this talk, on all these blogs, about shoegaze, and no mention of House of Love. For shame!