On Sun, 20 Mar 1994, Don Gray wrote:
quoted 4 lines What is Shoegaze(y) music? (the term "bliss-music" really caught my> What is Shoegaze(y) music? (the term "bliss-music" really caught my
> attention) Are there any frequently discussed groups on IDM that fall into
> this catagory (other than slowdive, which I haven't heard)?
>
"Shoegazer" or "dream pop" music is a primarily guitar-based hybrid that
takes elements of traditional ambience and interweaves into an
"indie-rock" background. The common reference points of much shoegazer
music are early records from the Cocteau Twins and the Jesus and Mary
Chain's _Psychocandy_, along with early material by A.R. Kane and My
Bloody Valentine's recordings from around '87-'88.
Melodies are generally carried by multilayered guitars, fed through
stacks of effects and distortion until the begin to resemble a pure wash
of sound. Indeed, on quite a few records it's almost impossible to tell
whether the lead instrument is a guitar or an analogue synthesizer.
Bands that have worked within this style include My Bloody Valentine,
Ride, Lush, Chapterhouse, Seefeel, Slowdive, Moose, the Boo Radleys, Drop
Nineteens, Verve, the Belltower, the Pale Saints, Swervedriver, Majesty
Crush, and the Catherine Wheel.
The term "shoegazer" comes from the general onstage persona of a lot of
the bands, who quite often would avoid eye contact with their audiences.
quoted 1 line Are there any samples on techno.stanford.edu of this stuff?> Are there any samples on techno.stanford.edu of this stuff?
I don't think so, but My Bloody Valentine's "Soon" appears on quite a few
comps from around 1990 or so, and Seefeel's "Come Alive" appears on Volume
(Seven, I think).
(In my opinion) there's always been a slight aesthetic crossover between
dream-pop and IDM, but it's only recently been made explicit on record --
Chapterhouse's _Blood Music_, Slowdive's _5ep_, and almost all of
Seefeel's material freely incorporate techno-derived rhythms and trancy
song-structures.
| Dave Walker, Detroit Art Services (DAS) |
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