SHOEGAZE ROCK: A QUICK INTRODUCTION, IF YOU MISSED IT.

I remember getting this cassette home and putting it on and listening to it over and over - if memory serves (doubts!), I could flip the tape and have it nearly right on cue for "Soon" on the flipside - thank god for the high-tech, auto-search feature on my parents' cassette player. (Coincidentally, "Only Shallow" and "Soon" were my two favorite tracks.) I also remember thinking--especially because it was a tape--that I got one of a bad batch...or something, because of all of the warbled sounds going on...silly me. I still didn't want to take it back (just yet) because it was still so good...even if it was "broken!"

"Only Shallow" by My Bloody Valentine from the album Loveless released: November, 1991 - Creation Records. Produced by Kevin Shields and Colm Ó Cíosóig.

Ride were an amazing band that made me decide to stick with the studio recordings for this post. Most of the live versions of this track just don't do the song justice. There WAS one live version that I thought was "good"...but it's just not comparable to the original. The point of this "introduction" is to blow you away...and this recording should do just that.

"Leave Them All Behind" by Ride from the album Going Blank Again released: March, 1992 - Creation Records. Produced by Alan Moulder.

Shoegazing oddballs Lush were also pioneers of the sound, but they strayed away from it toward the end (we won't go there). I can remember all 4 of these songs blowing me away. For me, this track was actually the first of the lot - it was on a double cd sampler (sadly, the name escapes me at the moment) that also contained Buffalo Tom's "Birdbrain" - another mindblower...but for another time/genre.

"De-Luxe" by Lush from the album Gala released: November, 1990 - 4AD, Reprise Records. Produced by John Fryer (tracks: 8 to 13) , Lush (tracks: 8 to 13) , Robin Guthrie (tracks: 4 to 7, 14, 15) , Tim Friese-Greene (tracks: 1 to 3) * This album was actually a compilation of several separate sessions/recordings.

Swervedriver ended up being one of my favorites of ANY genre - I just saw them (again) at Coachella last year and they were as good as ever. There is an ongoing debate as to whether or not they belong in this genre - I think they do. They were from the Thames Valley which referred to the towns roughly following the course of the River Thames which flowed between Wiltshire in the west to London in the east. Bands like Ride were from this area as well, so they all got lumped in together...and like I say, rightly so, IMO.

"Duel" by Swervedriver from the album Mezcal Head released in August, 1993 - A&M Records. Produced by Alan Moulder (yes, him again...and yet another reason to "lump" Swervedriver in with the rest.)

Without Swervedriver, the success of Alan McGee--and his label Creation Records aka: the HOME of Shoegaze--might not have ever come to be: It was Swervedriver that (first) hit pay dirt for Alan McGee - A&M records paid Creation $350,000.00 for the rights to release Swervedriver's music under the moniker of their label...

As I recall, McGee used this money to bankroll Oasis...and this last ditch effort to save the label succeeded--as you may recall--Oasis went on to become HUGE! Somewhat ironically, it was mostly My Bloody Valentine's album Loveless and its never-ending production that landed the label into financial jeopardy in the first place. Apparently, it takes around 2 years to get that "broken cassette" sound...

While Loveless didn't make anyone filthy rich, the album did make a big impact as far as influence is concerned. You might say that the only thing that was actually broken, was the mold...

...as it turned out, my tape was just fine.

Ahh, full circle.

KW

PS. If this post was news to you and you still don't "get it" in this spoon-fed matter, I guess you were better off missing it the first time around.

ARCADE FIRE IS THE NEW PEARL JAM.

Arcade Fire is the new Pearl Jam: Everybody wants to sound and look like them for ten years...

What's really strange is that Pearl Jam weren't considered to be "hip" for a long time after grunge (I guess they still aren't)...yet, I actually think that their (fairly) recent number called "the Fixer" is way better/cooler than most of this Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie stuff that all pretty much sounds the same; I never really jumped off a cliff for either of these bands?!

I liked Arcade Fire when they took the world by storm (and I still do) - It reminded me of bands that I enjoy(ed) a track or two from like the Water Walk or the Dream Academy, except more sustainable with more depth (Although, "Life in a Northern Town" was fairly huge). But the thrill is gone and the scene is dying right in front of our eyes: Jared Leto is even coping their schtick for chrissakes! You know - skinny jeans, light scarves, flowers, hankies, tweed jackets with elbow patches, four drummers and (generally) pseudo-artsy to a fault.

With the latest wave of these bands, it's like the hippies have now all got jobs at the library...and yet they STILL can't read the writing on the wall. It's done folks. Are you around 30 and still trying to pull this off? Then I am talking to you. Jared is hovering around 40...but he is hanging with kids ten years his junior. There's nothing wrong with that...but you are a Jared-come-lately, if you are following this lead.

I don't mean to bash Jared - but he's not a true musician. His songs pale in comparison to people that have dedicated their life to the craft. He can sing, But I know he fancies himself as more than just an American Idol prospect...but he is wrong in doing so. He should stick to acting - I liked him in Requiem for a Dream and even in American Psycho...even though it was (maybe) a bit more than a bit part. I hated Fight Club - One of the biggest cop out endings of ALL time...but that wasn't his fault. Anyway...

Truth be told, if it's the Canadian, indie, library-like looks that really gets you going, there was a Canadian band that was doing this type of thing in 1988. In fact, their song and video (below) rivals, if not surpasses, the best of the best of this Arcade Fire-inspired scene...OVER 20 years earlier:



Now that's a song! I shouldn't live in a world in which people can't recognize this...maybe I SHOULD go jump off of a cliff...

...or walk the plank, in this case.

(I sheepishly ask you, "Was that too cutesy?"
Yeah, I know: Amateur hour.)

Anyway, throw the f'n dog a bone: Try to find a way to pay money to acquire this Plasterscene Replicas track. Their music wasn't ALL this good--frankly, none of their other stuff even came close--but this kind of craftsmanship should be properly rewarded...even if it only struck them once.

It's funny...you could even argue that the name of the band itself was ahead of its time by making a reference to emptily duplicated things like (let's say, I dunno) art or music.

Or who knows - maybe they were big Bladerunner fans or something? (That's "Replicants," I know...but still.)

I actually thought about including "the Fixer" in this post as well...but Cameron Crowe's video is heavily guarded against embedding by Pearl Jam and Island Records. Is somebody out there actually purchasing the video single (is there such a thing?) that they have to pull this type of move? They should advertise within the video, if they must...then the more places it ends up, the better off everyone is, no?

No (further) comment.

KW

'BASEBALL FURIES CHASE THEME'

By Barry de Vorzon - genius-like instrumental!

He also wrote "Nadia's Theme" which was rereleased by A&M for the television soap opera, 'The Young and the Restless.'

I'll never think of Victor Newman in the same way again.

Hmm, you know...
If you shaved that moustache and gave him a cap and a shiner...

Nevermind.

It takes a sick mind to actually follow the train of thought of this post...so did you hop aboard?

If you know whom (both) the Baseball Furies AND Victor Newman are...then you're right there with me...
Get a job, Sicko!


KW