52 replies to this topic

[Overstreet]

Okay, I'm listening to Atlas Sound's Logos right now.

I'm relatively ignorant about the works of Deerhunter and Atlas Sound, so maybe I just haven't spent enough time with this genre to appreciate it. But I find this stuff maddeningly redundant, gauzy, timid, and... I don't know, the word "anemic" comes to mind. There's one word in the Pitchfork review that rang true to me: "Tentative." But that's from a very positive review.

I'm reading reviews in all the hip journals about how inventive and brilliant this is, and how it's better than the high points of Cox's previous works, which really scares me, since I'm having a hard time willing myself through this album.

It's a sound that I feel just about any college student with a synthesizer and Pro Tools could equal.

It feels like Merriweather Post Pavilion impressed some kid and he tried to duplicate the sound. (And sure enough, onthe most tolerable of these tracks, Animal Collective's backing him up.) And I found that sound abrasive and artificial to begin with.

So please, help me understand. What's so great about this record? And if it's like others Mr. Cox's Atlas Sound and Deerhunter efforts, help me understand what the audience is digging here.

[Kyle]

Overstreet, on 26 February 2010 - 06:20 PM, said:

Okay, I'm listening to Atlas Sound's Logos right now.

I'm relatively ignorant about the works of Deerhunter and Atlas Sound, so maybe I just haven't spent enough time with this genre to appreciate it. But I find this stuff maddeningly redundant, gauzy, timid, and... I don't know, the word "anemic" comes to mind. There's one word in the Pitchfork review that rang true to me: "Tentative." But that's from a very positive review.

I'm reading reviews in all the hip journals about how inventive and brilliant this is, and how it's better than the high points of Cox's previous works, which really scares me, since I'm having a hard time willing myself through this album.

It's a sound that I feel just about any college student with a synthesizer and Pro Tools could equal.

It feels like Merriweather Post Pavilion impressed some kid and he tried to duplicate the sound. (And sure enough, onthe most tolerable of these tracks, Animal Collective's backing him up.) And I found that sound abrasive and artificial to begin with.

So please, help me understand. What's so great about this record? And if it's like others Mr. Cox's Atlas Sound and Deerhunter efforts, help me understand what the audience is digging here.

I think I think I get what you're hearing Jeffrey. I have three Atlas Sound/Deerhunter albums and haven't found them to be as good as the reviews. In fact I haven't heard Logos at all. I wasn't convinced there was enough new there to hear.

That being said, I think the Animal Collective/MPP comparisons are off. Cox has been making this type of music (assuming of course Logos sounds similar to his other stuff. If not, ignore.) for awhile. I think Cox has been able to maintain a delicate balance between fuzzy mood albums but with enough hooks to make the songs stand out. This is true even within songs. "Agoraphobia" from Microcastle starts off as a low-key fuzzy slow burner but rises into a soaring blast of sonic hooks, while remaining the same song. Then the album tranitions nicely into the bouncing "Never Stops". Stipped of a couple of layers and it's a straight up pop song. But the layers of distortion make it fit with the asthetic of the album while giving enough color through the fog to make it stand out as a song. And don't get me started on the awesomeness that is "Nothing Ever Happened". It's an anthemic punch in the gut.

Atlas Sound I've found less interesting and is where the Animal Collective comparisons are more appropriate. Of course the drum tracks are a bit different. I guess much like the Animal Collective I've found a few songs interesting but difficult to maintain for a whole album. Except for MPP. It's awesome.

[Jason Panella]

Sometimes it just takes a while for an artist's music to click into place. Case in point: Swervedriver.

I've been a casual fan for years, liking a few tracks off of their four studio albums. They sometimes get lumped in with other shoegaze bands from the mid-'90s, which isn't entirely accurate; they have as much in common with "alt rock" as they do with shoegaze. The British band didn't really have tons of mainstream success in the US, but I've noticed that lots of people love them. (Including a surprising number of fans that jumped on board after their inclusion on the soundtrack to the old video game Road Rash in the mid-'90s.)

Anyway, I finally got around to listening to their two-disc career retrospective from a few years ago called Juggernaut Rides. I think that finally flipped the "like" switch to "love." The collection does an incredible job of hitting everything from their early pre-Raise demos (featuring a completely different singer!) to UK-only singles to solid cuts from all of their albums.

I think this is the tune that really won me over.



I like that whoever uploaded this tune decided to include a picture of frontman Adam Franklin's effect pedal board.

[opus]

For the record, I love Swervedriver's Raise album. I hesitate to lump it in with the rest of the shoegaze/dreampop crowd — it just seems far more interested in rocking out than blissing out. For example:

[Jason Panella]

opus, on 15 November 2011 - 01:33 AM, said:

For the record, I love Swervedriver's Raise album. I hesitate to lump it in with the rest of the shoegaze/dreampop crowd — it just seems far more interested in rocking out than blissing out. For example:

Oh, definitely. I do think they manage to achieve a sort of blissed-out rock groove on much of their material, though. I see them as a sonic precursor to heavy space rockers Hum, too. Good band regardless.

[Jason Panella]

I've recently gotten into the band Shiner, who — by their final album — managed to perfect a sound that was between Hum's wall-of-sound space rock and the more melodic songs from Chavez's catalog. Shiner's final album The Egg is really worth checking out.

Shiner's frontman Allen Epley went on to form The Life and Times after his prior gig tanked, and they're still active. They're definitely closer to the shoegaze end of the spectrum than Shiner. I've been really enjoying their 2009 album, Tragic Boogie. They have a new album slated for this year.

[Jason Panella]

Sleep Experiments is a trio from Pittsburgh. I know two of the folks, and they make really pretty, ambient dream pop that I can genuinely say is good (and not just because I'm friends with some of them). They recorded an EP a few years ago, and they started a Kickstarter campaign to record an LP last week and already met their goal (so it's a sure thing!)

They have a nice dueling male/female vocal thing going on, and create a pretty lush, drum-less sound. There's a lot of influence from the Cocteau Twins, slowcore, Early Day Miners, and so on. Check them out.

[opus]

Jason Panella, on 19 July 2012 - 09:29 AM, said:

Sleep Experiments is a trio from Pittsburgh. I know two of the folks, and they make really pretty, ambient dream pop that I can genuinely say is good (and not just because I'm friends with some of them). They recorded an EP a few years ago, and they started a Kickstarter campaign to record an LP last week and already met their goal (so it's a sure thing!)

Pinboarded for later.

[opus]

I've really been enjoying the Sleep Experiments EP lately. Nothing flashy or showy, but rather, just solid, peaceful, and comforting. Or, to put it another way, the sort of music that Velour 100 would be recording right now had they never broken up.

[Jason Panella]

The AV Club has a really good Gateway to Geekery article on shoegaze. They definitely hit on some of the greats.

[Christopher Lake]

Hmm, in retrospect, I probably should have posted about Melody's Echo Chamber here, as this debut (streaming on NPR) fits both shoegaze and dream pop! Anyway, see my post about this disc-- it's one of the best in this vein that I've heard in quite a while!

[opus]

Jason Panella, on 19 July 2012 - 09:29 AM, said:

Sleep Experiments is a trio from Pittsburgh. I know two of the folks, and they make really pretty, ambient dream pop that I can genuinely say is good (and not just because I'm friends with some of them). They recorded an EP a few years ago, and they started a Kickstarter campaign to record an LP last week and already met their goal (so it's a sure thing!)

The Sleep Experiments album is now available on Bandcamp, and it's very lovely. Highly recommended for fans of Ida, Low, and Velour 100. I've posted a few thoughts here.

[Justin Hanvey]

Lotsa good bands already mentioned.

I still listen to The Jesus and Mary Chain a lot. Starflyer 59 is my most favorite christian rock band. Amusement Parks on Fire, Black Angels, BRMC, Brian Jonestown Massacre (some of these are more psychedelic than shoegaze, but they're still called shoegaze by some sites), Crystal Stilts, Atlas Sound, Darker My Love, Hammock is probably the most shoegaze post rock band out there, that I've heard at least...or would that be Jesu...I love Jesu, Mazzy Star, Maps, M83, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, The Radio Dept., Deerhunter, Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Sun Dial, The War on Drugs, Wild Nothing, Yuck. Just a few of the ones that stand out to me. I know soome of these might not even be considered pure shoegaze, but there's shoegazing elements in them.