segunda-feira, 25 de fevereiro de 2013

Mixtape #16 - Assorted Candies

Hello, fellas.

Here we go again with another mixtape. But we are featuring something different, this time. Instead of focusing on a single theme, we decided to focus on many. Therefore, you'll find a bigger-than-usual mixtape divided in 5 smaller parts, each one containing 8 songs dedicated to a single style of Shoegaze and related. 

The first of them consists of Classical First Generation Shoegazer bands, such as Ride, Lush, Swervedriver and Adorable (I never put Adorable in a mixtape before... shame on me!). The second is about delicate atmospheres to embrace you while (day)dream, such as Cocteau Twins (impossibiru not to cite them, isn't it?), Blonde Redhead, Cranes and the deeply obscure Insides (does someone know/remember them?), whereas the third is focused on the Z-side of Shoegaze,  e.g. Majesty Crush, Aenone, An April March (they were present in mixtape #2) and the brazucas of Brincando De Deus, original from the sunny lands of Salvador. All of them sadly forgotten masterpices who should be recognized properly by then and are acclaimed by just a few even now. The fourth segment is probably the most challenging of them, whose theme is Post Rock bands which flert with Shoegaze, for example God is an Astronaut, Sigur Rós, jesu, Hammock. To sum it up, beautiful songs for a voyage to stellar dimensions, don't you agree? Finally, the fifth and last part features some of the best fuzz that's been made in the last decade, e.g. the upcoming brazilian talent of Inverness, the aussie surprise of Airling, the shining Ucranian-Canadian Ummagma, all of them mixed with the "veterans" of Airiel and Astrobrite.

As a whole, we have a great compilation of 40 songs that can be broken into 5 different collections. A great package of assorted candies for your eardrums, isn't it? Since I'm a very nice guy as you all know it (right, Paloma Mondego?), I created 5 links for each segment, as well as a single link @ 4shared where you can get them in a bundle. As always, I hope you enjoy it! :)













Part 1 - Classical Gazers:


My Bloody Valentine - Nothing Much To Lose
Pale Saints - Sight Of You
Swervedriver - Harry & Maggie
The Telescopes - High On Fire
Ride - Unfamiliar
Lush - For Love
Chapterhouse - Mesmerise
Adorable - I'll Be Your Saint


enjoy! (part 1)



Part 2 - Dreamchasers:


Blonde Redhead - Here Sometimes
Cranes - Lillies
Dif Juz - Silver Passages
Wild Nothing - Shadows
Insides - Distractions
Tamaryn - I'm Gone
Cocteau Twins - Pandora
Drowner - Chime


enjoy! (part 2)



Part 3 - Obscure noise:


Blueshift Signals - Seven Natural Scenes
Moonshake - Gravity
Brincando De Deus - Spleen
Ultra Cindy - Eusebio
Aenone - Celestia
Submarine - Dinosaurs
Majesty Crush - Uma
An April March - My Reverie


enjoy! (part 3)



Part 4 - Post Rockers who likes to stare at their shoes:


God Is An Astronaut - Frozen Twilight
Belong - A Walk
Cecilia::eyes - For The Fallen
Sigur Rós - Njósnavélin (The Nothing Song) a.k.a. Untitled #4
jesu - Veiled
Below The Sea - Pigments
Exxasens - Spiders On The Moon
Hammock - Disappear Like The Morning...


enjoy! (part 4)



Part 5 - New fuzz:


Pink Playground - Sunny Skies
The Sunshine Factory - Twisted And Clover
Inverness - See You In The Morning
Ummagma - Kiev
Airiel - Stratosphere
Stagnant Pools - Maze Of Graves
Astrobrite - Cherryflavor Burst
Airling - For All The Lady's Hire

enjoy! (part 5)



Or, if you don't like downloading several parts separetedly and have a good internet connection... 


enjoy! (all parts put together)

quinta-feira, 21 de fevereiro de 2013

Joaquim Barato


Joaquim Barato is the musical project headed by the portuguese João Caldeira Bispo, now living at the south american lands, more specifically at Peru. Being in charge of everything in JB, from the very first note to the final register, he released a couple of efforts so far: a full-length called Rivers, released by Patetico Records and a EP called April To July, released by his own record company, El Vals del Conejo, where both came out at 2012. His art can be classified as Folk with a Slowcore, Post Rock-ish accent peppered with bits of Dream Pop, crafting delicated atmospheres drowned in a dense emotional state, which gives every piece a dream-like flavour.

At the bottom of this page you can find the bandcamp links for both works, where you can see what I'm talking about. These are pieces of rare beauty that should be regarded and enjoyed with great care by everyone, so I really hope you enjoy it as deserved!  





Rivers:




























enjoy! (bandcamp)




April To July EP: 


enjoy! (bandcamp)

segunda-feira, 18 de fevereiro de 2013

Airling



Airling is a quite mysterious band that I came across last Sunday morning. I found literally no information about the band members, when they started activities and such, just a bandcamp profile telling the project comes from the aussie lands of Melbourne. But, okay, let's skip this part and talk about the music itself. At their bandcamp, one can get the self-titled EP for free (totally free, not the name your price scheme), which constains a collection of 5 beautiful pieces of art that provide us the best of what this new generation of Shoegaze can offer. They don't re-invent the wheel, or do any kind of wacko experimentalism. They simply craft their own wheel with passion and naturality, giving it a super fresh flavour that tastes so pleasant you'll feel like spinning this ep over and over again! 

Airling is the proof that great music has no time and place to happen, or even needs a face or an image to boost its quality. It just requires passion and a good amount of feeling to let it gain its own flesh, bones and shape. If you doubt me, just check the link right below and give it a good listen. I'm sure you'll listen to each song with a silly smile in your face. 











enjoy! (bandcamp)

domingo, 17 de fevereiro de 2013

Moonshake

Moonshake, named after a Can song that, likewise, has its name borrowed from a japanese novel, is one of the most interesting assembles I've came across lately. They were born circa late 80's doing an abrasive Noise Pop-meets-Shoegaze  (Guy Fixsen, one of the hundreths of Loveless engineers, was a sort of "secret member" of Moonshake in its earliest apparitions), but they got into other musical directions after that. Very crazy and challenging ones, actually, ranging from Trip Hop, Industrial and  Electronica to Post Punk and even Jazz, going more and more experimental and unpredictable in its late phase, until its definitive demise around 1997. 

But let's stick to their sort-of most popular effort, the 1992's Eva Luna. Shoegaze fans will be immediately intimidated by the surprisingly high and inteligible vocals, cortesy of Dave Callahan, but they'll readily recognize the love for fuzz and feedback that make their joy, besides finding some comfort with the bittersweet whispered vocals of Margaret Fielder. Howerver, this 13-piece album is far more exotic and eccletic than most bands defined like that. Twisted surrealistic lyrics, unusual time signatures and drum patterns, horns, dubby and jazzy rythms, dreamlike soundscapes that no seldom goes plain gloomy and abrasive.

Although they were highly talented and were succesful in accomplish such ambitious work, it's not hard to figure out they didn't find much audience and was largely overlooked by the Grunge assault and even the more orthodox Shoegaze acts that were bubbling everywhere in the planet by that time. After Eva Luna, Fielder left the band and started Laika, a Trip Hop effort created with Fixsen, and now take part as guitarist of the band Wire (PJ Harvey, Kathering Gifford and Mary Hansen made vocal appearances after Fielder departure), while Moonshake got even crazier, making more electronic-based sounds (as the 93's Big Good Angel) and more Jazzy, Trip hop-ish sounds at the '96 Dirty And Divine, their ultimate album. Unfortunately, none of them earned the recognizement they deserved, receiving only a small cult following lately, with the advent of web and such, still insufficient for everything they did back then. That's why I drop a download link for Eva Luna right below, for now, and will upload their other crafts in the near future. 



















enjoy!

sábado, 16 de fevereiro de 2013

Ummagma

Ummagma is the child (metaphorically speaking, guys) of ukranian multi-instrumentalist Alexx Kretov and canadian singer Shauna McLarnon, with both sharing the composition duties. They met each other in Moscow around 2003, what resulted in a musical (and love) affair whose results can be tasted now, almost a decade later, in the flesh of not one, but two albums simultaneously released: The self-titled Ummagma and its sister Antigravity.

While the former work shows a more upbeat and sunny facet of the Ummagma, the latter reveals a hazier aura. Of course, they both share the same core, however the change in tones are noticiable at some songs very clearly. Whatever is your preference, they develop both works with the same capacity and quality, that being the most important after all. About their art itself, it's also very easy to see, listen and taste the multifaced world they crafted. Instead of following a single path and going deeper into it, they decided to go wider and incorporate a rich cosmos of musical influences, ranging from Acoustic Folk to Electronics (yeah, they live in pure harmony there) with a strong Dream Pop/Shoegaze-esque signature in a very natural way, as if it's just natural for them to gravitate (sic) in such spheres. Wherever they point their guitars and effects, if they decide to turn off the sonic lights or not, doesn't matter, the results are always great and can easily bring the listener to stellar dimensions.

Therefore, I drop their bandcamp link for their works right below. If you feed some fuzzy feelings for 4AD bands, you will feed for them, I assure. 








enjoy! (bandcamp)



























enjoy! (bandcamp)





UPDATE 1.0:  At the beginning of this year, USA guitarist Jane Woodman made a remix from the song Lama, the opening track for Antigravity. And she did a great job, giving to it a more urban and gritty sound without desconstructing the song's natural beauty. The original version is localized @






while the remix can be tasted @





Simply enjoy! ;)


 

quinta-feira, 14 de fevereiro de 2013

Mixtape #15 - Stargazers never die


Hi, fellas!

Yeah, it didn't take so long for a new mixtape, did it? This time, we present a collection of 13 songs capturing the best oneiric and celestial Shoegaze out there. As usual, we made a amalgamation of classics, now represented by the forces of Slowdive, MBV, Robin Guthrie solo, with new guys looking for their place under the sun, such as Malory, Ummagma and the cosmic post-rockers of God is an Astronaut. Finally, there is also room for obscure gazers who were sadly forgotten amidst the stellar dust, as the likes of Once Dreamt and Swallow, both already featured in this page.



So, there you have a perfect description to escape the Earth's gravitational field and venture into the deep space domains, riding comets, sleeping in molecular clouds and gazing at the old light of untouchable stars. Just buckle up and enjoy the (eternal) trip! 





















Tracklist:

Ulrich Schnauss - A Long Way To Fall
Malory - Xirius Polar Station
Robin Guthrie - Momument
Swallow - Peekaboo (Dub)
Ummagma - Risky
Destroyalldreamers - Her Brother Played The Riot (pt 1)
Slowdive - Missing You
Harold Budd, Robin Guthrie, Elizabeth Fraser and Simon Raymonde - Eyes Are Mosaics
Teen Daze - Surface
múm - The Balld Of Broken Birdie
My Bloody Valentine - Instrumental #2
God is an Astronaut - Point Pleasant
Once Dreamt - Birds




enjoy!

terça-feira, 12 de fevereiro de 2013

Mixtape #14 - Never Lose That Feeling


Hello, people!

This time, I took a bit longer to create a new mixtape, and I apologize for that. But, ok, let's go straight to the point. The 14th mixtape from loverswhoareseekers does not have a specific theme, only the love for noise, feedback and gazing at your shoes (or barefoot, if that's the case). Therefore, I compiled 15 songs, which totalizes about 65 minutes, ranging from absolute classic tunes from Cocteau Twins,  Slowdive, Medicine and Kitchens of Distinction (I never put them on our mixtapes, didn't I? Shame on me!) to new effervescent bands such as Yuck, The History Of Apple Pie and Ringo Deathstarr, as well as some bands "stuck in between" of both "categories", as the likes of Malory, Astrobrite, lovesliecrushing and the brazilian Sonic Disruptor.

That's it, guys. Never forget to worship the fuzz and to lose that feeling! 
























Tracklist:

Kitchens of Distinction - Sand On Fire
Medicine - Never Click
Astrobrite - Overdriver
Yuck - Coconut Bible
MBV - In Another Way
Sonic Disruptor - Plastic Sunny Car
Ringo Deathstarr - Tambourine Girl
Slowdive - Slowdive
The History Of Apple Pie - Tug
Airiel - Liquid Paper
Malory - Tornado
The Boo Radleys - Smile Fades Fast
lovesliecrushing - sugaredglowing
93millionmilesfromthesun - DarkeStar
Cocteau Twins - In The Gold Dust Rush



quarta-feira, 6 de fevereiro de 2013

Rollerskate Skinny

Born originally under the name of The Hippyshakes somewhere at the '80, the name Rollerskate Skinny was adopted only in 1991, chosen from a line in the famous "The Catcher In The Rye" book (which I'm a great fan of, just sayin'). They caught the eye of everyone by the time they changed the name due to one of its members, who was nobody less than Jimi Shields, younger brother of Kevin (this one you know very well, right?). With all the Loveless frisson going on back then, everyone was paying attention to RS, specially because they shared sonic similarities with Kevin's noise assemblage, which made comparisions, cynic or not, unavoidable by everyone.

Well, let's focus in what really maters, their artistic capacity. Of course, they did not make another Loveless, but they put a couple of solid Shoegaze/Noise Pop albums on the streets in the kidna short career. The first one, Shoulder Voices, was released at 1994 (recorded without the presence of J. Shields by then, since he left due to the insistent comparisions with MBV and his brother), and the second, Horsedrawn Wishes, came at 1996. Although it's easy to see many elements that characterize "the scene that celebrates itself" in RS art, they did not stick into it and incorporated many other influences to their sound sphere, relating them stronger to acts like The Boo Radleys, Mercury Rev and jangle pop genre.

To sum it up, RS is, if not one of the brightest bands around at an already-declining Shoegaze scene, one of the most innovative, and could very well survive this downhill as they were creative enough to make music "outside the box", but somehow they just didn't "make it". Lack of public, media interest, label coverage, doesn't matter the reasons now. The point is, RS remains a rather overlooked and unexplored gem, even for the most avid Shoegaze fans, therefore it's mandatory to have its name spread as far as possible, immediatly.



















get it! (new link from Mega)

















get it! (new link from Mega)

domingo, 3 de fevereiro de 2013

MBV



What about the post today? MBV is back, after 21 years of silence! That's what matters. I won't lose my -and yours- time describing them, as you should know all their stories by heart. About this work, well, all I can say is, although it may not have the transcendental power of Loveless back then, it's an awesome effort, a true lesson of how to do sweet pop songs driven by incandescent feedback, crafting a true white noise candy. And they still venture into Ambient, Electronic and more "Swingy" melodies, to add even more spice to the sauce.

No more talking, just check the link right below and enjoy the trip!












enjoy!

sexta-feira, 1 de fevereiro de 2013

Bandcamp Mania! #01

Hello, everyone! That's the second post of today, and now we decided to do something new. Named "Bandcamp Mania!", we'll compile nice, newcoming (or not exactly new) stuff that we meet across bandcamp in a single post, described by a shorter review. Startig today. We'll try to do it occasionally, at least 2 or 3 times a month, in a similar fashion of our mixtape tradition. I hope you enjoy it!




Sad Souls - Form in the Fog Beside (2013)

Nice Ambient-ish Drone with hints of Shoegaze. Recommended for fans of Flying Saucer Attack, Stars of the Lid, Hammock, Slowdive:






bandcamp






How Come The Constellations Shine - Mémoire (2013)


Great portuguese Post-Rock with a thick Shoegaze vein.








bandcamp









The Cherry Wave - Blush (EP) (2013):


Delightful scottish newgaze with a My Bloody Valentine accent.










bandcamp









Tennis System - Teenagers (2011):


A sunny Noise Pop which may appeal to Vandelles, Skywave, Bloody Knives fans:






bandcamp







Infraaudio - Sonhos Estranhos Para Pessoas Que Não Dormem (2013):


An awesome, fuzzy-and-psychedelic brazilian band. 
































Bela Infanta - Apenas Cinco (2013):

Lush Dream Pop-ish Post-punk made by southern brazilians.
























bandcamp






Suffering Astrid - Gale Inlay (2012):



Stellar Shoegaze meets Ambient with tiny drops of Dream Pop








bandcamp




Loop Garou - EP#1 (2009):


Lo-fi-esque Shoegaze which tastes somewhat like Lush.









bandcamp





R.M. Hendrix - Pink Skin (EP) (2012):


Highly textured Shoegaze inspired by JAMC, Galaxie 500, BJM and many more. Pure awesomeness!




























Between The Cities Are Stars - White Red Black (2011):


Incandescent, brain-melting fuzz hailing from California













bandcamp












Crisis Arm

Hello, Fellas!

It's been a rather slow week here in this space. Lots of stuff happening these days (as my masters thesis are wearing me off), but here we go, starting February. Last Saturday, I received a kind message from Kevin McVey talking about his three-piece assemblage, called Crisis Arm, and I couldn't be more pleasantly surprised by his work. His description says:


"Musically, Crisis Arm plays gentle yet claustrophobic experimental rock that straddles shoegaze, noise, and psychedelic stylings. Almost like the warped Wall-Of-Sound dynamics of My Bloody Valentine meeting the disjointed jazz-punk riffage of 90s Dischord bands, their work can be both jarring and engrossing.",

and it couldn't be more accurate. The skeleton of CA is made of Jazz-Punk, some Post Rock here and there and all those free experimental/improvisional madness, but their flesh and skin are composed by a top-level Shoegaze in its noisiest shape. But do not think they are just heartless monsters trying to entangle our minds with endless sonic attacks, as they put a lot of feeling to craft them, sounding gentle and sweetened when convenient. 

The final result: melted ears and a similing heart. Pure blissed awesomeness, isn't it? Then, you can find their music at the link right below, which directs you to their bandcamp page, whose albums can be purchased at a name-your-price scheme. 


That's it, guys. I thank Kevin McKey for the message. And I hope you enjoy it! :)








enjoy! (bandcamp)