segunda-feira, 29 de abril de 2013

Mixtape #18 - Gazin' the Earth















Hello, fellas!

Yeah, I took a little longer than I expected, but here we are with the 18th mixtape. This is a "special edition" mixtape, where I compiled 40 songs from Shoegaze-and-related bands from many different places of our beloved planet. Therefore, it's divided in 4 parts: Asia, Europe, Latino America and US/Canada/Australia/New Zealand, each region represented by 10 songs. This way, we can appreciate not only the beautiful noises that are crafted worldwide, but that we're not alone in our love for feedback, fuzz and oneiric melodies. Therefore, there are a few links right below, if you want to download each segment separatedly or in a bundle, as well as the tracklist.

I hope you enjoy it! ;)


Asia: 

Cruyff In The Bedroom - Ukiyogunjou (Japan)
Jellybelly - Illusion Dream (Indonesia)
Vidulgi OoyoO -  Elephant (South Korea)
Luminous Orange - Turbo R (Japan)
Purple Bloom - Lucid Dream (Japan)
Astreal - Death & Glitter (Singapore)
Candyaudioline - An Empty You (Phillipinas)
Stellarium - Fader (Singapore)
My Violaine Morning - 99 Miles (Indonesia)
Swirling Light - Neon (Thailand)

 get it!


USA/Canada/Australia/NZ:


Bailter Space - Projects (New Zealand)
dici - Stars Above (Canada)
Medicine - Candy Candy (USA)
Tamaryn - Ashore (New Zealand + USA)
deardarkhead - Surf's Up (USA)
Bowery Electric - Deep Sky Objects (USA)
Swirl - Tears (Australia)
Young  Galaxy - Blown Mind (Canada)
Highspire - Glass In My Mouth (USA)
Destroyalldreamers - Swirling Colours Sink (Canada)



Europe:

93MillionMilesFromTheSun - Waiting There (UK)
The Ecstasy of St. Theresa - Honeyrain (Czech Rep.)
The Raveonettes - Dirty Eyes (Sex Don't Tell) (Denmark)
pinkshinyultrablast - Blaster (Russia)
The Radio Dept. - Ewan (Sweden)
Catherine Wheel - Ursa Major Station (UK)
Singapore Sling - Godman (Iceland)
Be Forest - Your Specters (Italy)
Pia Fraus - Birds Still Swing (Estonia)
Malory - Spring (Germany)


Latino America: 

Bosques - Amniosis (Argentina)
Low Dream - Treasure (Brazil)
Lorelle Meets The Obsolete - The In Between (Mexico)
Collasonic - Sur (Bolivia)
Espira - Bajo Tus Sueños (Peru)
Mi Andromeda - Lisergico III (Chile)
Medialunas - Memorabilia (Brazil)
Un.Real - Electroplex (Puerto Rico)
The Exils - Un Ojo Al Gato (Mexico)
Ultravelvet - Portales De Cromo (Peru)




...or, if you want every segment in a bundle: get it here!

domingo, 28 de abril de 2013

Various Artists

Hello, fellas.

This post is quite different from what I'm used to do. This time, I'm posting not only one band, but five in a single post. Thanks to Nicole Davis, who contacted me a couple of weeks ago, I had the chance of putting my ears into refreshing brand new bands upcoming in the blooming USA scenario. Right below, I'm dropping a few words about it and let a link where you can stream their work: 



Cement Stars: 





Cement Stars is a four-piece ensemble which performs a very nice Alternative Rock with a strong Dream Pop-y flavour. Synths are usually present, contributing to give a delicate, soothing touch in their songs, although some uplifting moments are present too. Passable Ghosts and Run With The Night are the highlights among 6 great tracks that you can take a listen here! 







Knives and Daggers




















Amazing ensemble dedicated to an atmospheric and majestic Post-Rock which seems highly inspired by Mogwai, jesu and, in some moments, the cinematic tapestries crafted by gy!be. Shoegaze influences can be easily noticed too, specially Loveless-era My bloody Valentine. It's been a long time since I've listened such great Post Rock like them! 

To stream KaD work, just click here!





Hibou:





















Hailing from Seattle by the hands of Peter Michael, Hibou ventures into a sunnier, delicate and modern Dream Pop microcosmos. Comparisions with Deerhunter, Lotus Plaza and Wild Nothing can be drawn, but Hibou has its own identity already carved, even though the project is still far from its peak creativity. It's possible to stream all his songs here!

Glow/Hollow:


,





Modern Man: 


















Swirling Noise Pop/Shoegaze born by the hands of David Allen Glenn, from South Carolina. Initially a solo project, the songs are dense, sometimes groovy and always multi-textured. They're a must for any fan of Ceremony, Skywave or R.M. Hendrix, even though It's not hard to notice influences drawn from Sonic Youth too 


To stream, just click here!





Little Bull Lee













Initially a solo project of Donald Doolittle from Charlotte, NC, Little Bull Lee's sound is quite difficult to define, since it explores Alternative Rock, Noise, Psychedelia and even Folk and Sludge to craft its dense and enigmatic sonic atmospheres with a lo-fi vein. Attacks of fuzz and feedback, which are characteristic of Shoegaze, are commom too. LBL work can be tasted here!



Once again, I thank Nicole Davis for these great discoveries! They have plenty of undeveloped potential and are able to reach even higher flights very soon, therefore, don't be surprised if you see more from them very soon. Enjoy! ;)

terça-feira, 23 de abril de 2013

No Joy

No Joy (NJ) is a two-girl duo consisting of LA's Jasmine White-Glutz and Montreal's Laura Lloyd, which started actitives at late 2009. Not much later, Jasmine moved to Montreal and the duo started playing at concerts, drawing attention from Best Coast (with whom they shared the stage in NJ very first concert) and signing to their label, Mexican Summer, who's also home of bright Dream Pop acts such as Tamaryn

After the lo-fi-esque Dream Pop attack of their debut, Ghost Blonde, released at late 2010, the duo came back with Wait To Pleasure (WTP), whose official release date is today, april 23th. WTP is a good evolution from their debut, featuring a fuller and richer sound than its predecessor, mixing a modern approach of Dream Pop with occasional attacks of fuzz and Electronics, besides strong Ambient influences which gives a foggy, enigmatic and amorphous flavour to each song. The final result can be compared to the works of acts such as The Bilinda Butchers, Young Prisms, Minks, Echo Lake and the list goes on. 



Probably, the duo won't change the direction of modern music or even the Shoegaze microcosmos, but they were able to craft a highly pleasant (sic) collection of 11 songs which are perfect for taking a walk in a park in sunny weekends or to be enjoyed in an alternative night club. 

As usual, I hope you enjoy it!














get it!

sábado, 20 de abril de 2013

Dead Mellotron


Dead Mellotron (DM) started as a solo project of Louisiana's Josh Frazier. The first release, called Ghost Light Constellation, came in 2009 and by 2010 Josh moved to Baltimore, where he recruited two more gazers who seems to be contributing a lot to enrich DM's ascending state-of-art. 

Well, let's talk about DM's art then. It consists of a laid back Shoegaze-meeting-Dream Pop (or would it be the opposite? can't tell), whose songs are fluid as if it was built in a stream of consciousness state. The layers or reverb are always present, contributing to give a hazy, whirling flavour to the music, but the atmosphere is still light, serene and soothing, being a perfect soundtrack for windy late afternoon weekend's walk in a sunny spring day. 

Although DM doesn't move too far away from the legacy of Cocteau Twins, Ride or other old school masters of "bliss pop", its music is so pleasant that is just plain impossible to listen to it without opening a silly smile in one's lips. Besides, even though they're investing in this modern Dream Pop field, they are easily recognizable among its most famous acts, namely Beach House, Beach Fossils, Diiv, Wild Nothing and such. Finally, I drop DM's discography at bandcamp right below, whose albums can be purchased for really good prices, between 3 and 6 bucks. 

As I always say: enjoy! ;)




(is it) (2013):








enjoy!



Glitter (2012):








enjoy!





s/t (2010):







enjoy!



Ghost Light Constellation (2009):








enjoy!

quarta-feira, 17 de abril de 2013

Half String


Hello, gazers and travelers! 

The post of today is about Half String (HS). Similarly to most of the bands I've been featuring on this virtual space lately, this one is also an underrated piece from first (or second)-generation Shoegaze whose name was forgotten by the tides of time, and a scene that was sadly fading away back to those days. HS was formed in Arizona at 1991 by the hands of Tim Patterson, Brandon Capps and Kimber Lanning, attracting some attention due to Beautiful Noise Festival, whose first edition happened almost 20 years ago (April 30th, 1993) and the second took place at early 1995, revealing some über alternative future icons such as Alison's Halo, lovesliescrushing and Soul Whirling Somewhere

HS's music can be described as a "Shoegaze-y", owing more to Pale Saints delicate proto-Shoegaze (or a 'simplified', less drowsing version of Ride) with tiny drops of Slowcore/Sadcore. Each song of their only full-length, A Fascination With Heights (1996), carries an early-autumnal feeling with them, which gives quite refreshing flavours and tones to the already bashed out Shoegaze typical formulae by that time. 


As usual, they parted ways at 1997 and Half String's name was forgotten by almost everyone, even by the most diehard gazers. Very sad and unfair, to say the least. That's why I drop an 'A Fascination With Heights" link right below, to see if it re-ignites the oldschool gazer's memories, or if HS reaches a better recognition standard among newcoming people who likes staring blankly at their shoes (like me). 













get it!


terça-feira, 16 de abril de 2013

The KVB

The KVB is a very mysterious band. I couldn't find much information about them, except it seems a project from Klaus Von Barrel, guitarist of Suicide Party, and comes from UK. Well, I wonder most of you do not know much about them (neither do I, I must say; I've only listened to a couple of songs from SP a while ago, and they sound great, btw. Maybe I can drop them here in the near future... something to think about), so I'll explain what you'll find here with the KVB: a cavernous and hallucynogic Shoegaze dressed in Post-punk/Coldwave skin. Yeah, that means you'll find darker than the deepest sea harmonies and bleak vocals, with everything deliciously mixed with synthetizers, fuzzy guitars and icy keys. Yeah, there's a lot of electronics here, too, but used as a background and not as a main power plant. 

For those fond of the early days of Jesus And Mary Chain and The Cure, or Echo And The Bunnyman, Joy Divison (of course), the french Darkwave and new names (or not-that-old ones) such as Skywave, The Soft Moon and, surely, Suicide Party, that's surely your cup of tea. ;)


update: Brand new KVB album, Immaterial Visions, right below. Enjoy!

















get it!   / get it!























get it!

quinta-feira, 11 de abril de 2013

Teenage Filmstars




Teenage Filmstars (TF) is one of the most curious (and still largley unknown) Shoegaze acts from the 1st generation. Its birth happened not during the mid-late '80, as most bands of the genre, but in 1979 (!), by the hands of Edward Ball and his old school friends, releasing a stream of weird Pop Rock songs in a independent way (one of these songs was mistook for a tribute to John Lennon right after his death). Despite all the buzz, Ed Ball changed his band's name to The Times, releasing only a single album at 1985. 

However, Ed Ball took the world by surprise when he signed to Creation Records and came back with TF in 1992 and released some of the craziest Shoegaze albums even by current standards. Star (1992), aka Lift Off Mit Der Teenage Filmstars, features a Shoegaze/Noise Pop verve that doesn't deny the influences of Loveless (maybe this is the first record heavily inspired by Loveless ever made) but the taste for experimentalism from Mr. Ball went to higher levels than Shield's, if that's possible! Motorcycle zooms, twitter of birds, tape loops, strange whirring strings, even weirder piano lines, early Industrial-Electronic music influences and almost unlistanable drum patterns covered by woozy, blurred, blown-out and swirling guitar lines are used throughout the album, making Loveless sounds almost "orthodox" comparing to the fuzzy sonic carnival of Star.
The following record, Rocket Charm, is even crazier: every song was put backwords (except the drumming) with little regard to stereo placement and instrumentation levels. While the first half of the album is pure Shoegaze/Noise madness, the second half consists of moody and obscure Dark Ambient/Trip Hop/early Industrial/Ethnical/World Music (!!) pieces made with such quality that one wouldn't tell it's the same band of the beginning of the record!
The last effort, 1997's Buy Our Record Support Our Sickness, shifted the shoegazer's focus to a '60-'70 Avant-garde, psychedelic approach (everything recorded backwards too, of course!). 

Therefore, it's not a coincidence that Ball was regarded by Kevin Shields as "A sensitive soul from another planet. A modernist musical alchemist". He sure was. Just take a look at his other works here and you can have a glimpse of Ball's almost unreachable creative's power, although it looks like he's not making music anymore, just playing occasional shows under The Times name. And that's why his name should never be forgotten and his work should be in everyone's ear. Star and Rocket Charm are offered right below for downloading, and as soon as I get my hands in "Buy Our Record...", you'll have it in this same page too. 












enjoy!














enjoy!

domingo, 7 de abril de 2013

Silvania


Silvania is an extinct project that was born by the hands of the peruvian duo Mario and Coco in the very early '90, both living at Spain since 1988. During all its existence, they were dedicated to blend the celestial vibe of Dream Pop with the finest Electronic and Ambient touches, giving their songs an ethereal, mesmerizing beauty which can bring Cocteau Twins, Dif Juz, Seefeel, Mellonta Tauta and A. R. Kane right up to our minds when listening to it. Yeah, they could fit very easily in the 4AD catalogue back then, but unfortunately they didn't reach any reasonable stage of recognizement and sucess during its existence, only a very reduced cult following during the 2000's era and so forth. 

Since 2000, both members ended Silvania activies and started a New Wave/Electropop project called Ciëlo which was sadly haulted at 2008 due to the murder of Coco at Madrid. He seemed to be very dear to the local scene and everyone who knew him due to his total dedication to the sublime art of crafting music by the own sake of the art. However, his legacy is around there, deserveful of being admired, tasted and enjoyed at the same stellar level of Mario & Coco's creativity. All of Silvania's full-lenghts, besides the remix album Delay Tambor (1996) and the Solineide 1991-1993 compilation, released at 2003, can be found right below. Finally, as I always say, enjoy it!









enjoy!









enjoy!








enjoy!









enjoy!










enjoy!

quinta-feira, 4 de abril de 2013

Weekender



The brothers Nic and Derek Sheehan, although unheard names for almost everyone, have already made some buzz n' fuzz under The Tweeds name a couple of years ago. Now, together with Tom Anthony and Emily Cahill, they re-appeared calling their project as Weekender, one of the coolest upcoming bands I've come across in 2013. They're dedicated to a Shoegaze-y sound that mixes the swingy noisepoppers melodies of Honey's Dead era's JA&MC with the lysergic insanity of Madchester scene. Of course, some "pure" Shoegaze moments can be heard too, reminding us the best moments of the so-beloved Whirpool, from Chapterhouse, as well as more "pure" psychedelic passages that bring BJM quickly to our melted minds. 

Therefore, I drop their Spanish Speaks EP, released on March 19th, which can be purchased by the name-your-price scheme. They are the greatest example of Shoegaze made for alternative parties as well as for walking in the park in a late-summer windy afternoon or for taking a (bad?) trip to the deepest realms of one's mind. So, just buckle up and have fun!











enjoy! (bandcamp)

quarta-feira, 3 de abril de 2013

Mixtape #17 - Noise stars collide






One and half a month after the last mixtape (yeah, sorry for taking soooo long), here we go with another compilation. The 17th edition of loverswhoareseekers compilation contains the best of sugar-red noisy stars crashing into the sky and bathing us in its cosmic lightrays of pure bliss and delirium. 

Enjoy it!










enjoy!

segunda-feira, 1 de abril de 2013

Orange




Orange is not arguably the most obscure Shoegaze/Dream Pop I've came across in my (almost) 26 years of existence. The little information I've found tells they're british and released only one self-titled full length at 1994, besides a cassette at 1993 and two singles at 1990 and also at 1993. Their soundscapes do not hide the influences of the Dream Pop masters like Cocteau Twins, Cranes, Lush, Swallow and similars, such that Orange could fit more than perfectly in the 4AD catalogue back then. 

Unfortunately, times were cruel for the lovegazers in those years, probably the reason why they didn't survive much longer. But, most important than all, they recorded an amazing compilation of hazy and delirious pieces that really shouldn't be forgotten, as it must behappening since its release. Right below, you can taste Orange's full length added with assorted tracks from the singles, the cassette and a 4AD cover tribute, where they played an amazing version of Pixies' Gigantic. I hope you enjoy it as deserved! ;)









enjoy!