Funnily Shoegaze music is probably more popular now than it was back then - a quick look on Wikipedia's list of Shoegazer musicians is quite amazing, and fuel for much debate. Back in the day, it was quite a broad church that ranged from guitar abusers like Ride and Pale Saints to the more ethereal likes of Slowdive, before spinning off to include the more machine-friendly likes of Swallow. Then there were Shoegazers like Chapterhouse who ventured tentatively onto the dancefloor before heading into ambient dub territory with Seefeel.
This page collects together some of Shoegaze music I've featured on the blog so you can easily access the purple prose that it inevitably inspires in me. There's also some links to posts about contemporary bands - like I Break Horses and Trophy Wife - carrying on the Shoegaze legacy.
Happy gazing.
Seefeel 'Climatic Phase #3 (Overnight Mix)' (Too Pure, 1993)
Where shoegaze met dub, ambience, drones and post-rock for a blissed-out moment...
Ride 'Like A Daydream' (Creation, 1990)
Wow. That intro still sounds as citrus fresh as it did the first time I put the needle onto side one of the 'Play' EP...
Beach House 'Zebra' (Bella Union/Sub Pop, 2010)
...a mellow little riff on the guitar and a soothing, balmy vocal line, drums tish-tish-ing gently in the background...
Moose 'Suzanne' from the 'Cool Breeze EP' (Hut Recordings, 1991)
Pretty much the archetypal shoegaze track... Driving rhythm with scope for fringe-swinging? Check. Effects pedals set by turn to 'crunchy' then 'woozy'? Check...
My Bloody Valentine 'To Here Knows When' (Creation Records, 1991)
Ah, the smeared, disorientating melodic magma of 'To Here Knows When'. It heralded the release of the what might be the best album ever made...
Revolver 'Wave' (Hut/Virgin, 1993) (MP3 Download)
Ultimately Revolver have been consigned to only a minor footnote in indie/alternative history books, largely forgotten when the Shoegazing scene was swept away by Grunge...
Swallow 'Lovesleep (Vocal Version)' (Volume, 1992)
Shimmering, chugging homage to the Cocteau Twins. Gorgeous though...
Devics 'Red Morning' (Bella Union, 2003)
Languid, moody, downtempo melancholy. Latterday shoegaze...
A. R. Kane 'Lolita' (4AD, 1987)
Whimsical, breathy dreampop with a Cocteau Twins flourish. Precursor to the guitar-drifting Shoegazers...
Pale Saints 'Porpoise' (Live at Brixton Academy, 1991)
My personal favourites. They perfectly captured a balance between exquisite melody, skysoaring wonder and fragile, passionate beauty...
