Remember The Apprehension Engine used for creating horror movie soundtracks featured last year?
Meet the Mega Marvin:
It does look less ergonomically friendly for playing for long periods of time…
Archive for the ‘Music’ Category
Halloween Horrors: Mega Marvin
Saturday, October 16th, 2021Shoegazer Sunday: Ceremony’s “It’s Too Late”
Sunday, October 3rd, 2021It’s always hard to find appropriate darkgaze stuff for the Halloween season, but I think Ceremony’s “It’s too Late” has a nicely Gothy tinge to it:
Shoegazer Sunday: Slowdive’s “Blue Skied An’ Clear”
Sunday, September 26th, 2021Wednesday was the Autumn Equinox, and I was surprised by a crisp, clear morning here in Austin that was actually cool, meaning we were getting Fall on the first day of Fall, and that’s something that never happens.
Given the cloudless sky, I thought this was appropriate:
Pygmalion is probably my least favorite Slowdive album, with it’s sparse, minimalist, almost ambient feel, but “Blue Skied An’ Clear” is one of the standouts.
Shoegazer Sunday: The 30th Anniversary of Slowdive’s Just For A Day
Sunday, September 5th, 2021On September 2, 1991, Creation Records released Slowdive’s debut album Just for a Day. This was the first Shoegaze album I had ever heard, and in many ways is still my favorite.
1991, you may remember, was a banner year for music. Everything interesting got slapped with the “Alternative” label, but Slowdive was far from the Seattle sound of Nirvana and Pearl Jam dominating the airwaves. The first track I heard off it was “Catch the Breeze”:
From it’s echoey, moody opening to it’s soaring wall of guitar ending I was hooked. But I truly loved closing track “Primal.”
The first seventy-five seconds are the most beautiful music Slowdive ever created, while the rest builds to a melancholy crescendo of loss.
Shoegaze is The Genre That Refuses To Die, and I think Just For A Day is a huge cornerstone.
I hear Slowdive will be releasing a new album as soon as they can book a run at a vinyl pressing plant.
Library Addition: Michael Moorcock’s Into The Media Web
Thursday, September 2nd, 2021Here’s a fairly recent Moorcock rarity that had an insanely small print run.
Moorcock, Michael (edited by John Davey). Into The Media Web: Selected short non-fiction, 1956-2006. Savoy Books, 2010. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight grubbiness, slight creasing at top front cover and a 1/8″ closed tear at top front fold, and slight bumping at heel. Inscribed by Moorcock to fellow writer (and New World contributor) John Baxter: “To John,/Some embarrassments/some bullshit and maybe/a little bit/of truth./All very/best, as/ever yours/Mike,” plus a signature dated “18th July ’10.” 300,000+ word, 717 page collection of non-fiction, including essays, reviews, etc. covering books, film, music, etc. (Here’s a post on the book’s design.) Reportedly had a hardback print run of less than 100 copies, though I haven’t nailed down exactly how many. Bought for £140 plus shipping.
You may remember that I also ended up with John Baxter’s copy of George Locke’s Voyages Into Space.
Shoegazer Sunday: White Coal Addiction’s “A Project”
Sunday, August 29th, 2021White Coal Addiction hails from Belgium, and are described as “cold wave, post-punk and a touch of goth.” Researching “cold wave” lead me to a string of unhelpful, example-free Wikipedia entries, but it seems to be some sort of early 80s gloomy European Goth synth. Anyway, enjoy the moody “A Project.”
Shoegazer Sunday: The Luxembourg Signal’s “Laura Palmer”
Sunday, July 25th, 2021I rather liked last week’s shot of The Luxembourg Signal, so here’s a track off their album Blue Field with a subject Twin Peaks fans may find of interest…
Shoegazer Sunday: The Luxembourg Signal’s “When All That We Hold Decays”
Sunday, July 18th, 2021I know nothing about The Luxembourg Signal except they seem to be a transatlantic ensemble. “When All That We Hold Decays” is off their album The Long Now.
Shoegazer Sunday: Galaxina’s “Oceano”
Sunday, June 20th, 2021I know next to nothing about Galaxina, except they’re probably named after the Dorothy Stratton movie, and I think they’re based in Spain. “Oceano” appears to be off their Evasion y victoria album.
Shoegazer Sunday: The Emerald Down’s “Caught A Wave”
Sunday, May 30th, 2021It’s been many a moon since I featured The Emerald Down, and “Caught A Wave” sounds an awful lot like some early Slowdive songs (like “Shine”), a dreamy, buzzy, steady-state sort of Shoegaze, maybe with a little Ride and My Bloody valentine mixed in.