Been a while since we did a Shoegazer Sunday, but this classic Chapterhouse track popped up because Saint Marie records is re-releasing the Mesmerize EP (their very first) that it’s off of.
The structural similarity makes me think that Echodrone was familiar with this track when they penned “A Ghost And A Walkman.”
We interrupt our regular book geeking to bring you Mike Masse, Jeff Hall and The Phil’s extremely credible cover of U2’s “Red Hill Mining Town”
(Previously.)
As is the now annual tradition, enjoy Stellarscope’s version of “Silent Night”:
Merry Christmas!
I think I posted a live version of this song, but not this album version. And as a bonus, this version features footage from the Domo Kun stop motion animated show, of meme fame.
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…
It’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:
Wednesday 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.
On 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.
Here’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.