I have no idea how you found this—first song is out today, no socials, zero monthly listens—but I’m glad you did because it’s awesome
hey. i decided working full time and having a baby isn't enough, so at the ripe age of almost-27 i'm deciding to get super into shoegaze and dream pop. i don't know why i am the way i am. i'm hoping for some recommendations of the most essential releases, particularly in the last 10-20 years. i know most of the big players (mbv, slowdive, cocteau twins, etc.), some of the recent shoegaze/dream pop-adjacent stuff (wednesday, alvvays, jay som, alex g), and a few of the modern classics (grouper, beach house, diiv, tagabow), but would love more insight into what else to dig into. there's an overwhelming amount of stuff out there from what i can tell, and i have limited time, so what is the cream of the crop? other bands i know and enjoy: feeble little horse deafheaven (insofar as they fit into either label) greet death hotline tnt thanks in advance!
Here's a playlist I made that I add to as I find stuff I really like. Most of the bands listed on it were mentioned in this thread at some point or another recently.
You should check out Swirlies and Her New Knife, who both ironically just played a show together. Those are two of my all time faves
thanks yall. i listened to ride’s nowhere for the first time tonight. i liked it! definitely see why it’s considered a staple of the genre. only thing i didn’t love was the vocals, maybe because they were more forward in the mix than i would have expected, but that’s not a major complaint. the drums in particular really impressed me. i think i’ll come back to this one quite a bit.
cloakroom - further out the verve - a storm in heaven also kinda more adjacent to shoegaze than strictly speaking shoegaze but spiritualized - ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space
Similar to Brad - I’ve got a playlist of a bunch of random faves and finds But honestly based on the artists you mentioned, you’re not as out of the loop as you might think!
got through some classics i hadn’t heard yet this weekend: galaxie 500 - today lush - gala the pains of being pure at heart - s/t the sundays - reading, writing, and arithmetic the galaxie 500 and lush records both feel like growers to me. i liked them a lot, actually listened to them both twice, but they both blended together a fair amount which makes me think i need more time with them to really appreciate them. i get the vibe the follow-ups to both records are generally considered superior, so im excited to check them out this week. pains of being pure at heart was an instant love. it reminded me of a fuzzier version of the first alvvays record, which is huge praise for me. seems like a perfect record for going into summer and i already can’t wait to hear it again. the sundays was cool as well. great vocals, great guitar playing, great production. some off-kilter melodies every now and then that made it interesting. also see this one as a grower but my initial reaction was very strong. my goals for this week/weekend: - galaxie 500 - on fire - lush - spooky - mazzy star - she hangs brightly - slowdive - s/t - cocteau twins - treasure - loveliescrushing - bloweyelashwish - ride - going blank again - swirlies - blonder tongue audio baton - my bloody valentine - mbv - julee cruise - floating into the night we’ll see!
check this one out - a Japanese "city-pop" album from the 80's that falls more in line with darkwave and dreampop, likely an influence to artists like Cocteau Twins and Kate Bush. feels very "of the time" while also completely unlike anything else coming out then. this was my pick for Chorus' record of the week a few weeks ago. play it loud