Shoegaze and Dreampop Discussion

[Freewave]

Shoegaze is a very revered genre although it technically was at it's height for a very brief period. Right before Alternative Rock really started taking off and existing right before Grunge and Brit Pop came along to crush it in Britian. What's central to it core is how its composed. It's a combination of noise rock (Jesus and Mary Chain), dreampop (Cocteau Twins being the best early example), Psychedelic Space Rock (like Loop), and conventional alt rock (like the Cure's "Fascination Street" from Disintegration). It's designed to be a beautiful layer of guitars with loads of effects pedals as the main focus with other elements (vocals and drums) really becoming less important.

The best single example would My Bloody Valentine's - Loveless which is still regarded as one the top alt rock albums today. In Pitchfork's Top 5 unless things have drastically changed since i last went there. It's a very challenging listen but ultimately often a very rewarding one. It's one of the noisier shoegaze albums but also catches a bit of the dreampop side of the scene.

But Loveless while being the "essential album" is not the only standalone. Other key albums would be Slowdive who was much more Dreampop influenced but also changed their sound from album to album. Ride's early work before they went bad Britpop is really good to. Other bands like Chapterhouse (more dance oriented), Curve (like MBV meets industriual and what Garbage ultimately mimicked), Catherine Wheel, and Swervedriver (both more alt rock based) are well worth checking out.

Shoegaze at its peak was never that big or well known but likewise its had a pretty devout set of fans who kept listening to that music and revering it. That's why often Shoegaze is referred to as a "religion". There's been an explosion of smaller newer bands using the same techniques and new ones (using more electronic means like M83 and Ulrich Schnauss) in years since. It's been very popular in Japan and also crossed over with Black Metal to form Blackgaze (Alcest + Amesoeurs).

Here's the big massive guide/list to the scene but I'm also more then happy to discuss it or answer any questions about it if i can.
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/TheScien ... _shoegaze/

And Dreampop is cool too, check out Cocteau Twin's - Treasure, Ocean Blue's - Cerulean, and the Cure's Disintegration for a great starter. Blissed out dreamy slow rock.
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/TheScien ... dream_pop/

[ganondox]

Here in Indonesia there is a significant Shoegaze scene, a lot of the alternative/indie bands have a more atmospherical sound to them than the ones in the US. Negative Lovers is one, Melancholic Bitch is a critically acclaimed indie band here that takes major shoegazing influences as well as industrial ones, AreYouAlone is another alternative band with shoegazing elements I heard here.

[TimeBaby]

It really warms my heart to know people in the MLP fandom (besides me, obviously) care about shoegaze and dream pop. A couple more off the beaten path recommendations: Medicine (whose best known song is the source of my name) are a really good American shoegaze/noise rock band. Their stuff can be a little hard to track down these days, but their first two albums, Shotforthselfliving and The Buried Life are well worth it. Lovesliescrushing are kind of dreamy ambient noise, like MBV if they ditched the drums and bass and just made guitarscapes. Depreciation Guild made a couple of albums mixing shoegaze and chiptunes, kind of like Lush meets Anamanaguchi. Loads of good stuff to dig into if you find you like the big names in the genre.

[ganondox]

Whose up for some Alcest?



The new album just sounds divine.

[meletric]

Oh man, this is a really cool thread!
@TimeBaby- I've heard about Medicine, but haven't listened to them yet. I'll have to check them out!

A personal favorite would be Airiel. This song is very pop oriented and reminiscent of Cocteau Twins.

And I also really love Stella Luna! They're more drone-like songs and are really entrancing. Great pre-bedtime jams!

[Vivix]

Oh, wow that stella luna track is really good. I'm not sure why I haven't stumbled onto these before. A band I always try to promote a little when I meet others who like this kind of music is Obscure. I followed this little band for a while but now they're sadly disabanded.


The sound of this band is just wonderful. It's so noisy and still calm.

The jesus and mary chain, Psycho candy album, might be worth mentioning in here too, not quite shoegaze, I suppose, but it is very dreamy~