Mazzy Star : C or D

Among My Swan is so-so and kinda forgettable. Bavarian Fruit Bread is good and kinda forgettable. So Tonight that... is great and very memorable. I would recommend this album to anyone.

Incredibly same-y, but very classic.

In my attempt at writing the dullest post ever, can I just say that "fade into you" is quite a good song?

Neither. BTW, there should be an intermediate category for bands such as Mazzy Star, Strokes and so on. Not great but passable.

"So Tonight That I Might See" is brilliant, and not samey. It's one of the best albums of the 90s, if you ask me. Their other albums sound samey to me.

Not bad live as I recall.

Beach House is sort of a watered down version of Mazzy Star's worst moments.

Beach House *really* sounds like Kendra Smith post Opal solo records.

Now why did I forget how good of an album opener "Halah" is.

Dud.

man, whatever happened to Roback

he guested on Bert Jansch's last record ... but yeah, he sure dropped out.

feel like i read that mazzy star was planning a new album ... but that might've been like 8 years ago.

"Kevin said he'd produce the album for me after he got done with his."

hee hee. from wikipedia: "In 2000, the band reunited for a mini-tour in Europe, which featured new songs that Sandoval later revealed in interviews would be on the new Mazzy Star record, which was also recorded during this time. However, these sessions were not released."

man, whatever happened to Roback

Wrote a couple songs for Maggie Cheung in this 2004 movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388838/

Other than that, probably just kicking back in Norway

And is really where the name came from?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Horseshoe-Canyon-Star-Sheriff-Midnight-Mazzy_W0QQitemZ330328389339QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0

Capital C Classic. 'blue light' is an all-time fave song and 'so tonite i might see' would be a perfect album if '5 string serenade' was a verse & chorus shorter

i always think the third album is unfairly overlooked

Loved them unreservedly during their heyday. Need to listen again.

These people were not joking around with the sad! I observed/interacted with different members of the band at a few various points during the 90s, just pre-show bar activity & such. For the most part, I recall being struck by how sullen they were as a general rule, as if they had some major goth cred to uphold (but they didn't, really). At one point I observed Hope walking over to a remote corner in a shitty nightclub & crying silently to herself.

I've been listening to "So Tonight That I Might See" a lot lately. It's really just . . . beautiful.

^^^ fucking great album. I'm lukewarm about the first and third albums though. The first sounds kind of undeveloped to me, while the third's songs aren't as memorable.

This really is one of those perfect bands who should never, ever blemish their legacy by 'reuniting'

i love mazzy star. the second album is prob the best but i usually feel more inclined to listen to the first. 'halah' indeed is an incredible opener and could even be my favorite song by them

haven't heard the third album tho

Yeah after I posted that last night I listened to STTIMS in its entirety and I'm pretty certain it's just perfect. I do also really like She Hangs Brightly but don't reach for that as often. Never really got into the 3rd album.

Yeah the 3rd album was a huge letdown for me at the time.

First album is a stroke of genius, the perfect mix of druggy/hazy psych and folky beauty.

The only thing letdown I experienced from Among My Swan was due to the godawful title! I don't see where the big quality dropoff claims are rooted, being that it should have been pretty obvious to anyone who had been listening from the beginning (of MS or, better yet, going back to the band's days as Opal) that Roback et al only had a few tricks up his sleeve, which he just cycled through as needed on his albums. As such, any expectations for an evolutionary step forward from STTIMS would have been sorely misguided.

For the uninitiated, check out Opal's Early Recordings. You will not be disappointed.

I don't see where the big quality dropoff claims are rooted

I know every song on STTIMS, but I can only remember one on AMS despite many listens.

I'm still in love with Hope Sandoval's voice. They're music being quite simple I've never understood why I get completely immersed when listening to them. It's like the musical equivalent to heroine for me. And it's not nostalgia fueled either... I started listening to them about 5 years ago. Wish I was there when they still existed.

I don't really care for their homogeneity, either.

hope's warm jets album is way better than the last mazzy record.

I can only remember one on AMS despite many listens

I got 3! 'Flowers in December', 'Disappear' and 'Take Everything'. But yeah, haven't a clue what else was on it.

wow Hope Sandoval announces that a new Mazzy Star will come out.

wow! got a link?

Didn't see that comin'.

Heard something about this today, forget where. I thought it was just a solo release.

eh? all i got was this: http://www.mbvmusic.com/new-hope-sandoval-mp3-blanchard/11677

(new warm inventions mp3)

I got this in my mail today. Sorry bout the formatting...don't have time to fix:

Since the release of Mazzy Star's debut album She Hangs Brightly, Hope Sandoval has defined the sound and style of California psychedelic dream pop. The world took notice when the breakthrough single "Fade Into You" (from sophomore album So Tonight That I Might See) hit the airwaves and MTV heavy rotation. Sandoval's trademark vocals helped to make her a modern day music icon. Now the revered singer returns along side My Bloody Valentine's Colm O'Ciosoig to deliver her long awaited sophomore album Through The Devil Softly on September 1.
Over the past decade, the sought after vocalist has collaborated with artists from across the musical landscape: The Jesus & Mary Chain, Air, Death in Vegas, The Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack and Bert Jansch, to count a few.
In 2001, she joined Colm O'Ciosoig to form Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions and release their debut Bavarian Fruit Bread. Now on Through The Devil Softly, the definitive star of the Paisley Underground scene reignites her trademark sound in an epic journey across the 11-song album. The project continues the laid-back, slowcore sound they are renowned for and places Sandoval's sensuous, hypnotic voice in the forefront. Recorded in both Northern California and the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland, the spare, subtle arrangements reinforce Sandoval's gentle vocal style.
An extensive North American tour is planned for Fall 09, with dates in the UK and Europe to follow.
Grab the lead track 'Blanchard' instantly below:
Blanchard Mp3
Hope Sandoval Myspace
Hope Sandoval Facebook

that's about the Warm Inventions, not Mazzy Star though.

Sorry should have provided the link: http://pitchfork.com/news/35854-mazzy-stars-hope-sandoval-returns-with-new-album

The last paragraph. It does sound a bit vague but yeah this is pretty unexpected.

the definitive star of the Paisley Underground scene

love hope but this is twaddle

mazzy star should release a split single with mbv

the definitive star of the Paisley Underground scene

Of course, it's perfectly safe to make this claim, because Kendra Smith is off the grid.

i guess

i shall take this moment to point out that suki ewers' solo album, derivative of mazzy/galaxie that it is, is completely gorgeous

Hope Sandoval has collaborated with Massive Attack in the past!? What? When?

tis forthcoming apparently

hey this Warm Inventions record is pretty good!

actually a good deal more diverse and dreamier than Mazzy Star, not as monotone in its instrumentation and production style

The new one or the one from earlier this decade? Haven't heard the new one, but I'd dare to say I like the first Warm Inventions record better than *any* Mazzy Star record. Not that I don't like Mazzy ...

the new one, Through the Devil Softly

I like the first Warm Inventions record better than *any* Mazzy Star record

Wow, high praise. I should check that out.

I guess I just think it's a little less one-note than Mazzy was/is. There's some kinda slinky.sexy stuff, some folkier stuff (w/ Bert Jansch!) and some MBV-dronier stuff (the final track). Not that it's all over the map or anything -- still dreamy/sleepy as hell throughout.

anyhoo, these days, if I'm in the mood for Sandoval I'll usually put that one on. If I'm in the mood for Roback I'll put on Opal.

I agree - I listen to both Sandoval albums way more than Mazzy Star. The new one is really nice.

The show was awful, though - she walked off after 3 songs, came back in 20 minutes, did two more songs and then left for good. geez.

the two EPs she released around the time of the first album should not be overlooked - the non-LP tracks are very very good too, particularly 'i thought you'd fall for me'

So, while we were out for a few days, some rather momentous news so if you'll allow me to link to myself here...

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/2011/10/mazzy_star_announce_reunion_si.php

the hardest working band in showbiz is BACK!
excited. clips sound like mazzy star!

(But what did happen to Kendra Smith, anyway?)

most important line in article ^^^

Too kind.

great news, hope they make a new album

wow! excited

Actually quite pleased with the idea of a new Mazzy Star album.

the hardest working band in showbiz is BACK!

p sure that title belongs to MBV iirc

psyched for this btw

Looking forward to this. The clips are excellent (as is the cover). Opal/Mazzy Star are one of the few groups with explicitly blues elements that I truly like!

:D

p sure that title belongs to MBV iirc
i dunno, relatively speaking, MBV have worked their asses off in the past few years.

Magick Power is one for the repeat button. Mind Blowing.

listened to these guys last night. one thing i was wondering -- i remember having So Tonight That I May See (on cassette!) for like a year before "Fade Into You" hit big. Why did it hit big? Was it in a movie or something? Just seemed like a slow. meandering path to a hit single. maybe that suits this band perfectly.

Sez Wikipedia:

The American branch of Rough Trade folded in 1991, but Mazzy Star's contract was picked up by Capitol, who re-issued the first album and put out the follow-up, So Tonight That I Might See in 1993. A year after its release, the album yielded an unexpected hit single, the wispy "Fade into You", a top 50 single in both the US and the UK

Kinda things do happen.

still haven't checked out the new songs but I felt so let down by Swans that I'm not sure whether I should

needed 4 seconds to fall in love with 'Lay myself down'

Just seemed like a slow. meandering path to a hit single. - If Mazzy Star were to have a hit single at all, it is definitely appropriate that they had a slow, meandering path to one!

In retrospect, I think Hope's guest spot on JAMC's kinda hit 'Sometimes Always' & the subsequent package tour b/w the two bands probably had a fair amount to do w/ priming the works for whatever 'breakthrough' Mazzy Star experienced.

hee, wonder if sandoval and roback have just coasted for the last decade and a half on royalties from this song
Soundtrack appearances
Film
The song was notably featured in the movie Angus, during Angus and Melissa's slow dance, yet somehow failed to appear on the soundtrack for the album.
It was part of the Starship Troopers film soundtrack, playing while Johnny Rico fought with Zander over Carmen Ibanez on Fleet Battlestation Ticonderoga.
This song is featured in the Nicolas Cage movie Lord of War in 2005, as Nicholas returns home from buying his wife's painting.
The unabridged song appeared in the film Swept Away directed by Guy Ritchie in a montage sequence in which the two lead characters of the film are featured.
The song appears in the film "Burlesque" starring Christina Aguilera and Cher.

Television
It was used in the Roswell episode "Baby, It's You".
The song appeared in the episode "Sons and Daughters" of Without a Trace.
The song appeared in the episode "Wishing" of Cold Case.
The song appeared in the episode "Ice" of season 4 of Alias, when Michael Vaughn confesses to someone in a bar.
It was used in season one of Gilmore Girls, the episode called "Rory's Dance".
The song has been used over four times in CSI: Miami.
On the March 19 episode of Bones, it was one of the songs listed on the CD.
The song appeared in the first episode "Pilot", of the popular television series, Desperate Housewives.
The song also appeared in the ninth episode of the fifth season of CSI: NY when Danny Messer takes a ride with his bike.
The song also appeared in the tenth episode of the sixth season of Medium, the episode titled "You Give Me Fever".
The song was used in the third episode of NBC's Love Bites.

lol at four times on CSI Miami! how lazy.

NBC's Love Bites

lol

It was part of the Starship Troopers film soundtrack, playing while Johnny Rico fought with Zander over Carmen Ibanez on Fleet Battlestation Ticonderoga.
this movie sounds like a treat

You've missed a legendary thread, then:

"Starship Troopers" - Verhoeven is a mad genius!

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/12670-common-burn/

very very good

wow totally have never noticed Fade Into You in Starship Troopers, that seems oddly incongruous

oddly incongruous or just incongruous? /pedant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sImidxw4Mr8

can't even hear it, no wonder I never noticed it

powerful scene

my wife was convinced that fade into you was used in this classsssic scene, but she was wrong! close though, kinda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZSOyjqgITI&

what the hell is that

I feel like Fade Into You/Cowboy Junkies "Sweet Jane"/ and that Wild Horses cover are all basically the same song

shakey, you haven't seen the classic marky mark / reese witherspoon thriller FEAR?! get with it, dude.

I only watch erotic thrillers

looks like this might qualify tho lol

I listened to the first album and was quite impressed. If I was going to Coachella, I would've seen them live. Do anyone know if they are a good live act. They seem to be perfect for a more intimate, indoor setting.

I couldn't imagine watching them at a giant festival, and I've been a fan for quite some time.

Those three albums are pretty amazing, though - the third in particular gets nowhere near the love / respect it deserves.

third is my favourite

My favourite too.

They are a very good live act but the setting may have an impact. I saw them in a church in 1996, or thereabouts, and it was close to perfect.

I don't know if much has changed in the last fifteen years but Hope used to be a bit edgy when she sang live. She didn't seem to like interacting with a crowd and walked off stage in the middle of shows, on at least a couple of occasions, when people shouted stuff at her she took offence at.

All three albums are essential, but I can't imagine them being any good in a live setting like Coachella*. I saw Hope Sandoval a few years ago in an intimate, gorgeous theater, and even that setting felt too demanding for her.

(*not that I wouldn't try to see them there anyway if I had the chance)

And new album finally en route...

http://www.spin.com/articles/mazzy-star-california-stream-seasons-of-your-day

the b-side to that 7" from last year was pretty great!

oh it was a double A-side... "lay myself down" was the good one.

This track is soooooo good.

it's great how they do so much with so little. i need to figure out how they get that reverb.

cool stuff. was just listening to that hope sandoval solo record from ... wow, more than a decade ago? it is totally great.

RIP Keith Mitchell, the amazing drummer on all the Opal and Mazzy Star stuff:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/mazzy-star-drummer-keith-mitchell-dead-w482297

Ah man, that's a shame. Truly the underrated factor in all that work.

:( RIP

damn, that is too bad — very cool player.

Aw, that's sad... RIP Mr. Mitchell, you made many great records!

I'd dare to say I like the first Warm Inventions record better than *any* Mazzy Star record. Not that I don't like Mazzy ...

― tylerw, Thursday, November 19, 2009 12:36 PM (eight years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

somehow i never listened to bavarian fruit bread before but man it is killer, certainly as good as any mazzy record imo

"suzanne"!!!!!

The hunter record she recently brought out is solid too

Everything she's ever done is good imo but nothing will top STTIMS for me.

yeah i may have been slightly exaggerating back in 2009, but whenever bavarian fruit bread comes on (it's a fave of my wife's) i'm struck by how good it is.

TBH i kinda feel that way about the second warm inventions record - through the devil softly - which gets more plays than any MS record around mine

caveat of course that i like mazzy star just fine but TTDS just hits the spot for me more consistently and deeply, it always feels a bit heretical when i tell friends tho'!

i saw the warm inventions tour that record and it was a really beautiful show (although i heard that some of the other dates on that tour were a bit troubled)

New single is lovely: https://youtu.be/WBbEVzgoEhA

oooh, new EP in June! so happy they're in the studio these days

You made my day

Mazzy Star are coming to Los Angeles:

February 26 & 27
The Cathedral Sanctuary at
Immanuel Presbyterian Church
Presale:
Thu, 1/17 at 10am – Thu, 1/17 at 10pm
Password: CELEBRATE
Public On Sale: Fri, 1/18 at 10am

i think i need to go!

they're really good live!

I think I might need to go too!

BTW, Hope Sandoval is on a Bobby Gentry tribute album, singing "Big Boss Man" - In Praise Of: Bobbie Gentry, "The Delta Sweete"

So I went to the Oakland show and one of the LA shows, and they were pretty magical. Especially the LA show in a gorgeous old church. Listening to the after-show banter at a nearby bar, was amused to hear how many fans were aggrieved that the stage was unlit so they couldn't get any good pictures or even see Hope Sandoval. They had a big screen with these animated overlays that changed for each song that was great though. Some fans don't know they're born.

i forgot all about these shows, glad you had fun Hazel.

Hoping for the best

😢Yesterday I got bad news, diagnosed with breast cancer. Still processing the whole thing. Please send healing thoughts and pics of puppies, kittens, snakes, tardigrade, and space things. Thanks.

— Suki Ewers 🎶💫✨🚀🛰🦠🧬🧪 (@sukianemone) February 20, 2020

RIP David Roback.

https://pitchfork.com/news/mazzy-stars-david-roback-dead-at-61

Damn

oh no, that is terrible news! one of my absolute favorites

RIP. Damn shame.

Shit.

I just listened through the Mazzy-catalogue just the other day. Love them.

RIP
such a great sound, and enduring I still run across new bands of people in their 20s that are clearly influenced by Mazzy Star

so much "dreampop" owes them a huge debt

Mazzy Star were EVERYTHING to me in the early 90s, and led me to the wonders of Opal too. I'm really shocked.

RIP

RIP. She Hangs Brightly is all-time.

some of the druggiest music ever made, it hangs in its own special hazy sweet spot and practically makes the walls drip when it's playing

(meant as high praise)

The guitar tone of "Ghost Highway".

This is horrible news. He meant a lot to the LA scene. RIP

https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2020-02-25/david-roback-mazzy-star-dead

No way... This really sucks. Amazing sounds and moods.

Being quietly destroyed here by Still and Seasons of Your Day - inevitably I spent less time with them than the early records but there's no loss of magic.

Cause of death is cancer. :-((

god these records sound SO GOOD, so much space, great sound, everything

yeah Among My Swan was sounding fantastic last night — I kind of slotted that one as the weakest of their original three records, but I think I was wrong. Just a totally enveloping soundworld/mood.

“I wanted to make music that I felt and if people liked it, fine, otherwise the music would be enough reward.”

Only just heard this news, fucking hell

Extremely good article here, many reflections from friends and collaborators:

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-03-06/david-roback-mazzy-star-susanna-hoffs-opal-cancer

:(
https://reverb.com/item/44135848-1968-fender-telecaster-guitar-blonde-w-bigsby-owned-by-david-roback-44566