slowdive: classic or dud?

Who do Slowdive most sound like? Well, jeez, in a way they ARE the ultimate shoegaze band! (MBV are in their own universe but obviously none of the other gaze bands could exist without them as an example.) As friend Stripey once put it to me years ago, "They'll be the band that most people will claim as an influence because they're both so atmospheric and so accessible." And she was right.

So basically -- mixed male/female vocals, often singing together, sometimes separately, LOTS of digital delay and zoned-out ambience, total goth fetish as well (early eighties Cure basslines in particular). Again, though, this is the earliest stuff in particular.

One thing that a lot of people forget about the band -- they could be LOUD. Saw them three times and while, again, they didn't achieve MBV levels of volume, they were definitely trying to really crank it up.

Whereas Lush and Ride, who are the first generation (i.e. not MBV) bands who I think of as utterly definitive of the genre seem to have fallen by the wayside.

Maybe that's because of the derivative tails on the end of their shoegazing careers (Britpop, Oasis, etc.) Or maybe because Slowdive hit the cliches the heaviest, so those looking for those cliches will be made happiest by them.

http://cover6.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/Large/19/1032019.jpg

this is coming out July 29, 2008 on Brushfire Records.

d/l now however.

I just got a ticket to see him in August; didn't know that there was a new record, thought I should have guessed.

What's Brushfire Records? why did he leave 4AD?

Oh cool, I'll definitely check this out.

but the last solo record was a drag. and the last mojave 3 wasn't so great either.

about 2/3 of his first solo record was really outstanding, esp. 'Driving With Bert' which had a trumpet solo.

I loved that first solo album

I finally have SOUVLAKI. After listening to it in its entirety and then listening to LOVELESS... I've realzed that these two records are so different that they shouldn't really be compared. While the vocals are similar, the sounds from the instruments on SOUVLAKI are so much lighter (a la the Cocteau Twins). This really sounds like something you could sleep to, or you could have it gently wake you up in the morning. My favorite song is easily "Sing," which is probably better than anything on LOVELESS (fyi, Loveless is the best LP I've ever heard). It's definitely Sexier than anything on it. I immediately see a string of darkly-lit, slow-mo erotic images whenever I listen to it. Alas, the song after it is a let down.

am i crazy for thinking pygmalion is really, really boring?

Out.

(Just think of it as a Durutti tribute. Hell, they *call* the first song "Rutti.")

No, I don't think you're crazy, electricsound. There's a reason why I haven't played that since it came out.

pygmalion is super dull, as is the band that wasted rachels beautiful voice (mojave 3)!!

I guess this means I should start listening to the Durutti Column.

you don't need a reason to listen to DC

I haven't been listening to SOUVLAKI very much since then. LOVELESS still sounds so crazy next to it.

pygmalion is super dull, as is the band that wasted rachels beautiful voice (mojave 3)!!

Pygmalion is the only Slowdive album I listen to these days. Go figure.

Spoon And Rafter I like much more now, but that first M3 album is still my #1 choice. I wish that Rachel's solo album had some of that mystery X factor in it.

i have never been able to get into Pygmalion despite the love that it seems to get.

My choice for Mojave 3 is Out Of Tune but that also seems to be a unpopular choice.

loved Neil's first solo album (second ?) but hated Rachel's solo album.

I hated Pygmalion when it came out, then fell in love with it before ultimately not really caring much. "Rutti" is pure classic though

Thinking about it, the time would be exactly right for a Slowdive one-off reunion.

One thing I've found about Slowdive is that the time of day that you listen to their albums can strongly affect your perception of them. Here are the times you should listen to them:

"Just for a Day" - Listen to around dawn
"Souvlaki" - listen to at 1:00am
"Pygmalion" listen to during a hot, windless afternoon in a desert

If you listen at different times, they simply do not work, and can even sound horrible.

I can't see myself listening to "Just for a Day" over breakfast

not for breakfast, that's too late. it's the darkness just before dawn.

brushfire records is actually jack johnson's label. he has surprisingly signed really good people so far (well, halstead and rogue wave, don't know who else).

I think they were very good initially because they were unselfconscious. i.e. they were middle-class MBV fans making music for middle-class MBV fans. As soon as they became aware that they had to adopt some kind of stance, and deny what they fundamentally were, then they lost it.

2008 so needed a Pygmalion backlash.

Never set your sights too high when it comes to shoegazer bands.

One thing I've found about Slowdive is that the time of day that you listen to their albums can strongly affect your perception of them. Here are the times you should listen to them:

"Just for a Day" - Listen to around dawn
"Souvlaki" - listen to at 1:00am
"Pygmalion" listen to during a hot, windless afternoon in a desert

If you listen at different times, they simply do not work, and can even sound horrible.

-- res, Thursday, August 14, 2008 9:14 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Link

As much as I want to disagree with this, especially the not work and even sound horrible part, I would be lying if the best time I heard Just for a Day wasn't on a brisk spring morning at 6:30 AM, and Souvlaki at 1:30 AM in a dark basement, and, well I was in an actual desert on a hot, windless afternoon about 2 months ago, but I didn't think to bring Pygmalion.

Slowdive's albums are like ripening bananas. JFaD is the album equivalent of a banana with a slight greenish hue: firm, flavour's a bit bland and off, but otherwise solid and eatable. Good, but should have waited a day or two. Souvlaki is just perfection: perfect colour, texture, feel, taste - definitively ripe. Pygmalion tastes just fine despite what anyone says about the admittedly present brown spots (but they're not really that noticeable anyways), the heightened texture and softness of it aren't necessarily worse, but not as good as it was in it's prime. It's also excellent for baking.

Well we have a "worst metaphor of the day" by 11:30 am now!

I'll support him, but only because he didn't shoot me down. :)

As for mojave 3, Not entirely familiar with their whole body of work, but I think it's probably closer to mangos. (even worse by 11:39)

As much as I want to disagree with this, especially the not work and even sound horrible part,

That's sort of an exaggeration, but really, if you listen to "Souvlaki" when it's bright and sunny outside, it does not compute at all. It just works so much better in the dark.

Out of the blue at work Friday I got this urge to dig up their first couple of (non-album) 12" singles. I guess in the U.S. these were compiled nicely on Blue Day later, but I only had them on vinyl. So I'm having fun with this stuff now. I'd love it if anyone would say something about this band because I was thinking about them pretty intensely on Friday.

Also a really interesting fact I learned was that the tracks on their first 12" were only part of their early demos. I guess this wouldn't be too extraordinary except that I had that blue flexi disc of a couple other tracks from that and they were extremely boring. "Beach Song" or whatever it was? I wonder if that flexi is worth anything now. I'll sell it if anyone wants it...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3smhvp8L0/S5DPI7TFeyI/AAAAAAAAADo/2Sx7pm2rl9s/s1600-h/slowdive2_Page_2.jpg

The Shining Breeze: The Slowdive Anthology (2 CD set) will be released on May 4, 2010 on Cherry Red Records.

Here’s the tracklist:

DISC ONE

Slowdive (Slowdive EP) Nov-90
Avalyn I (Slowdive EP) Nov-90
Morningrise (Morningrise EP) Feb-90
She Calls (Morningrise EP) Feb-90
Catch The Breeze (Holding Our Breath EP) Jun-91
Golden Hair (Holding Our Breath EP) Jun-91
Shine (Holding Our Breath EP) Jun-91
Spanish Air (Just For A Day) Sep-91
Erik's Song (Just For A Day) Sep-91
Waves (Just For A Day) Sep-91
Primal (Just For A Day) Sep-91
Alison (Outside Your Room EP) May-93
So Tired (Outside Your Room EP) May-93
Moussaka Chaos (Outside Your Room EP) May-93

DISC TWO

Souvlaki Space Station (Souvlaki) May-93
Machine Gun (Souvlaki) May-93
Sing (Souvlaki) May-93
Here She Comes (Souvlaki) May-93
Altogether (Souvlaki) May-93
Dagger (Souvlaki) May-93
Some Velvet Morning (Souvlakibonus disc) May-93
In Mind (5 EP) Nov-93
Good Day Sunshine (5 EP) Nov-93
Country Rain (5 EP) Nov-93
Rutti (Pygmalion) Feb-95
Miranda (Pygmalion) Feb-95
Trellisaze (Pygmalion) Feb-95
Cello (Pygmalion) Feb-95
Visions of La (Pygmalion) Feb-95
Blue Skied an' Clear (Pygmalion) Feb-95
All of Us (Pygmalion) Feb-95

lets try the cover again:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hh3smhvp8L0/S5DPI7TFeyI/AAAAAAAAADo/2Sx7pm2rl9s/s400/slowdive2_Page_2.jpg

:D

What, there was something wrong with the Catch the Breeze anthology?

fair q

this one has a few more tracks and has removed a couple of others.. i hope it hasn't been "remastered"

SONGS EXCLUSIVE TO THE SHINING BREEZE:

• She Calls
• Erik's Song
• Waves
• Primal
• Moussaka Chaos
• Altogether
• Some Velvet Morning
• In Mind
• Good Day Sunshine
• Miranda
• Trellisaze
• Cello

• Albatross
• When the Sun Hits
• 40 Days
• Melon Yellow
• Blue Skied an' Clear
• Crazy for You
• J's Heaven
• Vision of La

Their 3 albums aren't all that hard to find, seems like it would have been better to complile non LP stuff onto a cd instead?

That cover sucks, too.

AWESOME SLOWDIVE SONGS THAT AREN'T ON EITHER ONE, PLUS ISN'T THERE SUPPOSED TO BE A TON OF UNRELEASED SLOWDIVE STUFF OUT THERE, LIKE SOME UNRELEASED ALBUM CALLED I SAW THE SUN AND A SOUND TRACK TO I AM THE ELEPHANT U R THE MOUSE AND ALL THESE PYGMALION DEMOS AND WHATNOT:
*- Avalyn II
*- Celia's Dream
*- Ballad of Sister Sue