Slowdive
 

Slowdive was an experimental dream pop / shoegaze band formed in 1989, lasting until 1995. The band was formed in reading, berkshire, england and signed to creation Records in the uk. Initially championed by the British music press, the band scored a UK top forty entry with their debut album Just For A Day. However, the band suffered a swift press backlash.

YouTube - Slowdive - Souvlaki Space Station

YouTube - Slowdive - Dagger

they're one of my favourite bands of all time.

i love all their albums, Pygmalion just edges it as my favourite.

I'll check them out, anything you'd like to share?

Wow, I can't belielve there's not a thread about them yet. They were one of the main staples of shoegaze, no? I haven't gotten around to downloading some of their albums. I guess that means they're on my list of "Bands I Must Check Out".

Slowdive, Loop, MBV, Swirlies, Swervedriver, early Ride- man I love shoegaze. We could do with making a comp for the uninitiated. Maybe you could oblige loose lips? I have plenty if you need anything.

yeah I was surprised when I didn't see a thread about them...

shoegaze/space rock/dream pop/experimental... all amazing

I have been meaning to make a shoegaze comp, but I lost all of my music just recently and I don't know where to start really. I do have a few artists in mind though. I was thinking maybe 14 tracks, 7 tracks from each of us.

1. Slowdive - Alison
2. My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow
3. Telescopes - High On Fire
4. Swirlies - Pancake
5. Ride - Vapour Trail
6. Spacemen 3 - Transparent Radiation
7. Medicine - Christmas Song
8. Sonic Youth - Beauty Lies in the Eye
9. My Bloody Valentine - Cigarette in your Bed
10. Swervedriver - Never Lose That Feeling
11. Loop - Breathe Into Me
12. Moose - ..XYZ
13. Pale Saints - Sea of Sound
14. Slowdive - Souvlaki Space Station
15. Bailter Space - X
16. Brian Jonestown Massacre - Crushed
17. Chapterhouse - Pearl
18. Flying Saucer Attack - In The Light of Time
19. Bowery Electric - Fear of Flying
20. My Bloody Valentine - To Here Knows When

shoegazer'd.
I don't bother making mixes, but that about covers the important bands, and my favourite songs by 'em.

:D

Yeah sure I will get to work and have it ready for tomorrow, then send me yours or vice versa and get it upped.

My 7 tracks are ready to go.

These guys show up on my Last.fm recommendations. They sound kinda cool, what's a good album?

Souvlaki is probably their best.

I would get into ride-nowhere before these guys if you haven't. That's probably the shoegaze album that goes down the smoothest.

souvlaki is a great album...
jackhammer, fancy sharing that shoegaze comp with me? :P

any other honourable mentions when it comes to shoegaze bands? besides my bloody valentine lol... I am hooked on slowdive and mbv... any others? :P

cheers!

Yeah, I've got that one. It's pretty rad.

I have a handful of their mp3s: Souvlaki Space Station, When The Sun Hits, Shine, Avalyn and a few others. Can't seem to find their albums anywhere though.

I just listened to Souvlaki. Interesting, but a tad too long for its own good. Still, there are some pretty fantastic songs on it.

Shoegaze comp is up if you fancy a listen:

http://www.musicbanter.com/indie-alt...tml#post578360

thanks a lot ill check it out

Everything about this picture is just right. Souvlaki is utter perfection btw.

Souvlaki is one of my all time favourite albums. The band's entire career was nearly perfect, right up to the gorgeously haunting and ambient Pygmalion. Rachel Goswell is so damn cute.

Their EPs are worth a look too, fersure.

This is my ultimate "rediscovery" band. I forget about them for a long time and then all the sudden remember how awesome Souvlaki is. Then I have about a week where they are all I listen to and I get burnt out on them. The cycle then repeats.

Definitely. Outside Your Room EP is fantastic to listen to to get the full 'Souvlaki Space Station'/'Moussaka Chaos' experience. I Saw The Sun is a fantastic collection too, so many great gems on that album such as 'Silver Screen' and 'Like Up'.

It's a shame that these guys were given such a hard time by the British press towards the end of their career. For me they were second only to MBV in the shoegazing hierarchy - Souvlaki and Pygmalion are near faultless.

I don't really like MBV, but Slowdive I find more interesting and enjoyable. I also like their first album the most of what I have heard even though most people never seem to mention it. Most I suspect listen to Souvlaki as traditionally it's been the most acclaimed but fewer probably listen to the earlier album. It has some great melodies though.

Yeah it kind of bugs me that most people don't venture past Souvlaki. To really get what Slowdive are all about you have to try and collect everything. Their 3 studio albums are completely different from each other yet they all sound incredible. Even their EPs and stuff have their own character.

this is so groovy!

I like them, but I must admit I prefer Pygmalion by far. I'm not really a fan of that kind of shoegaze, where it's really just rocksongs dressed up in weird soundeffects, though Souvlaki is a much better example of this than Rides Nowhere for example. But Pygmalion is something else entirely. Weird, ambient, freefloating. It is of course a lot like Laughing Stock by Talk Talk and Hex by Bark Psychosis, two of my other favorite albums. It's brilliant.

While I prefer Souvlaki, Pygmalion is definitely the band's most unique album, and luckily it doesn't suffer from being 'too unique' for its own good. Its influence on artists like Fursaxa (to a lesser extent, even artists like Natural Snow Buildings) is undeniable, and I really like the comparisons you outlined. Hex and Laughing Stock both have that pang of suffering to them, and indescribable quality that transcends the music.

I'm not really familiar with Fursaxa and Natural Slow Builidings, but if they are inspired by Pygmalion, then they will be great. And I like your comment on suffering. When New Grass enters on Laughing Stock, and it just feels as if your suffering has been redeemed... Really powerful stuff.

Also, though they never made an album as perfect as Pygmalion, and they were much more 'groovy' for lack of a better word, Seefeel in their own way took up the baton with ambient-house/shoegaze/IDM hybrids. Quique and Succour are wonderful albums.

I saw Seefeel live two weeks ago - obviously their reunion, but it was nice to see some of those songs from Quique in a live setting. It's a majestic album.

As for Slowdive, Pygmalion is my favourite and I suspect always will be from now on.

Envy... I would really like to see them some time as well.

I have always liked this band but recently I am madly falling in love with their music and Rachel Goswell.

I go through phases where I don't listen to them for a few months and then I binge on them for a about a week. Everything they've touched is pure gold, even their live recordings and demos. I'm not really sure whether I'd like to see them reform or not. Some of their live videos on Youtube look amazing and I'm sure they would still be amazing if they played live today. But they're one band who I really hope never tarnish their legacy for the sake of a few quid.

Rachel looks unbelievably dreamy throughout this clip...

^That's a great video. I had almost forgotten how much ecstasy kids were taking those days.

I've lost count of how many times I've watched that video. Incredible stuff. There's a longer version of it with slightly better sound quality and an 'interview' at the end, it's quite humorous.

Yeah Rachel was a stunner back in the day. She still is, she's quite the MILF now.

Just downloaded most of their music today, really looking forward to digging into it.