I decided to check out the Labrador Records site to see if any of the bands are coming out here to play and lo and behold:

US tour in April
19/4 – Philadelphia, PA – Marathon Bar

20/4 – Washington, DC – DC9

21/4 – New York City, NY – Mercury Lounge

22/4 – Boston, MA – Great Scott

23/4 – Columbus, OH – Summit

24/4 – Chicago, IL – Schubas

25/4 – Seattle, WA – Sunset Tavern

26/4 – Portland, OR – Holocene

27/4 – San Francisco, Rickshaw
28/4 – San Diego, CA – Soda Bar

29/4 – Los Angeles, CA – Viper Room

Yes I’m excited.  The question is can I get my lazy ass out to LA on a Thursday night?

On a side note:

Shout Out Louds released the album Work last week. Sounds more low key, but that’s not necessarily a  bad thing. It’s definitely a changed from their catchy Swedish Indie Rock that fans have been accustomed to.

Malory also released  an album called Pearl Diver in January to the ClubAC30 label.  Some other bands that you might have heard of off that label are: Airiel, Air Formation, Broadcast, Chapterhouse, The Daysleepers and much much more! Pearl Diver reminds me of  their last album The Third Face, but sort of a continuation or a progression of it.  I’m glad they finally finished and  released an album though, because I was starting to wonder if they turned out like so many other bands who just disappear  and are never heard from again.

Here’s the original Alternate video for Slowdive’s “Alison”

P.S. I mentioned on my last post about the latest Legends album being released on May 6th. Well, I messed up again and it’s actually being released here in the U.S on June 16th. May 6th was the released date for all the other cool countries I guess.  Sorry for the confusion.

So this weekend I was on Malory’s website and noticed the same info about their upcoming album. I’m kind of sick in the head and tend to check all my favorite band websites to see if anything is coming up. Me being curious and slightly impatient (my wife can argue about the slightly part), I decided to send an email to Malory to see if I can get a response about their new album.

In the email I said the normal cliche type of things you would send to a cool band without trying to sound too obsessive or fanatical like and I really wasn’t expecting a reply. Monday morning came by and I was looking to see if I got a comment on any of my posts. I actually got one! But what made it so special was that I got a reply back from Dani. Here’s the reply:

hi archa,
many thanks for your lines. I hope to read from you soon. I think we publishing our new cd in the next year, in the spring time.
lovely greetings dani/malory

I thought it was a really cool for her to reply and I have to give major kudos to that. You see people not everybody in bands are standoffish and aloof. Only the bad ones are. Well, I guess we’re going to have to wait for Spring to see if there’s a new album and I hope they tour out here in California. I just don’t know what I’m going to do untill then. Hmmm…I wonder if Rachel Goswell or Neil Halstead would reply to me? Okay I know, too obsessive.

My Bloody Valentine

It looks like the pioneers of shoegaze is going to be recording a new album. It has been 17 years since the band disappeared and left many of us with their hypnotic music from Loveless, wondering if they were ever going to return. The long wait is over and after being reunited on stage, Kevin Shields is ready to go back to the studio. I guess the short story is that Kevin was digitally remastering his archive and heard some prerecorded songs that never made it to an album. He decided, by golly these songs are good. Let’s get band back together! Okay, It probably wasn’t like that, but you get the picture. I’m pretty excited, since the rumor has it that the album is mostly original material from the Loveless era, but Kevin mentioned that there’s going to be new material as well. The songs that he recorded for the Lost in Translation soundtrack like City Girl were good, and if the new material is like that, I think we’re still in good hands. Here’s some videos for old time sakes.

On a sad note I wasn’t able to go see them in Santa Monica. I know. For shame!

Source: New York Times Article.

Soon

Only Shallow

I hope you got a chance to listen to Malory, because if you’re in to shoegazing, they’re a band that needs your attention and those 30 second audio samples doesn’t do them justice. The next band on this list is actually a band from the U.S. I know! A dream pop band from the states is an interesting find indeed. It’s like finding the holy grail or something. Okay, that was extreme, but they’re are a number of bands out here that play some decent newgaze. One band that I stumbled upon is Airiel.

Airiel is a band from Chicago that was originaly formed in 1997. In 2007, they released their first full album called The Battle of Sealand. Before that they released 4 EP’s with the main title called Winks & Kisses. Each EP had a different subname though, and they are: Melted, Frosted, Crackled and Dizzy. I believe their EP’s has their best work, but whom I to say anything? The Winks & Kisses: Melted EP released in 2004, is a very good indication of what this band is capable of. Songs like Sharron Apple, Firefly, and my favorite In Your Room is a great track. I woud say it’s a must download. The song is long at about 9min and 26sec, but it’s worth it. Another laid back song is Shirley Temple Tidal Wave from the Crackled EP. Check out their Airiel Myspace Page to listen to their entire album. They also have a cool looking icon for their band as well.

Like my previous post on Air Formation, there are a number of  bands out there that are still preserving the shoegazing sound. I believe these bands are now defined as “Newgaze”, but they still keep the same principles of dream pop alive. This week I would like to share some bands that are worth mentioning and please, if you know some others, feel free to leave comments. Your recommendations will be much appreciated.

Malory

The first band that I’m really enjoying is a German shoegaze band called Malory. In my opinion, this four member band is probably one of the closest musicly to Slowdive that I’ve heard so far. It’s not really a big surprise considering this band proclaims their love for them, and you can definitely hear it in their music. I have two of their albums, Outerbeats and Not Here Not Now and a few of their songs off of the Third face.  If I would have to tell you to buy one album it would be kind of difficult for me. I think it’s safe to say that if you get any of them, you’ll be safe. The Third face album, which was released in 2006, is probably the most unique of the three. It has more of an electronic beat to it than the typical heavy sound layering found in most shoegazing music. Still a worthy album and maybe a sign of things to come.  Falling Shine and The Choice You Have from the album Outerbeats are some good examples. Underwater and Dany from the album Not Here Not Now are some fine tunes as well. Two song from the album the Third face worth  mentioning is Wake Up and Sleeper. I believe the band is finishing up their fourth album and is hopefully going to be release in last part of 08.

Please stay tune for more bands later in the week.

Here is a video of the song Sleeper.

This was probably one of the hardest posts that I have ever written. I know I only have four post, but believe me it was difficult. I decided to pick my all time top 10 Slowdive songs. Listed below, and not in any particular order, are my favs. I pretty much determine my prime cuts by nostalgia  and the all important I will never hit the skip button to this song on my ipod or cd player rationale. Yes, I took the scientific approach on this one. I also added some videos under the lists as a treat for you as well.

And as a cop out I added the honorable mention list. These songs should of been on the top 10, but the title said 10 and not 13, so I did as any other human would of done in this situation and found a work around. Here’s the list:

Videos

Alison

Ballad of Sister Sue

Catch the Breeze

Morningrise

Lately I’ve been listening to a band called Air Formation. Always looking for new music that is anything shoegazing, Air Formation is one of the few bands that is still making good dreampop music. Formed in 1998 from Brighton, England, they seem to have their own unique sound and they definitely have many catchy melodies. Like Slowdive, their name pretty much sums it up.

The album that I’ve been listening to is called Daylight Storms and was released in 2007. Songs like Cold Morning and The Dark has Fallen is a good representation of what the Air Formation sound is like. If you like bands like Slowdive, Flying Saucer Attack, Joy Wants Eternity, then this band is a must have on your playlist. Here’s the link to their official site. Enjoy.

Source: Artist Direct