Shoegazing

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Shoegazing (also known as shoegaze or shoegazer; practitioners referred to as shoegazers) is a style of Independent (or Indie) music that emerged from the U.K. in the late 1980s, lasting until the mid 1990s, with peaking circa 1990 to 1991. The shoegaze label was invented by the British music press (see NME and Melody Maker) because many of the people in these bands spent a lot of time on stage altering the settings on their effect pedals during songs or looking down at their instruments, rather than interacting with audience.^{[citation needed]} It looked like they were looking at their shoes, or "shoe-gazing," as well as causing them to appear shy onstage.^{[citation needed]} A lump description given to many of these bands was "The Scene That Celebrates Itself."^{[citation needed]} In the mid 1990s, most of the original bands of the scene moved into different aesthetic waters.^{[citation needed]} Recent times have seen a renewed interest in the genre, among so-called "nu-gaze" bands.^{[citation needed]}

1 Definitions
2 Influences
3 Heyday: "The Scene That Celebrates Itself"
- 3.1 Dream pop
4 Decline
5 Post-movement directions
6 Use of electronic manipulation
7 Legacy
8 Nu-gaze and current trends
9 Shoegaze Timeline
10 External links
11 See also

[edit] Definitions

Common musical elements in shoegaze are distortion (aka "fuzzbox"), droning riffs and a "wall of sound" from noisy guitars. (Not to be confused with producer Phil Spector's famous "Wall of Sound" style of overdubbing.) Typically, two distorted rhythm guitars are played together to give an amorphous quality to the sound. Although lead guitar riffs were often present, they were not the central focus of most shoegazing songs. (However, bands like Swervedriver, Catherine Wheel, and Adorable were very lead-guitar based, hence why they are sometimes labeled as non-shoegaze bands.) The Fender Jaguar and Jazzmaster, and their cheaper imitations, are very popular among shoegaze bands, to the point of being almost de rigeur in the genre.^{[citation needed]}

Vocals are typically subdued in volume and tone, but underneath the layers of guitars is generally a strong sense of melody. While the genres which influenced shoegazing often used drum machines, shoegazing more often features live drumming. Chapterhouse and Seefeel utilised both samples and live drumming, while shoegaze drummers often displayed complex drum patterns in order to stand out amid the din of guitars.^{[citation needed]}

The name was thought to be coined by the New Musical Express, noting the tendency of the bands' guitarists to stare at their feet (or their effects pedals), seemingly deep in concentration, while playing.^{[citation needed]} It was claimed that the name was invented as a term of mockery by Andy Ross, founder of Food Records, for members of his staff who attended gigs of emerging shoegazing acts such as Lush and Moose[1]. Many of the band members were young, inexperienced and shy. The subdued vocals were not just subdued for effect, but due partly to a lack of confidence in the singers. Melody Maker preferred the more staid term The Scene That Celebrates Itself, referring to the habit which the bands had of attending gigs of other shoegazing bands, often in Camden. The key record labels associated with the genre were Creation Records (My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Slowdive, Swervedriver) and 4AD Records (Cocteau Twins, Lush, Pale Saints).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Influences

The Velvet Underground were often cited as a major influence on the genre, as was the post-punk aesthetic in general. Artists such as Cocteau Twins, Galaxie 500, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Spacemen 3 and The Chameleons gave birth to the genre in a much more direct manner, rather than through peripheral osmosis a la The Velvets. The noisy-yet-melodic strains of Sonic Youth and the sleekly-hypnotic chiming of The Church and the Comsat Angels were to prove indirectly influential as well. The Cure's expansive, echo-laden 1989 album Disintegration could also be considered one of the founding pillars of the 'shoegaze' sound. Certain aspects of the U.S. "Paisley Underground" movement, particularly the bands The Rain Parade and Opal, can be heard as well, although it may merely be a case of exploring similar sonic experiments; MBV would quickly shed this retro phase and move onwards.^{[citation needed]}

Michael Azerrad's book Our Band Could Be Your Life cites an early 1990s Dinosaur Jr tour of the United Kingdom as a key influence. While not generally classified as a shoegazing band, Dinosaur Jr did share a tendency to blend poppy melody with loud guitars and laconic vocals. A lengthy summer 1992 U.S. tour featuring MBV, Dinosaur Jr. and Yo La Tengo raised the genre's profile in the States considerably.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Heyday: "The Scene That Celebrates Itself"

The first stirrings of recognition came when indie writer Steve Lamacq referred to Ride in a review for the NME as "The House of Love with chainsaws". The genre label was quite often misapplied. Key bands such as Ride, Chapterhouse and Slowdive emerged from the Thames Valley and as such Swervedriver found themselves labelled shoegazers on account of their own (coincidental) Thames Valley origins - despite their more pronounced Hüsker Dü-meets-Stooges stylings; they did feature most of the atmospheric/aesthetic hallmarks of the genre, though. Curve were once described as "the exact point where shoegazer meets goth"^{[citation needed]}, and the genre did overlap with others to some extent.^{[citation needed]}

The BBC's John Peel was a relentless supporter of the shoegaze scene; most U.K. bands of the genre recorded "Peel Sessions" before even releasing an album. The careers of poppier second-wave shoegazers like Thousand Yard Stare and Revolver were caught up in a general backlash which affected the scene.^{[citation needed]}

Other U.K. bands of its early '90s loosely associated with the shoegaze genre included artists on the U.K. Too Pure record label, such as Mooshake, Seefeel and Pram, as well as Kitchens Of Distinction, Eva Luna, Blind Mr. Jones and Bleach. Others such as Adorable, The Boo Radleys, The Charlatans UK, Pale Saints, Revolver, The Senseless Things, and The Telescopes also toured with artists associated with the shoegazer scene. Bands in the U.S. that were either inspired by the genre or also became associated with it included For Against, Medicine, Drop Nineteens, Galaxie 500, Band Of Susans, Springhouse, Yo La Tengo, Velocity Girl, The Veldt, Dear Dark Head, Aenone (later Nyack), The Belltower, The Swirlies, Plexi, Starflyer 59, Colfax Abbey, Juned, 7% Solution (a.k.a. Seven Percent Solution), Velour 100, Juno, and National Skyline. Canada spawned Sianspheric, Readymade, and Southpacific. Australia/ New Zealand yielded Bailter Space, Straitjacket Fits, Clouds and Feverdream.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Dream pop

Main article: Dream pop

In a wider sense Shoegaze belonged to genre that had existed since the 1980s, known as dream pop. Dream pop was a more ambient and abstract take on folk and pop music. It was pioneered by 4AD acts such as Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil in the mid eighties, who took advantages of the improvements in studio technology in the previous decades to create a new strain of pop music with a hazy, ethereal sound. Highly respected ambient artists like Harold Budd and Brian Eno have collaborated with dream pop acts, which serves to highlight the genre's connection with ambient music. The genre proved to be highly influential on the Shoegazing scene that emergered in the early nineties, and certain acts straddle the two styles, though Shoegaze can be distinguished by its noisier, psychedelic sound.

[edit] Decline

The coining of the term "The Scene That Celebrates Itself" was in many ways the beginning of the end for the first wave of shoegazers. The bands became perceived by critics as over-privileged, self-indulgent and middle-class. This perception was in sharp contrast to those bands who formed the wave of newly-commercialised (and more macho) grunge music which was making its way across the Atlantic, and those bands who formed the foundation of Britpop, such as Blur, Oasis and Pulp. Britpop also offered intelligible lyrics, often about the trials and tribulations of working-class life; this was a stark contrast to the "vocals as an instrument" approach of the shoegazers, which often prized the melodic contribution of vocals over their lyrical depth. Lush's final album was an abrubt shift from shoegaze to Britpop, alienating many fans; the 1996 suicide of their drummer led to Lush's dissolution and served as a symbolic nail in the coffin of what was the shoegaze genre's original era. My Bloody Valentine are said to have recorded two post-Loveless albums, but due to the perfectionism of frontman Kevin Shields, neither were released; the band eventually drifted into a permanent hiatus.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Post-movement directions

Slowdive eventually morphed into the country-infused Mojave 3, while other shoegazing bands either split or moved in other directions. The Verve went more towards mainstream rock on their 1997 album Urban Hymns, before singer Richard Ashcroft went solo. Mark Gardener and Loz Colbert of Ride released an album as The Animalhouse; in 2006, Gardener's first solo album was released. Several former members of shoegazing bands later moved towards post-rock and the more electronica-based trip hop. Adam Franklin of Swervedriver has released lo-fi albums under the moniker Toshack Highway. (As Toshack Highway, he even released a song called "I've Lost The Feeling," a reference to Swervedriver's 1992 anthem "Never Lose That Feeling.") Going "unplugged" has become a popular route to take for former lead singers of shoegaze bands: Gardener, Franklin, Ashcroft, Rob Dickinson of Catherine Wheel, and of course Slowdive/Mojave 3, have all reinvented themselves as acoustic troubadours.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Use of electronic manipulation

There is another thread of shoegaze-influenced music which maintains the emphasis of texture (through the use of guitar effects pedals and digital signal processing) but departs, to some degree, from the rock structures and full-band instrumentation of shoegaze music. Also, there are little to no vocal elements. This “post-shoegaze” glitch and experimental electronic music has achieved some critical praise, especially releases by Sennen, Mabou, Televise, Fennesz and Tim Hecker. The duo Belong released an album in 2006 that also falls into this category. Also aspects of Seefeel, late-era Flying Saucer Attack, Main, lovesliescrushing, The Third Eye Foundation, ILYA (U.S), and M83 have explored this territory as well in the mid-'90s and beyond.^{[citation needed]}

Often using the digital studio of a computer, these artists focus much attention on creating spacious atmosphere. The outcome tends to be compositions ranging from ambient stretches of droning tones, distorted walls of sound, and reverb-laden atmospherics. What separates this from other strands of glitch or noise compositions and places it in the realm of shoegaze, are the inclusion of melodies that call to mind pop and rock music.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Legacy

The genre, though derided to some extent by the music press at the time, has left something of a legacy, as the new crop of bands demonstrates. Bands like Lush, Ride and Slowdive ("the My Bloody Valentine Creation can afford," said one wry review) left behind several albums that have stood the test of time as indicative of early to mid-90s British indie. The last album by My Bloody Valentine, 1991's Loveless, is critically acclaimed as the landmark album of shoegazing, in fact often being named the best rock album of the 1990s. Slowdive's Souvlaki, Catherine Wheel's Ferment, Ride's Nowhere, Cocteau Twins' Heaven Or Las Vegas, and Verve's A Storm in Heaven are almost unequivically placed in the uppermost echelon of shoegaze as well.^{[citation needed]}

Italian music magazine Losing Today (named after a Slowdive b-side) started with a heavy emphasis on shoegaze/ dream pop, as did Under The Radar magazine; both have since shifted to more mainstream genres. The Big Takeover (particularly its editor-in-chief, legendary shoegaze booster Jack Rabid) has covered the genres since their inceptions.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Nu-gaze and current trends

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Note: This should link to a new article about 'Nu-Gaze'. Many groups listed here bear only tenuous stylistic links to the genre of shoegazing.

After the initial first wave of bands whose careers petered out in the early 1990s, or moved in different directions, a number of bands such as Bethany Curve, Airiel, Interpol and My Vitriol were able to take inspiration from these groups and pursue new audiences. In recent years the shoegazing influence has been pointed out in a number of new bands, which have been called in many quarters "nu-gaze." The genre has the same self-contained tendencies that lead to the shoegazing label "the scene that celebrates itself." Clubs such as Club AC30, Sonic Cathedral and Club Violaine, along with the support of such labels as The Gaia Project, Elephant Stone Records, Hungry Audio, Clairecords and Bella Union (run by an ex-Cocteau Twin member) are supporting new dream-pop and shoegaze bands. There are many holdouts of devoted players and listeners on both sides of the Atlantic, and even a strong following in South America. Bands exhibiting the influence, in different ways, include Ripple Wrinkle (Atlanta) Hartfield (Japan), Shade (Pittsburgh), A Place to Bury Strangers (NYC), The Offering (Virginia), Autumn Thieves (NYC), The Colorfield Theory (Philadelphia), Skydivers (DC), Sciflyer (San Fransisco), Mean Red Spiders (Toronto), Highspire (Philadelphia/Lancaster, PA), Malory (Germany), Skywave (Virginia), Scattered Planets (Philadelphia), Brasilia (NYC), Isobella (Florida), Graze (Philadelphia), Lockgroove (Boston), Alcian Blue (DC), The Defog (Philadelphia), Plastron (Philadelphia), Carson's Machine, Asobi Seksu (NYC), Mahogany (Detroit, MI), A Sunny Day in Glasgow (Philadelphia, PA), Charlene (Boston), Project Skyward (NYC), Autodrone (NYC), Dimazza (Philadelphia), R'Tronica (NYC), L'Envoi (Philadelphia), The Opposite Sex (DC), Grayland (Virginia), Soundpool (NYC), Lst Yrs Mdl (Brooklyn), Psiconautas (Puerto Rico), Ifwhen (ex-All Natural Lemon And Lime Flavors) (NJ/NYC), Panda Riot (Philadelphia), Mellonova (Toronto), Hollowphonic (Toronto), Resplandor (Perú), Aerial Love Feed (NYC), Bastion (NYC), The Phobes (Baltimore), helicopter helicopter (Boston), Kid Snyper (Toronto), For That Day (Toronto), Dreamend (Chicago), Morticia's Chair (Cleveland), My Education (Austin, Texas), Thinking Machines (Lancaster, PA), White Star Line (Toronto), Whirlaway (Florida), Surface of Eceon (Landing and Yume Bitsu side project-CT), Starter Culture (Philadelphia), The Emerald Down (Columbus, OH), Alaisha (Australia) and many more. The U.S. has two annual festivals dedicated to the genre, one held in Philadelphia called the Popnoise Festival, and the other in Virginia called the Walls Of Soundfest.^{[citation needed]}