Back in 1990 Bristol's The Aeroplanes released in my opinion their masterpiece Swagger, an album of jangly guitar sound with mostly spoken lyrics. I don't really know if they were in UK as big as in Germany these days but you could hear this music in almost every pub. Seldom before and after I listened to a guitar-rock album with pure joy (except Sugar's Copper Blue). Swagger is a guitar-led album somewhere between guitar-driven bands like Big Country and the upcoming shoe-gaze like Ride. The guitar carries catchy melodies and not the voice. Something unusual for the time. Sure an album that stood the test of times.
Yesterday Ride released their seventh album after a longer break. I tried not to set my expectations too high for this record, as Andy Bell's last releases were more than above average. And with this basic attitude, I was not disappointed. Certainly not a milestone in the history of music, but an album that will certainly appear in many annual best lists for this year. In their new songs, Ride move away more and more from the classic sea of guitars and reverberating sound of their earlier albums and seem to have discovered Tears For Fears and Talk Talk for themselves without losing their roots. In the case of Ride, it means that a band has brought together all their influences and experiences and packed them into varied, dense songs, so that "Interplay" adds playful aspects to the hypnotic melodies and guitars and synth elements, psychedelic folk, mystical games and electronic beats run through the songs. An album in which escapism, longing and melancholy flow just as much as perseverance, cohesion and energy swirl.
Andy Bell, Ride guitarist and songwriter, has taken another musical journey with Essex-based duo Masal and is going to release another new album next month. As far as I know it will be an instrumental album with four meandering tracks that combines Andy's guitar with analogue synths and harp. Almost everything from him is worth to listen to but with this songs he adds to his musical influences the way Vini Reilly used to play his guitar. A perfect combination what was and what could be.
Today's song is by a band I've never known before since I listened to it on a new sampler by Cherry-Red records featuring songs from the shoegaze/dreampop era. Drop released Within And Beyond as an EP in 1991 and sadly I couldn't find more information in the internet about them. When I listen to their songs I think Drop were just another overlooked band from this genre/era. A band that could play in the same league like Ride and Spacemen 3 because their sound is similar with brilliant guitars inviting you to a short trip into space. Like living in a lava lamp, beautifully slow and quick moments, shifting into another thing.
In 1990 Ride appeared on the music scene as the new hot thing. Formed by vocalists and guitarists Andy Bell and Mark Gardener in Oxford they really made the sound of the year as they released during January and September 1990 three EP's in row. Soon they were filed under shoegaze a genre I didn't really understood what it should mean if I am honest. Now these EP's are going to be released again and you can get these masterpieces once again. Ride was a band I always agreed with even even though the musical minds of this band have increasingly disputed in their musical orientation. Starting with an untypical upbeat song like Chelsea Girl further songs like Close My Eyes show what potential Andy Bell has and that this was the basis of fantastic albums he gave us during the last years.
It is autumn and 2022 is turning to the last quarter of the year. I know it too early to look back to the releases this year that impressed me much but I listened often the last weeks to Pye Corner Audio's release Let's Emerge from this year a collaboration by Martin Jenkins and Ride's guitarist Andy Bell. It is an album far away from mainstream and the more I listen to it I find more details in the sound both created. It is an album that is fundamental for me this year. Jenkins described this album as bathed in sunlight and acid-bright psychedelia. And this are just the right words to describe this outstanding album. Nothing more or less than another gem and classic recording in this genre that should appear in many playlist of this year.
Martin Jenkins aka Pye Corner Audio announced a new record to be released next month. I know that many people out there are listening to his music with big fun and so am I. He gave me throughout the last years many tracks that have regular plays at my place. Warmth Of The Sun is probably the final result of his collaboration with Andy Bell from Ride and a testimony about new psychedelic adventures in far out spaces. Exactly a distillery of Spacemen 3, Ride and Spiritualized. Looking forward to an album that could reach a high place at my years end list.
Since yesterday it was verified that I was infected by Covid 19 and that I have to stay isolated for the next ten days. I was vaccinated three times and I really don't know where I was attached with. Probably on my daily way to work in public transport system or at the office. I am as well as I could be and I really feel not much achiness except being tired all day and an oppressive feeling in my chest. So I think I will get out of these troubles with no aftermath. Thinking positive, one of the good things about isolation will be that I can read the books I wanted read since a long time and finally can clean my inbox from promotion mails. One of those mails I didn't open for a long time was the announcement of Tones Of The Sparrow the new album by California's The Asteroid No. 4. I featured them several times during the last years because they hold up the flag of UK shoegaze scene in the tradition of My Bloody Valentine, Ride and early Verve but with a more psychedelic side of this sound. Still worth to listen.
In 1992 Ride released their first album Nowhere not knowing that they made their masterpiece. It was an album that stamped a genre. After this release shoegaze was in every ones mouth. I never could get firm with this genre because it had a somber mood in it's name. For me Ride wrote some of the best songs in the early 90's- Of course their songs are introspective but they all have a positive attitude. The main figure behind Ride was Andy Bell who formed this formidable band in 1988 in Oxford. Listening to their songs after a longer time again you can see the beauty in their songs. And also you can hear a lot of influences of post-punk era. Howling guitars, psychedelic moments, claiming bass-lines and the vocal harmonies by Andy Bell and Mark Gardener are the floor of great songs. If you need a few albums from this era - Nowhere should be one of them.
Ride guitarist Andy Bell is very busy during the last years. He worked as a producer and DJ and released under as GLOK albums that was played at my place often during the last years. Now it seems like he returned to classic songwriting and instrumentation on his new album. I only heard his first release of his new album Flicker, a string-soaked song you could describe as dream pop. And this is right a total turn away from what he released during the last years but if the rest of the album has the same quality it could be another highlight of this year.
Last Monday I wrote about noisy music that came from over the Atlantic ocean. But also Great Britain had in its music history many periods of bands that made loud music that had great influence to many other artists. Best example for me is Spacemen 3 as one of the most revolutionary UK guitar bands. Revolution marks it at the best. A few chords, feedback and it's psychedelic mood makes this song in this genre.
From many other bands that made wonderful noise only a few examples for today. One of those who should be named here is Dublin's My Bloody Valentine with a superb example how to create explosive soundscapes with guitars.
Another one are Oxford's Ride, a band that is with various breaks active from the early 90's on and still good for surprises in new sounds but still on a great rhythm ground. Still and always a pleasure to listen to them.
The more I listen to new music the more I think by myself I heard this long time before. Of course there are artists that try new things or experimentalize on new sounds. But this is mostly in the electronic scene - most of the indie influenced bands try to copy popular sounds from times ago. I presume that the record company leads them to - probably to start a reunion of the sound with their band in front of the revival. These days a lot of bands are appear on the scene trying to copy the sound of the first shoegaze bands like Slowdive, Ride or MBV and it often that I skip the song after one minute. But sometimes you will find a nugget in new releases. So was Swebeacb, a song by Westkust, a band from Gothenburg, Sweden. Massive distorted guitars as the floor for Julia Bjernelind's voice makes this song sounding like an outtake from an early session by Ride
It is December and this year is almost gone. Most of you will probably find the time to have a musical retrospective on what has happened in music in 2017 and choosing your very own charts. So I will do as well. When I did this the last years I selected the most formidable records that passed my ears, add them up and selected 14 to 16 and featured them on this pages. So I did the same a few weeks ago and I suddenly I had more albums that this decade has years so far. I made a lot of thoughts how to manage it, thinking which album to delete from the list. So I deleted a few albums from the list and after a day I thought it would be wrong to delete just this. I did this for a couple of days and I found a solution. I sorted this records by different kind of groups and found a way to feature most of them.
Let us start with part 1 of the series, featuring artists that I just explored for the first time. Japandroids released their second album Near to the wild heart of life in spring and it was one that grew the more I listened to. The songs are built on simple material like guitar, drums and vocals but arranged absolutely perfect. It is pure rock played on a very high level.
Allvays is a Toronto based band and they also released their second album this year called Antisocialites. It is a fresh sound with crisp guitars, effervescent melodies and summery refrains. Someone reviewed it with this words Yet for all the noisy textures and shimmering sing-alongs on Antisocialites, Alvvays seem intent on masking pain while convincing others, and perhaps themselves, that everything’s fine. It’s a tricky balancing act, but that’s what makes this band so damn endearing.
Weather Diaries by Ride was an album that surprised me well. Not another shoegazing record by the boys from Oxford and it seems like they grown up already. It is a reunion that makes sense to me because they had the time to remember their roots and offer us an album filled with jangly guitars and harmonies
And finally for the first part a record I did not expected by Jane Weaver. I combined her as another folk singer from Liverpool but listening to the first songs on her excellent album Modern Kosmology she surprised me with a verz different sound. It seems as she listened long enough to Krautrock especially Can and Neu and arrived in space/rock and psychedelia. I really love their combination of keyboard sounds, the motor driven drums and her ethereous voice. I cannot remember how often I listened to this record this year.
