Shoegazing
Under the name Shoegazing (also shoegaze or shoegazer ) are varieties of rock music together in the mid- 1980s in the UK developed and have established themselves internationally in the 1990s. Shoegazing is regarded as one of the major precursors and factors influencing the later Britpop and art or post-rock wave.
Style
Shoegazing as very voluptuous music is mostly characterized by dense, yet melodic, extremely polyphonic guitar walls, which are generated by means of electronic effects devices and synthesizers. Compositions of this type often alternate with quieter passages, in which resorted to less distortion than on Hall, flanger and feedback effects.
The influences are varied. Thus, the band drew their inspiration from many different genres, such as the Rock of the 1960s ( The Doors, The Velvet Underground), post-punk (Joy Division ), Gothic ( Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure ), Ethereal ( Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance), noise rock ( Sonic Youth ) and ambient (Brian Eno ). One feature, however, all bands share together is a clear psychedelic embossed pattern, on which most are based compositions. Shoegazing is therefore a phenomenon that has arisen in the wake of neo- psychedelia of the 1980s.
Generally, two trends are combined Shoegazing under the genre designation: Firstly, the more subtle, melancholy - spherical, described as dream pop in the U.S. variety, which was mainly represented by bands like Cocteau Twins and Slowdive and priority of the Ethereal era early 1980s roots. On the other hand, there is the strong and psychedelic noise -rock- oriented guitar sound, which is guided Pop also known as noise, represented by groups such as Ride, Boo Radleys the early or My Bloody Valentine. The latter carried out with their album " Loveless " by 1991, the synthesis of the two directions, which is considered one of the highlights of the shoegazing era.
As an example can be found in a song like " Seagull " by Ride some stylistic elements of psychedelic rock again: the polyphonic singing, based on 60s -beat bass line, the melancholy overall mood of the piece and its length (see "Rain " by the Beatles or " Eight Miles High "by the Byrds ).
History
Origin of the name
The term Shoegazing (Eng. "on the shoes rigid " ) is an ironic coinage of the British music press. It refers to the musical protagonists who often gave the impression in their live performances, they would stare shy or oblivious to their shoes. A frequently relied on explanation for this behavior is that the guitarist looked focused on the guitar effect units located on the ground.
Development
Among the pioneers of the shoegazing movement include bands like Spacemen 3 ( Sound of Confusion, 1986) Cocteau Twins ( Victoria Land, 1986), The Jesus and Mary Chain ( Psychocandy, 1985) My Bloody Valentine ( Is not Anything, 1988) as well as Galaxie 500 ( Today, 1988/On Fire, 1989). The British radio DJ John Peel played a significant role in the discovery of some important bands and the establishment of the genre, if not in the name itself
At about 1992, the shoegazing movement had reached its peak. After the beginning of the grunge wave, she was pronounced dead about 1993, although it still occasionally gave bands who continued the style continuously. To this day, repeatedly appeared publications, often instrumental held that would not have been possible without the early shoegazing period: for example, by Broken Dog ( 1996) or the early Mogwai (1997).
A new Shoegazing scene has been established in Canada and in the northern areas of the U.S. that is there, however, performed mainly under the name Dream Pop. Example factors include bands that (similar to Slowdive ) is partly based on old Ethereal Wave groups and sometimes use sounds that Robin Guthrie (former guitarist for the Cocteau Twins ) were used. Some of these are Half String, Deardarkhead and also clearly oriented to Slowdive Close Down and Alison's Halo. At the same time, there were more interactions between Shoegazing, Ethereal and gothic rock. Examples are groups like Vendemmian ( Honesty and Lies), Siddal ( Beds of Light), Autumn's Grey Solace, Lowsunday or Tearwave.
Since the late 1990s can be found with groups such as South Pacific, Film School, Airiel, The Meeting Places, Air Formation and Ready Made (not to be confused with the German rock band from Wiesbaden) some new representatives of the genre. The biggest current success, the Chicago band Film School, which has clear references to the early works of Chapterhouse. A Peruvian band with more spherical sounds is Resplandor.
Recently, bands found in the area of Black Metal that incorporate elements of shoegazing and post-rock into their music, well-known representatives are Wolves in the Throne Room and Alcest.
Classification
The following table represents a rough chronology of the Shoegazings in selected British musical trends of the 1980s and 1990s
Publications with key qualities
For more representatives
- Asobi Seksu
- Bleach
- Malory
- Mazzy Star
- M83
- Oceansize