VOICEsVOICEs - Origins

Los Angeles female shoegaze duo VOICEsVOICEs recently put out the new Origins ep on Manimal Vinyl. This stunning new video directed by Patrick Fraser was shot during the Southern California wildfires last fall. The ep was produced by another TSR fave, Prefuse 73.


"ORIGINS" video by VOICEsVOICEs [HD] from VOICEsVOICEs on Vimeo.

SERENA-MANEESH - S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor

Serena-Maneesh - I Just Want To See Your Face [mp3 via 4AD]
Serena-Maneesh - Ayisha Abyss [mp3 via 4AD]

Norway's Serena-Maneesh make a lot of noise. Back in 2005 I would occasionally play their track "Drain Cosmetics" at the restaurant I worked at and complaints would inevitably scatter throughout the dining room. So maybe this band isn't ideal for dinner time, but what they do is pretty damn incredible. Deeply ensconced in their love of My Bloody Valentine and the like, Serena-Maneesh are very into that "wall of noise" sound and have no issue with blowing your eardrums out the back door. Their second lp S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor sees its release on March 23rd via their new label 4AD.

CRYSTAL STILTS

Crystal Stilts are based in Brooklyn and make bittersweet, minimalist indie pop. The excellent new track "Crippled Croon" is currently on my heavy roatation. Its vintage garage rock sound has me absolutely hooked. Other tracks like "Converging in the Quiet" and "Bright Night Nursery" also feature a sort of faded out, nostalgic shoegazer element that recalls, yes, Jesus & Mary Chain. I can't help it. This genre gets me every time.

I'm certainly not alone in my newfound love of Crystal Stilts, as their self-titled debut album was recently bestowed with an 8.3 rating over at Pitchfork.

Preview tracks at their Myspace page.

Crystal Stilts tour dates:

Jul 10 Southpaw/Brookyln
Jul 13 The Charleston/Brooklyn
Jul 19 Supreme Trading/Brooklyn
Jul 26 Knitting Factory/NYC
Aug 4 Great Scott/Boston
Aug 5 Zoobizarre/Montreal
Aug 6 Sneaky Dees/Toronto
Aug 7 Zooleggers/West Lafayette
Aug 8 Subterranean/Chicago
Aug 11 Cafe Bourbon Street/Columbus
Aug 12 Rickety House/Pittsburgh
Aug 13 DC9/Washington DC
Aug 14 The Cave/Chapel Hill
Aug 15 Nerve Center/Baltimore
Aug 16 Pi Lam/Philadelphia
Aug 22 Death by Audio/Brooklyn

THE BIG SLEEP - Sleep Forever

The Big Sleep have arrived! I have had the track "Bad Blood" on repeat for the last week. It is a track that grows on you more and more with every listen and now I am officially a big fan. Sleep Forever, the sophomore LP from the Brooklyn-based indie shoegaze band, was released yesterday on Frenchkiss Records.

The Big Sleep are also currently on tour. The next stop is the Mercury Lounge in NYC tomorrow night, February 21. They will also be playing a handful of gigs at SXSW in Austin next month. Full tour dates below.

Buy Sleep Forever at Insound.

The Big Sleep - Bad Blood (mp3)
The Big Sleep - Pinkies (mp3)

The Big Sleep - Slow Race (live on La Blogotheque)

THE BIG SLEEP - Slow Race
by lablogotheque

The Big Sleep tour dates:

02-21 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
02-27 Grantham, PA @ Messiah College
02-28 Washington, DC @ Black Cat
03-01 Allston, MA @ Great Scott
03-05 Norfolk, VA @ The Boot
03-06 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
03-07 Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn
03-08 Birmingham, AL @ Bottle Tree
03-12 Austin, TX @ Mohawk (Frenchkiss Records Showcase)
03-13 Austin, TX @ Red Eyed Fly (Noise Pop Party)
03-14 Austin, TX @ Beauty Bar (Little Radio Party)
03-15 Austin, TX @ Saxon Pub (Outside Distro Party)
03-18 Bloomington, IN @ The Blue
03-19 Chicago, IL @ AV-Aerie
03-20 Columbus, OH @ Ravari Room
04-04 Washington, DC @ Black Cat ##
04-05 Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of the Living Arts ##
## w/ Les Savy Fav

In Shoegazer News - JESUS & MARY CHAIN, MY BLOODY VALENTINE

According to Billboard.com, Jesus & Mary Chain "...are now whittling down dozens of new songs to 12 or so for the new album." That 'new album', their first since 1998's "Munki", is tentatively set for a late spring 2008 release. Some tracks that could make the cut are 'All Things Must Pass', which they performed earlier this year on 'Late Night with David Letterman', and 'Dead End Kids', a track that was played live on their 2007 reunion tour. A label has yet to be selected to release the new album.

A new Jesus & Mary Chain 4-disc box set is expected to be released though Rhino Records in March. Kevin Oberlin, the manager of JAMC says of the collection, "There are some great finds -- demos of a couple songs, alternate takes and rare acoustic versions."


As previously reported, My Bloody Valentine are readying their first album in 16 years. It has just been announced that the set will be released digitally (ala Radiohead-style, though a price will be set) in 2008. A vinyl release is also being discussed.

**UPDATE** - The MBV album will not be released digitally and will be completely unlike the Radiohead approach with its release. Read more about this here.

MANHATTAN LOVE SUICIDES - 'Keep It Coming'

Hot on the heels of the recent '"Kick It Back EP", MANHATTAN LOVE SUICIDES are prepping the "Keep It Coming ep" for release on October 5 (UK). And this time, the shoegazer-loving quartet has made a video for the title track. The video, just like all of their music, seems as though it were created in the early 90's, calling to mind late night editions of 120 Minutes circa 1991.

Keep It Coming tracklist:

1. KEEP IT COMING
2. THINKING IS KILLING ME (New 7" Version)
3. HEAD OVER HEELS
4. SITTING TARGET

Manhattan Love Suicides - Keep It Coming (music video)


'Keep It Coming' will be available through Lost Music Records.

MANHATTAN LOVE SUICIDES - "The Kicked In EP"

The British shoegaze quartet THE MANHATTAN LOVE SUICIDES have just released "The Kicked In EP" for the new single 'Kick It Back'. If you are unfamiliar with these guys, they describe their sound quite perfectly on Myspace: "For anyone who loves fuzzed up guitar assaults, feedback, hit and run gigs, female vocals, melodic pop, ear splitting minimalist noise and hates a hell of a lot of other things..." Doesn't that make you wanna run out and buy their stuff right now?

The tracklist for "The Kicked In EP":

1. KICK IT BACK (New 7" Version)
2. CRACKED OPEN
3. YOU'LL NEVER GET THAT GUY
4. WAY OUT OF REACH

You can buy the EP as well as the self-titled debut album now on Magic Marker Records.

STRAWBERRY WHIPLASH

In the wake of my current obsession with THE MANHATTAN LOVE SUICIDES, here comes another gem of a fuzz-guitar, JAMC-inspired band STRAWBERRY WHIPLASH from Glasgow. SKATTERBRAIN has a couple tracks for you to download. Be kind to him, he's pretty awesome.

Strawberry Whiplash on Myspace

On the Topic of Shoegazer

With the mind-altering news that JESUS & MARY CHAIN will be headlining Coachella this year, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at bands on the current scene whose sound is directly influenced by the seminal band and/or the movement they came from.

The sound actually dates back to the 60's with THE VELVET UNDERGROUND. Many years later, 1984 to be exact, a new band exploded with a fresh new sound that drew elements of The Underground's heroin-tinged guitar noise. That band was Jesus & Mary Chain. But ultimately, the genre's most defining album didn't come out until 1991, when MY BLOODY VALENTINE's 'Loveless' was released.

Over the last decade, a whole crop of bands have found a niche in reviving the 'shoegazer' sound - ultimately fuzzy electric guitars, lots of drone, a melancholy voice and a hint of Spector-era melody - including, but not limited to BRMC, RAVEONETTES, AUTOLUX and THE KILLS. EDITORS and INTERPOL also incorporate the sound, but draw more heavily from the post-punk goth hues of JOY DIVISION and ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN.

More recently, a new wave of bands have come onto the scene, solidifying the power of JAMC's defining sound.

THE RADIO DEPT. - recently made famous by Sofia Copola's MARIE ANTIONETTE soundtrack, are as shoegazer as it gets today.

ASOBI SEKSU - at times this NY based band sounds like THE CRANBERRIES modernized, but their overall tone is one of dream-pop, a genre basically spawned by shoegazer, culminating in bands like GALAXIE 500 and COCTEAU TWINS in the early 90's.

SERENA MANEESH - Sweden has a thing for shoegazer right now. These guys probably hit the sound most on the mark as of late. Playing their CD is like stepping back in time to 1991.

DEERHUNTER - an Atlanta band that I discussed previously. Just today one of their songs came on and I thought it was CHAPTERHOUSE for a second.

THE MANHATTAN LOVE SUICIDES - their Myspace page lists a who's who of shoegazer bands as influences, and from the sound of their song 'Skulls', I can see why.

DEERHUNTER - Cryptograms

Another great new band from Atlanta...DEERHUNTER's new LP 'Cryptograms' will be released on Kranky on January 29. I'm really into the title track and I love that they so forthrightly admit their influence...THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN, who are probably my favorite band ever...well, that's a big statement, but still...

Deerhunter website
Deerhunter on MySpace

Here's the video for 'Strange Lights" from the new album:

New Music 2008 - MY BLOODY VALENTINE

Kevin Shields claims that there WILL indeed be another MBV album in the future, but no word on when exactly. We've waited sixteen long years, so what's another year or two? I just hope one of them doesn't die before they get the album out.

My Bloody Valentine