A Storm In Heaven with The Insect Guide - An Interview

Su Sutton, Stan Howells and Chris Cooper formam uma das bandas mais perfeitas da nova geração shoegazer britânica, o Insect Guide que fez sua estréia no magistral 6th In Love que é objeto de adoração deste que vos escrever, vide o que escrevi na primeira passagem da banda aqui no TBTCI e não contente em somente idolatrar o album precisei de mais, e calhou dos Insects estarem em vias de lançar o esperadissimo segundo album intitulado Dark Days and Nights que pelas prévias já de cara da para saber que vem outro magistral album, vide a poderosissima faixa titulo, shoegazer classico, gelido e alto, com ecos darks para se ouvir repetidas vezes em volume maximo, além do projeto de covers que a banda disponibilizara em seu site, onde a primeira é nada mais do um cover impagavel de Paparazzi de Lady Ga Ga, precisa falar mais algo? Claro que sim, alias eu não, os proprios Insects tem a palavra na entrevista das mais interessantes que já fiz, chega de papo, com a palavra Su, Stan e Chris.

***** Interview with The Insect Guide *****

Q. When did Insect Guide start, tell us about the beginning…
A. Insect Guide started in 2005 when I saw an advert on the wall of a record shop asking for a singer to work with Stan. I’d just left a band and he wanted to start a new band so we arranged to meet in a local dive. Oddly enough, although we didn't record with him until the second album, Chris was also working in this bar at the time so I think there must have been a degree of fate to it all! Stan and I found it really easy to write and record together and Insect Guide was born.

Q. Who are the influences from the band?
A. We all have very different influences as well as bands we have in common. It’s easy for me to find influence in books and films as well as in musicians.

Q. Tell us about the process of recording 6ft in Love?
A. The album was finished before we played a gig. It was an exciting time writing and recording in our attic studio - making videos and films. The music was all written in the studio without us having a rehearsal. I think the last track on the album 'David Hero' gave an indication of where Insect Guide was heading next and then we just had the task of making it all into a live show which proved just as challenging and exciting as our studio work.

Q. Tell us about the project to recording covers versions during 2010…
A. The recording of the cover versions was a really fun process for us all. Stan and I were recording the last part of the vocals for our single Dark Days and Nights and having a drink in the studio. We’d previously done covers of Freak Scene, a song that we both love, and NightTime, which is one of Stan’s favourite songs. So whilst I was preaching the brilliance of the song writing of Lady Gaga we decided to record our own version of it. The cover of “Don’t You Forget About Me” was born later the same evening from me jumping on the settee pretending to be Judd Nelson, something that I do quite regularly when wearing my fingerless stage gloves! From there we took the covers in to the studio for Chris to write and record drums to and decided to start giving away the covers EP to people at gigs. They proved really popular so we decided to put Paparazzi up for free download which you can link through to from www.myspace.com/insectguide.

Q. In my opinion Sonic Boom is a massive influence from the new generation, so How was working with him?
A. Sonic has influenced so many people and Spacemen3 are one of those bands that will always be name checked. For someone like Sonic who's worked with MGMT, Dean & Britta and Jim Dickinson to love Insect Guide's music and want to remix our songs was great for us. He's got a really strong style and you know when he's been involved in a track whether that be writing, playing, producing or mixing. We've had the honour of supporting his band Spectrum when they played Leeds and we also did a Sonic Cathedral night with him DJing down in London.Aside from being really talented, he's a really nice guy! We hope to work with him again in the future.


Q. What´s you opinion about the classic shoegazer era?
A. Some albums stand the test of time, others just sound dated. I love MBV's 'Isn't Anything' so much more than 'Loveless'. The Pale Saints' 'Comforts Of Madness' set the shoegaze standard too high for most to follow (I'm not biased, that's just a fact!). Ride's 'Nowhere' still sounds as exciting, brutal and fresh as anything around today. Nowadays the shoegaze tag has become a bit undefined but this happens with any classic era. JAMC's 'Psychocandy' sometimes gets called a shoegaze classic. William Reid may of looked at his shoes but can we really define music this way?

Q.Tell us about the crescent new scene from shoegazing bands
A. I wouldn't really want to give anyone the tagline of shoegaze but there's some great bands that we've played with as part of 'shoegaze nights' - Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Asobi Seksu, Airiel, Spectrum, Ulrich Schnauss.

There's so many shoegaze influenced bands with new albums out this year: Soundpool(NY) are a totally amazing band that we played with in Philadelphia; Thrushes(Baltimore) who Stan did some remix work for; Laboratory Noise(Leeds) who are so great both live and on record who we've played with many times. Then there's other bands who are worth looking out for who would never be classed as shoegaze like the Medusa Snare and Blanche Hudson Weekend both born out of the death of the Manhattan Love Suicides. Should be a good year!

Q.Which new bands you recommended?
A. Everyone I've said above, they're not new bands as such but they are so good that they're worth trying to see live and it's ceratinly worth investigating their records, especially with all the new releases for 2010.

Q.What´s the plans for future? New records, a tour….
A. Our new album "Dark Days and Nights" is due out at the beginning of May and we have the single for the title track of the album due out in March so we're all very excited about that and gigs are being booked to promote it as we speak. We're still finishing the documenatry that will be released with the album to keep the audio visual side of this band alive and on that there will be several music videos for tracks such as Wasted, Dark Days and Nights, Disco Tents as well as others. We really hope that we get to tour this album abroad like we did with the last album as that was a really exciting time for us.

We have also just arranged for the Japanese label, "Moorworks", to rerelease our first album "6 ft in Love" in Japan and then later in the year they will also release "Dark Days and Nights", we're really happy to be working with them and hopefully will get to go to Japan to promote these releases!

Our website has just been redesigned by this really talented guy, Libers, so check that out at www.theinsectguide.com for any updates.

Q. Any order important thing to tell us…
A. Yes! Go and download our cover of Paparazzi for free from the link on our myspace page now please!!
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Thanks Insects, love....Renato!!!

www.myspace.com/insectguide
http://theinsectguide.com/

Somes songs from Insect Guide
Paparazzi

Perfect Needle with Loomer - An Interview

Particularmente eu considero a Loomer a melhor banda da nova geração shoegazer brasileira, simplesmente porque a sonoridade nem de longe é eterea, aqui o barulho o noise o wall of sound prevalece e dita as regras, o primeiro registro dos caras Mind Drops, um epzinho daqueles que é do tipo, tem que ter, manda 5 esporros sonoros, estilhaçando as influências de J&MC, MBV, Telescopes, Dinosaur Jr e inumeros outros, com uma roupagem atualizada sim mas com cara retro é logico.

Troquei uma ideia com o Richard, um das guitarras da banda e alinhamos uma entrevista com a Loomer sobre origens, influências, gostos pessoais, top five, aventuras e algumas cositas mais, conheça um pouco mais sobre os gauchos abaixo.

***** Interview with Loomer *****

Q. Quanto tudo começou?Porque Loomer?
A. Nós já éramos amigos, e todos já tocavam em outras bandas. A união para se formar a Loomer foi inevitável, uma vez que tínhamos uma linha musical em comum. Lá pelo quarto ensaio chamamos a Liege, pois queríamos uns backing vocals feminino, pra dar uma suavizada no som, que estava bem pesado. Funcionou como um contraste, gostamos, e ela ficou na banda. Loomer não foi escolhido porque é um nome de música do My Bloody Valentine, e sim pelo sentido da palavra, que significa difuso, vulto, como o som que estávamos criando.

Q. Quais as influências da banda?
A. Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Band of Susans, Spacemen 3, Slowdive, Love Battery, Mudhoney, Swervedriver, Ramones e Jesus and Mary Chain

Q. Na opinião de vocês a cena inical das guitar bands brasileiras, como Brincando de Deus, Low Dream, Sonic Disruptor, Pin Ups, Pelvs, Second Come, teve alguma influência direta em vocês?
A. Com certeza. Second Come é uma grande influência, assim como o Low Dream no primeiro disco, com as guitarradas, passando por Pin Ups, Old Magic Pallas, Sonic Disruptor, Dash, Killing Chainsaw, Oz, Concreteness entre outros

Q. E sobre a atual cena guitarreira (shoegazer, noise )?Parece que estão nascendo bandas em tudo que é esquina?Quis bandas da nova geração vcs recomendam?
A. Gostamos de Skywave, Amusement Parks on Fire, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Duelectrum, Herold Layne, APTBS, etc

Q. Como foi o processo de gravação do EP Mind Drops?
A. Foi uma energia coletiva para fugir do Carnaval. Em três carros, pegamos bateria, três amplificadores valvulados enormes, instrumentos, computador, mesa de som, microfones e muita cerveja e fomos pra fazenda do Guilherme, nosso baterista. O processo de gravação foi bem tranquilo, até em função da tranquilidade que o lugar passa...o campo é sempre legal (tirando os mosquitos). Gravamos tudo em três dias, em takes inteiros, sem metrônomo nem nada. As guitarras foram gravadas em três valvulados ao mesmo tempo, como num paredão. Só precisamos gravar uma guitarra por música (Richard e Stefano), tamanho o estrondo, nada de gravar cinco, seis camadas de guitarras, foi tudo sem cortes ou edição, do começo ao fim, como num ao vivo.


Q. Como forão os shows do ano passado?Conte um pouco mais sobre a participação hiper elogiada de vocês no Sinewave Festival.
A. Com excessão do nosso primeiro show que foi em dezembro de 2008, todos os shows que fizemos foram em 2009. Fizemos bastante shows em Porto Alegre e cidades vizinhas, e um em São Paulo. O show em SP foi incrível, pela receptividade e reciprocidade do público. Foi muito legal lá, e fizemos ótimas amizades além de conhecer ótimas bandas. O Sinewave Festival foi o pontapé pra resgatar uma cena que desde os 90's estava esquecida. As bandas compareceram em peso lá, mesmo as que não tocaram, mas todas ajudaram de alguma forma: FireFriend, Soundscapes, Labirinto, Monoaural, Duelectrum, Wry, Herold Layne, Black Sea, Old Magic Pallas, Hopping to Collide With, Allice, S.O.M.A., Gray Strawberries, Inverness...todo mundo lá, unido, assistindo ao nosso show, fazendo jus também ao slogan do festival, "Noise é o Caminho".

Q. Com quais bandas gringas da atualidade vocês gostariam de tocar?
A. Hummm, não sei se da atualidade, mas das ativas, My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr ou Spacemen 3 já seria incrível!

Q. Quais os 5 melhores albuns da historia para vocês?
A. Nossos gostos são parecidos em muitas coisas, mas nesta questão, a coisa fica bem variada, passando por Psychocandy (J&MC), Surfer Rosa (Pixies), Unknown Pleasures (Joy Division), Loveless (My Bloody Valentine), Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (Mudhoney), Ramones (Ramones), Siamese Dream (S. Pumpkins), Bizarro (Wedding Present), e váaaarios outros do Velvet Underground, Love Battery, Wire, The Clash, Yo La Tengo, Specials, 13th Floor Elevators, Flaming Lips, The Fall, etc


Q. Qual o proximo passo para a Loomer?Um Album?Shows?
A. Participação em alguns festivais independentes, a gravação do nosso segundo EP (ou talvez até o primeiro álbum), alguns videos e voltar a tocar em São Paulo, onde fizemos boas amizades e adoramos o ambiente e a repectividade

Q. Alguma coisa a mais para nos contar?
A. Estamos muito felizes com essa volta, esse "up" da cena independente no país, como a organização dos festivais através da Abrafin, do surgimento de movimentos como o Circuito Fora do Eixo e o Festival Grito Rock, dos clipes independentes que surgem cada vez mais no Youtube, e de todo esse clima que está no ar de que a coisa está apenas começando, ou continuando firme e forte.
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Valeu Loomer!!!!

www.myspace.com/loomerband

Loomer - Mind Drop EP - http://www.mediafire.com/?jbvi2weiqym

Fade Into You Part II with Thrushes - An Interview

Dando sequência ao post sobre o novo single do Thrushes que você ve aqui, como eu havia adiantado a entrevista com essa bandaça esta pronta. A história da banda, influências, opiniões e o mais interessante o novissimo Night Falls que certamente é um dos albuns do ano, alias 2010 hein, vai ser o ano dos bons sons, e o Thrushes concebeu um album superior ao debut, canções poderosas, guitarras altas e perfeitas cortesia de Casey Harvey e da vocalista e guitarrista Anna Conner, alias a voz de Anna esta em perfeita simetria com as canções, escute Used to You, Trees, As Much to Love e sinta o poder do album, dando sustenção a todo o wall of sound, o baixo de Rachel Harvey e a fortissima e marcada bateria de Matt Davis levam a proporções grandiosas o já predileto Night Falls.

Dia 09/03 é a data que este espetacular algum chegara.

***** Interview with Thrushes *****

Q. When did Thrushes form, tell us about the beginning…
A. Thrushes began in the fall of 2005 with Rachel, Anna, and myself. We got Matt a month or so later. With the exception of Rachel, we were all in bands when we were in younger, but hadn't played in a really long time. Rachel learned to play bass for Thrushes with no prior experience at all.

Q. What are the band’s influences?
A. I think mainly bands we listened to and loved in high school and college when everything was so exciting and new. Mainly 90's college rock like Sonic Youth, Dino Jr. Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, punk rock like Fugazi and a lot of the riot grrrrl bands too, and so on. Also, 60's girl groups like The Ronettes and Crystals we just love.


Q. Tell us about the recording process for the new album and what´s the difference between Sun Come Undone and Night Falls?
A. "Sun Come Undone" was really the first time any of us were in a "real" studio and it was all very strange and that record was made in a long weekend. We were still very much a baby band at the time and the songwriting, arrangements, and production are nowhere near the levels on the new record "Night Falls." On this new record I had a little bit more time for more adventerous and interesting production and mixing ideas. The new songs are all just so much better too!

Q, Tell us about playing live.
A. Thrushes primarily sees itself as a live band first and foremost. We take a lot of pride in being able to recreate whatever sounds are on the record into a live performance. We are most definately not a "studio band."

Q. How did last years gigs go?
A. Fantastic! We played some great shows with bands we really love like The Raveonettes, Glasvegas, Asobi Seksu. And we had a lot of fun playing our first show outside the US at the Halifax Pop Explosion.

Q. What do you think about the classic shoegaze era?
A. Well, for me shoegaze is pretty much begins and ends with My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. I think that record is so far above and beyond anything else that was going on at the time. I got this record when it came out because I read something Thrurston Moore had said about it. I was probably 13 or 14 at the time and had no frame of reference and no idea what to make of it at all.

Q. Which songs by other bands would you like to do cover versions of?
A. I would be really fun to cover some classic 60's pop songs like Crimson & Clover and maybe some Roy Orbison.

Q. Which new bands you recommended?
A. Looks like you've already featured a lot of them here so I'll list some great bands from our hometown. Wye Oak and Celebration are making great, interesting, and moving music right now. Very inspiring!


Q. What are the plans for the future?
A. "Night Falls" comes out in a few weeks and we've already begun writing songs for the next record and the new material is really awesome!

Q. Any important news to tell us…
A. "Crystals" video should be finished soon. It's a period 60's piece shot on super 8, very fun!
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Thanks Thrushes, Nights Falls is just perfect!!!

www.myspace.com/thrushes
www.thrushesrule.com

Catch the Breeze with Air Formation - An Interview

Com 10 anos, longos 10 anos fazendo os sonhos flutuarem envoltos a delays, camadas e camadas de guitarras, aquela tipica atmosfera londrina, com ares da virada dos 80´s para os 90´s, ou seja a influência na ambientação é tipicamente shoegazer, ecos de Ride e principalmente Slowdive, fase Just for a Day se fazem presentes em toda a obra do Air Formation, que já se tornou um verdadeiro patrimonio para os fanaticos pela sonoridade eterea, melancolica e escura mas sempre com uma tenue luz no final do tunel.

Com uma discografia impecavel, passando pelos essenciais Ends in Light, Stay Inside/Feel Everything, Daylight Storms alguns singles e eps tão intensos quanto os albuns é fato que Matt Bartram, vocais, guitarras e baixo, Ben Pierce, baixo, Richard Parks, teclados, guitarras, James Harrison, bateria e percussão e ian Sheridan guitarras e feedbacks tornaram-se referencia dentre as inumeras bandas da nova geração que resgataram as paredes de guitarras e os sons dos ceus.

Eu como fã confesso, aguardava anciosamente o novo album, e como coloquei em post anterior comecei a mantar contato com o pessoal da gravadora dos caras o Club AC30 tem que um cast de matar de inveja a qualquer outro selo, e fui gentilmente agraciado primeiramente com o single Low December Sun que é um dos pontos altos do novissimo Nothing To Wish For (Nothing To Lose), mas não para por ai, algumas canções passam do status de magistrais é o caso da delirante Don´t Wait ´Til Morning, ou ainda a sedutora Meltdown, um literal desfile de preciosidades desde abertura com Three Years Pass até a apoteose final com Distant Silhouettes, deixam claro o porque o Air Formation esta acima do certo e do errado, facilmente este Nothing to Wish For (Nothing to Lose) sera um dos albuns do ano.

Aproveitando a ocasião, consegui uma entrevista com Matt Bartram via Club AC30 onde a historia do Air Formation é contada em detalhes, sentimentos diversos são passados a cada questão, ah sim, abaixo colocarei uma versão em baixa resolução do já classico Nothing to Wish For (Nothing to Lose), só recomendo um detalhe, use o arquivo como aperitivo somente, porque o ideal é ter esta preciosidade da musica moderna.

***** Interview with Matt Bartram, Air Formation *****

Q: Let’s talk about the early years…when did Air Formation starts, tell us about the history...
A. Ben & I have been in bands together since around 1991 and through various line-up changes we became 'b.e.a.b Approved' towards the end of that decade. After we released the first 7" our keyboard player left so we asked Richard to join, and that is when things started to take shape. We were about to release an EP called ‘Air Formation’ through Drive-in Records who asked us to make sure it was ok to use the name b.e.a.b Approved. We asked the real b.e.a.b Approved, they said “no” and set their legal team on us…. We liked ‘Air Formation’ so we changed it to that, changing the name was a blessing, it drew a line under everything we had done before and gave us a fresh start.

Q: Who are your influences/heroes?
A. As a band we all have very diverse tastes. I don’t think I could narrow it down to a particular group of artists, I guess I’m just influenced by good songs, songs that make you want to get up and plug the guitar in. ‘Love is a Wave’ by Crystal Stilts is one off those tracks that I’ve recently been enjoying, music that makes you want to create your own.. I grew up in a house where music was always around me, 50’s Rock & Roll, 60’s girl groups, Johnny Cash and a unhealthy does of teen tragedy songs, like ‘Tell Laura I love her’ & ‘Johnny Remember Me’. Maybe that’s where my love for dark and melancholic music comes from.

Q. Made a list of 5 albuns of all time…
A. Some of my favourites are:

The Cure - Disintegration
Flying Saucer Attack - Further
Spiritualized - Pure Phase
The Jesus & Mary Chain – Psychocandy
The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat

Q: Tell us about the Air Formation´s gigs... how do you fell playing alive?
A. We enjoy it, it's where the songs come to life... however, we only tend to play when we are asked and up until now we haven't really been asked that much. People assume we're averse to playing live.... which isn't the case.

Q. How do you describe Air Formation´s sounds?
A. Dark and atmospheric with a glimmer of hope. I find it very hard to describe it… I let the listeners do it for me.

Q: In your opinion what´s the best Air Formation´s ep, song, album....etc...
A. Our new album ‘Nothing To Wish For (Nothing To Lose)’. It's a great album start to finish; it's very diverse and dynamic, fresh and exciting. We all worked really hard on it and I think it shows.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the new album?
A. We rehearsed all the songs over a 6 month period until we thought they were ready and at the right stage to record, we really wanted to have the songs fully established this time before recording them. Last time some of the songs were fairly new and I’m not sure we all had our heads around them. We wanted this album to be a 100% band effort, whereas last time it really wasn’t, so we talked a lot more about the songs, the sounds and what we all wanted to achieve which gave us far more direction.

We then spent a couple of months slowly demoing all the tracks at my house which were then sent to Pat Collier. Once we were happy with what we had we went in and recorded it live. We’re very lucky to be able record with Pat who makes the process very easy and enjoyable. He came up with some really nice ideas and really took onboard our thoughts and opinions.

Once the recording had finished, we mixed it gradually with Pat over the space of a few weeks, taking some time out to listen to the rough mixes at home and then going back in with fresh ears to do whatever needed to be done… Listening to Daylight Storms being mixed solidly for 3 or 4 days just did our heads in. It was something we were very keen not to repeat.

Q. What´s represents the shoegazer classic era to Air Formation?
A. I don't know really, when I was at school my friends had posters of Slowdive & MBV posters on their bedroom walls, was that the classic era? I probably wasn’t paying attention…

Q. And about the new shoegazer scene all over the world,..which new bands you recommended?
A. I honestly have very little knowledge about the “Shoegaze” scene... I own a few 'Ringo Deathstarr' releases and I really enjoy those, ‘Malory’ are still out there making quality music and 'Soft Focus' by ‘Oppressed by the Line’ is a fantastic album. All very different, but all add different dimensions to the genre, which is the most important thing.

Q: Which bands you love to made a cover version?
A. None really... I haven't the patience to put the effort into learning someone else's song. I'd rather spend the time getting my own songs to sound better. A few years ago we did a cover of Moose's 'Suzanne' for Club AC30, mainly because it was the easiest to figure out but also as it was a less obvious choice of song to cover. To be honest I don’t think anyone else in the band really enjoyed doing it.

Q: What´s the plans for future....
A. We're not really looking past the new album for the time being. We want to get out and play these new songs for a while. I'm constantly writing and have a bunch of new ones rough demo'd so that I don’t forget them, but it's better to let things take their own course and we'll work on them over this year and probably the next. If they’re good enough maybe we’ll do another album.

The thing about Air Formation is that we’re all very close friends, even if we weren’t releasing records we’d still be getting together and making music, after 10 years or more rehearsals have become just as much of a social gathering which is probably why we’ve lasted as long as we have….

Q: Any parting words?
A. Nothing To Wish For (Nothing to Lose) is out 1st March 2010 on Club AC30.
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Thanks friends of Air Formation and Club AC30

www.airformation.com
www.myspace.com/airformation
www.clubac30.com

Air Formation - Nothing To Wish For (Nothing to Lose) - www.mediafire.com/?mitnlwjtgqz

When The Sun Hits with Stellarscope - An Interview

Literalmente um patrimonio da cena alternativa americana, na ativa desde os meados dos 90´s Tom Lugo e seu fenomenal Stellarscope a cada novo album, ep, single nos mostram o porque a banda é referência em termos de concepção musical mesmo, um exemplo clarissimo da qualidade desta bandaça é sua obra prima intitulada Living Under The Radar, um album tenso, denso, com influências fortissimas de pós punk, shoegazer e com guitarras simplesmente espetaculares, corrosivas e acidas ao extrema, a angustia do album é latente, chega a ser desesperador tal como a condução do clima cosmico é acidentalmente perturbador, Living Under The Radar é assim, um classico perdido.

O ultimo album do Stellarscope chama-se This is Who We Are é outra viagem ao centro do ser humano, guiado pelas mesmas angustiantes e corrisivas guitarras, que logicamente são o ponto de equilibrio da banda.

Tom Lugo é um cara complemente envolvido com a cena, curador de festivais, participa de inumeros projetos dentre eles o Panophonic, direcionando uma verve mais eletronica, altamente recomendavel, como basicamente tudo que Mr. Lugo se envolve, e como já deu para sacar que eu sou admirador do trabalho dele, nada mais bacana do que uma entrevista onde pode-se notar o quanto este cara vale para a cena, com vocês Tom Lugo e um pouco da história do Stellarscope e suas variaveis.

***** Interview with Tom Lugo from Stellarscope *****

Q. When did Stellarscope form, tell us about the beginning…

A. I started the project back in the mid 90s. In 1998, I met drummer Bob Forman, and we named the band Stellarscope in 2000.

We had many musicians play with us throughout the years, and they all brought with them something fresh to the table; all of which helped us morph into what we do today. Robert DeFlaviis joined us a couple of years ago through the recommendation of our departing bass player, Peter Ohlert, which you can listen to on our previous release “…another beginning’s end”. Robert brings with him a different approach to the song creation process and plays various instruments, some simultaneously.

Q. What are the band’s influences?
A. Our main influence is and will always remain to be life. Our songs all reflect a certain feeling because it captures how we felt at a particular moment in time, like a picture but in sound. Our musical influences are very varied, especially since we are all into different types of music. We draw influences from the post punk and early goth sounds of bands like Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Cure, Love and Rockets, and the garage sounds of MC5, the Buzzcocks, the synthpop sounds of the likes of Kraftwerk, New Order, the shoegaze sounds of Ride, My Bloody Valentine, The Verve, Jesus and Mary Chain, the prog/psych rock of Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, the classic rock sound of bands like Led Zeppelin, The Who, the pop rock styling of U2, etc.

Q. Tell us about the recording process for the album This is who we are?
A. It was an interesting process for us because when we started recording the album we had an additional member in the band. With his departure the remainder of the band was left with the task of completing the compositions, and coming up with additional sounds to fill in the void.

The process of creation starts with jamming. We listen to the jams separately and then we work out the details.

Once we have a general idea of what we want a song to sound like we record it several times. We select the track we feel better represents the feeling of the song.

We also like to capture our sound with a live feel to it. We are tired of all these bands that sound great recorded but when you see them live their sound doesn’t represent their recordings.


Q. What’s the difference between the new album and the stunning Living Under the Radar?
A. The difference is the growth we have experienced as individuals as well as band members. New stories, new emotions, new sounds….

We started crafting songs which were different than what we had created before; a fresh sound that we thought would capture the ears of a broader audience- while maintaining the nature of what our fans had come to like. We wanted for our influences to shine through like they had never done before.

In essence, it’s a natural evolution of who we have become


Q, Tell us about playing live ...how are the shows?
A. We try to make our shows visually stimulating. Our music is the soundtrack to the sentiment we try to portray. The size of the audience varies from venue to venue, but we give our all at every performance.

Q. What do you think about the classic shoegaze era?
A. It gave us a new approach to psychedelic music by mixing elements of the earlier sounds before it while integrating it with a modern sensibility that seemed to transcend time. It also was about expression versus showmanship. Though many bands have surfaced since the early days, emulating the sound, most still fall short of the simple beauty of what bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Slowdive, Boo Radleys, etc created. Call the early shoegaze scene the benchmark of what we all strive to achieve.

Q. Tell us about bands in the current shoegaze scene…
A. We have been at this since the mid 90s and we have seen many bands come and go but there are always those bands that stand out. Fortunately for us, we are friends with many of them. We have been playing for many years now with bands like A Place to Bury Strangers, Screen Vinyl Image, Ceremony, Skydivers, Resplandor, Soundpool, Thrushes, to name a few. We have formed a bond based on mutual respect and we try to support each other as much as possible.

Q. Which songs by other bands would you like to do cover versions of?
A. Well, we covered Spanish Air by Slowdive for the Blue Skied & Clear tribute by Sosoft Records (Espana), and Teenage Lust by Jesus and Mary Chain for the Jesusland tribute on Fuga Discos (Argentina). We have been pondering what else to do cover wise. We’re going have to get back to you on this one…hahahaha

Q. Which new bands you recommended
A. SPC ECO (UK), 98millionmilesfromthesun(UK), Distant Guns (UK), Deep Cut (UK), Stellarium (Indonesia), A Place To Bury Strangers (NYC), Autodrone (NYC), Soundpool(NYC), Project Skyward (NYC), Resplandor (Peru), Malory (Germany), Bell Hollow (NYC), Apollo Heights (NYC), If When (NJ/NYC), The Lost Patrol (NJ), Ceremony (VA), December Sound (NYC), Burning Face (Puerto Rico), Psiconautas (Puerto Rico), Panda Riot (Philadelphia), Airiel (Chicago), Shade (Pittsburgh), The Opposite Sex (DC), Hartfield (Japan), Overlook (Philadelphia), Skydivers (MD), Alcian Blue (DC), Scattered Planets (PA), Lockgroove (Toronto), The Defog (Philadelphia), Insect Guide (UK), Screen Vinyl Image (DC), 28 Degrees Taurus (Boston), The Vandelles NYC), The Morning After Girls (NYC), Plumerai (Boston), Sciflyer (san Francisco), Run Run Run (L.A.), The Manhattan Love Suicides (UK), Bebek (Philadelphia), Music for Headphones (Philadelphia)

Q. Tell us about Panophonic....
A. Panophonic is a solo project I started in 2002. I write and record all of the music. The music itself is a little different than most of what I do with stellarscope. It is more on the electropop side of the spectrum infused with some latin undertones. With Panophonic I also have done collaborations with Jake Reid (Screen Vinyl Image/Alcian Blue), Dou White (Markara’s Pen/Tearwave), Joey Levenson (SPC ECO/So Young), Brian Jon Mitchell (Remora), the Puerto Rican bands Un.Real and Psiconautas, Martin Newman (Plumerai), Paul Baker (Ceremony/Skywave), and more. I am currently working with Su & Stan of Insect Guide (UK), and the amazing Joey Levenson of the band SPC ECO (UK) on some new tracks.

Q. What are the plans for the future?
A. Our plans are to continue creating & recording music, maybe travel abroad to play… unlike a lot of bands out there, we are not trying to conquer the world, or become famous… we just want our music to be heard and appreciated.

Q. Any important news to tell us…
A. Oh yes, keep your eyes peeled and your ears ready because in a couple of months we are releasing another full length. We have been working on it for the past couple of months and we are almost done recording it. We promise to deliver a CD unlike what we have done before, and we hope you all like it as much as we enjoyed making it for all of you. May peace, love, and happiness reign in your lives!

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Thanks so much Tom, long life to Stellarscope!!!

www.myspace.com/stellarscope
Stellarscope - Living Under The Radar - http://www.mediafire.com/?tg4myrinmzm
Panophonic - Untouched in Ages - http://www.mediafire.com/?wjrjdmonzoz

Barbeb Wire Kisses with Colour

Psicodelismo com cara de shoegazer, imerso a delays, fuzz e distortions, a receita do wall of sound é aplicada de cabo a rabo no debut homonino e inspiradissimo dos americanos do Colour, sob comando de David Echo, fã ardoroso dos irmãos Reid, que obviamnte é a referencia central do album mas desde a abertura com a psicodelica e viajante Sunset Slides até o final eloquente em The Fading, o passeio do Colour pega carona em Ride, fase Nowhere, Telescopes, fase psicodelica, Spectrum, Spiritualized e todas as veias viajantes da familia shoegazer e indie, de longe ainda pode se notar uma certa veia pos punk a´la Cure, mas bem de leve.

Recomendadissimo também os dois outros albuns The Dark Year e Heaven, é dificil de achar, mas se tiver uma grana e afim de investir em grandes sons, não pense duas vezes, Colour preenchera facil facil a lacuna psicodelica shoegazer de orfãos como eu.

Colour - ST - http://www.mediafire.com/?kli2zz4hlzm

Fade Into You by Thrushes

2010, promete ser o ano dos grandes albuns, eu não tenho a menor duvida disso, grandes bandas em estudio, o fervor da cena alternativa esta novamente em alta, e uma dessas grandes bandas vem de Baltimore, o Thrushes que depois de seu debut maravilhoso e essencial Sun Come Undone, tem data marcada para seu sucessor intitulado Night Falls, quando 09 de março chegar o album estara disponivel nas melhores lojas e eu já digo de antemão, o album é maravilhoso, sim estou com o album há dois dias aqui em casa e não paro de ouvi-lo, é simplesmente fenomenal, mas vou ficar quieto para não estragar a festa.

O aperitivo para quem esta ancioso para ouvir a preciosidade que é Night Falls, vem atraves do single Trees, com a canção de mesmo nome que é a faixa de abertura do album, uma musica que dá sequencia ao trabalho anterior só que muito mais maduro, a voz de Anne Conner brada " i make you cry...oh oh", uma daquelas canções que só ouvindo para entender o poder, as guitarras de Casey Harvey gritam junto a voz de Anne, enquanto o baixo de Rachel Harvey e a bateria de Matt Davis dão a profundidade perfeita para esta perola, tudo que foi feito na musica dos anos 90 esta condensado aqui, a sequencia do single é uma versão impagavel de Fade Into You de Hope Sandoval e seu majestoso Mazzy Star, é de arrepiar simplesmente, tão profunda e doce ao mesmo tempo é um convite literal ao amor e para fechar o single um remix de Aidan Quinn do primeiro album que serve mais como souvenir do que qualquer outra coisa.

Ah sim, logo logo, entrevista com o Thrushes para mais detalhes sobre a banda e sobre o magnifico Night Falls.

Thrushes - Trees - http://www.mediafire.com/?224n3522ymz

Candy Says with Low Sea - An Interview

A internet pode ter milhares de problemas, mas que facilita o networking e o conhecimento e estreita algo que no passado seria basicamente impossivel, vide a quantidade de grandes bandas que vem surgindo nos quatro cantos do mundo com trabalhos fenomenais porém a grande midia basicamente desconhece o que, quando e onde tudo esta acontecendo, dito tudo isto, é mais ou menos assim que aconteceu meu primeiro contato com os irlandeses do Low Sea, Bobby me mandou um email há alguns meses atrás onde ele dizia que adorava o TBTCI e informando que o Low Sea estava em estudio gravando e mixando seu debut além de me enviar algumas amostras do som deles e também alinhamos uma entrevista.

Agora com o album finalizado, disponivel no site CDBaby, e o disquinho mesmo esta no myspace deles, dá para sacar que o resultado ficou sensacional, tirando o capricho da arte grafica que é um detalhe a parte, tipo item de colecionador mesmo, o som de Bobby e Billie é daqueles de encher os olhos, os ouvidos e satisfazer fans de J&MC, A.R. Kane, Mazzy Star/Opal e por ai vai, a abertura do debut intitulado Las Olas a cargo de Couldn't Help Myself já deixa claro que esta pequena obra prima é a Just like Honey deles, tem mais é claro, a proxima Save My Soul é algo como se Jason Pierce, Lou Reed e Hope Sandoval resolvessem montar um projeto, é meus amigos, brilhante debut, 2010 começou e em grande estilo, ah sim, peguem carona com a pegajosa The Crash, ou apague a luz com as soturnas Sidewalk e Never Yours (essa Bobby e Billie disponibilizaram para um aperitivo ao album), eu basicamente só tenho que dizer o seguinte, não adianta perder muito tempo, corra atrás da sua copia deste album porque vai dar sold out!!!!!

***** Interview with Low Sea *****

Q.When did Low Sea starts, tell us about the beginning…
A. The band was born on a summer night in 2008 in the south of France. At the beginning Billie and I put together a 4-piece band. Over the course of time, the line-up went through some changes, but the two of us soon felt we wanted to remain a duo. Although we knew this would mean more work for us in terms of playing gigs, etc, it would be worth regaining the creative freedom.

Q.Who are the influences of the band?
A. Well, there are many ... When we started out, the sound was more in the vein of Shack, early Primal Scream, The Velvet Underground, Jesus & Mary Chain, Love, Brian Jonestown Massacre ... it was initially a more acoustic, hazy, neo-psychedelic sound. There is still a lot of that in what we're doing now, though we're more open to experimentation with electronic/vintage keyboards, and even heavier percussive sounds. We both listen to a lot of different stuff outside of what we sound like, so it'd be hard to make a list of obvious and not-so-obvious influences! The more obvious influences would be stuff like Suicide, Spacemen 3, The Horrors, M83, Atlas Sound, Beach House, A.R. Kane, Mazzy Star, My Bloody Valentine... but we're both fans of Clinic, Joy Division, Low, The Aislers Set, Del Shannon, Red House Painters, East River Pipe, Hasil Adkins, The Wedding Present, Pulp, Boards Of Canada, The Stairs, Girls, Buzzcocks, Guided By Voices, Sea Urchins... lots of stuff.

Q. Tell us about the process of recording the album?
A. We are just about to release our debut album titled 'Las Olas'. When we started writing songs and just playing we were not even thinking in terms of any serious releases, I guess we were just enjoying the whole experience. Initially we would write when we felt like it, and play when we felt like it.

After we had a bunch of songs, it seemed a natural thing to put an album together. So I guess there was never a conscious process to it, which probably shows in the mix of songs on there.

Q: tell us about Low Sea live shows....
A. Low Sea will start playing live in Spring 2010. You're all invited to come check us out!

Q. Which bands you love to made a cover version?
A. We've actually just recorded our first cover - Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane". That song is probably a good indication of how our recent songs are actually sounding, that kind of feel. There are plenty of songs we'd love to cover... Rudy of AR Kane was very encouraging about us doing a version of their "When You're Sad", that would be something cool.

Q. Which new bands you recommended?
A. There are a lot of amazing groups/artists around lately, it's unbelievable. People like Celebration, Crocodiles, Zombie Zombie, Girls, Andy's Tea Party, CANT, Best Coast...

Q. What´s the plans for future? New records, a tour….
A. So many plans! We'd love to get across to mainland Europe and do some gigs over there. We've got an ep almost finished, and those songs will represent more clearly our sound/direction. It would be great to get something released on vinyl, we've always wanted to do that.


Q. Any order important thing to tell us…
A. Our limited edition album has just been released. We put a lot of effort into creating something different, collectable... We designed the artwork for it, and are keeping it a limited edition. That's available exclusively through our myspace at http://www.myspace.com/lowseamusic, or it can be digitally downloaded at iTunes or CDbaby.
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Thanks Low Sea....all the best!!!

Low Sea - Never Yours - http://www.mediafire.com/?b4ivyiydmnn

Soft as Snow but (Warm Inside) with Asalto al Parque Zoologico - An Interview

Pegue o arquivo ai embaixo e concentre-se na musica, é indiscutivel o poder de criação e wall of sound desse argentinos....hein argentinos???wall of sound???shoegazer???É isso ai, o nome da preciosidade e Asalto Al Parque Zoologico, 5 canções daquelas de fazer Mr. Kevin Shields sorrir de ponta a ponta, estilhaços de Ins´t Anything e Lovelless para todos os lados, ainda tem pitadas de Ride, J&MC e toda a Scene, pegue Below, Breeze e Awake e delicie-se com a pancadaria de pedais, simplesmente sensacional, dai meu interesse cresceu principalmente pela total falta de informação sobre a banda, então nada melhor do que uma entrevista para ficarmos mais interados com esta belissima banda que promete e muito.

***** Interview with Asalto Al Parque Zoologico *****

Q. When did APZOO form, tell us about the beginning…
A. The band was formed through a period of a couple of years, basically because there are not many musicians here in Argentina who listen to shoegaze music, and it’s kinda difficult to form a band like this. We had the first line-up ready in 2008, when we started recording our first EP. Then there were more changes, until now that the band is complete and ready to gig.

Q. What are the band’s influences?
A. Musically, we are huge fans of the "late ‘80s/early ‘90s shoegaze scene", mainly Slowdive, Lush, Ride, Boo Radleys, Chapterhouse, and of course, My bloody valentine, the band we’re always compared to. But we’re trying to do something more personal as we evolve.


Q. Tell us about the recording process for the ep?
A. Although it is a short-length recording (less than 15 minutes of music) it took a fairly large amount of time to record. One song (called 'Breeze') is an old demo recorded in 2003, which we wrote the lyrics for 5 years later. The other songs were recorded during a period of almost a year. Of course, we didn’t record for an entire year, but we kept mixing and re-recording just to achieve the sound we were looking for. We kinda succeeded, but we'll sound better in our future releases, or at least we hope so.

Q. What do you think about the classic shoegaze era?
A. That’s what we’re into. We love many classic shoegaze albums from that era. That was a great time for music in those years. Bands were full of creativity and they tried to experiment with all kind of sounds, that "guitars+samplers" formula. It’s such shame it was overshadowed by grunge, ‘cos it was a great music scene.

Q. Which songs by other bands would you like to do cover versions of?
A. In our EP we covered an Indochine song (a french electro-pop band). And we’re currently playing "Soon" (MBV), which is a bit obvious, haha, but we wanted to do it.


Q. Which new bands you recommended?
A. Well, we think Fleeting Joys is a really good band... they took the "shoegaze thing" and turned it into something different, by adding new sounds and influences. There are other bands we like also: Pia Framus, LSD and The Search of God, and Health, among many others.

Q. Tell us about the shoegazer scene in Argentina...
A. There never was a clearly defined shoegazer scene here in Argentina. Here you have indie bands with a little touch of shoegaze sounds here and there, but nothing you can call 'an scene'. In the other hand you have many ambient bands, but that’s not shoegaze either. There is a guy who has solo a project called "Baby Filter", and he’s really good!　


Q. What are the plans for the future?
A. Basically, our plan is to play live, we are scheduling gigs for May and April, and we’re rehearsing a lot, trying to recreate the closer that we can the textures we crafted in our EP.

Q. Any important news to tell us
A. Right now we’re writing new songs to put out in a new EP before June or July. We have new material that we are gradually recording. Let’s see what happen.
Thank you again!!
APZOO


Asalto al Parque Zoologico - EP - http://www.mediafire.com/?mn3yzhejzyj

Giants Steps by 93 Million Miles From The Sun - An Interview with Nick

Não preciso me estender demais na apresentação desta que para mim é a mais perfeita sincronia entre a nova geração das bandas shoegazer e a classic scene, simplesmente pela sonoridade carregadisima de um wall of sound completamente inaudivel e ao mesmo tempo altamente sonhador e etereo, o 93MMFTS concebeu no ano passado um dos mais perfeitos albuns de shoegazer não só do ano mas de sempre, dai virou covardia e virei fã de Rob e Nick, a historia resumida, foi que tatuei o simbolo da banda em meu braço e mandei para eles darem uma olhada e dai para frente viramos amigos, e amigos são assim, conversam sobre sons, trocam ideias sobre os albuns, e até mesmo receber em primeira mão o que vira a ser o proximo album do caras, que esta basicamente pronto, só que guardado a sete chaves ainda, só posso adiantar o seguinte, vem ai outro album simplesmente obrigatorio e espetacular, então boa viagem com a a carona movida a pedais e mais pedais chamada 93MMFTS.

***** Interview with Nick from 93MMFTS *****

Q. When did 93MMFT form, tell us about the beginning…
A. Well we officially formed in 2007 but it started out as just a bedroom project. I had been doing demo's at home for years so i decided to start a MySpace page to put them on. I had always had the name '93MillionMilesFromTheSun' floating around so that was that. Then got asked to have the track 'Take Me Away' featured on "The Secret Garden' compilation and to play the launch night in Bristol. Rob who i'd been in bands with for years played bass and we learnt the songs using backing tracks and loops. We had about two weeks to form the band from scratch to playing our first gig in front of such artists and bands as Ulrich Schnauss, Damon & Naomi, Soundpool and Kyte.

Q. What are the band’s influences?
A. Myself and Rob are obviously influenced by the classic Shoegazing scene of the late 80's and early 90's. Thats when we properly started getting into music. Before that we were both into Electro and Hip Hop . We all liked stuff like Joy, Division, New Order, Sonic Youth and the Mary Chain. The Boo Radleys were the first band i properly loved. Ichabod & I and there early Rough Trade Ep's just blew me away. There early live gigs were amazing.

Q. Tell us about the recording process for the debut album?
A. Everything was recorded at home on a 16 track recorder. I did the demos then we went back over them adding bass, percussion, drones, keys, backing vocals and more guitars. We never went into a studio or used a computer. The only thing we should have done is get it mastered. I never realised what a difference this could make. The album just isn't loud enough. I'm looking into getting it mastered now and maybe doing a re release. The next album will be loud i promise you that!

Q, Tell us about playing live.
A. We never set out to be a band and play live. We did our first few gigs just me and Rob and a backing track. Jack, our drummer who we knew from being in other bands saw us play live and said i'll drum for you. He plays a stand up kit, just a floor tom, snare and symbols. The live sound is quite a bit different from the recordings, louder, more stripped back. We use strobes, smoke and minimal lighting to try and create an atmosphere. We go for the whole wall of noise thing live which works for me!

Q. How did last years gigs go?
A. Great. We got better as a live band as the year went on. We played with some amazing bands in some top venues. We played Club AC30 in London as backing band to The Telescopes and we played our own set as well. Also played Sound Of Confusion club in Birmingham twice again with The Telescopes. Its just great to get the chance to play anywhere really. Give people some noise!

Q. How was the experience to playing with Stephen Lawrie?To me here´s a myth...how do feel about that?
A. Stephen Lawrie was great and what an experience that was. Robin Allport from Club AC30 got in touch to see if we'd be up for doing it which of course we said yes. We then spoke with Stephen and he sent us the set list. We had less than a month to rehearse the stuff. Myself and Rob new the songs anyway so it wasn't as hard as it could have been. Jack our drummer played second guitar and we got our mate Kenno in to play the drums. We played our own 93 set as support as well. The Telescopes were a classic band so to get the chance to play them songs with the singer was amazing. We actually never rehearsed with Stephen, we met him for the first time on the night. we just got up there and did it. People seemed to enjoy it as we did. Stephen asked us to play the Birmingham gig the following month as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iratSs4ldTc

Q. What do you think about the classic shoegaze era?
A. It came around just at the right time for me. It was probably the live gigs that really got me into it. Gigs by The Boo Radleys and Slowdive at the Dutchess Of York in Leeds and Chapterhouse at The Leadmill in Sheffield are the ones i still remember. I still occasionally listen to some of the classic old stuff as its stood the test of time in my opinion and still sounds great today. There is too much good new stuff about at the moment to keep me busy...

Q. Tell us about bands in the current shoegaze scene…
A. As i said there's some great new stuff out there at the moment. Its so easy now to find the stuff through the internet. Before you stood very little chance of finding out about good new bands. Its a shame in a way because it's taken some of the joy out of discovering new stuff. I still love vinyl and used to love searching through the 7" singles to look for hidden gems. Anyway i love The Fauns album, proper classic album that is! I've also been listening to SPC-ECO and Maribel who's album sounds fantastic. Also Daniel Land, I Concur, Insect Guide, A Place To Bury Strangers, Air Formation,The Voices, Soren Well, Serena Maneesh, Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Exit Calm, Laboratory Noise. I could go on. I really wanna hear some full on noisy Shoegaze but i've not really found any for a while. There's loads more were loving as well...

Q. Which songs by other bands would you like to do cover versions of?
A. We've done a few covers already but not really put them out there. We play Perfect Needle by The Telescopes live and just recorded Never Understand by the Mary Chain for the free single that we gave away at our last gig in York. We've been asked to cover a Creation Records tune for a compilation coming out soon but which song do you pick. There's too many to chose. I'd like to cover Drive Blind by Ride and we may also try I'll Follow You Down by Slaughter Joe or Don't Slip Up by Meat Whiplash. We are all big New Order fans so maybe one of their tunes....

Q. Which new bands you recommended?
A. I'm pretty sure Exit Calm's album will be amazing and also Insect Guides new one. Air Formation also have an album out this year which should be as good as it gets! Hopefully The Fauns will follow up their debut as well. Check Maribel out live as well if you get a chance. A Place To Bury Strangers released possibly my favourite album last year and they were also one of the best live bands i've seen. You've got to see them play...

Q. What are the plans for the future?
A. We're just gonna keep writing and recording music and hopefully play as many gigs as possible. Album No2 will hopefully come out and it will be a continuation of the first in many ways, but better and louder! We also hopefully plan to do a full tour, in the summer.

Q. Any important news to tell us…
A. Well.........Album No2 is now complete. Just finalising the details so should be out sooner that expected! We also have various tracks appearing on compilation albums throughout the year and hopefully some 7" singles with exclusive stuff on them. T-shirts finally. Woo Woo! Also we are looking into the possibility of touring the States this year. Hopefully the west coast....Also finally there are a few other things that i can't really mention at the moment. Keep checking out our pages for details!!

www.myspace.com/93millionmilesfromthesun
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=34460385717&ref=ts

Cheers

Signing off

Nick
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Thanks Nick, all the best to 93MMFTS....
Renato

Blue Skied an' Clear with Air Formation

Após um hiato de dois longos anos, uma das grandes bandas da nova geração do shoegazer retorna com algo absolutamente soberdo e essencial, o grande, mas muito grande Air Formation coloca no mercado o já aclamado primeiro single intitulado Low December Sun, do album que esta prestes a sair e este já tem nome Nothing to Wish for (Nothing to lose), e o aperitivo com Low December Sun já dá para notar que estamos falando de algo superior, porque o single é um shoegazer perfeito, instrumental e vocalização perfeita, o que já virou rotina para o mestre Matt Bartram, ao melhor estilo Air Formation a canção é sonhadora, instigante e vicia, ah como vicia, o lado b do single traz Silence Outside é mais densa e segue a mesma linha gelida, com ecos de Cure e Slowdive, outra preciosidade.

Veja o video de Low December Sun e veja/sinta toda a beleza, e prepare-se porque o album promete....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3wFI2E-gSM

Ah, não poderia deixar de comentar sobre o email que recebi do recente amigo Matt Wyatt, diretamente do selo ClubAC30, só digo que fico orgulhoso em receber algo tão bacana como o que ele escreveu, isso só me deixa mais motivado a tentar sempre enaltecer as grandes bandas que realmente merecem toda nossa paixão....Valeu Matt!!!

Alone in a Darkened Room with Bauhaus

Algumas coisas são atemporais e imortais, e quando menos se espera um desejo subito renasce em você te puxando fortemente as suas origens.....não a toda, tenho ouvido muito, mais muito esta que é uma banda fundamental e clássica, o trabalho do Bauhaus vem muito além do gótico/dark, o experimentalismo, o simbolismo, o glam, o kraut, o post punk, Bowie, Reed, Iggy, tudo perfeitamente sincronizado nas entranhas de Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, David J, Kevin Haskins , o teatro a furia e o cinismo sarcastico e negro destes quatro rapazes atravessou decadas e continua a cativar quem esta interessado em musica e arte de verdade. Aqui nada dos albuns, pois estes já estam mais do que analisados, vou postar somente um souvenir, na realidade o single de Bela Lugosi´s Dead que já dispensa qualquer tipo de apresentação, mas ainda tem dois lados B bem interessantes, a versão demo de Dark Entries e um simbosiose do que tornaria o som deles em Boys. Digo o seguinte, muita gente torce o nariz para a genialidade destes caras, mas isso é pura falta de conhecimento de causa, porque o Bauhaus é discoteca basica sempre.

White on white translucent black capes
Back on the rack
Bela Lugosi's dead
The bats have left the bell tower
The victims have been bled
Red velvet lines the black box
Bela Lugosi's dead
Undead undead undead

The virginal brides file past his tomb
Strewn with time's dead flowers
Bereft in deathly bloom
Alone in a darkened room
The count
Bela Logosi's dead
Undead undead undead

- Bela Lugosi´s Dead

Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi´s Dead - http://www.mediafire.com/?ezwyttm2khn

When Will You Come Home with DeVries

Pegajoso, melancólico, as vezes ensolarado e psicodelico, outras vezes triste e angustiado, a estréia do DeVries é majestosa, um mix de prediletas, de Stone Roses a The Church, de Ride a Yo la tengo, de House of Love a Galaxie 500, o Sr. Travis DeVries ex Turn-Ons, com ajuda de vários colegas nos brinda com preciosidades como Boys are Bored, Broken Heart, Out of Wastelands, What a Wasted Life, Black Thursday Repeat e basicamente todas as 14 canções deste Death to God envolvem qualquer um que esteja ligado a suas influências, ou como um critico colocou, provavelmente este é o melhor album de Manchester feito fora de Manchester, ou ainda sobre a canção Darkest Summer “soa como a melhor musica que os Stone Roses nunca escreveram”, ainda tem Shoulder to Shoulder que lembra os Bunnymen até a medula, tesouros como este Death of God são concebidos somente de tempos em tempos, aproveite que este é o tempo do DeVries, ah, o álbum foi produzido por ninguem menos do que Kramer (responsável pela produção da discografia inteira do Galaxie 500) e só para deixar quem não conhece mais sedento ainda, Mr. Kramer falou isso aqui: “ Travis, você é um gênio do caralho, essa musica é muito boa! Essa MERDA é surpreendente!

Tá bom ou precisa mais alguma coisa?!?!?!

DeVries – Death To God - http://www.mediafire.com/?qmyowgrzftt

For Ex-Lovers Only by Evil Men Have No Songs

Budapeste, Hungria, é deste longínquo pais que vem uma beleza esculpida em riffs, fuzz, distortions, Evil Men Have No Songs é o nome da banda de um homem só, RP, nada mais, as vezes muita informação torna-se desnecessária quando a musica fala mais alto, pegue as girls groups dos 60´s tipo Shangri-las, Ronnetes e adicione J&MC, Black Tambourines, surf songs, psicodelismo, lo-fi e esta feito o cartão de visitas do EP de estreia do tipo, self production, tenha quatro exemplos de como a musica pode ser básica e direta em No You No Me, Stand By, Superstill e Syd the Beat todas fazem a festa de qualquer cara que curte rock´n´roll pegajoso, bubblegum e cheio de distorção, daí fácil fácil é pegar a primeira estrada e aumentar o som com Evil Men Have No Songs.

Evil Men Have No Songs - EP - http://www.mediafire.com/?dzezmmznjqq

Until the End of Time with Screen Vinyl Image - An Interview with Jake Reid

Imaginem o orgulho e a felicidade em ter seu Blog citado como uma das referências em relação a listas de melhores do ano, ainda mais em se tratando de nada mais nada menos do que o grandioso Screen Vinyl Image, dai agradeci via e-mail e quem me responde dizendo que acompanha o Blog, o grande Jake Reid, patrimonio desde os tempos do saudoso Alcian Blue e assim começou uma grande troca de e-mails que originou uma entrevista, mas não somente uma entrevista, esta é a ENTREVISTA, com direito a histórias da epoca do Alcian Blue, os tempos que a banda dividia os palcos com outro patrimônio chamado Skywave, o fim do Alcian, o inicio do SVI, a turnê com o Ceremony pelo Japão, informações sobre os proximos passos que o SVI dara, sem contar nas fotos que Jake me encaminhou, muitas estarão dispostas entre uma pergunta e outra, enfim, sinceramente, este é a a entrevista da qual eu fiquei mais orgulhoso e contente em ter feito até hoje, sem mais leiam e curtam porque vale cada frase dita pelo mestre Jake.

***** Interview with Jake Reid (Screen Vinyl Image, ex Alcian Blue) *****

Q: When did Alcian Blue starts, tell us about the history...
A. Well, Alcian Blue started up after the four of us graduated from high school. In high school, we had various bands, Matt and I were doing stuff along the lines of Jesus & Mary Chain and then got into Curve and Cocteau Twins and Sam and Clark were playing in progressive sounding hardcore bands and would also guest with Matt and I. After high school, we started working on demos and jamming together, this is probably 1997/1998 and by late 98 / early 99 we were playing out as Wintermute and then changed the name to Alcian Blue shortly after. (There was already a Wintermute in Texas) We released Slow Colorless Stare, Angelica Take Me Down (ep), Translucent (ep) and Silvers Sleep Walk (ep) under this line up. When we were working on both the Fall Behind EP and Years Too Late EP, our drummer left the band to join the Air Force. The three of us wanted to keep going so Kim joined the band and we switched to using drum machines and adding synths. You can hear the change of the line up on the Fall Behind EP. We then released the self titled full length with the new line up which brought a lot of our influences in the darkwave/coldwave sounds to the shoegaze sound we were already doing. We played regularly, maybe 1-2 times a month, but touring was hard because not a lot of (U.S.) clubs seemed to be into the shoegaze sound at the time.

Q: Who are your influences/heroes?
A. We have a lot of different influences among the band, but all of us were into the Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Ride, The Cure, etc. Sam and I were also into a lot of the IDM and electronic stuff, you know, Warp was huge at that time, and raves were happening in DC. And then later on we were very into a lot of post-punk and kraut rock. Matt introduced us to a lot of amazing Kraut stuff he was discovering. But, shoegaze was always the central influence, it is what formed our sound in the beginning and stayed there as we got into other types of music over the years. I think all of us really loved Slowdive the most. At the time it was really hard to get all those unreleased recordings so we used to all hunt them down and then trade cds with each other. It's how the cover of "Joy" came about.

Q: Tell us about the Alcian Blue´s gigs...how was it?
A. We started out just playing very small shows. There were these guys Adam and Dan who had a house near us and they put on shows there. We played these house shows until we got our first gig at the Galaxy Hut in Arlington VA. It was pretty tough back then. Almost no one was interested in the shoegaze sound and we played really loud so that didn't help matters either. We played at a lot of "dive" bars in DC and got banned from most of them for being too loud. It remained that way for a time, but slowly, we got to play bigger and better clubs. When we met Skywave, they had us play in their town (Fredericksburg) and those shows were always good. We also both would go down to Virginia Beach which has always had a great music scene for shoegaze stuff.

Q: What was your relation to Skywave?
A. Sam was working at WMUC 88.1 which is University of Maryland's radio station. They did a live show there (they still do) called Third Rail Radio and Sam engineered this band, Skywave, and he came to practice and said we should all check them out. Around the same time, Adam and Dan were putting together a big show at a community space and asked us to play and asked Skywave. I can remember the gig really well because just about everyone left the club during our set except Skywave. And then Skywave played and just about everyone but us left for their set. (this is all due to it being very very loud) We both couldn't believe there was a band located about an hour away that loved My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Slowdive, etc.

From that point on we kept in touch and started touring and working together on shows. We would drive out to see them play if we weren't on the bill and Oliver would often drive up to see us or run our projections (both bands used to use a 16mm reel to reel projector). They introduced us to some other bands who were doing similar stuff like The Emerald Down, Aerial Love Feed and Stellarscope, just to name a few. We did a tour up to Canada and then around the time before Synthstatic was released they did a tour with Malory, Resplandor, Stellarscope, and Highspire. Paul couldn't make the tour so I jumped in and took over guitar duties. We also did a couple of shows as a 4 piece, but I think it was 2 or 3 shows like that. Then Oliver moved to NYC and the band split and formed Ceremony and A Place To Bury Strangers. Alcian Blue was running Safranin Sound and when the band broke up, Safranin continued on and put out the first two Ceremony records, The Offering records (who are from the area Ceremony is from), and Screen Vinyl Image records. So, we all keep in touch and hang out and I sometimes play live with Ceremony and they sometimes play live with SVI and also have recorded with us.

Q: In your opinion what´s the best Alcian´s ep, song....etc...
A. Wow. Um, I personally really enjoy the Translucent EP the most. We pushed every piece of gear to it's limit, blew up speakers, gear burned down, the hard-drive fell and broke so we had to start from scratch when it was 90% done. But, I think we were playing really well then and started to sound like ourselves and that's around the time I met Kim who obviously later joined AB and is now my wife and also the other half of SVI. So, yeah, lots of good memories on that EP. I think Everyday is Fall is the best song I ever wrote too for Alcian Blue. I am also a big fan of the Self Titled record too. Frozen Sleep and See You Shine are other faves of mine, but I really like how all of the different influences the 4 of us were into at the time all came together on that record.

Q: Too many people consider Alcian Blue and Skywave the reason for the ressurection of shoegazer....what´s your opinion about it?
A. It is flattering but I don't know how true it is. There were definitely other shoegaze bands around at the time. A lot of us got to know each other online through forums and mp3.com. We would set up shows in each other's towns and it grew out of that. The press in the U.S. seemed to hate shoegaze then too. It wasn't cool to be into MBV for example... But, while the press wasn't ready to champion the sound, a lot of us U.S. bands stuck together and supported each other b/c no one else would. And there was definitely people out there who loved the sound and were very excited that there were bands doing the sound in the states.

Q: Explain, Why Alcian Blue R.I.P., tell us about the end...
A. We had been doing the band for a long time and we were living in different states and we all had different things going on so it just became a good time to call it quits. Our last show was playing Walls of Sound Fest in Fredericksburg. We didn't even get to play our set, the show ran way over time and us and Ceremony couldn't play. But, we ended up doing this cover of Primal by Slowdive with our good friends The Antiques. In an odd way, it was the perfect way to end the band.

Q: When SVI starts?
A. Alcian Blue broke up in the fall and SVI started up that winter. Kim and I had been writing demos using more synths with guitars and by the spring, we had put together a 5 song EP. (The Midnight Sun EP) We had Archie Moore (Velocity Girl / Black Tambourine) master it cause he did a great with the Alcian Blue self titled album. We started promoting it while we were trying to figure out how we were going to do shows with just two people. By around late June we played our first show in DC and then did a week long tour in the mid-west.

Q: What´s the fundamental difference between Alcian Blue and SVI?
A. I think SVI has different influences than Alcian Blue did even though there are some similar things I think we'll always be into. We love shoegaze music but I'd say our interest in electronic music is much bigger than it was during Alcian Blue. You can still hear a lot of shoegaze influence in SVI music, but you can hear a lot of other influences, maybe a lot more 70's stuff like Tangerine Dream, The Stooges, film soundtracks, etc. But, there are still similarities too, I think people can listen to one band and see how the other started after it.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording Interceptors?
A. It was a long process. haha. The album took almost a year and a half to make. It started by recording some demos at a beach house in North Carolina and then went on from there. We recorded everything ourselves and mixed it ourselves. We wanted to try out different ideas and techniques and it just took a lot of time to do that. We also were playing a lot of shows while recording and we did that split 12 inch with Ceremony too. We had some new gear that we were learning to use as well, like sequencers with CV gates on our old synths and we were kind of new to doing that sort of thing. There were a few songs that we ended up recording multiple times because we had a certain sound we were going for and we kept re-recording the song until it sounded right. Some songs, like Asteroid Exile, took forever to mix too because we had so many layers of tracks. That song has the most and we had to keep going back and changing things until the mix sounded right. It was a fun record to make, everything just came together in the end and we knew how we wanted the cover to look and what we were going to call it.

Q: About SVI gigs, what´s represents the great tour in Japan with Ceremony to the band?
A. Japan was an amazing experience for both of our bands. We had a great time over there and had the opportunity to play with a lot of fantastic Japanese shoegaze bands. They have a very strong and cool scene in Tokyo. Manabu promoted the shows and did an incredible job of putting together very nice shows for us, Ceremony and Eskimohunter. They had DJ's playing lots of great shoegaze music between bands and each of the Japanese bands had their own unique shoegaze styled sound. Also, Tokyo is a beautiful city. We both had a great time exploring the city while we were there.

Q: Which bands you love to made a cover version?
A. Live, we have covered The Stooges (I Wanna Be Your Dog), Slowdive (Take Me Down) and Ride (Decay). I'm not sure what we might cover next, maybe The Cure or something more obscure. We'll see.

Q: Which new bands you recommended?
A. Safeashome, The Sky Drops, Soundpool, Nightmare Air, Black Nite Crash, Dead Leaf Echo, Luxa. I could probably keep going, there are a ton of amazing bands out right now! But, I highly recommend those. Also, if you are a Skywave fan, our label Custom Made Music will be re-releasing Skywave's Echodrone on 12 inch too this year. The site is http://custommademusicva.com.

Q: What´s the plans for future....new records, a tour, maybe play in Brazil one day....
A. Right now we are working on a remix record that will be out this spring. We are also releasing two 7 inch singles too. One will be out on Custom Made Music and the other will be on Fandeath Records. We're also working on some tracks for the next full length.

We'll start playing shows again this spring, we're going to take a break for the rest of winter to record. We're not sure what our tour plans will be but we are hoping to go to Europe this year. Brazil would be amazing too. If anyone wants to contact us about coming down, send us an email!

Q: Any parting words?
A. Thanks for asking us to do the interview and talk a bit about the old bands, we really enjoy reading your blog!

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Thanks Jake, say thanks to Kim too....your fan Renato!!!!

SVI
http://screenvinylimage.com
http://myspace.com/screenvinylimage
http://twitter.com/screenvinylimg
http://custommademusicva.com
http://safraninsound.com
SVI Albuns´
Interceptors - http://www.mediafire.com/?jevtnohmydm
Chaser EP - http://www.mediafire.com/?ayjcnkymzzi
The Midnight Sun EP - http://www.mediafire.com/?5xv10ljnv0u

Alcian Blue
http://www.alcianblue.net/
Jake´s favourite Alcian´s Albuns
Translucent EP - http://www.mediafire.com/?tjxzzmgytzw
Alcian Blue - St - http://www.mediafire.com/?xonntwjnoz3