Tamaryn - Cranekiss (video)

The quintessential combination of the two words Dream and Pop reach a pinnacle, with this perfect tune. Cranekiss is another breezy, yet driven single, from ona-roll Gaze Queen, Tamaryn. Pitch bent guitars, flangey bass, the sparkling hint of an icy synthesizer; they're all carefully laid to bed beneath Tamaryn's delicately-drugged-out croons. Like Pale Saints meets Ulrich Schnauss, but better. I seriously just played this one 4 times over. You'll be craning not to miss!

Regal Degal - Wide Awake

Flangey psychedelia from the deeper reaches of the globe lands here by way Regal Degal. The marks of shoegaze are smacked about, like dark fractal glass twisted around a black kaleidoscope, here on latest single, Wide Awake. There's the echoy distortion of Slowdive and The Verve, but there's also the weirdo appeal of Black Moth Super Rainbow, or R. Stevie Moore. Bite into this apple and you might discover a worm, but it may be a worm that crawls up through your nasal cavity and into your brain, and begins to lay clusters of ultra groovy eggs. Can you feel taste the day-glo fro-yo, bro? MmmmmmMMM @_@

Moose - Regulo 7

Look Back In Anger: BritishIndieShoegaze90s group Moose, enjoyed relative obscurity throughout their brief existence. Luckily, Moose spent some time to record a few records and the results were fantastic! Regulo 7 is a beautifully produced song, with an addictively arco string section that flutters across a medley of breathy vocals and acoustic guitar. Such a dreamy tune. Brings to mind Stereolab, or The Field Mice. Really if your into 60s leaning French Folk plus the sound of psychedelic England than this could be your jam. Also check out the rest of Moose's discography, its vastly under-heard.

Swirlies - Upstairs

Look Back In Anger: Thinking about lesser heard OG shoegaze, Swirlies come to mind. As of late, I've been bumpin their Blonder Tongue Audio Baton, so it seems totally worth it to give them a little blog love (#bluv). Swirlies did and do, sort of slosh between a traditional Shoegaze sound and more American, 90s fuzz pop. Your basic My Bloody Sonic Youthes, if you will. Upstairs is a cut off of What To Do About Them and it really sounds like something from Isn't Anything, or possibly an early Pumkins demo. Anywho, here's something to wet your hair to at least..

The Clientele - An Hour Before The Light

Look Back In Anger: The Clientele are true connoisseurs of nostalgia, crafting masterful sound-pictures that seem to completely encapsulate the feeling of by-gone eras that no one has ever actually lived through. Not unlike a piece by Angelo Badalimenti, or Belle & Sebastion, or Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Clientele traverse the well-trodden path that lies between 90s Dream Pop and moody, 60s Rock-n-roll. It's a sort of sound that is almost unplaceable, like a forgotten Zombies record recently unearthed in someone's attic, or a more modern group, signed to Mexican Summer, with roots in Shoegaze. Soon The Clientele's first record Suburban Light will be reissued and and we can all travel back, once again, to 2000, or perhaps even further.... Whichever it is, this one of my favorite tracks of their's off that record. Have a lis:

The Jesus & Mary Chain - April Skies (video)

Look Back In Anger: We're almost done with these April Skies, so why not revel in their grandeur just a little bit longer. I've been spinning a lot of 21 singles recently, but if you want to get a little more in-depth with this section of Chain history, I'd love to point you towards Darklands. This is one of, if not the best records of JAMC. April Skies is the perfect combo of familiar Mary Chain fuzzpop, with nods to traditional Rock-N-Roll, and Rockabilly. Hardbody, Guitarville, UK. Population: These Scottish dudes...makin love on the edge of a knife, forever and ever:

Whistlejacket - March Hare (video)

Never heard these guys before, but if you believe in listening to things for like the first time then listen up. Whistlejacket have a swirling Chameleons meets a spacier Holograms sort of sound that the really keys me up. Its like gaze-d out Darkwave, from London where the only that matters is a muthafkn phaser. Dig:

Weekend - It's Alright (video)

8mm-ish film + beachy scenes, Weekend lets us dream of Summer days to come! I guess it really is Alright:

Nai Harvest - Rush

Here's are a pair of young Brits who tremble between American Football and something like Dinosaur Jr. Its a total early 00s meets early 90s blend that really sounds quite right. Be way ahead of the curve and dig on these mothers:

Black Hearted Brother - Got Your Love (video)

Black Hearted Brother, the Shoegaze super group, provide a brand new vid for their Got Your Love single. We already know how infectious the song is, combining early Flaming Lips-type electronics with some crunchy guitars and Neil Halstead's recognizable Slowdive vocal delivery. Here the Brothers monkey about, presumably the English coast, and then psych us out with some trippy visuals. Def worth a gander: )

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Simple and Sure

New TPOBPAH slides in a slightly different direction than we're used to with the gang. Simple and Sure really steps along a tightrope strung between early 2000s Indie Pop and Blue Eye Soul. For some reason this metamorphosis reminds me of the transformation seen between Aztec Camera's early work and later work. For Pains I think this could be a positive shift that allows them escape the confines of Twee or Shoegaze. Happy Frozen Friday:

Night Flowers - Embers

Night Flowers are Shoegaze(Emogaze?), Indie Pop newcomers with a whole lotta pep! Cross breed The Pains of Being Pure At Heart with Saves The Day(?), and you may grow some Flowers of the Night. They're a group that revels in fuzz, while not letting the popiness of their harmonies get lost in the process. My guess is these young'ns will really start to bloom as Spring begins to unfold ;)

Slowdive - Shine

Another Monday, another day to reflect on the mundane. It's also time for another weekly installment of Look Back In Anger, where we look back through a tiny tiny lens on one artist that I happen to think is important. When I'm out and about on the steets and someone recognizes me I usually get asked one of two questions. The first being: "Hey, is the express train down this way?" The second being: "Kevin, what is Shoegaze?" And in response to that latter, I must say, "Shoegaze is not a thing, its a way of life, bro." Is it the sound of the wind rustling the pine bows of winter-logged Fir trees, gathered along the coast? No, it is not. Is it the sound of a leaky fawcet that wakes you from a foggy dream about fluorescent clouds that drift into your bedroom and drip rainbow candy onto your head? More or less, yes, it is. If I had to pick a band to introduce someone to this furtive genre I would pick My Bloody Valentine, but a close runner up would undoubtedly be Slowdive. Recently my mind evaporated when the internet announced Slowdive's reunion. The band is reuniting after 20 years, to do a new album and play new shows. It seems only too appropriate that we at Bigfoot Sightings report this astounding news from the world of Dream-Pop. Bellow watch one of the few clips for Slowdive, where they swirl through a field of wild flowers and get lost in their guitars and the sky. Stay tuned to LBS for all the latest shoegaze and Slowdive news to come!

A Sunny Day In Glasgow - In Love With Useless (The Geometry In The Tradition of Passing)

One of the best Shoegaze acts of recent memory is returning this year with a new LP. A Sunny Day In Glasglow's newest single, In Love With Useless, is a dreamy off-kilter guitar pop jam filled with samples and multiple vocal harmonies. Is sort of a jarring tune, but after a few listens the layers peel back and its easier to decipher. The Philly band's follow up to 2010's Autumn, Again will be out this year, so keep your nose glued to this blog for updates!

Black Hearted Brother - (I Don't Mean to) Wonder

Shoegaze super-group featuring Neil Halstead of Slowdive and Mark Van Hoen of Seefeel, have come together to catharticly disembowel the world, through the power of ambient music. A few things to consider with this post: I personally have been waiting for Slowdive to reunite for a millenia and stumbling upon an email from a friend detailing the reunion of Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell on satge for a few dates in London was enough to implode my cranium. But then I read on. Not only has Neil reunited with Rachel, but he has also reunited with the sound of distortion. None of that yawn inducing, pseduo-country, Moajave 3 crap here! Black Hearted Brother is Neil and Mark Van Hoen shedding their ability to tour with Jack Johnson, and fulling engulfing themselves in the soup of early 90s big muff, Marshall stack, unintelligible-hyper-delay vocal greatness!

Let's be real. In 2013 have they reinvented the wheel? No. Have they even put out a new track that is as good as their best Slowdive or Seelfeel shit? ehhhh..No... BUT DON'T FRET! The tune might not be mind-blowing but its pretty damn satisfying.. even just hearing Neil repeat the line "I don't mean to wonder," in that blissed-out, monotone beauty is spine tingling. The is like the finale to Breaking Bad. Was it the finest, most artfully written BB episode to date? No way. But everyone has been waiting for it for so fucking long that it was enough for it just to air. It was a sweet episode, okay? Jack and those Nazis got lit up and Jessie got to drive off into the night, and that is what is happening here. It's not quite Slowdive, but some Nazis are getting blown away. No Doubt, you need to check this:

Medicine - It's Not Enough

Rippling tides of buzzing guitars liquidate the latest from LA-based 90s-gaze all-stars, Medicine! Medicine gained ground with a re-imagining of their single Time Baby II for the Crow soundtrack. That came out ages ago, but luckily everyone is like way into the dream-pop scene again and Medicine has born itself anew; dropping in our laps a new collection of skull-sizzling fuzz-poppers. It's Not Enough has a familiar Med-sound, with the vocals low and the guitars super echoy and loud. The video is some heady shit. The band is rockin in a basement-like-studio-space, with rainbow amoebas and other microscopic creatures scuttling across the cameras lens - Its a beautiful thing.

Mazzy Star - California

Wispy, dissonant, dream-folk - the descriptive terms one might invoke when describing Hope Sandoval and Mazzy Star. MS haven't released a proper LP since 96, when they were reigning high in the acousti-gaze scene, but now they're back! They're new album, Seasons of Your Day will drop in September, but California, the lead single is out now! Hope sounds as breathy and lonesome as ever and David Roback's guitar seems to still be lost in the paisley fog of the 90s. Yet, while this is a very Mazzified tune, there is also an air of the late 60s singer-songwriter era, not unlike Vashti Bunyan or even Karen Carpenter. Check it out, guys!

Badlands - Sleeping Beauty

If you had to predict a song that could wind up on the soundtrack of a future Sofia Coppola film, this would at least be on a top 10 list. Badlands seem to blur the lines between dreamy, wall of sound type ballads, Jesus and Mary Chain ambiance and slowcore indie-pop, popularized by bands like Beach House. Washed with a romantic sheen, this track is packed with perfect mood-setting melodies. Light a couple candles, uncork that bottle of Chianti, and let Badlands unwind in your ear.

No Joy - Hare Tarot Lies

You ever go the fair and get one of those wavy shaped bottles that you fill with different color sand and then stick a stick down the sides to make sick sand designs that will last forever? That's exactly what this video is like, plus theres a lot of Busch Light, Bong rips, and chicks going to vom town. No Joy are at the top of the shoegazin, grungey girl band game right now. Their new album, Wait To Please incorporates a lot of 90ish elements reminiscent of Chapterhouse, Lush, and even bits of The Breeders and Nirvana. Holla. This is dope.

Beaches - Distance

Aussi Shoegaze historians, Beaches drop a new fuzzed-out single. Distance is an expansive, though to the point pop track in the vein if Lush or Pale Saints. The repetitive Joy Division-esque bass line and blurred guitars surge over the distant vocals. Its a space jam for sure - and one that is drowned in such a warm distortion it makes you wanna press play button over and over again. Listen on SoundCloud