Let me get right to it: I love Beach House. That’s a bias that I openly and freely admit. Outside of the Cocteau Twins, they are my favorite dream pop band and a balm for a stressful day. All that means is that it’s hard for me not to like what they do even if they are not stretching their creativity too much. That said, […]
Temples is one of those bands that can be hard to peg. Part neo-prog, psychedelia, and stoner band, Temples makes music that calls back to weed-fueled styles and yet is as fresh as new bud. The latest album, Exotico, is prime Temples. It’s a blend of Yes and Genesis type prog rock, and Pink Floyd and Beatlesesque psychedelia. To this potent mix, Temples adds 80s […]
Since the 1980s, when both Dream Pop and Shoegaze appeared, the two genres have often been confused with each other. More accurately, it’s not always clear why one band or other was called shoegaze and another dream pop. To me, the defining element of shoegaze is the wall of distortion created over pop vocals. That distortion is intentionally abrasive, with a sound like a buzz […]
Weyes Blood (a.k.a. Natalie Mering) is hard to categorize. The closest I can come is 70s soft rock, like Bread, but without the schlock. Perhaps, she can be compared to 70s and 80s singer-songwriters. She certainly structures her songs like Aimee Man or Jenny Lewis might; Or is she more like Sandy Denny? I sit here listening to her latest album, And in The Darkness, […]
If you had asked me a month ago “What kind of music do the Yeah Yeah Yeahs make?” I would have answered “Garage punk or retro post-punk.” And I would have been right. One listen to their most famous song, “Maps”, and you would agree that it is typical early 2000s retro post-punk. Their sound combined minimalist synths with loud guitar solos and simple, tuneful […]
Broken Bells are an unlikely group. It consists of James Mercer, former lead singer of The Shins, and underground DJ, producer, and Hip Hop artist, Danger Mouse. Given their backgrounds and musical range, Broken Bells albums don’t follow a defined modern style. Previous albums have explored 80s sounds, especially late-stage new wave. The latest album, Into the Blue, is completely different. Listening to Into the […]
Back in the 1980s, two musical genres emerged at about the same time called dream pop and shoegazer. Both were built on a foundation of the pop song – tuneful and with harmonies – but drenched in jangly waves of guitar noise. They were similar enough that it was easy to confuse bands from one genre as belonging to the other. The main difference between […]
I’ve been traveling for the past two weeks. Part of that time was spent in a beach house. By that I mean a real house near the beach but also with the new Beach House EP, Once Twice Melody. If this EP is a harbinger of the next Beach House album, then I am happy beyond belief. I’ve never hidden my fondness for Dream Pop. […]
How does one describe Kaelan Mikla? 80s inspired synth pop? Yep, there’s that. Atmospheric dance music? Certainly. Goth? Very much so. Proving once again that weird but great music comes out of Iceland (remember The Sugarcubes?), Kaelan Mikla, produces an amazing mix of dark, strange, and mysterious music that can best be likened to the most goth elements of Siouxsie and Banshees, Bauhaus, and Nine […]
Back in the early 1970s, the rock music writer Lenny Kaye was asked to put together a compilation of lesser-known songs from the 60s. The result was Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era. The album featured raw, DIY music from bands practically no one had heard of, or at least heard from in a long while. This music, later tagged garage or psychedelic […]