{"id":18536,"date":"2012-02-18T10:05:43","date_gmt":"2012-02-18T15:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christandpopculture.com\/?p=18536"},"modified":"2012-02-18T10:05:43","modified_gmt":"2012-02-18T15:05:43","slug":"grace-notes-slowdive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/02\/grace-notes-slowdive\/","title":{"rendered":"Grace Notes: Slowdive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Grace Notes<\/strong>\u00a0is a weekly exploration by Jason Morehead of\u00a0signs of common grace in the music world<\/a>. We hope to alert you to wonderful music, some of which will be spiritual in nature but all of which will be unique and worthy of your attention. Each week we will share brief reviews of albums worthy of your attention and maybe a video or two.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is your favorite band?\u201d That\u2019s a question that most music lovers probably dread. How do you judge that sort of thing? And yet, it\u2019s probably safe to say that if pressed, most of us could probably think of a band that meets any \u201cfavorite band\u201d criteria (most of the time, anyways). For me, that band is Slowdive.<\/p>\n

Formed in 1989 by Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell, Slowdive\u00a0was one of the shining lights of the \u201cshoegazer\u201d scene (so named because its bands would perform while standing still and staring at their feet and their effects pedals). The shoegazer aesthetic was typified by an atmospheric sound built on layers of effects-laden guitars and dreamy vocals that were often treated as yet another instrument, blending in with the swirling, psychedelic instrumentation. Slowdive had this formula down to a science.<\/p>\n

Just For A Day (1991)<\/strong><\/p>\n

After releasing several acclaimed singles, the band released their debut album, Just For A Day<\/em>. It\u2019s a bit rough around the edges \u2014 the band wrote and recorded the album in less than two months \u2014 but many gems can be found within that roughness. I fondly remember listening to a battered old cassette copy of Just For A Day<\/em> while lying on my bedroom floor, and being absolutely entranced by songs like \u201cCelia\u2019s Dream\u201d, \u201cBallad of Sister Sue\u201d, and especially \u201cCatch The Breeze\u201d. Indeed, \u201cCatch The Breeze\u201d, with its ethereal climax and showcase for Halstead and Goswell\u2019s vocal harmonies, still remains one of my favorite songs, period. And a song like \u201cPrimal\u201d, with its beautiful yet ominous walls of sound, evokes Sigur R\u00f3s\u2019 post-rock while predating Iceland\u2019s famous sons by several years.<\/p>\n

Souvlaki (1993)<\/strong><\/p>\n

After Just For A Day<\/em>, the band was under pressure from their label to record a more \u201ccommercial\u201d album. (Not coincidentally, the \u201cBritpop\u201d movement was getting into full swing around this time). The result was Souvlaki<\/em>. Calling it \u201ccommercial\u201d is a bit of a misnomer, though. Souvlaki<\/em> is more polished than its predecessor, but it\u2019s a far cry from the Blur and Suede albums released around the same time. It\u2019s also the most diverse Slowdive recording, moving from straightforward shoegazer pop (\u201cAlison\u201d, \u201c40 Days\u201d) to ambient (\u201cSing\u201d, a collaboration with Brian Eno), from celestial-sounding psychedelia (\u201cSouvlaki Space Station\u201d) to stripped down acoustic (\u201cDagger\u201d). This is the Slowdive album that I listen to most often, and though it lacks some cohesion as an album<\/strong>, its individual songs are absolutely breathtaking (particularly the wistful \u201cAltogether\u201d and languid \u201cMelon Yellow\u201d).<\/p>\n

Pygmalion (1995)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even before Slowdive began recording what would be their final album, the writing was already on the wall. Britpop had begun its meteoric rise and nobody cared about shoegazer any more. The band\u2019s label support was virtually non-existent (they had been dropped by their American label during their U.S.\u00a0Souvlaki<\/em> tour) and they were getting slammed by critics. The band responded with\u00a0Pygmalion<\/em>, as un-commercial an album as one could imagine. Pygmalion<\/em> is a stark and minimal affair, and reflects Halstead\u2019s growing fascination with electronic music at the time. Pygmalion<\/em>\u00a0makes heavy use of loops (\u201cCrazy for You\u201d, \u201cTrellisaze\u201d), eerie atmospherics (\u201cMiranda\u201d), and stripped down arrangements (\u201cRutti\u201d, \u201cAll Of Us\u201d), and overall, sounds more like Aphex Twin or Autechre than anything shoegazer. Not surprisingly, the album was savaged in the press and Slowdive was dropped from their label shortly after its\u00a0release. (Sonic Cathedral recently posted a nice article about Pygmalion<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0its recording process and legacy.)<\/p>\n

After Pygmalion<\/em>, Slowdive\u2019s members went on to other projects. Halstead, Goswell, and drummer Ian McCutcheon formed Mojave 3, eschewing shoegazer altogether for a country-influenced sound. Former drummer Simon Scott has released several solo ambient albums under his own name. And guitarist\u00a0Christian Savill has released several albums with Monster Movie. But the band\u2019s music and legacy lives on in a new crop of shoegazers (e.g., Ulrich Schnauss, Jonas Munk, Mahogany), not to mention M83 and Sigur R\u00f3s.<\/p>\n

All of Slowdive\u2019s albums are currently available. However, if you\u2019d prefer an overview of the band\u2019s music,\u00a0The Shining Breeze<\/em> is a two-disc compilation that contains highlights from all of their albums, as well as several singles and EPs.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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