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the_eggwhiteWell, I've now relocated downstairs, and am doing the listen-through in the front room and typing on my netbook. I'm also sorting through my fairly massive accumulated post pile as I go, so I may be distracted at times.
My friend Flick is also around here, using our dining table as a comfortable working space. If she has any interesting reactions to the CDs, they may get posted here too... but I'm not going to tell her that just yet.
So, here we go, starting with some good old 90s Shoegaze.
Chapterhouse - The Best of Chapterhouse
I have shoes, and occasionally I gaze at them in a 90s fashion. Bizarrely, I'm yet to hear anybody ever talk about post-shoegaze, which is odd as post-everything-else seems to be out in full force. I think it's because there's no need - good shoegaze sounds as fresh and relevant now as it did back then. You don't need the new stuff...
Anyway, if I was doing a proper 90s indie shoegaze review then I'd basically pick a random adjective from the thesaurus and add the word "guitars" after, build a sentence around it... rinse and repeat until done. Instead, I'm going to actually talk about the songs a bit.
Opener We are the beautiful sets the scene pretty well for the more upbeat end of the genre, stomping it's way in to a vibrant, jangly number (see, those 90's review adjectives won't stay away). Falling down picks up from there, with all the trademark 90s guitar distortion and murky vocals that sometimes get lost behind everything else. Pearl carries things along nicely - with a bit more typical 90s percussion sneaking in around the edges. Come Heaven breaks the mould a little, sounding a little less shoegaze and a heading more towards being a doom metal intro... but the light, lost-in-the-sound-vocals kick in instead of a growl of throaty noise and a wall of drums like an explosion in a nailgun and oil barrel factory.
The pace picks up nicely for breather, demonstrating that Chapterhouse are perfectly capable of picking up the pace when they want to. Similarly, She's a Vision picks it up a bit as well. On the more laid back side of things, Love Forever and Then We'll Rise deliver the goods as well, with breathy vocals in the background.
For me, this is one course of a glorious early 90s shoegaze banquet, some more of which will be along later in the Cs.
Verdict: Keep
The Church - Gold Afternoon Fix
I mentioned that The Church would be mentioned again (back when I was covering All About Eve, when I discovered the bands are connected via a guitarist)... and here we are. I'm keeping this one, and to be honest it's a "yarr" edition anyway - last time I looked it was basically impossible to get a legitimate copy. I don't even have a proper tracklist for this one (wikipedia to the rescue!), so I'm just going to say "it's a damned fine album - I'd love a legit copy, but haven't been able to find one".
I'll look again in a bit, because it looks like it may have been re-issued at some point... which would be nice. (update: ordered.)
Highpoints are "Metropolis", "Terra Nova Cain", "Russian Autumn Heart" and "Fading Away".
Verdict: Keep - I'd prefer to own it more legitimately if at all possible, but last time I looked it was like hen's teeth! (update: ordered)
My friend Flick is also around here, using our dining table as a comfortable working space. If she has any interesting reactions to the CDs, they may get posted here too... but I'm not going to tell her that just yet.
So, here we go, starting with some good old 90s Shoegaze.
Chapterhouse - The Best of Chapterhouse
I have shoes, and occasionally I gaze at them in a 90s fashion. Bizarrely, I'm yet to hear anybody ever talk about post-shoegaze, which is odd as post-everything-else seems to be out in full force. I think it's because there's no need - good shoegaze sounds as fresh and relevant now as it did back then. You don't need the new stuff...
Anyway, if I was doing a proper 90s indie shoegaze review then I'd basically pick a random adjective from the thesaurus and add the word "guitars" after, build a sentence around it... rinse and repeat until done. Instead, I'm going to actually talk about the songs a bit.
Opener We are the beautiful sets the scene pretty well for the more upbeat end of the genre, stomping it's way in to a vibrant, jangly number (see, those 90's review adjectives won't stay away). Falling down picks up from there, with all the trademark 90s guitar distortion and murky vocals that sometimes get lost behind everything else. Pearl carries things along nicely - with a bit more typical 90s percussion sneaking in around the edges. Come Heaven breaks the mould a little, sounding a little less shoegaze and a heading more towards being a doom metal intro... but the light, lost-in-the-sound-vocals kick in instead of a growl of throaty noise and a wall of drums like an explosion in a nailgun and oil barrel factory.
The pace picks up nicely for breather, demonstrating that Chapterhouse are perfectly capable of picking up the pace when they want to. Similarly, She's a Vision picks it up a bit as well. On the more laid back side of things, Love Forever and Then We'll Rise deliver the goods as well, with breathy vocals in the background.
For me, this is one course of a glorious early 90s shoegaze banquet, some more of which will be along later in the Cs.
Verdict: Keep
The Church - Gold Afternoon Fix
I mentioned that The Church would be mentioned again (back when I was covering All About Eve, when I discovered the bands are connected via a guitarist)... and here we are. I'm keeping this one, and to be honest it's a "yarr" edition anyway - last time I looked it was basically impossible to get a legitimate copy. I don't even have a proper tracklist for this one (wikipedia to the rescue!), so I'm just going to say "it's a damned fine album - I'd love a legit copy, but haven't been able to find one".
I'll look again in a bit, because it looks like it may have been re-issued at some point... which would be nice. (update: ordered.)
Highpoints are "Metropolis", "Terra Nova Cain", "Russian Autumn Heart" and "Fading Away".
Verdict: Keep - I'd prefer to own it more legitimately if at all possible, but last time I looked it was like hen's teeth! (update: ordered)
