deep wave

the field mice - it isn't forever

a brilliant track from forgotten 90's UK shoegaze-pop outfit the field mice, "it isn't forever" welds early New Ordery elements like jangly guitar and heartbeat kicks onto tripped-out ambient textures and echoey vocals. Totally in the pocket. It's like new wave but more psychedelic, let's call it deep wave.

seefeel

seefeel - quique

forged in the early 90s, seefeel's hybrid sound of shoegaze and ambient techno remains without easy parallel to this day. Their arguable acknowledged classic Quique (1993) was rereleased in 2007. A beautiful, uncompromising record, its aesthetic distilled to crystalline perfection, Quique abounds with mid-tempo dub and techno beats combined with gorgeously processed guitars and vocals. In short, it's one of my favorite records ever, and every time I hear it I can't believe no one's really followed up on it. It's an exquisite wallpaper record, filling up background space when you play it at home, content to endlessly churn its shimmering loops and bass pulses, but full of microcosmic delights when you stop to listen more closely. Please enjoy.

bedroom bliss

washed out - feel it all around

M/A/R/R/S - anitina

washed out is the latest in a string of lo-fi indie acts, like neon indian and memory cassette, matching outer-space shoegaze vocals and shimmering melodies to loping machine beats. But what to call it? There's no shortage of possibilities, including chill wave, gaze wave, and Pitchforkwavegaze, but we're gonna call it 'bedroom bliss,' because it sounds like being half-passed out on your bedroom floor, drooling on your four-track.

Now that one of the forefathers of this sound is arguably, wait for it, 80s dance act M/A/R/R/S, best, or perhaps only, known for their landmark tune "Pump Up the Volume," considered the first UK number one hit to be sample-based. The group was in fact a collaborative effort between two acts, the rock-based A.R. Kane and the electronic-leaning Colourbox. "Pump Up the Volume" was essentially a Colourbox track with added guitar from Kane. The mega-hit's b-side, "Anitina" displays inverse proportions, being by and large a MBV shoegazy tune with added techno drums. It's a solid garage-y JAMC meets 80s house tune and definitely worth a "wtf, this is M/A/R/R/S?" mental hot-foot.