OFF: Bardo Pond /Shoegazing??

[Keith Henderson]

Chris W. answered Chuck with...

>><< I like 'em pretty well, although I should point out that I once toured for
>> a week with a band that was opening for them (and had no problem seeing
>> them six or seven nights in a row).  I'd say don't miss them if you're into
>> My Bloody Valentine-type ultra-dense psychedelic shoegaze stuff, but you
>> can probably do without if you're more into heavier/pouding
>> blanga/stonerrock (hope that puts some perspective on them, at least). >>
>>
>>---I'm seeing this term a lot lately, refering to music: "shoegazer". What's
>>the story w/that?  Chuck
>
>It implies they are introspective/non-demonstrative, I believe the term was
>originally coined in the mid to late '80s and was applied originally to the
>gloomier "indie" bands of the period - my fuzzy brain seems to connect this
>with the generation of bands represented on NME's "C-86" cassette...

Yeah, apparently a lot of these groups weren't the most energetic stage
performers, and had a tendency to stand still and look straight down...hence
the literal application of the term.

Musically-speaking, I'm hardly one to qualify the term much, but it was
generally a British phenomenon in the late 80s, particularly in the
Manchester area.  Like some of those bands that preferred one-word titles,
just as the 'alternative' bands over here tend to do.  I think Ride was the
first 'shoegazer' group I heard, and one that didn't really move me so much.
They were the more indie-alt. style version, along with MBV and (I believe)
Oasis (from the more kiddie-pop angle).  (I'm not sure, I've only ever heard
one Oasis song.)

Anyway, there were others that were more dreamy/spacey even, within that
same dense, soupy echo-guitar melange that the shoegazer's loved....e.g.,
Levitation, Slowdive, and I suppose nowadays, Spiritualized and dark star.
And Radiohead's OK Computer a little bit, if you can stand that awful
singer.  In the US, the first 7% Solution album is quite shoegaze-y, as is
Aspera Ad Astra from Philly and SIANspheric from Hamilton, Ontario.  It's
just never quite caught on so much here, so I guess that's why these bands
are still very obscure.

Keith H. (FAA)