Friday, October 14th, 2005

Angel Sigh

A little while back, I ordered the Never Lose That Feeling compilation CD from the good folks at Club AC30 in the UK, who are both a club night and record label in the same way that Shimmer is both a floor cleaner and dessert topping. It features a slew of current shoegaze-centric bands covering classic tracks by first-generation shoegaze bands, both big names and small. I was somewhat surprised by how solid it is, even if I don’t know a good number of the coverers or coverees.

Thankfully, there’s a lot more sonic variety than you might expect – it’s not all distortion and reverb. There’s some overly faithful covers (Hello Amusement Parks On Fire vs My Bloody Valentine, Hinterland vs Lush), but there are also some more creative reinterpretations (AmAnSet’s Andrew Kenny turns in a lovely acoustic version of Spiritualized’s “Angel Sigh” and Plumbline’s glacial take on Catherine Wheel’s “Black Metallic”).

Club AC30 is streaming some tracks from the album on their MySpace page. It was just released in North America through Clairecords and is available at Tonevendor, and there are two more volumes to follow. It’s a worthy record, not just because of the nostalgic factor from hearing old favourites redone given respect, but because it also shows there’s lots of new acts not only carrying on the style, but moving it forward into new places.

And speaking of the genre and its forebears, Are You Familiar is undertaking the noble and daunting task of chronicling the history of shoegazing. Parts one, two and three are currently up. I don’t know how many parts there will be, ultimately, but it’ll be interesting reading.

And speaking of Ride, sadly plans for the Ride DVD have been scuttled by the fact that one of the centrepieces of the planned document, the live footage of their triumphant Reading 1992 performance, has been lost by the owners. A contingency plan is being assembled, but that’s still very disappointing. Also, Mark Gardener has released his debut solo album, These Beautiful Ghosts, on which he was backed by his touring band Goldrush. Listen to some of it via this e-card. Gardener will be touring North America this December in support.

And speaking of Andrew Kenny (if you backtrack a few items), he’s told Paste that the upcoming tour in support of Set Free will be the band’s last. They’re not breaking up, just giving up life on the road (though a review in the new Magnet calls the album their “swan song”). AmAnSet is a great live band, it’s a shame they’re giving up that aspect of their music, but that’s all the more reason to see them at the Horseshoe on November 13. Via PrefixBlog.

Billboard has more info on the forthcoming Cat Power album The Greatest, out January 24.

The local media finds an angle on tomorrow’s Death Cab For Cutie show at the Kool Haus. Read pieces from NOW and The Toronto Sun.

Monkey. Kitten. Hulk.

np – various artists / Blue Skied An’ Clear

By : Frank Yang at 9:05 am
Category: Uncategorized
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  1. Greg says:

    Thanks for the link to the shoegaze retrospective I’m putting together. Looks like it’ll be six parts when I’m finished.

  2. solace says:

    AmAnSet "broke up" a couple years ago too, only to get back together and put out Promise of Love and tour, but i still am not going to take my chances and miss this upcoming tour :)

  3. bill p says:

    that ultra vivid scene cover is pretty wrote too, but "black metalic" is nice indeed. youdve thought they would pick a better pale saints song than "kinky love," as that was a sinatra/hazelwood cover to begin with. but still a cool idea and nice to see moose is getting some love.

  4. American Analog Set says:

    Don’t miss AAS live. They are awesome!

  5. MBV says:

    All discussion of Shoegaze start & ends

    with My Bloody Valentine.

    By the way, Ride sucks!

  6. brads says:

    OoooooOOo…. them’s fightin’ words!

  7. Frank says:

    I got this guy’s IP, Brad. Let’s go bust a cap on him OX4-styles.

  8. MBV says:

    Hey, i just tell it like is or at least

    the way I see it. I don’t like Ride.

    Come on Frank no need to get all hostile lol

  9. Greg says:

    My Bloody Valentine were great, but they receive too much credit. Kevin Shields was not so much an innovator as he was a perfectionist.

  10. Frank says:

    I like MBV as much as anyone else, but if we’re playing Desert Island (shoegaze) Discs, I’d have to pick Going Blank Again and Slowdive’s Souvlaki before Loveless.

    Of course, if it’s just shoegaze DIDs, Loveless would certainly be on the list. But you get my point.

  11. Greg says:

    Just finished up the MBV and Ride sections of the retrospective. Direct link here: http://…/

  12. Pierre says:

    We played a warm up gig for South Ambulance on Oct 15th. It´s a great band. Don´t remember if they played any Pale Saints though.