expect delay
Robin Guthrie popped up on socials last week and offered an update on his happenings just on time for Bandcamp Friday, OK, so, um, I have a bunch of new releases coming up in 2024, the first of which is at the factory getting manufactured right now. I’ll be the first to let you know, […]
A return to North America and English-language content with this one courtesy of Stereogum; Toronto journalist Lesa Hannah has collected a trio of interviews with some of the women who defined the first wave of shoegazer bands – Rachel Goswell of Slowdive, Emma Anderson of Lush, and Deb Googe of My Bloody Valentine – and […]
And now, a farewell to Tokyo after two glorious and exhausting weeks with the most on-the-nose selection possible, by one of the most unashamedly on-the-nose acts around – Tokyo Shoegazer. This selection comes from their last full-length of new material, 2022’s Moonworld Playground (not counting last year’s re-recorded Turnaround) and while it’s my least favourite […]
If there is any place on earth that is a physical manifestation of the Japanese dreampop/shoegaze scene, I think it would be Kōenji HIGH, a venue – or live house, as they call clubs here – in the northwest of Tokyo. They regularly host showcases from label/promoters Dreamwaves and Total Feedback, and by pure luck […]
I don’t know much about re:lapse, save for the fact that all the members have previous tours of duty in other bands in the Tokyo shoegaze scene and they’ve put out a series of terrific EPs since the Fall 2021, helpfully self-titled and sequentially numbered. The first was a pleasant if rather unremarkable slice of […]
My appreciation for Tokyo’s yuragi predates my J-gaze obsession, so they certainly helped lay the groundwork for where my head is now and deserve some (more) props. This live clip comes from the October 2021 release show at Shibuya WWW for their sophomore effort For You, Adroit It But Soft; it’s an album that certainly […]
“Influenced by Kinoko Teikoku” is basically a J-gaze subgenre – or maybe a synonym – and one of the current leading lights of that style is Hammer Head Shark, a Tokyo quartet especially good at their forebear’s combination of sonic aggression and angsty vocals, with a healthy dose of snotty youthful rebellion added for good […]
The first post from Tokyo proper – Kon’nichiwa! – should be the band that kick-started this whole J-pop/J-gaze obsession that’s been going on hereabouts for over a year, and is in no small part one of the reasons I’m here right now (don’t tell my family) – the dear departed For Tracy Hyde. I’ve celebrated […]
Nagoya duo Blurred City Lights are one of the newer Japanese dreampop artists to have caught my ear, with their debut album 天使のいない街で (In A City Without Angels) one of the genre highlights of the year so far. Though quite fresh-faced and with an unabashed bedroom studio aesthetic, they’ve crafted a debut that demonstrates both […]
Get yourself ready for some J-gaze/adjacent goodness as I head to Japan tomorrow for a two week jaunt across Tokyo and Osaka. In lieu of any sort of in-depth content, I’ll just stretch the equivalent of a playlist out over the duration, starting with one the godheads of the scene, Kinoko Teikoku. This tune, fitting […]
