Team Sleep- Team Sleep (2005)

Team Sleep is better known as Chino Moreno's side project to being the front man of Deftones. Teaming up with friend DJ Crook who laid down beats for the tracks and some additional members, Team Sleep formed in 2002. Team Sleep uses many different genres including dream pop, trip hop, post-hardcore, shoegaze, post rock, and electronica. The debut album from Team Sleep debuted on May 10th, 2005. The first single was Ever (Foreign Flag) which is actually one of my favorite songs on the album. Like the name says, Team Sleep is a great sleep album. Well at least for me, it's very relaxing and calming and very enjoyable to listen to at the same time. If you are a fan of Chino Moreno's work, check out Team Sleep.

Sweet Trip - Velocity : Design : Comfort (2003)

Since all we've had up lately was "best of" lists, I think it's about time we get a new album posted. This is just a really enjoyable record from a band that knows how to make great electronic and dream pop music. The songs feel very spacey and diverse, and no song sounds like the very next. On some songs, such as the intro it sounds sort of like a Venetian Snares CD but on others you get a glitchy sort of "Loveless" feel from it like my favorite track "Fruitcake and Cookies". The flip flopping that goes on here feels almost abrupt but it all adds to the overrall feel of the album. It's probably a love it or hate it album, for some it would sound fragmented to a fault, yet for others it could that album that grabs your attention right back everytime it manages to lose it. It's definitely something everyone should try out though.

FLAC (Cause the FLAC was too big for Mediafire)

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Last.fm | Myspace | RYM

The Band in Heaven (demos)

There are a ton of shoegazing bands. You could pin it to a number of reasons: Most anything with a bit of fuzz and feedback is considered shoegazing, in many cases you can forgo memorable melodies for unique timbres, My Bloody Valentine is heralded by many indie music circles, etc it doesn't really matter, all that I can say is that when roaming for underground bands, it's almost definite that there is a number of promoted bands labelled as shoegaze.

And with that come clones and, again, it has it's reasons. When a genre is occasionally forced a definition from something as simple as "pop and punk melodies with a heavy use of effects and feedback", there's bound to be some out there that oversimplify a sound.

So when I received this recommendation, maybe I was a bit scared. I like to think I can see past the simplicities of what some consider to be the genre, but maybe I was a bit frightened I'd hear something from a band masking bad music with a genre label.... I'd say I was wrong.

The Band in Heaven, a shoegazing band from South Florida, seem to consider themselves as coming off the steps of The Velvet Underground and 13th Floor Elevators, not My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. They make punkish music that happens to be thick and fuzzy, not the other way around.

And it is, very, thick and fuzzy. They trash and chug through their songs, leaving little in the way of clarity. The riffs are mostly simple, a perfect compliment to their sound, as catchy as it is uninviting. Take The Jesus and Mary Chain's sound and drown it, and you're getting somewhat close to what is going on here.

It should be great to see what comes out of this act, if the demos are any indication.

Bandcamp (buy it there as well as a couple free downloads and every song streaming)

A download of the available free songs in v0 (FLAC and other bitrates available on the site)

Air Formation - Daylight Storms (2007)

Shoegaze is quickly becoming one of my favorite genres of music. The slow, gentle singing is not only relaxing, but in a way it's very absorbing, almost like its taking you into another world. Air Formation is no different. Their soothing lullaby grabs you in a way almost comparable to how Slowdive had stretched out on our couches drifting between sleep and consciousness back in 1993 with their sophomore effort. Air Formation is an English shoegaze and space rock band. The band's rich, vivid sound will literally leave you feeling "Adrift" which is the title of one of the better songs on the album. The opener "Cold Morning" is a slow lull that leaves you with that hungry feeling you get when you want to hear more. That hunger lasts all the way through to the final track, a bass ridden departure from the album that leaves you excited for the band's next LP.

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Last.fm | Official Site | Myspace

Twin Sister - Color Your Life (2010) [EP]

This New York 5 piece have recently been making a name for themselves by making dreamy, funk influenced pop music. Building off their debut EP Vampires With Dreaming Kids the latest EP from Twin Sister is a breezy collection of 6 great tracks. The lead vocalist of the band, Andrea Estella, has that classic whisperery, ethereal voice that some may say is essential to a dream pop band. One of the unique qualities that Twin Sister possesses is a blend of styles, funky, psychedelic, dreamy, they are a hybrid band and with each song they seem to be getting closer and closer to mastering their sound, which only means that the hype surrounding their debut album should be sky high. The EP starts with The Other Side Of Your Face which builds from distortion to beauty over the course of 7 minutes, it is the EP's longest track. Next is the fantastic one-two punch of Lady Daydream and Milk & Honey, both equally majestic and one might even say confident. Then the highlight of the EP, and perhaps one of the best songs of the year All Around and Away We Go, which is basically the bees knees, great for 4 am listening, and I could see it being pretty nice on the dance floor. The EP closes Galaxy Plateau, a song that is probably the EPs low point, it could be seen as filler and there should be none of that on an EP, however the last song Phenomenons more than makes up for the brief misstep, it's a great closer and about as poppy as Color Your Life gets. All in all this is a damn good EP chalk full of beautiful moments, and is perfect for late summer nights.

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Cruyff in the Bedroom - Saudargia (2008)

And another shogaze post. Much like the circumstances of their formation, Cruyff in the Bedroom has a lot of field to play with here. Formed in the year of Japan was announced to host a World Cup and named after soccer/football legend Johan Cruyff, this Japanese band, although certainly encapsulating the thick atmosphere that defines shoegaze, does a lot to try to create a sound that works as their own. While this album is certainly dominated by the fuzzy guitars and walls of sound, there are plenty of moments to lose those shackles. Frequently they slide to a softer soothing sound, occasionally they add somewhat of an "electric rock" feel or maybe falling towards Shibuya-kei, and with the very good Hakuchume, as well as it's following song, a section of orchestrated strings bring a welcome change.

A bit interesting shoegaze album, and there are certainly some nice tracks abound. I definitely feel that the standout is comes from the third track, Hakuchume, as it starts with hectic, fuzzy guitars and it falls into lush strings, but this is an album with several very strong tracks, ranging from fuzzy pop hits to wonderfully executed shoegazing that we all know.

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myspace | last.fm | official

Secret Shine - Untouched (1993)

Someone on the boards asked for shoegaze, so I thought I'd oblige. Not much to say here really. Mostly just another band that rides the wave of early 90 shoegaze artists. There is a certain amount of room for character, however, and I think they do well to fill that space, without cheapening the sound. They do, however, add more of a unique sound with their latest release, All of the Stars

Also, look out for their next album, dropping this year. Maybe I'll post it on here.

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Myspace | last.fm | official