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Shoegazing was a generalized tag given to some alternative rock bands that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted until the mid 1990s, peaking circa 1990 to 1991. One could argue that it was simply a label for a generation of sullen bands using distortion and buried melodies already seen in previous years among bands like the Velvet Underground and Jesus and Mary Chain. Momentum for yet another musical category was driven primarily by My Bloody Valentine's genuinely innovative otherworldly guitar textures utilizing reverse reverb. The "shoegaze" label would quickly encompass so many disparate bands and studio techniques as to be meaningless. The "shoegaze" label ended up having more to do with what label a band was on and country they were from than any particular sound or idea. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Post punk generally refers to the particularly fertile and creative period following the initial punk rock explosion. During the first wave of punk, roughly spanning 1976-1983, bands such as The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Ramones and The Damned began to challenge the current styles and conventions of rock... Dream pop is a type of alternative rock that originated in Britain in the early 1980s, when bands like Cocteau Twins, The Chameleons, The Passions, Dead Can Dance, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane (to whom the term has been attributed) began fusing post-punk experiments with bittersweet pop... For space rocks, see asteroid. ... Noise pop is a term used to loosely describe a number of alternative rock bands that fuse punk rocks attitude and anger with the atonal noise, feedback, and free song structures of noise music, presented in a decidedly pop context. ... Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that attempts to replicate the mind-altering experiences of hallucinogenic drugs. ... Drone music, also known as drone-based music, drone ambient or ambient drone, dronescape or dronology, and sometimes simply as drone, is a musical style that emphasizes the use of sustained sounds, notes, or tones-clusters – called drones. ... For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... For other kinds of drums, see drum (disambiguation). ... The term post-rock was coined by Simon Reynolds in issue 123 of The Wire (May 1994) to describe a sort of music using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and powerchords. ... The Scene That Celebrates Itself was a term used to describe a social and musical scene in the early 1990s within London and the Thames Valley area. ... The following is a list of shoegazing musicians, i. ... Alternative music redirects here. ...

The British music press (notably NME and Melody Maker) called this genre "shoegazing" because the musicians in these bands often maintained a motionless performing style, standing on stage and staring at the floor while playing their instruments; hence, the idea that they were gazing at their shoes.^[1] The shoegazing sound featured extensive use of guitar effects, and indistinguishable vocal melodies that blended into the creative noise of the guitars. Few shoegazers were dynamic performers or interesting interviewees, which prevented them from breaking through into markets in the United States.^[1] A lump description given to shoegaze bands in London in the early 1990s was "The Scene That Celebrates Itself."^[2] In the 1990s, shoegaze groups were pushed aside by the likes of American grunge and Britpop, forcing bands to breakup or evolve into a different style.^[1] Recent times have seen a renewed interest in the genre, among so-called "nu-gaze" bands.^[3] For other uses, see NME (disambiguation). ... This article is about the music newspaper. ... The Scene That Celebrates Itself was a term used to describe a social and musical scene in the early 1990s within London and the Thames Valley area. ...

Definitions

Common musical elements in shoegaze are distortion (aka "fuzzbox"), droning riffs and a "wall of sound" from noisy guitars. Typically, two distorted rhythm guitars are played together to give an amorphous quality to the sound. Although lead guitar riffs were often present, they were not the central focus of most shoegazing songs. Some, including Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine, have argued that the shoegaze tag is a meaningless label that puts disparate bands together who happen to come out around the same time. Overeager journalists looking to create a theme lumped any band that used any kind of distortion or blurring effects into this category making the category utterly meaningless. Young passionate fans picked up on faux movement and pretty much any English band who put out an album after 1989 has been called "shoegazers" by one person or another despite no common musical beliefs or techniques among the various bands. According to the ridiculous definition in this article, one could say the Beatles or Velvet Underground were the first shoegaze band as they pioneered many guitar distortion techniques. This article is about the music production effect. ...

Vocals are typically subdued in volume and tone, but underneath the layers of guitars is generally a strong sense of melody. While the genres which influenced shoegazing often used drum machines, shoegazing more often features live drumming. Chapterhouse and Seefeel utilised both samples and live drumming. Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Chapterhouse is a British shoegazing band of the early 1990s, originally from Reading. ... Seefeel are a British music group. ...

The name was coined in a review in Sounds of a concert by the newly-formed Moose in which singer Russell Yates read lyrics taped to the floor throughout the gig.^[4] The term was picked up by the New Musical Express, who used it as a reference to the tendency of the bands' guitarists to stare at their feet (or their effects pedals), seemingly deep in concentration, while playing. Melody Maker preferred the more staid term The Scene That Celebrates Itself, referring to the habit which the bands had of attending gigs of other shoegazing bands, often in Camden, and often moonlighting in each other's bands. Sounds was a British music paper, published weekly from October 10, 1970 – April 6, 1991. ... Moose were a British indie rock band who formed in London in 1990. ... The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a weekly magazine about popular music published in the UK. It is unlike many other popular music magazines due to its intended focus on guitar-based music and indie rock bands, instead of mainstream pop acts. ... Effects pedals are electronic devices used by musicians, primarily electric guitar players, to alter the sound quality or timbre of electric or electronic instruments, and less often vocals picked up through microphones. ... This article is about the music newspaper. ... For other uses of Camden, see Camden. ...

The shatteringly loud, droning neo-psychedelia the band performed was dubbed shoegazing by the British press because the bandmembers stared at the stage while they performed.[1]

Influences

The bands first labelled as "shoegaze" were largely influenced by My Bloody Valentine, and emerged in the wake of their breakthrough in 1988 with the "You Made Me Realise" single and the album Isn't Anything,^[5][6] and the "shoegaze" label has more recently been applied to My Bloody Valentine themselves.^[7] Other artists that have been identified as influences on shoegazing include Dinosaur Jr, The Jesus and Mary Chain, the Cocteau Twins,^[6][8] The Cure, Bauhaus, ^[7] and Galaxie 500.^[9] This article is about the music group. ... You Made Me Realise is a 1988 EP by My Bloody Valentine. ... Isnt Anything is the official debut album by My Bloody Valentine, released in 1988 after years of issuing either EPs or mini-LPs. ... Dinosaur Jr is an American alternative rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1983 as Dinosaur. ... The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band that revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid. ... Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1982 to 1997. ... This article is about the English rock band. ... Bauhaus were an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978. ... This article is about the American indie rock band. ...

Michael Azerrad's book Our Band Could Be Your Life cites an early 1990s Dinosaur Jr tour of the United Kingdom as a key influence. While not classified as a shoegazing band, Dinosaur Jr did share a tendency to blend poppy melody with loud guitars and laconic vocals. A lengthy summer 1992 U.S. tour featuring MBV, Dinosaur Jr. and Yo La Tengo raised the genre's profile in the States considerably. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991 is a book by Michael Azerrad (ISBN 0-316-78753-1). ... Dinosaur Jr is an American alternative rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1983 as Dinosaur. ... Yo La Tengo is an American indie rock band, based in Hoboken, New Jersey. ...

Heyday: "The Scene That Celebrates Itself"

The first stirrings of recognition came when indie writer Steve Lamacq referred to Ride in a review for the NME as "The House of Love with chainsaws". The genre label was quite often misapplied. Key bands such as Ride, Chapterhouse and Slowdive emerged from the Thames Valley and as such Swervedriver found themselves labelled shoegazers on account of their own (coincidental) Thames Valley origins - despite their more pronounced Hüsker Dü-meets-Stooges stylings. Steve Lamacq (born 16 October 1965), sometimes known by his nicknames Lammo (given to him by John Peel) or The Cat (due to his ability as a goalkeeper), is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio stations Radio 1, BBC 6 Music and now BBC Radio 2... Ride were a British shoegazing band. ... House Of Love is also a hit song by East 17. ... Chapterhouse is a British shoegazing band of the early 1990s, originally from Reading. ... Slowdive // Slowdive were a shoegazing band formed in 1989, lasting until 1995. ... The Thames Valley is generally the region that drains into the River Thames, England, but is used in a more specific term by the government. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the rock band called Hüsker Dü. For other uses, see Husker Du. ... This article is about the rock band. ...

The BBC's John Peel was a relentless supporter of the shoegaze scene; most U.K. bands of the genre recorded "Peel Sessions" before even releasing an album. For other persons named John Peel, see John Peel (disambiguation). ...

Dream pop

Main article: Dream pop

The shoegaze style is related to a genre that had existed since the mid 1980s, known as dream pop. Dream pop was a more ambient and abstract take on folk and pop music. It was pioneered by 4AD acts, such as Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil, who took advantages of the improvements in studio technology in the previous decades to create a new strain of pop music with a hazy, ethereal sound. Highly respected ambient artists like Harold Budd and Brian Eno (who went on to co-author a track on an emblematic shoegaze record, Slowdive's Souvlaki LP) have collaborated with dream pop acts, which serves to highlight the genre's connection with ambient music. The genre proved to be highly influential on the shoegazing scene that emerged in the early nineties, and certain acts straddle the two styles, though shoegaze can be distinguished by its noisier, psychedelic sound. Dream pop is a type of alternative rock that originated in Britain in the early 1980s, when bands like Cocteau Twins, The Chameleons, The Passions, Dead Can Dance, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane (to whom the term has been attributed) began fusing post-punk experiments with bittersweet pop... Dream pop is a type of alternative rock that originated in Britain in the early 1980s, when bands like Cocteau Twins, The Chameleons, The Passions, Dead Can Dance, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane (to whom the term has been attributed) began fusing post-punk experiments with bittersweet pop... This article is about the record label 4AD. For the year, see 4. ... Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1982 to 1997. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Harold Budd (born May 24, 1936) is an American ambient/avant-garde composer. ... Brian Eno (pronounced IPA: ) born on 15 May 1948 in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England) is an English electronic musician, music theorist and record producer. ... Slowdive // Slowdive were a shoegazing band formed in 1989, lasting until 1995. ...

Decline

The coining of the term "The Scene That Celebrates Itself" was in many ways the beginning of the end for the first wave of shoegazers. The bands became perceived by critics as over-privileged, self-indulgent and middle-class. This perception was in sharp contrast with those bands who formed the wave of newly-commercialised grunge music which was making its way across the Atlantic, and those bands who formed the foundation of Britpop, such as Blur, Suede, Oasis and Pulp.^[10] Britpop also offered intelligible lyrics, often about the trials and tribulations of working-class life; this was a stark contrast to the "vocals as an instrument" approach of the shoegazers, which often prized the melodic contribution of vocals over their lyrical depth. Lush's final album was an abrupt shift from shoegazing to Britpop, alienating many fans; the 1996 suicide of their drummer led to Lush's dissolution and served as a symbolic nail in the coffin of what was the shoegazing genre's original era. Nothing has surfaced from My Bloody Valentine since Loveless, although recently a reunion and plans for a new album have been confirmed, with frontman Kevin Shields explaining the band's silence with "I never could be bothered to make another record unless I was really excited by it".^[11] As recent as 2007 publications have began to announce the "rebirth of shoegazer"^{[citation needed]} with bands like Apollo Heights, Atlas Sound, Spindrift, Xu Xu Fang, Silversun Pickups, Autolux and Giant Drag at the forefront along with the reunions of other bands associated with shoegazing such as Swervedriver, Dinosaur Jr and My Bloody Valentine. Grunge music (sometimes also referred to as the Seattle Sound) is an independent-rooted music genre that became a commercially successful offshoot of hardcore punk, thrash metal, and alternative rock in the late 1980s and early 1990s. ... Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. ... Blur were an English rock band that formed in Colchester in 1989. ... Suede (or The London Suede in the U.S.) were a popular and influential English rock band of the 1990s that helped start the Britpop musical movement of the decade. ... Oasis are an English rock band that formed in Manchester in 1991. ... Pulp were a rock band, formed in Sheffield, England in 1978, by then 15-year-old school boy Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar). ... Lush was an English shoegazing band, formed in 1988. ... Kevin Shields (born Queens, New York City, USA on May 21, 1963) is a singer, guitarist, and producer who fronted the London-based band My Bloody Valentine in the late 1980s and early 1990s. ... Atlas Sound is the name of a musical solo project of Bradford James Cox, the lead singer of Atlanta four-piece Deerhunter. ... Spindrift is a phenomenon of the interaction of crashing waves and land-originating winds. ... Silversun Pickups (also simply known as SSPU) is an American indie rock band from Los Angeles, California, signed to Dangerbird Records, and headed by Brian Aubert. ... Autolux are a Los Angeles-based trio comprised of Eugene Goreshter (lead vocals, bass), Greg Edwards (guitar, vocals), and Carla Azar (drums, vocals). ... Giant Drag is a Californian Indie rock duo, composed of singer/guitarist Annie Hardy and a simultaneous drummer and synth-player. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Dinosaur Jr is an American alternative rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1983 as Dinosaur. ... This article is about the music group. ...

Post-movement directions

Slowdive eventually morphed into the country-infused Mojave 3, while other shoegaze bands either split or moved in other directions. The Verve (at the time known simply as "Verve") went more towards mainstream rock on their 1997 album Urban Hymns, before singer Richard Ashcroft went solo. Mark Gardener and Loz Colbert of Ride released an album as The Animalhouse; in 2006, Gardener's first solo album was released. Several former members of shoegazing bands later moved towards post-rock and the more electronica-based trip hop. Adam Franklin of Swervedriver released lo-fi albums under the moniker Toshack Highway. Mojave 3 consists of members Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell, Simon Rowe, Alan Forrester, and Ian McCutcheon. ... The Verve (originally Verve) are an English rock band formed in Wigan, Greater Manchester in 1989 at Winstanley Sixth Form College, by vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. ... Richard Paul Ashcroft is an English singer-songwriter born on September 11, 1971 in Billinge Maternity Hospital in Billinge Higher End, Lancashire (now part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester). ... Mark Gardener (born Mark Stephen Gardener, 6 December 1969, in Oxford, England) is an English rock musician, and former singer and guitarist with the popular shoegazing band, Ride. ... Ride were a British shoegazing band. ... The term post-rock was coined by Simon Reynolds in issue 123 of The Wire (May 1994) to describe a sort of music using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and powerchords. ... Trip hop (also known as the Bristol sound) is a term coined by United Kingdom dance magazine Mixmag, to describe a musical trend in the mid-1990s; trip hop is downtempo electronic music that grew out of Englands hip hop and house scenes. ... Adam Franklin is a guitarist, singer and songwriter who has played in Swervedriver (1989-99) and Shake Appeal (1984-89) and currently Toshack Highway (1999 to present day). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Lo-fi is a subgenre of indie rock which uses lo-fi recording practices. ... Toshack Highway is the musical group formed by the lead singer and guitarist from Swervedriver, Adam Franklin. ...

Going "unplugged" has become a popular route to take for former lead singers of shoegaze bands: Gardener, Franklin, Ashcroft, Rob Dickinson of Catherine Wheel, and Slowdive/Mojave 3, have all reinvented themselves as acoustic troubadours. Rob Dickinson Rob Dickinson (born July 23, 1965) is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter previously of the band Catherine Wheel and now a solo artist. ...

Recent acts such as Mew^[12], Jesu^[13], Asobi Seksu,^[10], Maps^[10] Amusement Parks on Fire^{[citation needed]}, Silversun Pickups^[14][15][16] and M83^[17] also borrow heavily from the shoegaze movement. Mew is an indie rock band from Denmark. ... Jesu is an experimental rock band formed in 2003 by Justin Broadrick following the breakup of Godflesh. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Maps is the recording name used by Northampton-based musician James Chapman. ... Amusement Parks On Fire are a band based in Nottingham UK. They consist of: Michael Feerick (Guitar/Vocals) Daniel Knowles (Guitar/Production) Jez Cox (Bass) Peter Dale (Drums) Incidentally the only one of these credited on their eponymous debut album is Michael Feerick. ... Silversun Pickups (also simply known as SSPU) is an American indie rock band from Los Angeles, California, signed to Dangerbird Records, and headed by Brian Aubert. ... M83 is an electronic music group consisting of Nicolas Fromageau and Anthony Gonzalez, and was formed in Antibes, France in 2001. ...

Use of electronic manipulation

There is another thread of shoegaze-influenced music which maintains the emphasis of texture (through the use of guitar effects pedals and digital signal processing) but departs, to some degree, from the rock structures and full-band instrumentation of shoegaze music. Also, there are little to no vocal elements. This “post-shoegaze” glitch and experimental electronic music has achieved some critical praise, especially releases Televise (who is Simon Scott from Slowdive), Fennesz and Tim Hecker. Also aspects of Seefeel, late-era Flying Saucer Attack, Main, lovesliescrushing, The Third Eye Foundation, Pacific UV, Oppressed by the Line, and M83 have explored this territory as well in the mid-'90s and beyond.^{[citation needed]} Digital signal processing (DSP) is the study of signals in a digital representation and the processing methods of these signals. ... Glitch (also known as Clicks and Cuts from a representative compilation series by the German record label Mille Plateaux) is a genre of electronic music that became popular in the late 1990s with the increasing use of digital signal processing, particularly on computers. ... Televise is a shoegazer band formed by ex-Slowdive member Simon Scott (vocals/guitar), together with Nick King (drums), Alex Dowding (bass), and Jamie Armstrong (guitar). ... Simon Scott is an English drummer. ... Slowdive // Slowdive were a shoegazing band formed in 1989, lasting until 1995. ... Christian Fennesz (born December 25, 1962) is an Austrian musician who uses guitar and computer to create his electronic compositions. ... Tim Hecker is a Canadian musician whose recordings are often classified under the electronica genre. ... Flying Saucer Attack was an experimental indie rock band that formed in Bristol, England in 1992. ... Main, was formed in 1991 by Neil McKay and John Willsformer, former members of Loop. ... lovesliescrushing (often misspelled loveliescrushing) is a shoegaze band, from Tucson, Arizona. ... Matt Elliott is a musician from Bristol, who initially recorded as The Third Eye Foundation, and since 2001 has used his own name. ... Oppressed by the Line started as Of Normandy, a 4-track diversion for guitarist Jon Thompson -- a chance for him to break out of his shell and try his hand at vocals. ... M83 is an electronic music group consisting of Nicolas Fromageau and Anthony Gonzalez, and was formed in Antibes, France in 2001. ...

Often using the digital studio of a computer, these artists focus much attention on creating spacious atmosphere. The outcome tends to be compositions ranging from ambient stretches of droning tones, distorted walls of sound, and reverb-laden atmospherics. What separates this from other strands of glitch or noise compositions and places it in the realm of shoegaze, are the inclusion of melodies that call to mind pop and rock music.^{[citation needed]} Ambient music is a musical genre in which sound is more important than notes. ... This article is about audio effect. ... Noise music is music composed of non-traditional musical elements, and lacks the structure associated with Western Music. ...

Song Sample

Ride - "Unfamiliar"

Unfamiliar by Ride

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

Ride were a British shoegazing band. ...

Shoegaze timeline

Selected bands and events in the genre:

References

For other uses, see Guardian. ...

External links

• All Music Guide genre entry
• musicOMH.com Shoegaze revival feature
• Interesting article on genre

See also

• List of shoegazing musicians