Aye, I mean, Cocteau Twins’ songs weren’t in English half the time either, and for a lot of shoegaze acts, having barely audible vocals is a deliberate stylistic choice.
This is another excellent shoegaze album from a Japanese band called Hartfield. A bit more ‘high energy’ and less clean-sounding than Yuragi but still absolutely stunning. Their song ‘Reason’ is iconic to me in a personal sense:
I like these having heard them a few years ago but never seem to hear of them gigging - Velveteen seems to bring up loads of things on fb and twitter too. Are they on either as I’d like to hear more? Ta
Just got through my first listen, wow, that last explosion that starts just after the 29 minute mark and then really escalates around 31 or so is fantastic. It just completely washes over you.
Good call. I’ve been listening to Yuragi for the past few months now and they really are a stellar band. The shoegaze scene has dried up a little in Japan the past few years, so having a band like them around to rejuvenate things in a big way is very appreciated.
Also, if you want to hear a truly lovely slice of dream pop from another Japanese band with a similar name, check out these guys called Yudachi. The album this track is from is ace, but bear in mind it’s a lot less noisy and more tranquil/downtempo than Yuragi.
Anyone here heard of/a fan of Hatchie? Don’t know much about dreampop or shoegaze and hadn’t heard of her until I saw her support The Vaccines the other night. Took her a lil while to win the crowd over but her last couple of songs were absolute bangers. Got a real 90’s vibe
I think all she’s released so far is an EP and a few more singles, so maybe someone to watch out for
also… would love if any of you could suggest some dream pop/shoegaze artists for me to listen to as I only know of a few
Yeah, I like Hatchie. I have heaps of fun playing guess the song that melody / drum beat / guitar sound, etc. is, well, not a rip-off of, but you know what I mean… E.g. the opening to “Sure” = Chapterboise’s Pearl?
Listened to Pearl and it sounds very similar doesn’t it, not sure whether it’s just one of those things that’s hard to avoid for new artists but it almost sounds too similar to be accidental!
It doesn’t really bother me, tbh. If I like the stuff that it sounds like, then I’m going to like the “rip offs”. I don’t think of them really as rip offs, either, since often what it’s a really tenuous similarity, reminding me of a song I haven’t heard in ages, but turns out to not really be like that song at all. Like “Bad Guys” (above), sounds just like Madonna’s “Crazy For You” to me… until I listen to “Crazy For You” and realise it’s quite different.
Was watching an album review once and the guy said some melodies appear in different songs over and over again, and rather them being rip off’s they’ve just “been around the block a few times”, I definitely agree with that. Plus I’m pretty sure most bands I like get similar critique - so yeah, definitely better to appreciate music as you hear it if you know what I mean
P.S. no worries @Launchpad ! makes me optimistic for her first LP whenever that may arrive
As an avid follower of Curve and their numerous reformations I never really got on with SPC ECO. Seem to have made a lot of albums though, so good on them.
Just echoing the reactions above and wanted to thank you for posting this - it’s bloody marvellous! Plus it led me to this wonderful lil gem of an EP that you might dig too: