Slowdive | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Commonly identified as shoegaze, Slowdive nonetheless exhibited a broader set of inspirations -- one that spanned four decades, including folk-rock, dub, and ambient techno -- than the majority of their 90s contemporaries. A combination of geographic origin, labelmates such as My Bloody Valentine and Ride, and a sustained predilection for dreamlike harmonies and psychedelicized layers of guitar, led to inevitable restrictive classification. The bands distinctive sound continually evolved from their late-80s start through 1995, when they closed out their first phase with a misunderstood ambient album that shed nearly all rock convention. Two decades later, while most of the members remained involved with individual pursuits, the band was reactivated for touring and recorded again. Formed in Reading, England in late 1989, Slowdive originally consisted of Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell (guitar, vocals), Neil Halstead (guitar, vocals), Christian Savill (guitar), and Adrian Sell (drums). Goswell, Halstead, and Sell were previously the core of the Pumpkin Fairies, an indie-pop act that had recorded a demo. Savill was a member of Eternal, who released a single on Sarah. Within less than a year, Slowdive signed to Alan McGees Creation label and released their debut, a self-titled EP of demos. "Slowdive" itself was named Single of the Week by Melody Maker. Morningrise, featuring temporary drummer Neil Carter, and Holding Our Breath, with ex-Charlottes member Simon Scott on board, followed as the bands second and third EPs of sleepy, escapist dream pop. "Morningrise" appeared on the U.K. pop chart for one week (registering at number 83), as did the third EPs "Catch the Breeze" (which entered at number 52). Both songs were likewise praised by Melody Maker. The same publication dubbed Slowdive part of "The Scene That Celebrates Itself," a small and loose conglomerate of guitar bands, including Lush, Moose, Swervedriver, and the pre-Britpop Blur, that could be seen at each others shows. Just for a Day, Slowdives debut album, was released in September 1991. Though it placed in the Top Ten of the indie chart and climbed to number 32 on the pop chart, the U.K. press was not as supportive as it had been in the past. Months later, the Blue Day compilation appeared on the racks. It combined the bands first three singles, leaving off their version of Syd Barretts "Golden Hair" and the instrumental version of "Avalyn." The bands sound developed significantly for Souvlaki (titled in reference to a favorite skit by telephone pranksters the Jerky Boys), released in June 1993. Assisted by Brian Eno on a couple tracks and mixed by Ed Buller, it was even more atmospheric than the debut, an exemplary "studio as instrument" album of the era, elevated by refined songwriting. Dates with Catherine Wheel were intended to promote the album in the U.S., but snags with Stateside label SBK ensured that Slowdive toured a country where their latest album was available only sparingly as an expensive Creation import. When the U.S. edition of Souvlaki did arrive, eight months after its original U.K. release, it added four bonus tracks, including three-quarters of the 5 EP. Issues with SBK came to a head when the label pulled financial support from a later tour. The band responded by funding a two-week tour themselves and sold a live cassette to help pay the way. Despite poor promotion in the States, the band had cultivated a sizable following through word of mouth and short tours. The bands third studio album was released in 1995. Pygmalion was essentially a solo ambient recording by Halstead with guest vocals from Goswell and occasional percussion from Ian McCutcheon (ex-Mermaids), though all five members were listed in the liners. Taken further than the ambient techno slant of the 5 EP, it was mostly beatless. Within a couple weeks of the albums release, Creation, who had expected something else, dropped the band. Goswell, Halstead, and McCutcheon swiftly moved on with Mojave 3, signed by 4AD on the strength of a demo that basically became the first of their five albums released through the 2000s. In 2014, Chaplin, Goswell, Halstead, Savill, and Scott -- most of whom had remained active with numerous bands and solo activities -- resumed as Slowdive to play festivals and tour on multiple continents. The quintet eventually made a fourth album, Slowdive, released on Secretly Canadian sublabel Dead Oceans in May 2017. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 14 Title: Morningrise Released: 1991-02-18 Tracks: 3 Duration: 14:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Morningrise (04:20) 2 She Calls (05:38) 3 Losing Today (04:59) |
 | Album: 2 of 14 Title: Holding Our Breath Released: 1991-06-03 Tracks: 4 Duration: 19:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Catch the Breeze (04:21) 2 Golden Hair (04:06) 3 Shine (05:21) 4 Albatross (05:14) |
 | Album: 3 of 14 Title: Just for a Day Released: 1991-09-02 Tracks: 9 Duration: 43:42 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Spanish Air (06:06) 2 Celia’s Dream (04:12) 3 Catch the Breeze (04:21) 4 Ballad of Sister Sue (04:34) 5 Erik’s Song (04:27) 6 Waves (05:54) 7 Brighter (03:49) 8 The Sadman (04:47) 9 Primal (05:29) |
| Just for a Day : Allmusic album Review : Just for a Day is Slowdives first album, and it shows; when one listens to the magnificent sound of Souvlaki or the brilliant experimentation of Pygmalion, it becomes clear that Just for a Day was only a step toward the greatness they would later achieve. Its sound is quite like Souvlakis -- swelling waves of flanged guitars, layers of wispy vocals floating in and out of the mix, and sweet lazy pop songs -- but the production sometimes turns the bands plush, sweet sound into the sort of cheap and cheesy pleasantness one might expect from a new age artist. A few tracks hint at the sound that would be fully achieved on Souvlaki ("Celias Dream," "Eriks Song"), and the album as a whole must have sounded wonderful before anyone knew what great things the band was capable of -- but Just for a Day is really Slowdive in their infancy. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 14 Title: Blue Day Released: 1992-02 Tracks: 7 Duration: 35:39 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Slowdive (05:14) 2 Avalyn I (04:51) 3 Morningrise (04:19) 4 She Calls (05:38) 5 Losing Today (04:59) 6 Shine (05:21) 7 Albatross (05:14) |
| Blue Day : Allmusic album Review : Blue Day is a summary of the Slowdive, Morningrise, and Holding Our Breath EPs, minus "Catch the Breeze," "Golden Hair," and "Avalyn II." It was initially released in Japan, France, and a couple of other countries, and it was also included with the first 1000 CD copies of Souvlaki sold in the U.S. and U.K. Its an excellent document of their pre-Just for a Day material. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 14 Title: Outside Your Room EP Released: 1993-05-17 Tracks: 4 Duration: 20:20 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Alison (03:52) 2 So Tired (04:03) 3 Souvlaki Space Station (05:59) 4 Moussaka Chaos (06:24) |
 | Album: 6 of 14 Title: Souvlaki Released: 1993-06-01 Tracks: 14 Duration: 57:09 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Alison (03:52) 2 Machine Gun (04:28) 3 40 Days (03:16) 4 Sing (04:51) 5 Here She Comes (02:21) 6 Souvlaki Space Station (05:59) 7 When the Sun Hits (04:47) 8 Altogether (03:42) 9 Melon Yellow (03:54) 10 Dagger (03:33) 11 Some Velvet Morning (03:23) 12 Good Day Sunshine (05:08) 13 Missing You (04:15) 14 Country Rain (03:34) |
| Souvlaki : Allmusic album Review : Though not as big and swirling as Just for a Day, theres more of an attempt to put advanced song structure and melody in place rather than just craft infinitely appealing, occasionally thunderous mood music. Everything is simplified, as if Brian Enos presence on two songs -- he contributes keyboards and treatments and co-wrote one tune after turning down the bands invitation to produce -- hammered home the better aspects of "ambient" music. This is no Music for Airports though. On the opening "Alison," the largely uplifting "When the Sun Hits," and the darkly blissful "Machine Gun," Slowdive are still capable of mouth-opening, spine-tingling flourishes. Theyve found a way to be quiet, moving, and aggressive simultaneously, mixing trance-like beauty with the deepest delayed guitar sounds around, a sound at once relaxing, soothing, and exciting, and most of all harshly beautiful. [SBK released Souvlaki in the U.S. a full eight months after its English release on Creation, with three-quarters of the 5 EP tacked on the end, plus one unreleased track, a memorable, spacy run through Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewoods "Some Velvet Morning."] | ||
 | Album: 7 of 14 Title: 5 Released: 1993-11-22 Tracks: 2 Duration: 18:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 In Mind (Bandulu mix) (08:06) 2 In Mind (Reload mix) (10:26) |
 | Album: 8 of 14 Title: Pygmalion Demos Released: 1995 Tracks: 12 Duration: 58:09 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Miranda (demo) (03:49) 2 Watch Me (03:48) 3 Yesterday (04:23) 4 To Watch (05:55) 5 Option One (instrumental #1) (03:53) 6 Cargo (04:27) 7 Sinewaves (05:15) 8 Ambient Guitar (05:50) 9 Crazy for You (demo) (04:40) 10 Prautrock (05:08) 11 Changes (04:54) 12 Red Five (06:07) |
 | Album: 9 of 14 Title: Pygmalion Released: 1995-02-06 Tracks: 9 Duration: 48:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Rutti (10:05) 2 Crazy for You (06:00) 3 Miranda (04:49) 4 Trellisaze (06:21) 5 Cello (01:35) 6 J’s Heaven (06:47) 7 Visions of LA (01:47) 8 Blue Skied an’ Clear (06:54) 9 All of Us (04:07) |
| Pygmalion : Allmusic album Review : Pygmalion is the most abstract of Slowdives albums; after moving from the sugary pop of Just for a Day to the more mature and more experimental Souvlaki, the band began to incorporate even more elements of ambient electronica -- drum loops, samples, and songs even less tangible than on previous releases. There seem to be two prevailing opinions of the album, among Slowdive fans: either (a) its disappointingly "out there," since it doesnt work with the conventional pop underlying the sounds of Souvlaki, or (b) its absolutely brilliant, taking their sound into the realms it was always destined to go. The second opinion seems a little more reasonable; tracks like "Blue Skied an Clear" and "Crazy for You" demonstrate that the songs are still in there, somewhere -- theyre just buried under more abstract sounds than before. The album is not for those seeking a direct and solid song under the surface -- but for anyone who appreciates the indirect and intangible, its a stylistic masterpiece. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 14 Title: Catch the Breeze Released: 2004-11-15 Tracks: 25 Duration: 1:59:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Slowdive (05:14) 2 Avalyn I (04:51) 3 Morningrise (04:20) 4 Catch the Breeze (04:17) 5 Golden Hair (04:03) 6 Shine (05:21) 7 Albatross (05:14) 8 Golden Hair (BBC Peel session) (03:41) 9 Spanish Air (05:57) 10 So Tired (04:03) 11 Alison (03:52) 12 Country Rain (03:34) 13 Machine Gun (04:28) 14 When the Sun Hits (04:47) 1 40 Days (03:16) 2 Souvlaki Space Station (05:59) 3 Dagger (03:29) 4 Here She Comes (02:16) 5 Melon Yellow (03:51) 6 Sing (04:51) 7 Blue Skied an’ Clear (06:54) 8 Crazy for You (06:00) 9 J’s Heaven (06:47) 10 Visions of LA (01:47) 11 Rutti (10:05) |
| Catch the Breeze : Allmusic album Review : Unless youre indifferent to packaging or new to Slowdive, a dull pain is bound to form in your head after one glance at Catch the Breeze, a baffling two-disc anthology that could be mistaken for a live bootleg put together in the 90s. It does have the looks of those mysterious live discs "imported from Italy" that materialized during the latter of the decade -- complete with a cover depicting a thumb-sized Slowdive dwarfed by a field of giant dandelions! Beyond the blurry photos, there are typos as well: though the liner notes from Uncuts Paul Lester add legitimacy, its doubtful he intended to use a word like "atmospherica." The greater matter, however, is the point of the whole thing. Slowdive is one of those bands that should not be anthologized; their three albums should be remastered and expanded with non-album A-sides, B-sides, and obscurities, and any grouping of their songs pulled at random is bound to be as consistent and representative as the next. Moreover, how silly is it to release an introduction containing well over half of the songs that were released commercially? If anything, this will adequately satiate those who dont have the means to track down copies of the singles and albums, all of which were out of print -- yet not difficult to locate, Pygmalion excepted -- at the time of this sets release. Completists, on the other hand, have one piece of bait -- the Peel Session version of the Syd Barrett cover "Golden Hair," where Neil Halstead takes Rachel Goswells place on vocals (peculiarly enough, both recorded versions appear here, with only three tracks between them in the sequence). Glaring reservations aside, Catch the Breeze traces the developments of a band that, during several years of activity, never stumbled. They made some of the best slow jams for disheveled sleep-loving collegiates during the 90s, all of which continue to float, drift, soothe, and arouse with as much supernatural glow as ever. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 14 Title: The Shining Breeze: The Slowdive Anthology Released: 2010-04-26 Tracks: 31 Duration: 2:25:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Slowdive (05:14) 2 Avalyn I (04:51) 3 Morningrise (04:19) 4 She Calls (05:38) 5 Catch the Breeze (04:21) 6 Golden Hair (04:06) 7 Shine (05:21) 8 Spanish Air (05:50) 9 Erik’s Song (04:27) 10 Waves (04:44) 11 Primal (05:29) 12 Alison (03:52) 13 So Tired (04:04) 14 Moussaka Chaos (06:24) 1 Souvlaki Space Station (05:59) 2 Machine Gun (04:28) 3 Sing (04:51) 4 Here She Comes (02:21) 5 Altogether (03:42) 6 Dagger (03:33) 7 Some Velvet Morning (03:23) 8 In Mind (03:45) 9 Good Day Sunshine (05:08) 10 Country Rain (03:34) 11 Rutti (10:05) 12 Miranda (04:49) 13 Trellisaze (06:21) 14 Cello (01:35) 15 Visions of LA (01:47) 16 Blue Skied an’ Clear (06:54) 17 All of Us (04:07) |
| The Shining Breeze: The Slowdive Anthology : Allmusic album Review : Less than six years after Sanctuary released Catch the Breeze, Cherry Red put together The Shining Breeze: The Slowdive Anthology. Both releases are two discs in length and provide an overview of the band’s entire discography, from 1990’s Slowdive EP through 1995’s Pygmalion. There is a little less overlap than one would expect: 13 of the 31 songs here are not on the Sanctuary set. Slowdive was such a consistent band, with several B-sides and album tracks as strong as their A-sides, that the two releases are both representative and nitpick-prone. The most obvious gripe here is that seven of the nine songs from Pygmalion are included, yet the album’s gorgeous “Crazy for You” is not. Among the highlights that cannot be found on the Sanctuary compilation: “She Calls” (a towering “Morningrise” B-side, one of their most psychedelic moments), “Moussaka Chaos” (an ambient dub mix of “Souvlaki Space Station” that hangs in suspense), their storming cover of Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatras “Some Velvet Morning,” and the lead track from the 5 EP (thudding, mind-bending ambient techno, a bit of a shock upon its 1993 release). | ||
 | Album: 12 of 14 Title: Original Album Classics Released: 2012-05-08 Tracks: 28 Duration: 2:13:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Spanish Air (06:06) 2 Celia’s Dream (04:12) 3 Catch the Breeze (04:21) 4 Ballad of Sister Sue (04:34) 5 Erik’s Song (04:27) 6 Waves (05:54) 7 Brighter (03:49) 8 The Sadman (04:47) 9 Primal (05:29) 1 Alison (03:52) 2 Machine Gun (04:28) 3 40 Days (03:16) 4 Sing (04:51) 5 Here She Comes (02:21) 6 Souvlaki Space Station (05:59) 7 When the Sun Hits (04:47) 8 Altogether (03:42) 9 Melon Yellow (03:54) 10 Dagger (03:38) 1 Rutti (10:05) 2 Crazy for You (06:00) 3 Miranda (04:49) 4 Trellisaze (06:21) 5 Cello (01:35) 6 J’s Heaven (06:47) 7 Visions of LA (01:47) 8 Blue Skied an’ Clear (06:54) 9 All of Us (04:07) |
 | Album: 13 of 14 Title: FACT 430 Released: 2014-03-10 Tracks: 22 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Silver Rocket (?) 2 Mother Sky (?) 3 8 Miles High (?) 4 Clair (?) 5 Let It Ride (?) 6 Haunting (?) 7 Song to the Siren (?) 8 Come Sing Me a Happy Song to Prove We Can All Get Along the Lumpy Bumpy Long and Dusty Road (?) 9 Saved (?) 10 The Big Ship (?) 11 Pink Orange Red (?) 12 Floe (?) 13 Sugarcube (?) 14 Img_0083 (?) 15 The 3rd Time We Opened the Capsule (?) 16 Riverman (?) 17 Nothing Feels (?) 18 How Soon Is Now? (?) 19 Search and Destroy (?) 20 Cold (?) 21 Run (?) 22 Terrapin (?) |
 | Album: 14 of 14 Title: Slowdive Released: 2017-05-05 Tracks: 8 Duration: 45:56 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Slomo (06:53) 2 Star Roving (05:38) 3 Don’t Know Why (04:36) 4 Sugar for the Pill (04:30) 5 Everyone Knows (04:22) 6 No Longer Making Time (05:48) 7 Go Get It (06:09) 8 Falling Ashes (08:00) |
| Slowdive : Allmusic album Review : When they returned to the stage after two decades, the members of Slowdive had no intention of being a mere shoegaze nostalgia act, playing the old songs to death until there was nobody left save for the custodial crew. They almost instantly made plans to record new music, and after a few years of writing and recording, the 2017 album Slowdive is the result. Taking elements from the music each member has made in the time since the bands demise and wrapping them in modern production techniques while still coating everything in a familiar velvety haze, the album is a worthy addition to their catalog. Slowdive may play it a bit conservative at times, sounding more like a follow-up to the poppy Souvlaki than the experimental Pygmalion, but the bandmembers dont merely rest on their shoegaze bona fides. While the guitars are suitably drowned in FX and let loose to billow like clouds, there are looped samples running through the mix, some of the folky melodies Neil Halstead has been playing on his own come through, Rachel Goswells vocals show much more power (there are a couple times she really belts it out), and there is the occasional bit of mixing trickery courtesy of the records mix engineer Chris Coady. It all comes together very well, thanks to both the subtle hooks of the songwriting and the commitment shown by everyone to not just make an album of retreads. There is the occasional moment when the mix seems a little off, most notably on "No Longer Making Time," which sounds like its using stock GarageBand drum sounds, but mostly the album delivers exactly what a Slowdive fan would want. Lots of songs to dream to (the ethereal, Cocteau Twins-sounding "Dont Know Why," the calming "Sugar for the Pill"), get lost in (the noisy "Go Get It"), and swoon along with (the positively dreamy pop song "Everyone Knows"). The group tosses in some surprises, too, with a couple songs having a bit more energy than vintage Slowdive may have felt comfortable displaying. "Star Roving" sounds like a Ride song dipped in honey; the closing "Falling Ashes" is a piano-led ballad that lasts a long time but never gets boring, feeling like the albums one nod to the sparser, less guitar-driven direction they were heading in when they broke up after Pygmalion. Slowdive may not be a dramatic return that will blow people away; its far too peaceful and calm for that. It will comfort fans of the band, both those who loved them at the time and those who have discovered them in the intervening years, by being very much a Slowdive album. One that feels modern enough, but also very classic at the same time. | ||