Tag Archives: Spotify

Shoegazing and post-rock: Sad Songs Say So Much

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A mate of mine wanted me to put together a playlist of shoegazing and post-rock tunes. I have obliged (actually, I hope he has a Spotify account).

What is shoegazing and post-rock music? Basically, songs that use heavily processed and layered sounds to create a dense, euphoric sound. Shoegazing can be traced to the effects-heavy music of the Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine, through the post-rock layers of Seefeel and Mogwai and on to the contemporary nugaze of Engineers and The School Of Seven Bells.

Some find the music depressing. I find the sadness uplifting; there’s so much more happiness in a minor chord. Here’s the tracklisting and a quick description of each track:

  1. Tracy – Mogwai: Any song that starts with a taped conversation describing a fight by band members is bound to be great
  2. Blown A Wish – My Bloody Valentine: Possibly the best pop song ever written
  3. My Own Strange Path – M83: Intense and cinematic, sounds like the score to the solar system
  4. Face To Face On High Places – School Of Seven Bells: Nugaze shoegaze that sounds a lot like latter-day My Bloody Valentine
  5. Halving The Compas – Helios: Repetitive strains that remind me of the sun rising in the morning
  6. Love Movement (Ulrich Schnauss Remix) – Revtone: Schanuss’ remix is like a slowed-down, cloudy Ibiza anthem
  7. Catch The Breeze – Slowdive: Shoegaze classic that goes epic two minutes from time
  8. Electric Counterpoint (Fast) – Steve Reich: Influential modern classic echoed throughout post-rock
  9. Davyan Cowboy – Boards Of Canada: Nice work, nice sound
  10. Into The Sea – The Album Leaf: Wonderful timing allows the layered sound to build carefully
  11. Plainsong – Seefeel: Years ahead of its time and almost two decades old, unbelievably
  12. Brighter As We Fall – Engineers: Sounds like Slowdive, which is good
  13. Ostinato – Eluvium: Another epic score for searching the solar system
  14. Light Through The Veins – Jon Hopkins: Like a pure dance take on Seefeel
  15. Suckling The Mender – Cocteau Wins: If ‘Blown A Wish’ isn’t the best pop song ever, this is
  16. The Loom – Bark Psychosis: An amazing post-rock first from the most under-rated band ever
  17. Blowin’ Cool – Airiel – A discordant treat
  18. Ba Ba – Sigur Ros: Post-rock music box for a ballet performance
  19. The Music In My Head – Daniel Land & The Painters: More modern-day nugazing; nice
  20. Miniature 9 – Matthew Robert Cooper: Just impossibly sad