Three Tune Tuesday : Gazing at Shoes Again

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Last week I shared a few of my favorite post-shoegazer tracks from various bands I found over the years. For this share on #threetunetuesday, as inspired by @ablaze, I decided to go back to the genre's prime. You know what that means, right? It's time for some 1990's shoegazer classics...

As always, with any shoegaze music, it's best turn it up quite loud and/or use good ear buds/quality headphones. You never know what nuance you will hear buried beneath the waves or guitars, or better yet, that Wilson brother/Lennon/Macca inspired harmony... so let's get into it.

Chapterhouse : Breather

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When scouring the used CD bins back in the day, one album I could never track down was Chapterhouse's debut album Whirlpool. Yet I didn't give up, and queue Napster yet again...well let's just say my parent's dial-up was quite busy getting this album downloaded. This is a classic shoegaze gem; inspired by I would get the Stone Roses, you can hear the waves of harmonies and guitars counter back and forth. It's a good one; thanks Chapterhouse, I've never forgotten you after all of these years...

Slowdive : When the Sun Hits

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Most people defer to MBV when talking about the original groups; I love my Valentine more than most, but to me, Slowdive is the best shoegazer band of all time. That's just my opinion, of course.

I didn't need Napster for this one; my local used CD store had this one in inventory one day. I still have it, and listen to it.

This track still pops to the top of my list, and some fans more artistic than me put a great video accompaniment to it. What does Slowdive shoegaze sound like...well turn it up around 1:02 and bask in the glory of it all. I did a few times, at least, while writing up this post. I hope you do too.

Bonus Track and Intro to My Bloody Valentine

I threw a fourth track in here to intro the MBV. This was the one track that absolutely, 100% got me into shoegaze music back in the day. What is it? Guitars? Prehistoric animals? Mothmen? I like to think Shields and company did some drugs and tuned into the Earth's collective unconsciousness and heard two dinosaurs falling in love aeons ago. That's my take, anyway....

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My Bloody Valentine : Blown a Kiss

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My favorite of all the tracks on this album...here is the wonderful Beach Boys harmony breath all that noise. Fantastic stuff; my brother saw this one live in SF back in the day, and he said the entire crowd hummed that low high part that ends each verse. And the outro starting at around 2:15 starts where the song's been, then slowly adds some serious harmonies and depth. It's like Bach or something, with tons of guitars and vocals. If you are a shoegazer, you know what I mean...you get those hairs on the back of your neck to stand up when you hear it with the ear buds in.

As always, drop a line below and leave me some crumbs to chase down again! I always appreciate more shoegaze when I can find it. See you next week!