Dreaming in Stereo #31 - Wintersongs

Here in the Mid-Atlantic U.S., we've had more hint of winter than the actual thing this season (or at least it feels that way to someone who grew up in the Midwest). We've had one, maybe two snows so far, and not until after January 1. So when we got a cold snap a couple of weeks ago, it reminded me of what this time of year is supposed to feel like, and inspired this episode's Second Hour Spotlight.

Funnily enough, finding songs about winter/ice/cold/frost got a little harder once I got out of the classic dream pop stuff. There are actually more shoegaze songs about summer (granted, at least a few called "Summer's End" or variations thereof), and so it did take a little work. But honestly, it's not like I'd pass up a chance to spend time digging into back catalogs.

Front catalogs played a major role this week as well. The new Piroshka single that leads off the show was an especially bright find - I'm growing to appreciate how little they sound like Lush, and considering the pedigree of everyone in the group, it only makes sense. I've been wrong before, but I definitely feel like that album's going to be one of the highlights of the year. The new Tamaryn single - which I just stumbled upon - was also quite the revelation. I saw them open for Lush back in 2016, and enjoyed them well enough, but the new single really takes the act to the next level. Another album to look forward to.And then we had new stuff from Swervedriver - who are apparently back for real - and Spiritualized, which yes, has been out for months, but I just finally got the chance to share. And the Twilight Sad have a new one out, which is always a good thing - although interestingly they seem far less crushing in their sound than before. Still, a group always worth checking out.

And, while I shouldn't draw attention to this - well, some shows go smooth and steady, and some remind you of the risks inherent in live broadcasting. This was definitely the latter, and I blame all errors on technical issues and outside factors, and none on DJ error.

Anyhow, your show:
(Original air date: January 23, 2019)

Piroshka - What's Next? - Brickbat - Bella Union
Swervedriver - The Lonely Crowds Fade in the Air - Future Ruins - Dangerbird
Tennis System - Lackluster - PAIN - Graveface
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Hong Kong Garden - Marie Antoinette soundtrack - Verve/Polydor
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Tamaryn - Fits of Rage - Dreaming in the Dark - DERO Arcade
Zanais - Rise - Into the All
Spiritualized - The Prize - And Nothing Hurt - Bella Union
Bat for Lashes - Close Encounters - The Bride - Parlophone
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Bethany Curve - Dreamland - Murder! - Kitchen Whore
The Twilight Sad - VTr - It Won/t Be Like This All the Time - Rock Action
An April March - Stardust - It Goes Without Saying - Bedazzled Records
Zombie Girlfriend - Wind - Fuzzy Feelings Collection - TBTCI
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My Bloody Valetine - Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside) - Isn't Anything - Creation
Nightmare Air - Icy Daggers - High in the Lasers - Saint Marie Records
Tallies - Trains in Snow - s/t - Hand Drawn Dracula
astrobrite - Cold - DELUXER
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The Cure - Cold - Pornography - Fiction
Brett Anderson - To the Winter - s/t - V2
Tori Amos - Winter - Little Earthquakes - Atlantic
Mazzy Star - Still Cold - Among My Swan - Capitol
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Galaxie 500 - Snowstorm - On Fire - Ryko
The Autumns - Embracing Winter - The Angel Pool - Rust Records
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Lightfoils - Polar Waves - Hierarchy - Saint Marie Records

Dreaming in Stereo #30 - China/Taiwan/Philippines Shoegaze

Sometimes there are easy themes that readily and obviously present themselves, and sometimes you have to go working for it. So, while this episode's Second Hour Spotlight theme may not seem obvious it's very definitely something I threw together at the last minute part of a larger project I plan on tackling throughout the year.

One of the cool (to me) aspects of music is seeing a particular style or genre migrate from the geographical/social/political/whatever group that created it to people and places far and wide. There's something about seeing German hip-hop heads or Japanese jazz obsessives that is just cool to me; it's a testament to the power of the music.

On that note, throughout the year I'll be focusing on shoegaze/dreampop bands from across the globe; I've heard enough groups from enough different countries that I can put the UK and US off til the end and still have plenty to choose from.

I'm not exactly sure why I started with China, but it seemed as good a place as any. I've also covered Taiwan, and was trying to find another China-related country to pull from, but there don't appear to be any Tibet-based bands, and I was able to find mention of one Mongolia-based group. So, the Philippines seemed a good place to go from there. It was great to see so many active bands in the respective countries, and to see how they take the form and make it their own. There are at least a couple of bands I'll be revisiting in shows to come.

And, credit where it's due: big thanks to NoiseArtists.net for doing a lot of the leg work with their articles on the scenes in China and Taiwan. In fact, they've done some good research on a number of countries, so give them a look if you want a deeper dive into global gaze.

There's also a mini-theme set in the first half, which should be pretty obvious when you see/hear it. It was just one of those things that came together, and I'm a sucker for a good through-line.

So without further ado:

(Originally aired Jan. 10, 2019)

goth dad - Blackout - Fade EP
dogma 95 - illbeback - dogma 95 EP
The Telescopes - All a Dreams - Celeste single - Creation
Lycia - The Emptiness of Airports - Droneuary - Silber Records
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Swan Dive - Fly Toward the Sun - Fly Toward the Sun
Shallowdive - Sunrise - Shallowdive EP
Slowdive - When the Sun Hits - Souvlaki - Creation
Dive - Tones of Sun - Early Sonic June
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Holy Fawn - Vespertine - Death Spells - Holy Roar
Nostalgist - Smoldering Amber - Disaffection
Experimental Aircraft - Upper East Side - Third Transmission - Graveface
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Chestnut Bakery - I Love You Mr. Snowball - Diaries - Sango Records
City Flanker - Lane - Sound Without Time - Akasaka Music
RUBUR - Suffer - True Bypass EP
Hedgehog - Money is Everything - Sound of Life Towards... - Ruby Eye Records
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U.TA - Three - Highway Cruising
TuT - Send Me - You Got Me When I Stare At You
Manic Sheep - Eve of Destruction - Brooklyn
DoZzz - Wandering - Poem of Love <> Poem of Sadness
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Sugar Hiccup - Saturnine Nevermore - Closure - D Chord Records
Narcloudia - Colour Wheel - Day-Blind Stars
GYHT - Moving Parts - Maybe in Another Universe I Deserve You
Beast Jesus - Double Tuck - In Various States of Disassembly
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The Rave Tapes - Pale as Crimson (demo)

Dreaming in Stereo #29 - The Year(s) in Review

I know a lot of people were talking about how glad they were that 2018 was finally over, and sure, it may not have been the greatest year in recorded history, but for music there was little to complain about. The year saw a lot of great releases by new and old acts, and a lot of good shows happened (too many to catch, as it turned out).

Partly inspired by a tweet by a former Pitchfork editor, and partly due to my taking the bulk of the year off from music, I decided not to try a "best of" show for the year, since there was no way I could do justice to all of the good stuff that came out. Instead, for the first hour we have a bunch of stuff I really dug that was released in the past year. For hour two, I figured it would be fun to jump back a decade for each set, so you get songs from 2008, 1998, and 1988.

It was fun and interesting putting those sets together; I hadn't really looked back at the music I lived with like that, and it was a trip to see how the sounds changed in those jumps (as well as take the journey down memory lane - somewhere there's a picture of me and some guys hanging out with Curve after a show in the 1990s).


(Original air date: Dec. 26, 2018)

Lowtide - Alibi - Southern Mind - Rice is Nice
Nothing - You Wind Me Up - Dance on the Blacktop - Relapse
Sleepwalk - Bumblebee - Splatter
Beatastic - The Mind is Its Own Universe - Transverse EP - Shore Dive
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Ride - Cold Water People - Tomorrow's Shore EP - Wichita Recordings
Johnny Marr - Hi Hello - Call the Comet - New Voodoo
James - Many Faces - Living in Extraordinary Times - Infectious Music
Suede - The Invisibles - The Blue Hour - Warner Music UK
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Teenage Wrist - Daylight - Chrome Neon Jesus - Epitaph
Foliage - How Have You Been? - III
Holygram - Signals - Modern Cults - Cleopatra
Seasurfer - Into Dust - Vampires - Saint Marie Records
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(2008)
Blonde Redhead - Distilled - In An Expression of the Inexpressible - Touch & Go
Curve - Coming Up Roses - Come Clean - Universal
Mojave 3 - Some Kinda Angel - Out of Tune - 4AD
The Hope Blister - Spider and I - Smile's Ok... - 4AD
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(1998)
Glasvegas - Daddy's Gone - s/t - Columbia
School of Seven Bells - Conjurr - Alpinisms - Ghostly International
Tears Run Rings - The Weight of Love - Always, Sometimes, Seldom, Never - Clairecords
Beach House - Astronaut - Devotion - Sub Pop
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(1988)
Peter Murphy - All Night Long - Love Hysteria - Beggars Banquet
Cocteau Twins - Carolyn's Fingers - Blue Bell Knoll - 4AD/Columbia
Dead Can Dance - Severance - The Serpent's Egg - 4AD
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Bauhaus - Bite My Hip - The Bela Session EP - Stones Throw

Dreaming in Stereo #28 - Piroshka

The first show for Stranger Radio, and the first two hour show in a while (well, besides the practice show). Having that extra hour, I've decided I should do something with the time besides just throw random songs, so the second hour is the feature/focus segment (I really should give that a fancy name).

Since I had been planning a Lush-themed show back when I was doing the one-hour Mixcloud-only shows, and since the first single by Piroshka had recently come out (the new band featuring Miki from Lush along with a stellar line-up of talent), I figured there was my excuse.

Enjoy.


(Original air date: Dec. 12, 2018)

Blushing - Sunshine - The Truth single
Lightfoils - Duende - Chambers
Catherine Wheel - Half Life - Chrome - Fontana
Kestrels - Thorn - Kindling/Kestrels split
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SRSQ - The Martyr - Unreality - Dais
The Twilight Sad - I Could Give You All That You Don't Want - Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave - FatCat
Slow Crush - Collide - Aurora - Holy Roar Records
I Like Trains - Terra Nova - Progress Reform - Talitres
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Beach House - Lose Your Smile - 7 - Sub Pop
Mercury Rev - Nite and Fog - All is Dream - V2
Soccer Mommy - I'm On Fire - Henry single
The Daysleepers - Arc Lights - Creation - My Daydream Records
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Lush - Love At First Sight - Chorus - 4AD
Cornelius - The Spell of a Vanishing Lonlieness - Mellow Waves - Rostrum Records
Whimsical - Monochrome - Lovelife, A Homage to Lush - TBTCI
Blackpool Astronomy - Scarlet - Lovelife, A Homage to Lush - TBTCI
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Sing Sing - Tegan - The Joy of Sing Sing - Manifesto Records - 2002
Seinking Ships - You Don't Love Me - Museum Quality Capture - S-Curve
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Black and Blue - Damage and Joy - Artificial Plastic Records
Lush - Olympia (acoustic) - Chorus - 4AD
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Piroshka - Everlastingly Yours - Brickbat - Bella Union
Elastica - Waking Up - s/t - Geffen
Moose - Love on the Dole - Live a Little Love a Lot - PIAS Recordings
Modern English - Spinning Me Round - Ricochet Days - 4AD
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Suede - Life is Golden - The Blue Hour - Warner UK