I usually shuffle through many genres in my listening patterns, an eclectic experience. But over the past year I've found my niche, the twee-jangle-shoegaze tangent.
The latest "new-gaze" band to reach my ears are the Michigan-based Mahogany. Now signed to Darla Records (also home to The Radio Dept. and My Morning Jacket), they've recently released their second full-length, Connectivity, ending a lengthy hiatus since their debut, The Dream of a Modern Day. Filled with bright and celestial instrumentals as well as soaring vocals, Mahogany stray far away from the drone and fuzz that often encapsulates shoegaze, instead drenching themselves in poppier rhythms fueled by promising, upbeat endeavours. The pop elements seem to owe themselves to Stereolab and shoegaze to the Cocteau Twins. Interestingly, there's a more concrete relationship with the 'Twins than on a sonic level. Robin Guthrie, co-founder of the 'Twins, has produced 3 mixes for the album, while his daughter Lucy Belle (Liz Fraser, the other founder of the Cocteau Twins, is her mother) makes her vocal debut in the song 'My Bed is My Castle'. With genes like that she's destined for greatness....
Click on the artist link to buy an album.
Mahogany - Supervitesse [mp3]
Mahogany - Tesselation, Formerly Plateau One [mp3]
Mahogany - My Bed Is My Castle (ft. Lucy Belle Guthrie) [mp3]
Stereolab - Cybele's Reverie [mp3]
Cocteau Twins - Lorelei [mp3]
1 comment:
Hey, great job you're doing here, Dan. We really seem to have convergent tastes; I've gotten into shoegaze lately as well, and I really enjoyed Mahogany. I've got some live stuff from Cocteaus and Stereolab up, and perhaps some other artists you'd be interested in.
Keep up the good work!
Post a Comment