Study Of The Lifeless

Ugh.

Despite sporting what has got to be THE worst cover art in the history of everything, Study Of The Lifeless' Self-titled 1999 debut features some seriously good songs. As a point of reference, prepare to expect sprawling dreaminess ala Just For A Day-era Slowdive.

[MP3]: Study Of The Lifeless :: Nothing Every Stays The Same

P.S. December mix coming soon!

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The Ruling Class

The Ruling Class!

Since they first appeared in my life only a week or two ago, I've quickly realized how much I love The Ruling Class. Their debut EP+7" Tour De Force is out right now on Shelflife Records, who have seemed to being nothing but spot-on since their rebirth last year. The EP is full of glistening and jangly, sometimes shoegazey songs that wouldn't have felt the least bit out of place between Ride or Slowdive in 1991. I'm currently totally obsessed with "Sleeping Beauty" – track one on the EP portion of Tour De Force. The ringing, twinkly guitars and fast paced drumming make me feel like I'm listening to some long lost track that should have appeared on Ride's Nowhere LP. Other highlights include the Field Micesque "Umbrella Folds," which appears on the 7" and EP closer "Marian Shrine" which couldn't be more 90s Manchester if it tried. Have a listen to "Sleeping Beauty" though, you won't regret it, assure you.

[MP3]: The Ruling Class :: Sleeping Beauty (Hiiiiiiighly Rec'd!!!)

Order Tour De Force from Shelflife now! NOW! Not only is it a great record, but if you haven't yet experienced one, the packaging on all of the shelflife stuff is imressively impressive and a joy to hold in your hands :)

The Ruling Class on MySpace!

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Panda Riot

Chicago's wonderful, though oddly named, Panda Riot!

I've seen Panda Riot around on the interwebs for quite some time now, but to be quite honest, I'd never checked them out until just recently because, well, their name doesn't exactly scream really beautiful shoegaze pop. But another lesson learned about judging a book by it's cover, because I'm now completely obsessed with Panda Riot's new-ish record She Dares All Things. Panda Riot takes all the best things I love about MBV's Loveless and Slowdive's Souvlaki and molds and shapes those particular things into dreamy and dancey, yet occasionally roaring, pop songs. A large portion of She Dares All Things sounds like a buffet of varied interpretations of the Loveless closer "Soon" and, being that that song makes me brilliantly happy everytime I hear it, I think that's why I love this record so much. The particularly "Soon"-ish song "She Dares All Things" is probably my favorite right now, but I'm also pretty in love with "Like Flowers At Night." The whole record is pretty outstanding though, definitely best shoegaze I've heard since, oh, well, I don't know I guess. I walked around the city all day today with this on and I can now guarantee that it is very good music for walking around on a slightly snowy and VERY cold day. It's also a good thing to remember that banks and libraries are not open on Martin Luther King Day before you walk two miles to get to them...

[MP3]: Panda Riot :: She Dares All Things (Very Berry Recommended!)
[MP3]: Panda Riot :: Like Flowers At Night (Very Cherry Recommended!)

You can buy the album from them, here!
Panda Riot on MySpace!

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Wednesday Shoegaze Mélange

Mmmmmm Wednesday.

Hello hello! This post, like the others, is a quick five-song mix of random songs that I love a lot. However, today there's a theme, which unless you're blind, you should be fairly aware of already. Anyway, I don't have too much to say, except that if you've never heard some of these before, I would urge you to do so, cause you might just fall in love. It's hard not too, sometimes.

[MP3]: Slowdive :: Alison
from the Souvlaki LP [Creation Records, 1993]

[MP3]: Secret Shine :: Temporal
from the Untouched LP [Sarah Records, 1993]

[MP3]: My Bloody Valentine :: Cigarette In Your Bed
from the You Made Me Realise EP [Creation Records, 1988]

[MP3]: Eternal :: Sleep
from the Breathe 7" [Sarah Records, 1991]

[MP3]: Ride :: Like A Day Dream
from the Play EP [Creation Records, 1990]

Well! Okay! Bye! Also, I may do a part two of this sometime cause as I was picking songs, I ran across a lot more than five that I wanted to post, and I'd like to post them sometime. So yeah, awesome.

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