Tag: Dreampop

Bat For Lashes Goes Missing on New Album

When last we heard from Bat For Lashes, Natasha Khan was a bride mourning the loss of her husband-to-be, whose death in a car accident ended their marriage before it began. Come Sept. 6, she’ll reemerge with Bat for Lashes’ fifth album, Lost Girls (AWAL Recordings). Like Two Suns before it, Lost Girls showcases Khan’s… Continue reading Bat For Lashes Goes Missing on New Album

All You Have to Do is Dreamend

Dreamend, the one-man musical outlet of Savannah’s Ryan Graveface (The Casket Girls, Marshmallow Ghosts, Black Moth Super Rainbow), releases its first album in six years on April 6th. Pressed and distributed via his own Graveface Records label, the album is untitled because, as Graveface puts it, it’s not a concept album as previous Dreamend releases… Continue reading All You Have to Do is Dreamend

Black Swan Lane – Under My Fallen Sky

Black Swan Lane have been steadily building a genuinely impressive musical archive for just over ten years now, while perpetually lurking in the shadows of Atlanta’s music scene. But it’s the shadows where they’re clearly most content…and, indeed, it’s from where their music most often seems to emanate. Anchored by Jack Sobel (vocals, guitars, drums,… Continue reading Black Swan Lane – Under My Fallen Sky

Slowdive

Outta the Casket: Ryan Graveface Interviews Christian Savill on Slowdive’s Slo-Mo Return Heavily into the so-called shoegaze sound, if you ever ask Ryan Graveface to name his favorite band, chances are high he’ll quickly respond with, “Slowdive.” The Savannah workhorse – musician/composer for odd little groups including The Casket Girls, Dreamend and The Marshmallow Ghosts;… Continue reading Slowdive

The Casket Girls

Pay Your Respects to The Casket Girls Elsa and Phaedra Greene are sisters, but though they look very similar, they are not twins. “No,” says Ryan Graveface, “they’re just weird.” That’s saying something coming from a man who uses a false surname and avoids being clearly photographed, yet owns two retail stores where he can… Continue reading The Casket Girls

Warpaint – Warpaint

My introduction to these L.A.-based distaff dreampoppers arrived, appropriately enough, in a dream (of sorts): collapsed on the sofa after work one evening I’d drifted off, only to gradually and groggily awaken to the radio and strains of “Undertow,” from Warpaint’s 2010 album The Fool. The song’s ethereal melody and layered vocals, anchored by an… Continue reading Warpaint – Warpaint

Mazzy Star – Seasons of Your Day

Back after a 17 year absence, Mazzy Star is as delightfully amorphous as ever – not that the band has an indistinct sound. Going into the opening strums of the first track, the listener might think they were hearing Spiritualized, Low, or a host of other way-laid-back, Velvet Underground influenced acts. Then, from the moment… Continue reading Mazzy Star – Seasons of Your Day

Boardwalk – Boardwalk

As dreamlike as this album sounds, in sentiment it closely resembles reality. Boardwalk’s vision of pop is bleary, strolling along with a careful patience that avoids getting too cerebral. There are no satisfying revelations to be found. Tightly wrapped solutions are difficult to reach, particularly when the problems are personal. In such situations, reconciling with… Continue reading Boardwalk – Boardwalk

Washed Out

Guilt-Free Escapism: Washed Out’s Happy Delusions While the currents have significantly calmed, it was only a few years ago that the chillwave genre seemed to be perpetually cresting. A focal point of that movement was Ernest Greene and his wistful sample-based electro-pop project Washed Out. The movement’s already been declared kaput by some bloggers, while… Continue reading Washed Out

Mood Rings

Attention to Dualism: Mood Rings Find Harmony “Balance, to me, is the most important thing in life,” Mood Rings frontman William Fussell attests. While many 20-somethings are engrossed in fleeting attempts at self-content like partying or materialism, Fussell aims for a more lasting type of personal content. He’s no perfect purist, of course, but it’s… Continue reading Mood Rings

Melody’s Echo Chamber – Melody’s Echo Chamber

Melody’s Echo Chamber is among the most aptly named bands/albums in recent memory. Its guitars and vocals are draped in layers of reverb, and the overall production (courtesy of Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker) tends toward the cavernous. But the real echo chamber exists the way the group compiles and spits back of-the-moment influences: dream pop,… Continue reading Melody’s Echo Chamber – Melody’s Echo Chamber