Slowdive
Encyclopedia
Slowdive were an English
shoegaze
band that formed in 1989. The band formed in Reading, Berkshire
and primarily consisted of Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell
(vocals, guitar), Neil Halstead
(vocals, guitar), and Christian Savill (guitar). Several drummers played with the band, including Ian McCutcheon, Adrian Sell, and most notably Simon Scott who drummed on the first and second albums. Halstead was the band's primary songwriter.
Goswell and Halstead had known each other since early childhood in Reading, Berkshire
, when Goswell was an obsessive fan of The Smiths
. Scott left in 1994 and when Savill and Chaplin left the band after the release of Pygmalion, the remaining members renamed the band Mojave 3
.
, England
by Neil Halstead
and Rachel Goswell
in October 1989. The two sang and played guitar, and had been friends since they were six years old. At a Sunday youth group, they began making music in an indie pop
band called The Pumpkin Fairies. When the Fairies disbanded, Slowdive formed with drummer Adrian Sell, formerly of the Fairies, and Nick Chaplin, his friend who played bass. A third guitarist named Christian Savill, previously of the band "Eternal", joined when he became the only person to answer an advert from the band. The ad called for a female guitarist, but Savill wanted to join so badly he offered to wear a dress. He was subsequently recruited. The name "Slowdive" was inspired by a dream Nick Chaplin experienced.
The band quickly recorded a demo and several months later played a show the band Five Thirty
. Steve Walters, head of A&R at EMI
, had attended the show. Afterward he approached Savill and requested one of their demos. Slowdive signed to Creation Records
shortly after. The average age of the band was 19 at the time. Sell felt things were progressing too fast and left for university. He had been with the band for about six months. Simon Scott took over on drums after his previous group, an alternative rock band called The Charlottes
, broke up.
A self-titled EP
was released in November 1990 and received praise from music critics. Slowdive was actually their original demo; the band had preferred the older recordings after feeling disillusioned with their studio craft. In a glowing recommendation, NME
staff member Simon Williams wrote "Slowdive have banished the barrier restricting creativity... When they really relax, Slowdive can make Cocteau Twins
sound like Mudhoney
." Melody Maker
awarded the EP its "Single of the Week" award", an accolade the band's next two EPs received. Morningrise and Holding Our Breath followed in February and June 1991, respectively. Holding Our Breath reached #52 in the UK album charts, while the single "Catch The Breeze
" topped the UK indie chart.
" band and part of "the scene that celebrates itself
" by the British media. The term shoegazer was applied to bands that followed My Bloody Valentine's example of abrasive guitars and ethereal vocals, while "the scene" represented these like-minded groups and their social behaviour; shoegazers typically mingled at each other's gigs. Slowdive toured with other shoegazing bands through summer 1991. The British music press became increasingly derisive of shoegazing as the Britpop
and Grunge
movements came underway.
Production on Slowdive's debut commenced shortly after Halstead convinced Alan McGee
, head of Creation Records, the band had enough songs written for a full-length album. Slowdive actually did not. The group began hurriedly writing songs in the studio. Experimentation with sounds and cannabis
occurred during the process. Halstead drew lyrical inspiration from the abstract nature of the music. He recounts, "[We] went into a studio for six weeks and had no songs at the start and at the end we had an album."
Their debut, Just for a Day
was released in September 1991 and placed in the top ten on the UK indie chart. NME gave the record a positive review, but most of the press generally disliked the album as a backlash against shoegazing began. As writer Peter Buckley put it, the album was "dismissed as dreary and lacking in ideas." Melody Maker writer Paul Lester railed against the debut, calling it a "major fucking letdown". This backlash worsened when critics reevaluated shoegazing after the release of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless
in November 1991.
A tour of the United Kingdom followed in fall 1991. Afterward, the group made their first visit to the United States and toured with alternative rock
band Blur
. A tour of Europe followed in February 1992. Slowdive's US label SBK Records
planned to release Just for a Day at the beginning of the year, but not before initiating a viral marketing
campaign. The band's name was stenciled outside MTV
and radio stations in New York. Fans stenciled their heads when Slowdive played in Manhattan. The campaign caused some controversy when a statue celebrating the end of slavery was unveiled and had the word "Slowdive" stenciled on it. SBK eventually pushed the release date back three months, which hurt the viral campaign.
had just been there and left a huge Scalextrix
in the live room. I remember thinking this was the height of indulgence! Ironically we scrapped everything we recorded...we had to start the record again back in Oxfordshire
. We should have just played with the Scalextrix for a month."
When the band returned to the UK, they wrote a letter to ambient
visionary Brian Eno
and requested he produce their second album. Eno responded and told them he liked their music, but wanted to collaborate not produce. Halstead later called the recording session "one of the most surreal stoned experiences of [his] life." "The first thing he did when he walked into the studio was to rip the clock off the wall and put it by the mixing desk
," Halstead remembered, "He then said 'Okay, you're going to play the guitar and I'm going to record it. I don't care what you are going to play, just play something...'" Two songs from the collaboration arrived on the ensuing album: "Sing", which was co-written with Eno, and "Here She Comes" where Eno played keyboards.
Creation Records wanted Slowdive to produce a commercial sounding album. Halstead agreed, "We wanted to make a 'pop' record but it took a while to record." At one point, Halstead suddenly left in summer 1992, seeking seclusion in a Welsh cottage. Savill, Chaplin and Scott were left in a recording studio in Weston-super-Mare
, and while waiting for Halstead's return recorded some "joke songs". To their misfortune, McGee acquired them and became despondent, by which time Halstead had arrived with new music. The band named their second album Souvlaki
after a skit performed by the Jerky Boys, an American comedy duo that recorded prank phone calls
.
Souvlaki was released in May 1993 alongside the Outside Your Room EP
, a few months after Suede
dropped their popular debut
and the Britpop
movement began. Critical reactions, like their previous album, were generally negative. NME writer John Mulvey gave an ambivalent review. Despite noting their dated and "unfulfilling" sound, he did call it an "exemplary product". Dave Simpson writing for Melody Maker, declared "[This] record is a soulless void [...] I would rather drown choking in a bath full of porridge than ever listen to it again." To make matters worse, Slowdive booked a tour with fellow shoegazers Catherine Wheel
for a tour of the United States, only to find SBK had pushed the album's US release date back eight months. The band recorded an EP, entitled 5 EP, and started a modest tour through Europe with another shoegaze band, called Cranes
. Scott did not like the gap between releases and quit the band in 1994.
A marketing campaign was started in early 1994 to promote Souvlaki in the United States, which Allmusic writer Andy Kellman stated would "undoubtedly go down in industry history as one of the laziest ever"; SBK sent fans a release flyer and were told if they copied and posted 50 flyers around town they would receive a free copy of Souvlaki. Fans who participated had to document their progress with photographs to prove they actually performed the activity. Halfway through the Souvlaki US tour, SBK pulled their funding and left Slowdive to pay the rest themselves. In 1994, the band funded two small tours of the United States using money raised through the sale of a live tape and a tour program that mocked the record label.
taking the ambient shoegazing sound and pushing it into electronic fields similar to Fennesz and in 2009 he went solo. He was, however, replaced on drums by Ian McCutcheon. By the recording of their final album, Pygmalion, Halstead had moved Slowdive away from the dreamy guitar sound and warm yet solemn tone of earlier Slowdive to a newer, more acoustic minimalist extreme, similar to heavily-ambient bands such as Seefeel
, A R Kane
, and Labradford
.
Slowdive were dropped by Creation a week after the release of Pygmalion (as were Swervedriver not long after).
, changing the band name to Mojave 3
to reflect the new musical direction. This group is currently on hiatus.
Scott joined Lowgold
in 1999 and left the band in 2001 after the band ran into financial problems following the collapse of Nude Records
and released a solo debut album called "Navigare" in Fall 2009 on the Norwegian label Miasmah
.
Savill went on to form Monster Movie, a dream pop group that has maintained much of the older Slowdive style. They have released four albums and an EP to date. Pre-Slowdive, Savill was in a band called Eternal, which also included Monster Movie member Sean Hewson.
Halstead and Goswell have both released solo albums on 4AD.
session on 21 April 1991. Souvlaki included a bonus disc with all the remaining EP tracks, and "Some Velvet Morning." Pygmalion, which had become a collector's item in the years since its release, never having been issued in the U.S., contained no extra material.
Italian dream-pop-based magazine Losing Today was named after an early Slowdive b-side.
An electronica-themed tribute album to Slowdive was released in 2002 on Morr Music
(now home of ex-drummer Simon Scott's new band Seavault), entitled Blue Skied an' Clear
.
"Dagger" was covered in 1998 by Mojave 3 labelmates The Hope Blister
. "When the Sun Hits" was covered in 1997 by Dutch band The Gathering
.
Writer/Director Dustin Lane has called his first short film "Blue Skied an' Clear" after the track of the same name on "Pygmalion".
Champaign-Urbana's Pygmalion Music Festival
was named after Pygmalion.
In 2005, The Gathering
released a cover of Slowdive's song "When the Sun Hits" on their collection release called Accessories.
Montreal band Destroyalldreamers
recorded a cover of "Souvlaki Space Station" from the album Souvlaki. This track appeared on the second volume of a series of compilations featuring covers of classic shoegaze songs, called Never Lose that Feeling.
In 2008, Highspire recorded a cover of "Dagger" for the compilation Never Lose that Feeling Volume 3.
Director Gregg Araki
uses Slowdive's music in many of his films; Splendor
includes the song "Shine." "Alison" is played in The Doom Generation
and "Blue Skied an' Clear" is played during the closing credits. "Golden Hair" is played during the opening credits of Mysterious Skin
; "Dagger" and "Catch the Breeze" are also played in the film. In the same movie, the character of Avalyn Freisen, played by Mary-Lynn Rajskub, is named after the song "Avalyn I". "Avalyn II" is played during the opening credits of the film Nowhere
.
British drum and bass artist Klute sampled "Rutti" on the track "Property is theft" from the 2007 album "The Emperor's New Clothes".
Californian rap artist Lil B
sampled "Catch The Breeze" on the track "Open Thunder Eternal Slumber" from his album I'm Gay (I'm Happy)
released June 30, 2011.
Many shoegaze revivalist bands are heavily influenced by Slowdive.
Compilations
EPs & singles
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
shoegaze
Shoegazing
Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...
band that formed in 1989. The band formed in Reading, Berkshire
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
and primarily consisted of Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell
Rachel Goswell
Rachel Goswell is a singer-songwriter who was a vocalist with shoegazing pioneers Slowdive. Goswell, along with Neil Halstead, Ian McCutcheon and former Chapterhouse member Simon Rowe became Mojave 3 when Slowdive transitioned to a more country/folk rock style...
(vocals, guitar), Neil Halstead
Neil Halstead
Neil Halstead is a British guitarist and singer, described as "one of Britain's most respected songwriters" by Allmusic. He was a founding member of Slowdive, a band often associated with the shoegazer musical genre...
(vocals, guitar), and Christian Savill (guitar). Several drummers played with the band, including Ian McCutcheon, Adrian Sell, and most notably Simon Scott who drummed on the first and second albums. Halstead was the band's primary songwriter.
Goswell and Halstead had known each other since early childhood in Reading, Berkshire
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
, when Goswell was an obsessive fan of The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
. Scott left in 1994 and when Savill and Chaplin left the band after the release of Pygmalion, the remaining members renamed the band Mojave 3
Mojave 3
Mojave 3 are a British band, consisting of Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell, Simon Rowe, Alan Forrester, and Ian McCutcheon. Goswell, Halstead and McCutcheon previously played in Thames Valley shoegazing band Slowdive....
.
Formation & early EPs: 1989-1991
Slowdive formed in ReadingReading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
by Neil Halstead
Neil Halstead
Neil Halstead is a British guitarist and singer, described as "one of Britain's most respected songwriters" by Allmusic. He was a founding member of Slowdive, a band often associated with the shoegazer musical genre...
and Rachel Goswell
Rachel Goswell
Rachel Goswell is a singer-songwriter who was a vocalist with shoegazing pioneers Slowdive. Goswell, along with Neil Halstead, Ian McCutcheon and former Chapterhouse member Simon Rowe became Mojave 3 when Slowdive transitioned to a more country/folk rock style...
in October 1989. The two sang and played guitar, and had been friends since they were six years old. At a Sunday youth group, they began making music in an indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
band called The Pumpkin Fairies. When the Fairies disbanded, Slowdive formed with drummer Adrian Sell, formerly of the Fairies, and Nick Chaplin, his friend who played bass. A third guitarist named Christian Savill, previously of the band "Eternal", joined when he became the only person to answer an advert from the band. The ad called for a female guitarist, but Savill wanted to join so badly he offered to wear a dress. He was subsequently recruited. The name "Slowdive" was inspired by a dream Nick Chaplin experienced.
The band quickly recorded a demo and several months later played a show the band Five Thirty
Five Thirty
Five Thirty was a three-piece rock band from London, England, briefly popular in the early 1990s. Originally performing in Oxford and Reading, Five Thirty moved to London and met drummer Phil Hopper....
. Steve Walters, head of A&R at EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, had attended the show. Afterward he approached Savill and requested one of their demos. Slowdive signed to Creation Records
Creation Records
Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were...
shortly after. The average age of the band was 19 at the time. Sell felt things were progressing too fast and left for university. He had been with the band for about six months. Simon Scott took over on drums after his previous group, an alternative rock band called The Charlottes
The Charlottes
The Charlottes were a female fronted indie pop band from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire in England, formed in 1988.-History:The band formed in 1988, initially as The Giant Polar Bears, comprising Petra Roddis , Garham Gargiulo , David Fletcher , and Simon Scott...
, broke up.
A self-titled EP
Slowdive (EP)
Slowdive is the debut EP by the English shoegazing band of the same name. It was released in 1990 on Creation Records. The recording is rumored to be a demo tape put straight onto disc.-Track listing:...
was released in November 1990 and received praise from music critics. Slowdive was actually their original demo; the band had preferred the older recordings after feeling disillusioned with their studio craft. In a glowing recommendation, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
staff member Simon Williams wrote "Slowdive have banished the barrier restricting creativity... When they really relax, Slowdive can make Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
sound like Mudhoney
Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American alternative rock band. Formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988 following the demise of Green River, Mudhoney's members are vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison, and drummer Dan Peters. Original bassist Matt Lukin left the...
." Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
awarded the EP its "Single of the Week" award", an accolade the band's next two EPs received. Morningrise and Holding Our Breath followed in February and June 1991, respectively. Holding Our Breath reached #52 in the UK album charts, while the single "Catch The Breeze
Catch the Breeze (song)
The Catch the Breeze single is the cut down version of the Holding Our Breath EP by English shoegazing band Slowdive released in 1991 by Creation Records....
" topped the UK indie chart.
Just For A Day: 1991-1992
By mid 1991, Slowdive had been tagged a "shoegazingShoegazing
Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...
" band and part of "the scene that celebrates itself
The Scene That Celebrates Itself
The Scene That Celebrates Itself was a term used to describe a social and musical scene in the early 1990s within London and the Thames Valley area.The term was invented by the Melody Makers Steve Sutherland in 1990 in a near-contemptuous gesture...
" by the British media. The term shoegazer was applied to bands that followed My Bloody Valentine's example of abrasive guitars and ethereal vocals, while "the scene" represented these like-minded groups and their social behaviour; shoegazers typically mingled at each other's gigs. Slowdive toured with other shoegazing bands through summer 1991. The British music press became increasingly derisive of shoegazing as the Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
and Grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
movements came underway.
Production on Slowdive's debut commenced shortly after Halstead convinced Alan McGee
Alan McGee
Alan McGee has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for The Guardian.McGee is best-known for co-forming and running the independent Creation Records label from 1983–1999, and then Poptones from 1999-2007...
, head of Creation Records, the band had enough songs written for a full-length album. Slowdive actually did not. The group began hurriedly writing songs in the studio. Experimentation with sounds and cannabis
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
occurred during the process. Halstead drew lyrical inspiration from the abstract nature of the music. He recounts, "[We] went into a studio for six weeks and had no songs at the start and at the end we had an album."
Their debut, Just for a Day
Just For a Day
Just for a Day is the debut studio album by the English band Slowdive, released on September 2, 1991. It was recorded at Courtyard Studios in Abingdon, Oxfordshire formally known as Georgetown Studios. The album peaked at #3 in the UK Indie charts...
was released in September 1991 and placed in the top ten on the UK indie chart. NME gave the record a positive review, but most of the press generally disliked the album as a backlash against shoegazing began. As writer Peter Buckley put it, the album was "dismissed as dreary and lacking in ideas." Melody Maker writer Paul Lester railed against the debut, calling it a "major fucking letdown". This backlash worsened when critics reevaluated shoegazing after the release of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless
Loveless (album)
Loveless is the second studio album by alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine. Released on 4 November 1991, Loveless was recorded over a two-year period between 1989 and 1991 in nineteen recording studios...
in November 1991.
A tour of the United Kingdom followed in fall 1991. Afterward, the group made their first visit to the United States and toured with alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
. A tour of Europe followed in February 1992. Slowdive's US label SBK Records
SBK Records
SBK Records was a record label of the EMI Group that was founded in 1988.Stephen Swid, Martin Bandier, and Charles Koppelman formed the production company SBK in 1989 after they purchased the music publishing division of CBS Records in 1986....
planned to release Just for a Day at the beginning of the year, but not before initiating a viral marketing
Viral marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...
campaign. The band's name was stenciled outside MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and radio stations in New York. Fans stenciled their heads when Slowdive played in Manhattan. The campaign caused some controversy when a statue celebrating the end of slavery was unveiled and had the word "Slowdive" stenciled on it. SBK eventually pushed the release date back three months, which hurt the viral campaign.
Souvlaki: 1992-1994
While they toured in early 1992, the band began writing songs for a followup album, but the negative coverage Slowdive received in the press affected their songwriting. "[It] did affect us as we were all teenagers at the time," said Scott in a 2009 interview, "[We] couldn't understand why people were so outraged by our sound that they had to tell the NME or whoever that they wanted us dead!" Around 40 songs were recorded and rerecorded as the group became very self-conscious of their writing and how it might be received. When McGee listened to the new material, he subsequently dismissed it, stating "They're all shit." The band discarded all the music and started over. In a 2009 interview, Halstead vividly recalled the incident, "I remember going to start the record in a studio in Bath. SpiritualizedSpiritualized
Spiritualized are an English space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Jason Pierce after the demise of his previous outfit, space-rockers Spacemen 3...
had just been there and left a huge Scalextrix
Scalextric
Scalextric is a toy brand for a range of slot car racing sets which first appeared in the late 1950s, as a creation of British firm Minimodels. The brand is currently owned and distributed by Hornby.-History:...
in the live room. I remember thinking this was the height of indulgence! Ironically we scrapped everything we recorded...we had to start the record again back in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. We should have just played with the Scalextrix for a month."
When the band returned to the UK, they wrote a letter to ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
visionary Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
and requested he produce their second album. Eno responded and told them he liked their music, but wanted to collaborate not produce. Halstead later called the recording session "one of the most surreal stoned experiences of [his] life." "The first thing he did when he walked into the studio was to rip the clock off the wall and put it by the mixing desk
Mixing console
In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or mixer is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
," Halstead remembered, "He then said 'Okay, you're going to play the guitar and I'm going to record it. I don't care what you are going to play, just play something...'" Two songs from the collaboration arrived on the ensuing album: "Sing", which was co-written with Eno, and "Here She Comes" where Eno played keyboards.
Creation Records wanted Slowdive to produce a commercial sounding album. Halstead agreed, "We wanted to make a 'pop' record but it took a while to record." At one point, Halstead suddenly left in summer 1992, seeking seclusion in a Welsh cottage. Savill, Chaplin and Scott were left in a recording studio in Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare is a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury...
, and while waiting for Halstead's return recorded some "joke songs". To their misfortune, McGee acquired them and became despondent, by which time Halstead had arrived with new music. The band named their second album Souvlaki
Souvlaki (album)
Souvlaki is the second studio album by the English dream pop/shoegazing band Slowdive. It was released on May 17, 1993 in the UK and on February 8, 1994 in the U.S. Widely regarded as their best album, it benefits from synthesizer contributions from co-producer Brian Eno on "Sing" and "Here She...
after a skit performed by the Jerky Boys, an American comedy duo that recorded prank phone calls
Prank call
A prank call is a form of practical joke committed over the telephone. Prank phone calls began to gain an America-wide following over a period of many years, as they gradually became a staple of the obscure and amusing cassette tapes traded amongst musicians, sound engineers, and media traders...
.
Souvlaki was released in May 1993 alongside the Outside Your Room EP
Outside Your Room
Outside Your Room is the fourth EP by English shoegazing band Slowdive. Its title is taken from the lyris of the song Alison, which it showcases as a single from their album Souvlaki.-Track listing:#"Alison" – #"So Tired" –...
, a few months after Suede
Suede (band)
Suede are an English alternative rock band from London, formed in 1989. The group's most prominent early line-up featured singer Brett Anderson, guitarist Bernard Butler, bass player Mat Osman and drummer Simon Gilbert. By 1992, Suede were hailed as "The Best New Band in Britain", and attracted...
dropped their popular debut
Suede (album)
Suede is the debut album by English alternative rock band Suede, released in March 1993 on Nude Records. At the time the fastest-selling debut album in British history, Suede debuted at the top of the UK Album Chart, won the 1993 Mercury Music Prize, and is often credited with starting the Britpop...
and the Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
movement began. Critical reactions, like their previous album, were generally negative. NME writer John Mulvey gave an ambivalent review. Despite noting their dated and "unfulfilling" sound, he did call it an "exemplary product". Dave Simpson writing for Melody Maker, declared "[This] record is a soulless void [...] I would rather drown choking in a bath full of porridge than ever listen to it again." To make matters worse, Slowdive booked a tour with fellow shoegazers Catherine Wheel
Catherine Wheel
Catherine Wheel were a four-piece alternative rock band from Great Yarmouth, England. The band was active from 1990 to 2000, experiencing fluctuating levels of commercial success, and embarking on many lengthy tours.-Biography:...
for a tour of the United States, only to find SBK had pushed the album's US release date back eight months. The band recorded an EP, entitled 5 EP, and started a modest tour through Europe with another shoegaze band, called Cranes
Cranes (band)
Cranes are a British music group formed in 1986, whose style has been described as "gothic minimalism".-History:Formed in 1986 in Portsmouth, England by siblings Alison and Jim Shaw, and named after the many mechanical cranes around the city's docks, Cranes are best known for the childlike,...
. Scott did not like the gap between releases and quit the band in 1994.
A marketing campaign was started in early 1994 to promote Souvlaki in the United States, which Allmusic writer Andy Kellman stated would "undoubtedly go down in industry history as one of the laziest ever"; SBK sent fans a release flyer and were told if they copied and posted 50 flyers around town they would receive a free copy of Souvlaki. Fans who participated had to document their progress with photographs to prove they actually performed the activity. Halfway through the Souvlaki US tour, SBK pulled their funding and left Slowdive to pay the rest themselves. In 1994, the band funded two small tours of the United States using money raised through the sale of a live tape and a tour program that mocked the record label.
Pygmalion: 1994-1995
Drummer Simon Scott left amidst creative differences in 1994 and went on to form TeleviseTelevise
Televise were an electronic shoegazing band formed by former Slowdive and Lowgold drummer Simon Scott in 2004.They released their debut single "Smile" in December 2004 followed by an EP, the 3-track Outside Out, in April 2005 to a warm reception from music press...
taking the ambient shoegazing sound and pushing it into electronic fields similar to Fennesz and in 2009 he went solo. He was, however, replaced on drums by Ian McCutcheon. By the recording of their final album, Pygmalion, Halstead had moved Slowdive away from the dreamy guitar sound and warm yet solemn tone of earlier Slowdive to a newer, more acoustic minimalist extreme, similar to heavily-ambient bands such as Seefeel
Seefeel
Seefeel are a British electronic/post-rock band formed in the early 1990s. They are currently signed to Warp Records.-Biography:Seefeel formed during 1992 in London, England; with Mark Clifford on guitar, Mark Van Hoen on bass, Justin Fletcher on drums and Sarah Peacock on vocals and guitar. During...
, A R Kane
A R Kane
A.R. Kane were a British dream pop duo consisting of Alex Ayuli and Rudy Tambala that formed in 1986. Their name was partially derived from their first names, the "A" in Alex and the "R" in Rudy. The duo hailed from East London...
, and Labradford
Labradford
Labradford is a U.S. post-rock musical group from Richmond, Virginia, founded in 1991. They have released six full albums from 1993 to 2001. Though not officially disbanded, its members have since been active with separate projects.-Biography:...
.
Slowdive were dropped by Creation a week after the release of Pygmalion (as were Swervedriver not long after).
Post-Slowdive endeavours: 1995-present
Shortly after being dropped by Creation, Halstead, Goswell and McCutcheon recorded an album of country-influenced songs, and were signed to label 4AD4AD
4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
, changing the band name to Mojave 3
Mojave 3
Mojave 3 are a British band, consisting of Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell, Simon Rowe, Alan Forrester, and Ian McCutcheon. Goswell, Halstead and McCutcheon previously played in Thames Valley shoegazing band Slowdive....
to reflect the new musical direction. This group is currently on hiatus.
Scott joined Lowgold
Lowgold
Lowgold are an English indie rock band formed in 1997 in St Albans, comprising vocalist and rhythm guitarist Darren Ford, lead guitarist Dan Symons and bassist Miles Willey....
in 1999 and left the band in 2001 after the band ran into financial problems following the collapse of Nude Records
Nude Records
Nude Records was a London based record label, set up in 1992 by Saul Galpern who had previously been involved in the success of artists such as Simply Red, the Fall, Julian Cope, The Triffids, The Slits and The Au Pairs. The label's first success was with Suede. Suede's debut album was the fastest...
and released a solo debut album called "Navigare" in Fall 2009 on the Norwegian label Miasmah
Miasmah
Miasmah is a Norwegian independent record label that was started in Oslo by Erik K. Skodvin in 2006. The label has released albums by Rafael Anton Irisarri, Jacaszek, Elegi, Jasper TX, Gultskra Artikler, Greg Haines, Encre and Kreng.-List of Artists:Elegi...
.
Savill went on to form Monster Movie, a dream pop group that has maintained much of the older Slowdive style. They have released four albums and an EP to date. Pre-Slowdive, Savill was in a band called Eternal, which also included Monster Movie member Sean Hewson.
Halstead and Goswell have both released solo albums on 4AD.
Legacy
Following 2004's Catch the Breeze compilation, all of Slowdive's albums were reissued in 2005. Just for a Day included a bonus disc with all tracks from the first three EPs, and the three songs recorded for a John PeelJohn Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
session on 21 April 1991. Souvlaki included a bonus disc with all the remaining EP tracks, and "Some Velvet Morning." Pygmalion, which had become a collector's item in the years since its release, never having been issued in the U.S., contained no extra material.
Italian dream-pop-based magazine Losing Today was named after an early Slowdive b-side.
An electronica-themed tribute album to Slowdive was released in 2002 on Morr Music
Morr Music
Morr Music is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany, founded in 1999 by Thomas Morr. Most artists on the label fall into the categories of intelligent dance music, electronica and dreampop, but all reflect Thomas Morr's personal taste...
(now home of ex-drummer Simon Scott's new band Seavault), entitled Blue Skied an' Clear
Blue skied an' clear (album)
Blue Skied An' Clear is a two-disc compilation, featuring various artists from Morr Music covering songs from the shoegazer band Slowdive on the first disc and composing songs "inspired" by Slowdive on the second disc. It was released in 2002 by Morr Music, and was the label’s 30th release...
.
"Dagger" was covered in 1998 by Mojave 3 labelmates The Hope Blister
The Hope Blister
The Hope Blister was an ambient band founded by Ivo Watts-Russell, head of the 4AD Records label. The band was something of a continuation of the This Mortal Coil project, but with a fixed line-up on ...smile's OK and focusing on cover versions...
. "When the Sun Hits" was covered in 1997 by Dutch band The Gathering
The Gathering (band)
The Gathering is a Dutch alternative rock band, founded in 1989 by brothers Hans and René Rutten and vocalist Bart Smits in the small city of Oss, North Brabant....
.
Writer/Director Dustin Lane has called his first short film "Blue Skied an' Clear" after the track of the same name on "Pygmalion".
Champaign-Urbana's Pygmalion Music Festival
Pygmalion Music Festival
Pygmalion Music Festival is a multi-day music festival named for the Slowdive album of the same name, which takes place in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, United States every September. Shows run concurrently at multiple venues, in the style of SXSW...
was named after Pygmalion.
In 2005, The Gathering
The Gathering (band)
The Gathering is a Dutch alternative rock band, founded in 1989 by brothers Hans and René Rutten and vocalist Bart Smits in the small city of Oss, North Brabant....
released a cover of Slowdive's song "When the Sun Hits" on their collection release called Accessories.
Montreal band Destroyalldreamers
Destroyalldreamers
Destroyalldreamers was a four-piece instrumental shoegaze band based in Montreal, Canada consisting of guitarists Eric Quach and Mathieu Grisé, drummer Shaun Doré and former bassist Michèle Martin. Their sound has often been described as a mix of classic '90's shoegazing with Godspeed You! Black...
recorded a cover of "Souvlaki Space Station" from the album Souvlaki. This track appeared on the second volume of a series of compilations featuring covers of classic shoegaze songs, called Never Lose that Feeling.
In 2008, Highspire recorded a cover of "Dagger" for the compilation Never Lose that Feeling Volume 3.
Director Gregg Araki
Gregg Araki
Gregg Araki is an American independent filmmaker. He is involved in New Queer Cinema.-Early life:Araki was born in Los Angeles but grew up in Santa Barbara, California...
uses Slowdive's music in many of his films; Splendor
Splendor (1999 film)
Splendor is a film directed by Gregg Araki starring Kathleen Robertson, Johnathon Schaech, Matt Keeslar, Kelly Macdonald and Eric Mabius. The film narrates the lives of the characters Veronica Abel and Zed , and how a relationship forms between these three characters that is equivalent to a...
includes the song "Shine." "Alison" is played in The Doom Generation
The Doom Generation
The Doom Generation is a film by director Gregg Araki. Released in 1995, it stars Rose McGowan, James Duval and Johnathon Schaech as two teenagers and a 21-year-old punk drifter who become involved in a ménage à trois. It is the second of a trilogy of films known as the Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy,...
and "Blue Skied an' Clear" is played during the closing credits. "Golden Hair" is played during the opening credits of Mysterious Skin
Mysterious Skin
Mysterious Skin is a 2004 drama film directed by American filmmaker Gregg Araki, who also wrote the screenplay based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Scott Heim...
; "Dagger" and "Catch the Breeze" are also played in the film. In the same movie, the character of Avalyn Freisen, played by Mary-Lynn Rajskub, is named after the song "Avalyn I". "Avalyn II" is played during the opening credits of the film Nowhere
Nowhere (film)
Nowhere is a 1997 film by director and screenwriter Gregg Araki. It stars James Duval and Rachel True as Dark and Mel, a bisexual teen couple who are both sexually promiscuous....
.
British drum and bass artist Klute sampled "Rutti" on the track "Property is theft" from the 2007 album "The Emperor's New Clothes".
Californian rap artist Lil B
Lil B
Brandon McCartney , known by his stage name Lil B or "The BasedGod", is a rapper from Berkeley, California. He has recorded both solo and with the Pack. In addition, Lil B is noted for his extensive use of social media Web sites such as MySpace and Twitter to build an online following.-Early...
sampled "Catch The Breeze" on the track "Open Thunder Eternal Slumber" from his album I'm Gay (I'm Happy)
I'm Gay (I'm Happy)
I'm Gay is an album by California rapper Lil B. The album was suddenly released digitally on June 29, 2011. On June 30, 2011, the rapper provided a free download link on his Twitter account...
released June 30, 2011.
Many shoegaze revivalist bands are heavily influenced by Slowdive.
Discography
Studio albums- Just for a DayJust For a DayJust for a Day is the debut studio album by the English band Slowdive, released on September 2, 1991. It was recorded at Courtyard Studios in Abingdon, Oxfordshire formally known as Georgetown Studios. The album peaked at #3 in the UK Indie charts...
(1991) UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#32 - SouvlakiSouvlaki (album)Souvlaki is the second studio album by the English dream pop/shoegazing band Slowdive. It was released on May 17, 1993 in the UK and on February 8, 1994 in the U.S. Widely regarded as their best album, it benefits from synthesizer contributions from co-producer Brian Eno on "Sing" and "Here She...
(1993) UK #51 - PygmalionPygmalion (album)Pygmalion is the third and final studio album by the band Slowdive, released on February 6, 1995. A departure from their previous two albums, Pygmalion incorporated a more experimental sound tilted towards ambient electronic music, with sparse, atmospheric arrangements. All compositions were by...
(1995)
Compilations
- Blue DayBlue DayBlue Day is a compilation album by English shoegazing band Slowdive. It was released in 1992 on Creation Records and compiles the first three Slowdive EPs, "Slowdive" , Morningrise , and Holding Our Breath...
(1992) - Catch the BreezeCatch the BreezeCatch the Breeze is a two-disc collection of songs by English shoegazing band Slowdive. It was released in November 2004 on Sanctuary Midline with sleeve notes by Paul Lester.-Track listing:Disc 1:# "Slowdive" – 5:15# "Avalyn I" – 4:51...
(2004) - The Shining Breeze (2010)
EPs & singles
- Slowdive EPSlowdive (EP)Slowdive is the debut EP by the English shoegazing band of the same name. It was released in 1990 on Creation Records. The recording is rumored to be a demo tape put straight onto disc.-Track listing:...
(1990) - Morningrise EP (1991)
- Holding Our Breath EP (1991)
- Catch the BreezeCatch the Breeze (song)The Catch the Breeze single is the cut down version of the Holding Our Breath EP by English shoegazing band Slowdive released in 1991 by Creation Records....
(1991) - Beach Song / Take Me Down (1992)
- She Calls / Leave Them All Behind (1992)
- Outside Your RoomOutside Your RoomOutside Your Room is the fourth EP by English shoegazing band Slowdive. Its title is taken from the lyris of the song Alison, which it showcases as a single from their album Souvlaki.-Track listing:#"Alison" – #"So Tired" –...
(1993) - 5 EP (1993)
- 5 EP (In Mind Remixes) (1993)
- Alison (1994)
External links
- Slowdive Database Gigography
- Musicstack page
- Slowdive section on Creation Records fansite - includes recent interview with band members
- Trouser Press entry
- Inkoma site
- 1991-92 Slowdive archive
- Neil Halstead Slowdive era guitar rig analysis, Guitar Geek
- Rachel Goswell Slowdive era guitar rig analysis, Guitar Geek