Heavy Rotation: Week Ending December 18, 2009

01. Various – To Here Knows When: The History of Shoegazing - 1988-1994, (mix.2004)
02. “Bay of Pigs” by Destroyer, (Merge.2009)
03. The Clientele – Bonfire On The Heathen, (Merge.2009)
04. American Steel – Dear Friends & Gentle Hearts, (Fat Wreck Chords.2009)
05. Echo & The Bunnymen – The Fountain, (Ocean Rain.2009)
06. Let's Wrestle – In The Court Of The Wrestling Lets, (Schnapple Corpse.2009)
07. The Fresh & Onlys – Grey-Eyed Girls, (Woodsist.2009)
08. Smith Westerns – Smith Westerns, (Hozac/Revolver.2009)
09. The Soft Pack – The Muslims, (The Orchard.2009)
10. Ash – The A-Z Series [tracks A-E], (Atom.2009)

I can't believe I forgot to write my Heavy Rotation this week. It's the Holidays – my least favorite time of the year. Or maybe it was my fantasy football team, the Demon Sausages, being upset in the first round of the playoffs. It wasn't apathy, as you can see from the list above, I'm deep into 2009 releases (more on #1 in the next paragraph). I've been busy entering data into my Album Quantifier Model, entering the results into my Top 50 spreadsheet, and adding songs to an iTunes playlist. The work day, too much to do and no time to blog. Early evening is family time … awww, ain't that precious. Next thing I know, the Wife and I got sucked into a juicy episode of 20/20. That fashion designer is just naughty naughty. What is up with the Italian judicial system? Oh shit! Cazart! Get writing, dumbass.

Every day, to and from work, I have been listening to an amazing two-disc/40 track (!!) Shoegazer compilation made by my friend Jared. It sits atop this week's Heavy Rotation. The track selection is simply amazing, from the usual suspects (My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Lush, Pale Saints, Slowdive) to bands that started in shoegaze but made their name in another genre (The Boo Radleys, Sloan, House of Love) to second-wave hype acts (Chapterhouse, Catherine Wheel) to obscure bands (Moose, The Charlottes, The Telescopes, The Nightblooms) to shoegazers flirting with Brit Pop (Adorable) to American indie rockers bent on the bendy lines (Swirlies, Lilys, Starflyer59). This is a “warts-n-all” document of a scene that was mocked more than praised. The songs are sequenced chronologically, so you can see the rise, plateau, and decline.

What makes this even more intriguing and excellent is the weird rise of bands in 2009 exhibiting a serious shoegaze influence. The shoegaze influence seemed to be everywhere in alternative/indie rock. The shocking thing is these bands actually made serious waves among the critics and discerning music listeners alike (see Big Pink, The Raveonettes, Asobi Seksu, The Legends, A Place to Bury Strangers, etc.). Further, isn't shoegaze the perfect soundtrack for icy winter? Yeah, I think so too.

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