Slowdive may have broken up in 1995 but most of its members still continue to make music. Forever associated with the short lived but much loved shoegazing genre Slowdive released 3 albums and a number of EP’s. For the uninitiated tracks to seek out include ‘Catch The Breeze’, ‘Machine Gun’ and ‘When The Sun Hits’.

Slowdive - Shine (1991 Peel Session)


Rachel Goswell

As well as being every indie boy's dream girl Rachel Goswell was one half of the vocal team in Slowdive. Goswell is a member of Mojave 3, the alt country (who have recently turned all Powerpop on us) act who have a number of fine albums under their belts. Rachel also released a solo album in 2004 called ‘Waves Are Universal’. Of late she has been stricken with illness and was unable to go on tour in support of Mojave 3’s superb last album ‘Puzzles Like You’.

Rachel Goswell - Warm Summer Sun

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [UK] Waves Are Universal [US] Waves Are Universal
Year: 2004


Neil Halstead

Neil Halstead was the dreamy (background) voice in Slowdive, much of his words getting lost in the reverb. His songwriting skills took a pasting when the bands final album ‘Pygmalion’ was a flop (he wrote most of it) and saw the band getting dropped from Creation records. Thankfully more good times were on the way when along with Goswell and Ian McCutcheon he formed Mojave 3 in 1995 signalling a total reinvention of his signature sound. Halstead released a solo record for 4AD in 2002 called ‘Sleeping On Roads’ but Mojave 3 remains his primary focus.

Neil Halstead - Seasons

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [UK] Sleeping on Roads [US] Sleeping on Roads
Year: 2002


Christian Saville

Saville was guitarist with Slowdive and played in several bands including the Eternal before settling with his current band Monster Movie who have stayed faithful to shoegaze sound of yore. As other members forked off into quieter sonic avenues Saville has gone on to release 4 albums of panoramic dream pop.

Monster Movie - Waiting

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [UK] Last Night Something Happened [US] Last Night Something Happened
Year: 2002


Nick Chaplain

Slowdive’s bass player has vanished and not even google’s all seeing eye can provide any information on his current whereabouts. Anybody out there with any leads (preferably ones connected to a bass guitarist)?


Ian McCutcheon

McCutcheon replaced Simon Scott in 1994 on drums. Slowdive split the following year after the failure of ‘Pygmalion’ but McCutcheon continued his association with Goswell and Halstead with Mojave 3.

Mojave 3 - Stars In The Sky

More Info: Official
Buy Album: [UK] Puzzles Like You [US] Puzzles Like You
Year: 2006


Simon Scott

Simon Scott played drums on most of Slowdive’s recordings from 1990 to 1994. On leaving the band he became a session drummer working with the likes of Chapterhouse and St. Etienne. His own band Inner Sleeve enjoyed a short existence on the Fierce Panda label after which Scott played drums with the much undervalued Lowgold. He currently heads up a shoegaze band named Televise who were formed in 2003 on foot of a brief sighting of Syd Barrett.

Televise - Mercy Seat

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [UK] Songs to Sing in A&E [US] Outside Out Ep
Year: 2006

KD

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

Gentle electronica sweeping gently to the sea. Et Ret’s background may be in folk but his 2006 debut ‘Gasworks’ swapped the beardism’s for more artificial sonic indulgences. The effect was breathtaking as strings and computer derived noises created a wallowing, mind-bending swirl of passivity. You could imagine ‘The First Day’ becoming the dentists preferred form of sedation as patients gently slip into a state of consciousness that is impervious to pain. This is perfect background audio for savvy beanbag emporiums, a soft Trundle bed commercial or the zenith for Mothercare’s launch of their autumn/winter range. James Angelos is the craftsman, time to become putty in his hands. KD

Et Ret - The First Day

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [US] Gasworks [UK] Gasworks
Year: 2006

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

Red Star Belgrade were always one of the best proponents of alt country but for many small reasons they never actually achieved what their music deserved. I remember picking up a CMJ cover mount and instantly being enamoured with the ‘Saddest Girl In The World’. With RSB nothing was ever hurried, why rush things when there’s a mean song to be sung? Bill Curry has a strong vocal that can alternate between mature storyteller and wide eyed spokesman for the world. RSB's last new material ‘The Real Traitors’ appeared in 2004 and included this perfect track ‘Quiet & Terrified’ (listen to the words and you'll be the saddest little girl/boy in the world). Although it is a sub 2minuter it has a lavish design, strings fill the air like butterflies in summer while the singer and his wife Graham play vocal hide and seek with each other. Curry’s shoulder injury in 2005 has put paid to new RSG for a while but hopefully it will be a temporary blip in RSB's (slow) meteoric rise to success. KD

Red Star Belgrade - Quiet And Terrified

More Info: Official
Buy Album: [UK] The Real Traitors [US] Where the Sun Doesn't Shine
Year: 2004

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

The amount of music submissions to this site has been building for a while now. One day I may even get exasperated at the tons of hard drive I have to absorb. So often tunes rack up one play and are discarded, other times they make the half a dozen mark and are revealed as the shadowy customers that they truly are. I knew RD Mauzy’s ‘Honeycut’ (I was dreading a mock rap jump around the car park effort) was going to stick though from the very first play. RD the Milkman (if you don’t mind) bares his soul and his stripped bare arrangements press buttons I thought I had lost along with that scruffy parka all those years ago. RD is a prolific recording artist, diary scribbler and long time escapee from Lakeside, California and his eye for crafting a velcro tune has even led him to reworking a Madonna banger from 1983 called ‘Burning Up’. ‘Honeycut’ could be this years answer to ‘the JCB Song’ except that this time the cartoon characters have fangs and the not so friendly vehicle will run you over at every opportunity. Everybody singalong now 'I Got The Shit Kicked Out Of Me......'. KD

RD Mauzy - Honeycut

More Info: Official
Buy RD Mauzy: Official
Year: 2007

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

You can probably blame Peter, Bjorn & John or his eminence Andrew Bird because it really seems as if whistling is making a case for inclusion in the hall of fame for the most dreamy of indie rock tools (last year it was the Glockenspiel). This time it’s Electric President’s Ben Cooper under one of his several aliases Radical Face who has pursed lips and broken hearts. His new album ‘Ghost’ (is it me or is ‘Ghost’ the word of the moment in alternative circles?) is as good if not better than last year’s self-titled EP album. As you’d expect it’s a cerebral homemade effort that is as warm hearted as the King of the good Samaritans. The beauty of the record is its ability to sound restrained while still packing an emotional punch that’ll have you clambering for the nearest headrest. ‘Glory’ is just one of many pretty tunes on offer as it provokes imaginative portholes into the sound of Sigur Ros, Magnet and even Paul Simon. Even with 'Ghost' about to drop Cooper is hardly whistling dixie as he retreats to the back yard to record the follow up to EP with Alex Kane. For the moment though let this hauntingly beautiful record give you a clutch of fascinating chills. KD

Radical Face - Glory

Watch The Video To EP's Insomnia

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [UK] Ghost [US] Ghost
Year: 2007

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

Close, but no white smoke I’m afraid. It was always going to be an impossible task to repeat the magic of ‘Funeral’ and the Arcade Fire have so nearly pulled it off. This is a monumental achievement in itself, set against the best album of the century (thus far) most works pale by comparison but the Arcade Fire’s sophomore album ‘Neon Bible’ proves to be a valuable companion piece. Not much has changed, the dynamics are still irresistible and tracks like ‘Black Waves/Bad Vibrations’, ‘No Cars Go’ (a reworked version of an oldie from the ‘Us Kids Know’ EP), ‘The Well and The Lighthouse’ and ‘Black Mirror’ could have easily sidled up alongside the songs from the bands debut without ruffling its grandiose take on modern music. ‘Black Mirror’ opens the new LP and it’s a gripping listen that strokes the senses in all the right places. It has an underlying sense of menace, like an audio portrait for the darker scenes in Snow White. The percussion is thunderous and Win Butler adds a healthy dose of ambiguity to a set of lyrics that will soon be bouncing around your head with the accuracy of a panicked brain signal. 'Neon Bible' is released on March 6th, the Deluxe Edition is an essential purchase. KD

The Arcade Fire - Black Mirror

Watch The Video To Wake Up

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [UK] Neon Bible [US] Neon Bible
Year: 2007

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

Andrew Bird albums are about to fly out of the shops or perch on your creaking hard drive because his new album is one of the bright sparks of the new(ish) year. Of course Bird was always an ambitious musician, it’s just that this time he has decorated his compositions with nightime radio friendly melodies. He is classically trained and much of his output is laced with innovative string arrangements. The results are uniquely satisfying and if that wasn’t enough Birds whistling ability (c.f. ‘Dark Matter’) could have Peter, John and Bjorn staring is glazed admiration. Bird’s new album (his 10th) is due to be released towards the end of this month under the decidedly tongue twisting title of ‘Armchair Apocrypha’. The fast emerging Fat Possum label are in charge and this album will doubtlessly extend their current golden patch (Dinosaur Jr., Heartless Bastards, Fiery Furnaces….gulp). ‘Heretics’ is a promo from the upcoming album, a song so devoid of tired indie clichés it could almost create a genre on all its own. MozArt Rock anyone? KD

Andrew Bird - Heretics

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: Armchair Apocrypha
Year: 2007

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

John Valderslice (ex of pioneer rockers MK Ultra) is the mp3 blogger’s dream ticket. Not only was he responsible for one of the first of the species, Tiny Telephone, but his progressive attitude to music distribution is a template that aspiring musicians (and the industry as a whole) would do well to study. And to cap it all off Mr. Valderslice makes some mighty fine music. He released 5 albums over a prolific 5-year period, the last of which ‘Pixel Revolt’ appeared in 2005. One of the standouts was ‘Exodus Damage’ which exhaled a dark atmosphere through its churning textures and Vanderslice’s heart pounding illustrations. KD

John Vanderslice - Exodus Damage

Watch The Video

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [UK] Pixel Revolt [US] Pixel Revolt
Year: 2005

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

Just before you run for the hills at the start of ‘I Am A Musician’ for fear of an assault of the Bon Jovi’s be warned that staying out of ear shot would be a loss to the side of your brain that craves free form rock gems. Because that's the sort of blaze of glory (!) that this song from Montreal’s Plajia is. Patrick Pleau supplies the knee weakeningly graceful vocals while a tornedo of noise blusters about in the long grass. Things become a tad overblown towards the end but the journey to that point is intriguing and repeated listens are rewarded. ‘I Am A Musician’ is taken from the bands second album which is currently in post production. KD

Plajia - Am I A Magician

Watch The Video To Gifted Suns

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Plajia: Sitis & Fetch
Year: 2007

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

Wales has got its music playing English Literature students so there was nothing to the stop their Scottish counterparts making a similiar fuss. I was pointed in Gdansk's direction by one of the lecturers (thanks Prof!) at Strathclyde University and was immediately struck by their ambition. Gdansk are a quartet with an unusually fine eye for taking the gloom of Joy Division and fizzing it up with the jangling thrills of the Wedding Present. As you’d expect Interpol also get a look in but somewhere between the fertilizing influences and the intriguing translation has appeared a ripe new sound that is seeping in melody. If you are quick you’ll be able to pick up a clutch of new songs from Gdansk at their myspace. Probably won’t be up there for long though because some lucky label is going to bag them in the very near future. According to lead man Andy Campbell ‘Kicking A Television’ is a live favourite and it’s easy to see why with its shimmering chords and feisty rhythms this is just made for an unforgettable end of gig blowout. Gdansk is Poland’s largest seaport but did you know it is also Scotland’s brightest new band. An album 'F Number' is in the works. KD

Gdansk - Kicking A Television

More Info: Official & Myspace
Year: 2007

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

Although less celebrated than the Arcade Fire's central core Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel prove once again why a husband and wife team can seduce the creative nerves into something approaching bliss. Together they are Mates of State, an uproariously joyous musical apparition with songs to make your ears wiggle and your legs, well, jiggle (?). ‘Fraud In The ‘80’s’ is taken from the duo’s much lauded 4th album ‘Bring It Back’ and despite it taking almost six months to snare my adoration there’s no doubt that from the get go you’ll know you are onto a winner. The scuzzy organ may exhibit limited dimensions but there is a delicate game being played here and its initial abrasiveness is upwardly reevaluated by the swoonful chorus. The song is versatile too and constant replays go to prove that Mates of State were in truly inspired form the day they sat down to create it. KD

Mates of State - Fraud in the 80's

Watch The Video

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [UK] Bring It Back [US] Bring It Back
Year: 2006

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

Today I happened upon a new song called ‘Dream On’ taken from Celestial's forthcoming album to be released on Skipping Stones Records. It is a fantastic ditty with a dainty shoegaze spring in its step. It sounded so familiar though.

Celestial - Dream On

Celestial have been about for a time and have already released 2 EP’s ingeniously titled EP1 & EP2 many moons ago. Both can be downloaded for free on the Lost Music net label. My favourite track is ‘The Boy Who Never Says Goodbye’. Probably won’t be the last we hear of this magical tune.

Celestial - The Boy Who Never Says Goodbye

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: Very Soon
Year: 2007

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

Thankfully not a return to the days of the little tykes and their tweeny takes on the hits of the day. More a delicious combo from San Francisco with a chanteuse spilling dreamy vocals the likes we haven’t heard for aeons. Behind her is a rhythm section that stops short of blistering eardrums even though you know they want to. ‘Precious’ is the title track from their debut EP and it lives up to its billing with aplomb. This is a delicate pop production that won’t blow you away but may give you the sort of tingles normally associated with a heightened sense of happiness. With an album at an advanced stage of production, upcoming support slots to Midlake and a SXSW appearance on the way 2007 could be a really busy year for Minipop. Catch them before they go minor to major. KD

Minipop - Precious

Watch The Video To Fingerprints

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy: Precious EP
Year: 2005

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

James Smith rose phoenix like from the embers of his old band with a clear plan to set the world alight all on his own. By stripping back on the band mates he could concentrate on audiofying what was bouncing around his head. In the process he has created a tidy package of tunes that could give bedroom pop the kick up the backside it needs. Smith is from Belfast and his part of the city must be a pleasant place to be as his flat gently sways to the sounds filtering from his computer. There are elements of Caribou in exmagician’s electronic presentations and an eagerness to cross genre boundary lines merely adds to a sound that quietly grows in your affections. Included here are just 2 of exmagician’s latest tracks. ‘Plan Retrieval’ is delicious slice of lo-fi pop, surface values are nice but there are discoveries deeper down that keep you coming back for more. ‘Our Days Are Numbered’ sees Smith change tact, wandering close to troubadour territory before sidestepping tired clichés and inventing a bright new template all on his own. KD

exmagician - Our Days Are Numbered

exmagician - Plan Retrieval

More Info: exmagician
Buy Album: Watch This Space
Year: 2007

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

Dedicated to anyone out there who’s still in love despite the recent passing of Valentine's Day. Eberg is an Icelandic electronic kid based in London. He’s received some UK airplay and has an album called ‘Voff Voff’ (I’m sure your local HMV counter assistant will be very helpful) from which this golden number has been taken. Eberg manages to talk in romantic terms about a beautiful part of the body without ever sounding creepy, a notable achievement and one that may afford would-be amateur Lothario’s a potential soundtrack to work their magic. And just when it was all going so right for Eberg the OC did their thing and picked up on his ‘Inside Your Head’ and his fate was sealed. Whether he can recover from this is open to question but his impressive range of cute audio should see him in good stead. And why aren't Andrex banging down his door, puppies (and the OC) are so yesterday. KD

Eberg - Love Your Bum

Watch The Video To Sober in June

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [UK] Voff Voff [US] Voff Voff
Year: 2006

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

Despite being ejected from 2 labels since their birth in Jönköping seven years ago the Mary Onettes always knew that persistence would be the key to their survival. Their faith was rewarded when the coolest label on the planet (perhaps) Labrador signed them up. And now as Labrador celebrates 100 releases the Mary Onettes get the No. 87 slot in a quite immaculate collection of songs. The band swears by its influences, there are strong hints of Echo & The Bunnymen and Joy Division while the chorus on ‘Lost’ is indicative of many of the other 3-minute classics floating about the good ship Labrador (the Legends). ‘Lost’ is fabulously retro, decidedly cool and a vital accessory for any mp3 player large or small. KD

The Mary Onettes - Lost

Watch The Video To Make Me Last

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy: The Lost EP
Year: 2006

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!

Mathew Sawyer may have played drums with the Television Personalities but his voice has been curated at the central altar of twee pop heaven. An acquired taste then you might think? Well, you’d be wrong because when it’s surrounded by dreamy soundscapes as evidenced on his band the Ghosts album ‘Blue Birds Blood’ these particular vocals sound as appropriate as snow on a mountaintop. The album kicks off with ‘Penny Falls’, a simple affair with Maebh Culhane’s cooing being rivalled only by the Velvet Underground like drum snaps and Sawyer's engagingly delivered lines. This sort of song normally finds its true home at the end titles in the quirkiest movie of the year. Lovely doesn’t even begin to describe it. KD

The Ghosts - Penny Falls

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: Blue Birds Blood
Year: 2006

Get 25 FREE Music Downloads for your iPod® or any MP3 player!