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I think this what's behind the appeal of Shoegaze music and why some people get it and others don't. There's something very comforting to me about the fuzzy evo
by kypro 4y ago
I think this what's behind the appeal of Shoegaze music and why some people get it and others don't. There's something very comforting to me about the fuzzy evolving sounds you hear in Shoegaze music. As someone with a loud anxious mind who's also prone to auditory sensory overload I find certain sounds such as those found in Shoegaze music shuts this all off.
If I'm out in public and I'm feeling anxious there's really nothing that makes me feel at ease quicker. My mind kind of melts away with the music. I guess it sounds like how putting a blanket over my brain might feel.
- RugnirViking 4y agoDo you recommend any songs or artists? I've never heard of Shoegaze music, but I might have a listen over the next week. Always nice to find new stuff
- resputin 4y agoHere's a great flowchart that I saved years ago as I was first exploring the genre. https://i.redd.it/rxrtulf0m5631.jpg https://i.redd.it/rxrtulf0m5631.jpg The three classic albums of the genre Loveless - My Bloody Valentine Souvlaki - Slowdive Nowhere - Ride
- bamboozled 4y agoIf listening to "Loveless" from My Bloody Valentine, make sure your volume is low, especially if wearing headphones, you've been warned. My ears will never be the same again, thanks. Wow.
- laurex 4y agoThe loudest show I've ever been to (and I've been to metal, noise, and other kinds of loud-oriented shows) was MBV, where you could actually feel the sound almost like a wave against your whole body. So I think Kevin Shields would disagree with this advice. :D
- zeppelin101 4y agoThis is why I never went to see them in concert. I love this band but I don't want to damage my hearing.
- JKCalhoun 4y agoLove "Machine Gun" from Souvlaki: https://youtu.be/SQ6pHlVKW9w https://youtu.be/SQ6pHlVKW9w
- ceravis 4y agoThis is a rather different style than the original, but Múm does an amazing cover of Machine Gun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii2wxG647ds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii2wxG647ds
- partomniscient 4y agoIf you like those, and you haven't yet heard Flyying Colours - Wavygravy, it's linked here for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9wnpiiMUJs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9wnpiiMUJs
- dvschnitz 4y agoNot op but my favorites are Slowdive, My Bloody Valantine and Ride.
- 52-6F-62 4y agoThe Canadian sweethearts Alvvays are excellent. There’s more to PEI than potatoes! https://youtu.be/eH5mqLjwg6U https://youtu.be/eH5mqLjwg6U Paul’s Boutique represent.
- kypro 4y agoBands like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive is probably a good place to start. If you're asking for my recommendations though, when I'm anxious this song is probably my favourite, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ4Mn2X-Wm4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ4Mn2X-Wm4 Put some good earphones on, turn it up, and just let your mind shut off as the fuzz and noise slowly builds. The part around ~3.45 is almost orgasmic to my ear, but I'm on the spectrum and I'm quite sensitive to audible sounds so perhaps others don't hear it quite like I do.
- UncleOxidant 4y agoLately when I'm anxious I find this one to be amazingly calming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnDcJMKCTLM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnDcJMKCTLM The combination of the music and the jellyfish floating by in that video.
- N1H1L 4y agoI would add Mazzy Star, and a lot of Jangle pop to the list too. Thurston Moore's album The Best Day is another great recent addition to the jangle pop genre.
- callahad 4y agoNot sure if I'm on the spectrum or not, but that was good, thank you for sharing it. Seems like that particular YouTube link is unavailable (maybe just in the UK?), but I believe this is another copy of the same track, The Radio Dept. - The City Limit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNOjIJN5u7E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNOjIJN5u7E
- FumblingBear 4y agoA general starting place will be My Bloody Valentine's album Loveless which is usually agreed to be the album that kickstarted the genre. There are a lot of different directions you could go from there, but personally, one of my favorite releases is Guilty of Everything by Nothing as a more modern take on shoegaze. (mid 2010's vs 90's) Additionally, there are some critically acclaimed releases in extensions of the genre like post-metal with Deafheaven's album Sunbather being a great entry into that particular sub-genre. Hope that gives you a bit of a starting off point!
- trentearl 4y agoSpacemen 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhH8NPtQlI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhH8NPtQlI
- bilekas 4y agokinoko teikoku long goodbye Is a top choice and rare enough - you can find it on spotify now though !
- nkozyra 4y agoTwo pre-shoegaze recommendations: Cocteau Twins Talk Talk (Laughing Stock and Spirit of Eden, post-synthwave) This all falls under dream pop and while I don't think it has much in common with noise's effect on the brain, it can be a little disorienting due to the depth and variance in sound.
- dr-smooth 4y agoThere are some great recommendations here for classic 90s shoegaze. I recently found a more current band that is playing some great shoegaze: Deserta. Love these guys!
- rsolva 4y agoThe lovely "Simon Says No!" from Norway is a hidden shoegaze gem!
- replwoacause 4y agoI haven't heard of this genre before. Are there a few tracks or artists you could recommend I start with?
- mckirk 4y agoEvery Noise[1] has you covered: https://open.spotify.com/user/particledetector/playlist/330ig5qiWoKFhGLJfDC2LJ https://open.spotify.com/user/particledetector/playlist/330i... (Though it's just an algorithm and sometimes can have opinions on what constitutes a genre that active listeners of the genre might disagree with.) [1]: https://everynoise.com/engenremap-shoegaze.html https://everynoise.com/engenremap-shoegaze.html
- replwoacause 4y agoThanks!
- jerry1979 4y agoI came across this Nothing album the other day, and it seems on point to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHtCSu_P_Ow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHtCSu_P_Ow
- replwoacause 4y agoCool thanks, will check this out.
- somedude895 4y agoMazzy Star - Fade into You: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4m5jQy5A2U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4m5jQy5A2U The live version serves well to show you why it's called Shoegaze :) My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyYMzEplnfU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyYMzEplnfU Quintessential shoegaze song Ringo Deathstarr - Sweet Girl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0Mgv2mn-Lg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0Mgv2mn-Lg One of my personal favorites
- 4y ago
- boringg 4y agoIs shoegaze just another term for drone music?
- CollinEMac 4y agoThey're different genres but have some similarities. https://www.last.fm/tag/shoegaze https://www.last.fm/tag/shoegaze https://www.last.fm/tag/drone https://www.last.fm/tag/drone
- fipar 4y agoI agree completely. While not Shoegaze, the first time I realized my inner dialogue had stopped completely for a few seconds was after the first time I listened to Washing Machine (the song, not the album, though I was listening to the album in full) by Sonic Youth. Up until then I had never though that'd be possible: I always assumed we all had an inner dialogue going on all the time (I later learned some people don't have this at all, which I find intriguing, probably as intriguing as they find that some people always have one!).
- themaninthedark 4y agoI have an inner dialogue, or at least I think I do. When I picked up meditation, I think I learned how to have it stop. Or at least so I don't notice it is occurring. It feels like instead of some of my brain resources being devoted to thinking or analyzing all my focus is shifted on the state of me, skin temperature, wind feel, sounds.
- drcongo 4y agoMy inner dialogue is stronger than any attempt at meditation, it thrives on me even trying.
- reportgunner 4y agoAsanas and breathing techniques help a lot with this.
- fipar 4y agoInteresting, I was picking up meditation too around the time I had this experience, though I was not (intentionally) meditating while listening to the record. To this day, I don't know how to stop the dialog reliably, but I know some activities and some music that help me do that (Metal Machine Music from Lou Reed works great for me, for example).
- titoasty 4y agoThis. Exactly this. I'm more into post-rock (gy!be <3) but I totally relate to your feeling. This massive/overload wall of sound blanketing your brain. Even if there's nearly no lyrics in post-rock, it is strictly impossible for me to work while listening to it. And shoegaze/postrock are something you have to enjoy with headphones. The work on stereo is always phenomenal. (I wonder if some bands used binaural beats to go further this way. kinda reminds me I-doser ;) )
- MisterTea 4y ago> As someone with a loud anxious mind who's also prone to auditory sensory overload I find certain sounds such as those found in Shoegaze music shuts this all off. This is one of the main reasons for my love of extreme metal and other abrasive, noisy or drone genres. There are even shoegaze black metal bands (blackgaze) such as Andavald. The cacophony of the music drowns out the mental noise and I can focus on what I'm doing. Happy, up beat stuff, or clear vocals, seal focus and becomes an annoying distraction. Though classical music or certain instrumental music is soothing to me as well. I remember reading that von Neumann was a fan of turning on the TV or radio to very loud volumes when he was working at home. Likely to achieve the same effect.
- pizza 4y ago> I remember reading that von Neumann was a fan of turning on the TV or radio to very loud volumes when he was working at home. Likely to achieve the same effect. There is a whole genre of YouTube videos that is just somebody walking in the rain in a cityscape for 3+ hours. I put the video on on my TV, to get both a sense of calm and also a sense of exploration/movement. Something about the coffee shop ambience videos just no longer tickles my mind. It’s best to pair with reeally slow, long music, such as Subaeris - The City in Rain (56 minute long ambient “dreampunk” song). There’s typically a moment in this process that I feel my mind de-tense.. allowing the real work to begin
- laurex 4y agoPutting aside the troll vocals and terrible underlying philosophies, some Black Metal has similarly lovely guitar soundwashes as well. It's an interesting paradox.
- z9znz 4y agoNot black metal, in the past I found it easiest to take an afternoon nap with Metallica, Iron Maiden, or Yngwie Malmsteen. Later, djent style metal did the trick (preferably with the least amount of "troll" vocals). - such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyBrxxUWO28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyBrxxUWO28
- nighthawk454 4y agofascinating, I like all those artists but would've never tried sleeping to Metallica or Yngwie. I take it the fast tempos and high-energy don't keep you up?
- z9znz 4y agoI think there's some mechanical nature to the rhythms, and the chords tend to be complex enough that something is going on that keeps my subconscious occupied and makes it easier to lose awareness (and fall asleep). Or maybe it's me. I fell asleep for a minute or two in a stadium while Rush was playing Time Stand Still as a college student (so age wasn't a factor ;) ).
- nighthawk454 4y agowow! I think falling asleep during a Rush concert might be some new kind of cardinal sin - even if it's a relatively more mellow song :P curious if more progressive metal works the same for you? (e.g. Dream Theater) rhythms are less regular, although kinda mathematical in some sense so I could see it still applying
- ycombinete 4y agoI definitely get this with guys like Alcest, Summoning, Insomnium, Lustre and (to a lesser extent) Agalloch.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]