i don't think dreampop was coined as a phrase until years after though, was it?

some good bands you mention there... always thought MBV were overrated myself however...

Nope - I remember Melody Maker using the term "Dream Pop" when those bands were releasing records in the 90s. I love My Bloody Valentine with a passion, but I kind of have to agree with you - they were rated to the heavens by the music press and having only released two (proper) albums (I only really count the last 2 as proper MBV releases), it was a tad O.T.T.

I think "Isn't Anything" was amazing for it's time and I was expecting a whole lot more from "Loveless", especially after hearing the Glider EP - they had embraced baggy rythms on "Soon" and I fully expected that when the album came out, that it would have fully embraced the dance rythms of it's time, but in that sense, it was a BIG let down. Still in hindsight, a great album, but not groundbreaking - neither was "Isn't Anything" which borrowed heavily from Sonic Youth and the Jesus and Mary Chain.

Apologies for the double post!

JamesT - Check out Asobi Seksu for a current dream-pop/shoegaze band

http://www.asobiseksu.com/

Oh yeah - I heard this band on the radio the other night. Very reminiscent of Lush. Cheers for that reminder, Binokular!

On a related note...
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055134614

Cool! Thanks for that ishrink!

no mention of dream pop there... prove it james t!

anyway... decent times

From Wikipedia;

"Dream pop is a type of alternative rock that originated in Britain in the early 1980s, when bands like Cocteau Twins, The Chameleons UK, The Passions, Dead Can Dance, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane (to whom the term has been attributed) began fusing post-punk experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into sensual, sonically-ambitious soundscapes. The term was only used in the United States, although frequently used, and allegedly coined, by Melody Maker journalists Simon Reynolds and Chris Roberts. An "all-star" dream pop collective named This Mortal Coil were known for covering obscure pop songs of the 1960s to '80s."

It appears my memory ain't so bad after all!

Simon Reynolds and Chris Roberts - my fav critics ever - I bought almost every album that I could afford that they recommended.

are you american?

Yes - but I lived in the UK in the 80s and now live in Ireland.

ah, ok....

i'd never heard the term dreampop until pitchfork dug it up a couple of years ago in referencing the shoegazing bands...

...i really hate genre names but they serve a purpose i guess...

As far as genre pidgeon-holing goes though, it's not a bad name!

Yeah, I think it would have even also been applied to bands like Galaxie 500 to an extent, in which case, it really fits!

Galaxie 500 were amazing. I caught them live a few times and unfortunately, they were very hit and miss. Hit when Kramer played with them, miss as a 3 piece. The problem with them as a 3 piece was that the singer plays both rythm and lead and used to switch from rythm to lead in every song, leaving a sonic "hole" where the rythm guitar used to be - it sounded terrible. When Kramer joined them , the hole was filled perfectly and they sounded as sublime as they do on record.

Luna were pretty good live too - though I prefer Galaxie's music. They did however, have one seriously hot assed blonde bassist (drrrrrrrooooooooollllll !!!).

http://www.fuzzywuzzy.com/assets/images/live-lg/tanaka/large/9%20BP_0565%20copy.jpg

There's a pic of her linked above, kitted out in full school uniform, pre-brittney era. Sex on a stick (with a bass; queue jokes of filling her sonic hole etc)

The Passions ? Was that the crowd who had a one hit wonder with "I'm in love with a German film star" ?

Dunno - I just copied and pasted it!