02-24-2009, 01:44 PM
The shoegaze/dreampop genre is often classified as "ethereal" or "ambient". It's my favourite type of music and it is certainly related in many ways to psytrance and electronica. Lyrics are typically secondary to the music in shoegaze, in that they are either purposely drowned out by the wall of sound effect, or the lyrics are, for reasons variable by artist, mostly unintelligible. The way the vocals and the music come together, however, can often be transcendental. Cocteau Twins are widely regarded as the first shoegaze band, and Elizabeth Fraser's vocals have proven to be brilliantly non-committal to any one language, tho many have come up with very creative possibilities for their meaning. One song may actually be a listing of species of butterflies by Latin nomenclature. It is music that can intensify emotions and can potentially shift awareness due to its otherworldly nature.
While lyrically, these bands may not directly espouse the Law of One philosophy (although who knows, they may), yet I do feel it resound through the emotional counterpart of the music. I feel this also thru many of the bands on the 4AD label, Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil, etc., which is not all labeled as shoegaze.
However, there are exceptions. The Brooklyn-based Soundpool is one of the hottest new bands on the scene. They are usually referred to as dreampop, but categories aside it's All One anyway, right?
They really employ the wall of sound well, yet the vocals are somewhat discernable and the band actually releases the lyrics on their CDs…in fact one of their hit songs that they made a video for, The Divides of March, has the words going across the screen. That song says it well:
"the divides of march
have blinded the dove-eyed to their dove vision
all the dove-eyed on the march
have been blinded by the illusion of division"
They've also been labeled as "space rock" because of their cosmic sound in songs like "span the universe," "for all eternity" and "my ethereal daydream." Best digested live. Seriously, their music is all-pervasive. Their two albums out now are "on high" and "dichotomies + dreamland." Another one should be coming out soon.
Also, I've always found Stereolab to be particularly conducive to meditation and lucid dreaming exercises.
You can find most of this stuff on youtube and the artists' myspace pages. I would also be more than pleased to share more information on this growing genre with whoever may be interested.
This is my first post on this forum, so I will endeavour to introduce myself properly as soon as time allows. Glad to see that a Law of One forum exists…maybe it'll keep me off Facebook!
While lyrically, these bands may not directly espouse the Law of One philosophy (although who knows, they may), yet I do feel it resound through the emotional counterpart of the music. I feel this also thru many of the bands on the 4AD label, Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil, etc., which is not all labeled as shoegaze.
However, there are exceptions. The Brooklyn-based Soundpool is one of the hottest new bands on the scene. They are usually referred to as dreampop, but categories aside it's All One anyway, right?
They really employ the wall of sound well, yet the vocals are somewhat discernable and the band actually releases the lyrics on their CDs…in fact one of their hit songs that they made a video for, The Divides of March, has the words going across the screen. That song says it well:"the divides of march
have blinded the dove-eyed to their dove vision
all the dove-eyed on the march
have been blinded by the illusion of division"
They've also been labeled as "space rock" because of their cosmic sound in songs like "span the universe," "for all eternity" and "my ethereal daydream." Best digested live. Seriously, their music is all-pervasive. Their two albums out now are "on high" and "dichotomies + dreamland." Another one should be coming out soon.
Also, I've always found Stereolab to be particularly conducive to meditation and lucid dreaming exercises.
You can find most of this stuff on youtube and the artists' myspace pages. I would also be more than pleased to share more information on this growing genre with whoever may be interested.
This is my first post on this forum, so I will endeavour to introduce myself properly as soon as time allows. Glad to see that a Law of One forum exists…maybe it'll keep me off Facebook!