Friday Cover Up #2 - Riding No Fucking Where

Normally I'm struggling for good covers to bring the week to a close, but today we are inundated! First The Horrortones, now this compilation of Ride covers conceived by cool blog Clicky Clicky Music from bands of Boston to celebrate the seminal album Nowhere. Poor Ride - they are the oft forgotten shoegaze band to rise out of that MBV/Swervedriver/Slowdive scene, but Nothing is a phenomenal record. There are some recognisable names on the list for eagle-eyed Sonic Masala perverts, with both Soccer Mom and Young Adults gracing these pages with various pieces of loud discontent (YA's 'Decay' is close to the best thing on here, and the best they have sounded). However other bands stood up to be counted also, with Gary Lyon in particular impressing with his elegiac take on 'Paralyzed' (and his brave rearrangement of the composition really makes it his own). Sure, like most covers compilations the new versions fail to eclipse the originals, but that is impossible with such material. Best case scenario though is that these young bands deliver on their promise and offer diligent, worthy interpretations - and can't wish for more than that.


Head here to get a free download, and enjoy!

Young Adults - Decay (Ride cover)
Soccer Mom - Dreams Burn Down (Ride Cover)
Gary Lyon - Paralyzed (Ride cover)

Have a good weekend, kids!

Take Iowa With Complete Control

Melbourne's Iowa have another tune for us, and this time around it doesn't reference SY or Dinosaur Jr insomuch as it resembles the shoegazers of early 90s England - think Adam Franklin covering Souvlaki. Its another ace tune, but it begs the question - with so many influences flying, how will Iowa piece it all into a coherent whole when it comes to a longplayer? Well, hopefully we will find out soon. Until then though, hand over the controls to these guys and enjoy...

Iowa - Complete Control

20 Years On, We're Still Riding To Nowhere

Im not gonna beat around the bush on this one - only a couple facts need to be stated here. Ride are having their seminal debut LP Nowhere re-released as a 20th anniversary reissue complete with a thick booklet of old photos, liner notes, and a Jim DeRogatis-penned look back on the Oxford shoegazers' near-perfect debut. Nowhere is beautiful - a conterpoint to that other shoegaze band, My Bloody Valentine, almost a yin to their yang, a great hook-laden pop record with insane levels of noise. These songs were built to last - and last they have.

The first great reissue of 2011 is here. If you do not own it, then now's the time - the reissue by Rhino Records is expansive, a must have. Thank you , Rhino - my new favourite album of 2011 was written in 1991...

Ride - Seagull

Flying through the danger zone...

Brighton has been a melting pot of interesting noise influenced bands for over a decade now. Air Formation has been playing their brand of noisy introspective shoegaze for most of that time. Although they have been quiet of late, they have just released Nothing To Wish For (Nothing To Lose), a grandious affair that accentuates the band's embracing the stalwarts of their genre, such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Slowdive... lite "Stars & Knives", the light-heavy-light wall of sound aesthetics of opener "Three Years Past", or the soaring pomposity of "Outro".

They are playing the Half Moon on April 18, and are bound to be touring around summer, so immerse yourselves in Air Formation's aural beauty.

Air Formation - Stars & Knives
Air Formation - Three Years Pass