Slowdive

Slowdive was a shoegazer band formed in 1989, lasting until 1995. The band was formed in Reading, Berkshire, England and signed to Creation Records in the UK. Initially championed by the British music press, the band scored a UK top forty entry with their debut album Just For A Day. However, the band suffered a swift press backlash.

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During most of their run, the band consisted of Rachel Goswell (vocals/guitar), Neil Halstead (vocals/guitar), Nick Chaplin (bass), Christian Savill (guitar), and Simon Scott (drums). The band sought to embark on a US tour during 1993, following the release of Souvlaki (which is their most popular and well-received record) and didn't receive the necessary funding from SBK, their US label, for the last two weeks of the tour. Rather than shun a US tour, they chose to finance the tour out of their own pockets and managed to tour briefly during that year in the US.

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Simon Scott left amidst creative differences in 1994, feeling that the band had become a Halstead solo project by the recording of their final album, Pygmalion. A misunderstood and widely misinterpreted "ambient" record, it took the dreamy guitar sound and warm yet solemn tone of earlier Slowdive to a newer, more minimalist extreme. Slowdive was dropped by Creation a week after the release of Pygmalion on strength of a demand by the Gallagher brothers, who refused to sign their then-fledgling band Oasis to the label if Slowdive and their counterparts remained on the label's roster.

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Slowdive has been described as sounding as if they are "falling down a hole," using sheets of reverb and warm guitars to create a strange tapestry of textures for any listener to enjoy. Nonetheless, the band relished strong songwriting, and Halstead continues to show off his songwriting skills in his post-breakup band, Mojave 3.

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The band's influences include the Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine, a band also on Creation Records.

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After being dropped from Creation Records in 1995, Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell and Ian McCutcheon formed the band Mojave 3 and signed to label 4AD. Neil and Rachel have also both released solo albums for 4AD.

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Christian Savill went on to form Monster Movie, a dream pop group that continued where Slowdive left off. They have released two albums thus far, Last Night Something Happened and most recently To The Moon.

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In 2004, Simon Scott formed Televise, a group which stripped back the lengthy noise swells and experimental song structures that helped define shoegazer to focus on a more radio-ready brand of indie rock.

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Shoegazer: REDIRECT Shoegazing...

1989: 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The world population growth in absolute numbers is believed to have been the highest ever around this time. http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/worldpop.html...

1995: 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. It was the first year of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995-2005): http://www.unesco.org/culture/indigenous/...