Galaxie 500 - This Is Our Music (1990)



Galaxie 500 are more widely known for their stunning 1989 album On Fire, which is indeed one of my all-time favourite albums. Following up On Fire however was going to be no easy task but they did an excellent job in crafting an album well capable of standing up to it. This Is Our Music does however seem to stand in the shadow of On Fire and is seen by many as inferior, but it doesn’t deserve to be seen that way. I see it as the last instalment in the great indie rock trilogy that was Galaxie 500’s three studio albums. Being the band’s final album there is that bittersweet feeling when you’re listening to it of something great coming to an end. This seems to show through on the fragile and melancholic songs ‘Spook’ and ‘Sorry’, both great insights into frontman Dean Wareham’s soul. ‘Sorry’ even seems to have a glimmer of hope to it where the dark clouds of the song give way to a wonderful and uplifting instrumental break. Where the album really comes alive however is on the unforgettable opening song ‘Fourth of July’ and their incredible interpretation of Yoko Ono’s ‘Listen, The Snow Is Falling’, the latter where Naomi Yang’s thin yet haunting vocals give way to Dean Wareham’s astonishing lead guitar break and show what incredible places their music can take you to.

This Is Our Music benefits from slightly better production than their previous two albums and gives their sound that little bit more clarity, but really it’s the great music on offer here that makes it stand up well against On Fire. Galaxie 500 burned fast but bright and they left three studio albums behind that are each amazing in their own way. A perfect legacy left behind by one of the greatest and most unique indie rock bands. This was their music.

Recommended Songs: ‘Fourth of July’, ‘Listen, The Snow Is Falling’, ‘Sorry’


The God Machine - Scenes From The Second Storey (1993)



The God Machine occupied the heavier end of the alternative rock spectrum, perhaps even touching on alternative metal. They were a band ahead of their time and perhaps if they had come along ten years later or so they could have reaped the rewards of their forward-thinking music. Their two studio albums, this and their final album One Last Laugh In a Place Of Dying, are both sprawling albums that take you on a dark and sometimes uncomfortable journey with many twists and turns and feature a well of depth. Scenes From The Second Storey seems to invoke the feeling of some sort of post-war apocalypse at times, perhaps predicting the final outcome of war in the Middle East. The use of Middle-Eastern-tinged samples on ‘Home’ and the paranoid samples on ‘The Desert Song’ combined with the overall feeling of doom seem to invoke this feeling, but that’s just my interpretation. Songs here range from pounding yet progressive alternative rock (‘Dream Machine’, ‘She Said’), to industrial-tinged experimental tracks (‘The Desert Song’, Temptation’), to quiet and deeply introspective pieces (‘It’s All Over’, ‘The Piano Song’), all tied together by an end-of-world feeling, the bands’ ambitious vision and frontman Robin Proper-Sheppard’s dark and cryptic lyrics. The album is perhaps overlong but its sprawling one-hour eighteen-minute length doesn’t prevent this album from being an immensely enjoyable listen.

The death of bassist Jimmy Fernandez from a brain tumour put a tragic and premature end to the band’s career, if they had gone on who knows what they could have achieved, they could have given Tool or The Smashing Pumpkins some serious competition. I could have easily included 1994's One Last Laugh In a Place of Dying instead of this as they are almost equally as good, but by listening to both these albums you get the sense that these guys were on to something. A real forgotten gem from a sadly forgotten band.

Recommended Songs: ‘Home’, ‘It’s All Over’, ‘The Piano Song’

Lilys - In The Presence Of Nothing (1992)



Although Lilys formed in Washington D.C. they could easily be mistaken for a British band on this debut album such is the similarity of their sound to the Thames Valley shoegazing scene at the start of the 90’s. The obvious influence here is My Bloody Valentine, right down to the woozy layers of guitar and half-heard vocals. Since My Bloody Valentine have yet to release a follow-up to Loveless after twenty years it would be very cool indeed if it had sounded something like this album. But beneath the lush, dense layers of guitar and thick, prominent bass Lilys had some great songs on offer. ‘Elizabeth Colour Wheel’ is a breath-taking, bittersweet ballad submerged under multiple layers of guitar while the thick guitars and bass of ‘Tone Bender’ add an element of heaviness to the album. The stop-start pedal manipulation of ‘Snowblinder’ combined with the epic twelve-minute drone-fest of ‘The Way Snowflakes Fall’ show that the band had enough creativity and originality to challenge the likes of My Bloody Valentine and Ride. The real highlight though is ‘Threw a Day’ with its bright jangly guitars contrasting with dense distortion to great effect. The sound the band get on this song is huge and leaves you truly amazed.

Lilys are known for changing their sound a lot throughout the years and they would morph into a more dream-pop infused indie rock band on the next full-length album Eccsame The Photon Band yet still produce some captivating music. Choosing a favourite album from them is a very tough job indeed but this one just edges it out for me due to the brilliantly-textured sound the band get on this amazing album.

Recommended Songs: ‘Elizabeth Colour Wheel’, ‘Snowblinder’, ‘Threw a Day’


Mazzy Star - Among My Swan (1996)



Mazzy Star only released three studio albums during their original period together and each of them is deserving of a place in this thread. My personal favourite however is their last album to date Among My Swan. To me this album just feels right, it has a greater degree of consistency than their previous two albums and the gentler production does wonders for the songs on offer here. The star attraction here is of course frontwoman Hope Sandoval’s haunting and beautifully seductive voice but the beautiful and melancholic instrumentation is also key here, especially David Roback’s smooth and well-placed guitars. Acoustic guitars and harmonica play a significant role especially on ‘Flowers In December’, which was a top-40 hit in the UK, and ‘I’ve Been Let Down’. ‘Cry, Cry’ contains some gentle effects-laden electric guitar over some gently-strummed acoustics to add a psychedelic edge to the band’s Americana-tinged alternative rock. The effect is astonishingly beautiful and invokes a feeling of vast open roads and vast open spaces. Hope Sandoval is at her finest on ‘Take Everything’, which also features some guest guitar by William Reid of The Jesus and Mary Chain. It is an incredibly gorgeous song that builds and builds towards a breath-taking conclusion and definitely up there with the band’s greatest moments.

Although Among My Swan was a bit of a departure into a more folkish territory there were still some traces of their earlier sound especially on the psychedelic ‘Umbilical’. It was a superb addition to the band’s unfortunately short discography which you should definitely investigate. They release a new single ‘Common Burn’ in October which was their first new material in fifteen years and we may even see a new album next year. Here hoping it will be just as good as this.

Recommended Songs: ‘Flowers In December’, ‘Cry, Cry’, ‘Take Everything’

Originally Posted by Alexthe4th @zer0 good freaking call on Mazzy! Very well put, altogether.

Originally Posted by Nosferatu Man I literally just finished listening to Hex! Zero you do have great taste this thread is just full of gems! Everything here i either love or go listen to and love!

Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam (1991)



Mercury Rev on their debut album Yerself Is Steam sound like a completely different beast than on their later releases. Yerself Is Steam (gettit?) is a noisy psychedelic monster that listening to feels like an out of body experience. This album takes the listener on a walk through swirling landscapes with a feast of vivid colours and sounds and even making you feel disorientated at times. Founder member David Baker and Jonathan Donahue share lead vocals on this album, applying their voices wherever they suit best. The deep baritone voice of Baker contrasts nicely with the higher register nasal vocals of Donahue, which is evident on the soaring album opener ‘Chasing a Bee’, Baker singing vocals during the verses and Donahue singing the chorus. Where the album really takes off however is on the epic ‘Sweet Oddysee of a Cancer Cell t’ th’ Center of Yer Heart’ which is what being launched into space on acid must feel like. It’s as beautiful as it is exhilarating. ‘Frittering’ in contrast has a more melancholic and down-to-earth alternative rock sound yet still sits seamlessly alongside ‘Sweet Oddysee’.

Deserter’s Songs might be a better introduction to the band but Yerself Is Stream is Mercury Rev at their most adventurous and exciting. You might feel like you need drugs to enjoy this but the music makes you feel trippy enough as you are. Also listen out for some backing vocals from Dean Wareham of Galaxie 500.

Recommended Songs: ‘Chasing a Bee’, ‘Sweet Oddysee of a Cancer Cell t’ th’ Center of Yer Heart’, ‘Frittering’


Mojave 3 - Ask Me Tomorrow (1995)



After the dissolution of Slowdive, former members Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell and Ian McCutcheon regrouped and formed Mojave 3. In contrast to Slowdive, Mojave 3 adopted a dream-pop/folk-rock fusion sound and allowed their songwriting to come more to the fore. One thing that got lost most of the time in Slowdive’s wall of sound was the downbeat and introspective vocals, but with Mojave 3 these downbeat vocals came very much to the fore and could now be clearly heard, also showing what a good songwriting pair Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell were in the process. Ask Me Tomorrow is a great album to listen to when you feel like finding comfort in music. It’s an incredibly beautiful, delicate and melancholic album and makes for a warm, comforting listening experience. The haunting vocals and slide-guitar of ‘Love Songs on the Radio’ and ‘Tomorrow’s Taken’ are both incredibly moving and display a band a world away from the ambient minimalism of the final Slowdive album Pygmalion released earlier that year. The album flows perfectly and consistently as a whole right up to the wonderfully uplifting finale of ‘Mercy’, which sounds like it was just destined to be an album closer.

Ask Me Tomorrow rose like a phoenix from the flames and showed there was life after Slowdive. Mojave 3 had a reasonably successful career together and 2000’s Excuses For Travellers is another wonderful album worth investigating. But for newcomers their debut Ask Me Tomorrow is the ideal place to start.

Recommended Songs: ‘Love Songs on the Radio’, ‘Tomorrow’s Taken’, ‘Mercy’