Cocteau Twins - Treasure (1984)

It really doesn't get any prettier than this one- vocals from the one and only Liz Fraser (if you aren't familiar with her yet try out Massive Attack's Mezzanine, an album she sang on a number of songs- most notably the excellent Teardrop), with guitars/production from Robin Guthrie and bass by Simon Raymonde; the Cocteau Twins' brand of ethereal dream pop is replete with lilting beauty and lush melodies, plain and simple.

This might be the best example of "bad" mid-80's production values; cheesy-sounding Casio drums with washed out synths over delayed guitars and layered vocals- I realize that description makes this record sound awful but in fact it's ridiculously beautiful. A confluence of pop, ambient textures and sort of a proto-shoegazer thing going on here, it's an absolute "must listen".

Grab it now...

Cocteau Twins - Treasure (1984; 4AD Records)

Slowdive - Souvlaki (1993)

Slowdive so badly wanted Brian Eno to produce this record, but after speaking with him he told them it would be better if he was a collaborator instead. He wound up playing keys on a track and co-writing another. It's too bad this came out the exact time Suede and the Britpop movement began because this record totally got lost under that massive cloud.

This is what I think of when someone mentions the word "album", as in; the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. This isn't a record with a single on it, it has to be played end-to-end. That being said, this is a re-issue with three bonus tracks at the end of the record.

So, in short: dreamy downtempo rock music that plays best during a snowstorm.

Slowdive - Souvlaki (1993; Creation Records)

Ride - Nowhere (1990)

I like Ride's Nowhere a lot more than I like My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. There, I said it, and it felt good to get that off my chest. To my ears, it's just a more enjoyable, more tuneful record. That's it. We can argue about it, but I'm pretty sure neither of us are gonna budge. Cool?

Anyway; you can call it shoegaze, you can call it psychedelic revival, dream pop, '90s alt-rock, you can call it whatever you want. I call it all those, but mostly I call it one of the best records of that decade. It's also hopelessly British, and that's why I love this sort of stuff from the Old Country.

So listen to it. Then get back to me so we can talk about it...

Ride - Nowhere (1990; Sire Records)