Disc of the day
Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
Magnificent late-'50s singles round-up that keeps on giving.
Features Disc of the day
The Dream Syndicate
The Days Of Wine And Roses
(Ruby/Slash, 1982)
MOJO messageboarder on an underrated seedpod of US alternative rock.
In the early 1980s, alt.rock's pioneer bands were split between those who cleaved to punk's nihilist creed and those who baulked at the genre's limitations while observing its DIY aesthetic. In the UK many disillusioned ex-gobbers found solace in Krautrock and the Eno-Bowie axis, while in the US others were drawn back towards Neil Young, The Byrds, Big Star and The Velvet Underground.
Over on the West Coast, the "Paisley Underground" revived melodic '60s sounds within a raw, pared-down aesthetic. Among the leading lights were The Dream Syndicate, and although their career and creative peak was short-lived they left this brilliant debut. Unlike their rootsier contemporaries, their music delighted in the sonic experimentation of the Velvets (the name was, after, all, a giveaway) an impression underlined by the Lou Reed stylings of lead singer/songwriter Steve Wynn. But there was breadth there too, exemplified on their debut by the the chugging Creedence guitars of Definitely Clean, and the way the opening thrash of Then She Remembers digresses into Byrdsian jangle, while guitarist Karl Precoda's mantric Halloween could almost pass for Marquee Moon-era Television.
Today, it's rarely mentioned in the same breath as Murmur, Daydream Nation or Zen Arcade, but perhaps it should. In their way, The Dream Syndicate was as crucial to the development of alternative rock in the '80s, and it was hardly Wynn's fault that his stream-of-consciousness style would soon have a more charismatic poster boy in R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe. But for whatever reason, Wynn & Co could neither capitalise nor expand on their early critical successes and after a brief period in major label oblivion the band's fortunes went downhill, and they split in 1989. They are not long, the days of wine and roses.
Matthew Shearn
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 14/10/2009
Further Listening
Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps (Reprise, 1979)
R.E.M. - Murmur (I.R.S, 1983)
Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat (Verve, 1967)
Previous Disc of the day
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Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
Magnificent late-'50s singles round-up that keeps on giving.
6:00 AM GMT 20/11/2009
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Isley Brothers - The Brothers: Isley
The Cincinnati siblings bed into their heavy period.
6:00 AM GMT 18/11/2009
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Lee Morgan - Search For The New Land
The trumpeter's most soulful excursion entrances MOJO messageboarder.
6:00 AM GMT 16/11/2009
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Just wanted to say hello all. This is my first post.
I expect to learn alot here.
Posted by Hydrolyze at 6:21 PM GMT 15/10/2009 Report Abuse
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