Amazing work Stella! I really appreciated it. I'm thinking of writing a thesis for my degree at the conservatory, which is really about the slowcore genre, and your material would be very precious in this sense.
You’re a treasure. A buddy sent me your video on math rock I am now hooked. I predict you’ll blow up soon, but I also read academic papers for peak fun so I may not be a good judge of that sort of thing. All I know is your videos hit on so many deeply satisfying levels. Info is fire, voice and accent also fire, musical scope and taste is just too fire. Sooo good to know someone is really listening, helps break some of monotony of the less fun aspects of using Ableton.
this entire video is my sleep playlist and I LOVE that you have ALL OF IT. You dive so perfectly deep that you could write genre flowcharts for /mu/ and i'd follow them all
Mistress by Red House Painters. I recorded the piano version on tape from a radio show probably some 30 years ago, I never knew who sang that song and I lost the tape since. Rediscovering the song was a complete surprise. Something similar happened with Alison by Slowdive. The name Slowdive kind of swirled around my head and then I decided to search for it and boom! I was hearing that song again for the first time in 20 years or so.
Cool video. One band from back in the day I've seen cited as influential and part of the genre is American Music Club. Their earlier albums are hard to find online, but they definitely have the melancholy and sort of lowkey aesthetic. Pedro the Lion is also good, but I'd say they're more emo than most other things.
Pedro The Lion up to 2004, that's just the best indie pop I've ever heard and many of his songs at that time were really slow Love Bedhead and Seam. Thanks for the video!
Love this so much Stella, giving me happy memories of the 90s. One slow core band you must hear if you’ve not come across them before is Bluetile Lounge, from Perth in Western Australia. Their album Lowercase came out in 1995 and is an absolute classic. They sent a demo to Alan Sparhawk from Lpw, and he helped them get their first record deal, which ultimately led to Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth putting out their second album Half Cut.
Jenn from Carrisas Wierd went on to form a band called S, they are still current (way more depressing than Carrisas Wierd) Good Night and Good Morning isn't really new, but they're definatley looked over, much more etheric
You are really impressing me now, and bringing back great memories. Love how you start with Velvet Underground and Joy Division and Galaxie 500. So many insights here, and you are quite funny as well, even when describing the melancholy of slowcore. Went through a serious Red House Painters and Bedhead phase, and still love the grandeur of Low (r.i.p. Mimi Parker), one of my all-time favorite bands. Was fortunate enough to open some shows for them a couple of decades ago. I've actually seen them live more than any other band, the last time opening for Slowdive. So cool that you mention Seam and Acetone. You really know the material. Your channel is now my favorite on RU-vid. Your enthusiasm, accent, and well researched and put-together videos are really inspiring me. Thank you so much. And again, Merry Xmas.
Thank you for all the well-written and thoughtful comments. Its really cool that you opened for them decades ago! I bet your music is ace! Actually Low performed in my hometown, Shenzhen, once. And I was there... It felt both serene & slightly bizarre to see Low in my hometown. It was a very hot summer, and Alan was like: "summer here is so humid and hot!! you guys should come to Minnesota, where the summer is so cool!" lol! RIP Mimi Parker, probably one of the deaths of a musician that has really hit me somehow.
How cool that you saw Low in your hometown! I'll never forget the first time I saw them, it was a total transcendental experience. It felt like there were angels or spirits in the room with us. So glad I got to spend time with them, such admirable people. Sad about Mimi, I heard she wasn't well. Alan must be devastated.
Excellent video, it brought back memories of the '90s when I bought a fair number of slowcore CDs and saw some of these people play live. Slowcore seemed to be one of the few genres of indie rock that kept going in the late '90s when others like shoegaze seemingly disappeared. One band I would like to mention is Rex, formed by Douglas Scharin, who had played on Codeine's White Birch album. The eponymous Rex debut album conjures up stark images of rural desolation, while subsequent releases (C and 3) were progressively warmer and more accessible. All three are highly recommended.
Great video! Codiene was always one of those bands Ive heard of, but never actually heard. So this video is the first time I actually listened to anything by them! I’ll have to explore more. I don’t listen to a lot of slow core, but one band I enjoy is Canyon. They had a following in the early 2000’s. They were from the DC area and had a good album called Empty Rooms. I got it on CD in 2003 when I got a computer which had one of their songs on it to sample. Highly recommend.
Two current slow core bands in the Kansas City/Lawrence area are The String And Return (KCMO) and flooding (Lawrence, Kansas) (yes, it’s spelled all lowercase). flooding are in their late teens/early 20’s and are unique in that a woman is the lead singer/guitarist.
Another great video. I really got into Galaxy 500 in the mid 90's. Oddly all their LP's at that time were out of print and you had to really hunt to find them and usually only vinyl could be found. The Red House Painters I thought had potential to bring slowcore to a more maintstream audience but not sure the reasons they didn't(I guess you had artist like Cranberries and Mazzy Star that appealed to a wider audience). I had a friend from Bay area and RHP were really big as well as the slowcore scene. I always liked Windy and Carl too but some considered them more space rock than slow core.
Mark Kozelek is a great songwriter and a musical talent in general. Shamed in his private life he's such a jerk. For mainstream, RHP are bit too instropective and deeepp I guess (not joking). And cool, I'll check out Windy and Carl! :)
@@StellasEncounter That was my impression of Kozelek when I saw RHP. A good part of the set consisted of odd cover songs like AC/DC and Lynard Skynard. It was like he telling the crowd - "I'm not this deep introspective guy you think I am" and was flippantly going through the cover songs. For Windy and Carl check out Depths although I guess it's not really slowcore but probably categorized as ambient/space rock - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-48VxfFEynTs.html
@@wlouisharris it seems like Mark like to advertise himself having musical influences as more classic-rock and folk, away from the more avant-garde or alternative. What I do appreciate is how emotionally viseceral his stuff is. I can't see the vid above...it says unavailable
If you're still looking for new Slowcore bands, Shallowater is a great one. They're kind of like Red House Painters in that their sound is significantly influenced by folk/country
Great stuff on the slow core, post-rock and mathrock!! I love your well-versed narration on many of the artists, which are in my record collection or among my favorites as well. Still missing perhaps in the logical sequence is a Indie rock session with another landscape of great bands; and post-punk, punk, psych, power pop...... And what about artists like Smog/Bill Callahan, Will Oldham, David Berman, Mountain Goats and others in the great hall of captivating indie singer song writers next to Elliot Smith. Not forget the New Zealand Dunedin music scene. Too much great music to devote a good deal of time to in my experience. Cheers!
Your representation is spot on IMHO. As you said, slowcore is a very vague label. Most bands on your list refuted the moniker for them at some point in time. Yet again, Codeine, Bedhead, Redhouse Painters, and Low are the very quintessence of slowcore.
I recognize those Joy Division covers from Low and Codeine. They appear on a great Joy Division tribute album called A Means To An End - The Music Of Joy Division that was released in 1995 on Virgin Records. I still have my CD amongst my Joy Division collection. It also has a creepy cover of Heart And Soul by Kendra Smith and an absolutely beautiful cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart from Stanton -Miranda. An unbelievable (to me) interpretation of a classic track.
I've seen most of these bands live, many multiple times. Growing up in Los Angeles, I've never heard anyone use the term slowcore. In the 1990s, we call this Shoegaze. Today, it's Dreampop.
Wow you literally listed every one of my favorite band in this video! Man this video needs so much more views, so many legendary bands you've covered here that deserve recognition. Definitely subscribing, keep it up! Slowcore is without a doubt the most underrated kind of music i
I LOVED Redhousepainters back at the turn of the century, but until this moment I had no idea they were slow-core. Also, I once owned a Galaxie 500 (the car, that is). lol
Heya Stella! Great Video. I’m wondering if you know Australian band Greenhouse? Best band no one’s ever heard of. They are a great story. Love to know what you think.
The band missing here, Stella, is New Zealand's Jean-Paul Sartre Experience. They operated in the mid-late 80s (and 90s, but ignore that) and they were slow, slow, slooow. Wonderfully slow. Slow before slow had a name. See Love Songs and The Size of Food. Thanks for the great videos!
This is the second video I have watched and I appreciate that you are able keep the genres relatively separate when there could be a good amount of overlap. I never rated Red House Painters and would recommend, in my opinion, the superior American Music Club. Also East River Pipe. A couple of bands I am curious to see how you see them (and these are seminal bands for multiple styles): Sebadoh/Lou Barlow; the amazing Morphine, Medicine. That’s all but I am impressed by your breadth of musical knowledge. Finally - two recommendations: first, there is a book my a famous music journalist named Michael Azzerard call “Our Band Could Be Your Life.” I covers the rise of American punk/indie/alternative music from the late 70s until the early 90s and covers most of the real gamechangers, like Black Flag, Sonic Youth, The Minuteman, Hüsker Dü, and beyond. Second, you mentioned Jesu in a previous video and you should give a listen to the epic EP “Silver.” Four songs of crushing, grinding bliss. I will check out another video soon.
Thanks for your comment! I'm a bit fan of Dinosaur Jr, but less familiar with Sebadoh and Morphine. I finished reading that book a while ago, I think its a must read for every 80s/90s alt-rock fan! Listening to that Jesu EP, am really liking the track "Star". :) I hope you enjoy the vids!
You dont use weed but you seem very happy n flased it not good for you long term when you did the film soundtracks you were so high you are a happy girl great vid love your work ❤🎉❤
Thanks, Stella - great video, as always! Have you heard the self-titled album by The For Carnation (Brian McMahan's post-Slint band)? That kinda fits within the slowcore aesthetic (that isn't an aesthetic), and is one of my favourite records ever!
40 Watt Sun is a UK band that is very slowcore. Their first album came out in 2011 I would call "slowcore sludge," because while the sound is VERY heavy if you were to turn down the distortion it would sound very slowcore. This leads me to their 2nd and 3rd albums. Each one is quieter than the last. If you are looking for more traditional slowcore then listen to their 3rd album. Mostly acoustic and piano with clean electric guitars. Their second album is heavier than their 3rd but quieter than their first.
You should check out Canadia band, Wilderness of Manitoba. more acoustic version of slowcore. I am sure they put in some other genre, but they have all the earmarks except not the dreamy electric guitar. I also think Snowblink would be a good one though I think they fall under indie pop
ODDLY enough, japanese has a band named Hallelujahs - 肉を喰らひて誓ひをたてよ released an album at the same time as Galaxie 500, and sounds similar. Hallelujahs has disbanded and formed NAGISA NI TE, which surprisingly similar to galaxie 500 also. talking about 80s and 90s where internet was still infant
In light of your interest in Elliot Smith, I think you would really enjoy the Sun Kil Moon albums April and Benji if you haven't checked them out. I think they are way better than the Red House Painters stuff, and April is almost purely beautiful acoustic.
I loved the video and the Math Rock one too!! Nice comprehensive list of bands. I was really happy you mentioned some of my favorites from this genre - like Seam, Duster, and Bedhead. I did not know that Seam had originally written "New Years" and Codeine went on to cover it! Did you know that the original Seam drummer was Mac from Superchunk? I also appreciated some of the nods to bands that kind of dip their toes in slowcore, but are not necessarily slowcore, like Yo La Tengo. If you want some recs for some not mentioned, here are some I really like: Early Day Miners American Analog Set Karate Rachel's Red Red Meat/Califone Azure Ray Angels of Light Mogwai (only some songs) Modern day slowcore-ish bands: Deathcrash Caroline Dummy Sour Widows Cheers!
I think Soo-young Park might be one of the most underrated alternative songwriters as both Bitch Magnet and Seam are great! And haha yeah there was also the superchunk guy in Seam! Soo-young park and Stephen of Codeine were at the same college and were friends. There are quite some bands among your list I haven't listened to, I'll check them out! Esp curious about modern slowcore! Many thanks!! :)
@@StellasEncounter I agree! I think Seam and Park's songwriting pushed the 2nd wave emo genre in a lot of ways. Their last two records are my favorites. I guess I didn't know they were friends and went to the same college. Good info! Let me know what you think on some of those - some of those recs are very different sounding, but have much in common with the ones you mentioned in your video.
@@jeremystanosheck773 The problem with me album is amazing! I might be one of the 50 Seam fans in China lol. I haven't finished listening to the list above yet but I will, I like Rachel's, Caroline, Sour Widows. I would say Caroline is my fav but I've only listened to couple of songs. Was a great listen for a rundown at night after a super tired day! Thanks so much!!🤩🤩
@@StellasEncounter Agreed! I think it is their high-water mark for songwriting. Haha, I think if more ppl knew about them they would be popular - many people here in the states don't know who they are either and/or understand their influence. The Numero Group record label has done a good job archiving some of their earlier work, along with Codeine, Karate, Duster and Bedhead. I'm glad you are digging those bands! Sour Widows reminds me of Bedhead meets Azure Ray - so good. Cheers!
@@jeremystanosheck773 I listened to Early Day Miners last night and liked it a lot too! 😍Sour Widows kinda just sound like their name - lol which is an art itself!
MISTRESS by Red House Painters is very Dreamy.... American Music Club and Spain must be here in this video... I don't like too much all this depressive stuff never more, but I still believing it is very nice compositions... but so so so depressend... I prefer more positive music
@@StellasEncounter They're (they WERE, sadly) just too unique in their way of expressing the human emotions. The relationships. The struggle. "So You Wanna Be a Superhero" from "Songs About Leaving" is my favorite song by the band and one of my favorite songs in general, but sometimes when I'm sad I have to skip it because it can be WAY TO HEAVY, it can devour your soul... By the way, you gained a subscriber, I really enjoyed the video and I always love when people talk about slowcore and mention Galaxie 500 and especially Carissa's Wierd which is a pretty obscure band.
