Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: chromatics, claude mono, dreampop, dreampopulism, Golden Apples of the Sun Radio Show, italiansdoitbetter, johnny jewel, mixtape
“I just prefer to make my little castle in the gutter.” – Johnny Jewel
A kind of sequel mixtape to the ‘Dreampopulism’ edition of the Golden Apples of the Sun as heard on RTRFM 92.1. You can listen over at the Claude Mono blog as while its definitely a bit cinematic its more danceable and less Golden Apples than Dreampopulism. Both have sleeve notes and videos for further explorations.
synths++
Listen: Johnny Jewel Productions mixtape
Listen: Dreampopulism mixtape
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: chromatics, claude mono, dreampop, dreampopulism, Golden Apples of the Sun Radio Show, johnny jewel, rtrfm, synths
Claude Mono presents
Dreampopulism (Noun) Cinematic and ethereal soundscapes by artists known for their aesthetic sensibilities as much as for their music. Synonyms: Chromatics, Johnny Jewel, Sound of Ceres, Stargazer Lilies, Cocteau Twins, others…
The original term ‘Dreampop’ was coined by Alex Ayuli of the seminal 80s band A.R. Kane so it has been around for a while so it appropriate to take a 2 hour deep dive into its sonic textures – definitely not 2 hours of dreampop ‘hits’ – instead much more an exploration… much more Golden Apples…
Sleeve Notes below the playlist.
LISTEN
Show restream here
HQ Mixcloud mixtape edition with extra tracks here
PLAYLIST (Mixcloud Edition)
Golden Apples Theme Analysis – language arts program (excerpt)
Chromatics – Shadow (Acapella/end credits instrumental) – Shadow EP
Slowdive – Cello – Pygmalion
Vangelis – Rachel’s Song – Bladerunner OST
Chromatics – Tears of Pain – In the City EP
Chromatics – The Gemini – Night Drive
Biosphere – Black Mesa
Johnny Jewel – Sleepless – Themes For Television
David Lynch on set of Inland Empire
Johnny Jewel – Deja V – Themes For Television LP
Chromatics – Lady (On Film) – Lady EP
Chromatics – Looking For Love (Extended)
Robert Schwartzman – Graveyard – Palo Alto OST
Devon Hynes – Soccer Field – Palo Alto OST
Japanese Breakfast – Here Come the Tubular Bells – Soft Sounds from Another Planet
Japanese Breakfast – Diving Woman – Soft Sounds from Another Planet
Starblood – Another Sunny Morning – 75
Cocteau Twins – Oomingmak – Victorialand
The Stargazer Lilies – Well Versed to Verb Doubt – We are the Dreamers
The Stargazer Lilies – Sad Colored Tears – We are the Dreamers
The Stargazer Lilies – Summer’s Gone – Door To The Sun
Fawns of Love – Alison (Slowdive Cover) – Just For A Life
Chromatics – The Gemini – Night Drive
Johnny Jewel – Digital Rain
Chromatics – Dark Day (Original Version)
Mike Simonetti – I Love You Mom
Sound of Ceres – Hand of Winter (Excerpt) – Nostalgia for Winter
Sound of Ceres – Humaniora – The Twin
Sound of Ceres – The Trance – The Twin (Demonstration Tape)
Chromatics – Tick of The Clock (Extended Overdrive/Film Edit)
Chromatics – Tick of The Clock (The Stroke of Midnight Remix)
Johnny Jewel – Tell Me (instrumental – music box excerpt)
Slowdive – Crazy for You (Slowed Chopped and Screwed)
Slowdive – Crazy for You Pygmalion Demo
Factice Factory – Crazy for You (Slowdive Cover)
Ulrich Schnauss – Crazy for You (2019 remaster)
Chromatics – The Telephone Call – Night Dive
Glass Candy – Redheads Feel More Pain – After Dark 2
Johnny Jewell – Spiral Staircase – Themes For Television
Casey MQ – Endless Summer – Firecrackers OST
Casey MQ – Far Far Away – Firecrackers OST
SLEEVE NOTES
For this edition I did not start too ambitiously and now realize I have merely skimmed the surface ahead of new journeys in 2021. The ‘post-it’ note idea of Dreampopulism was that I simply wanted to try and join the dots, just a little, between Shoegaze and Dreampop as they are often intimately coupled as genres. Sure, shimmering guitar can equate with washing synths but as I was selecting tracks my explorations went deeper and I was started focusing on the differences. After all, one of the best remixes of Slowdive are very electronic (see Slowdive – In Mind Remixes – Reload Remix)
Chromatics are usually tagged as Dreampop but there is so much more and a lot of their music owes much to, and creates some of the purest cinematic soundscapes you can hear. Much more ‘Neon Noir’ than ‘Ethereal/4AD’. I certainly ended up becoming a huge new fan of Italians Do It Better. Its (intentionally)not a label with a huge profile outside its fanbase but one that really works at a pure level on its aesthetic in every element of its creative output (music, artwork, video and film etc). Other bands and their tracks helped complete the introductory Dreampopulism spectrum…
The Stargazer Lilies are definitely at the psychedelic end of Shoegaze “Six years away from their debut in 2013 with We are the Dreamers, the sound of the Lilies haven’t essentially changed, floating in that ever-reliable magic carpet of ethereal and distorted melodies led by the delightful vocal dubs of Kim Field, while gliding over a furious sea of saturated guitars and infinite echoes.” (Sputnikmusic)
Sound of Ceres are at the retro futurist end of Dreampop even sharing their own past in interesting ways. Their debut LP ‘Nostalgia for Infinity’ was a conceptual retelling of “The Girl from Ipanema” by Astrid Gilberto – although you would never guess this. I just love ‘The Twin: Demonstration Tape’, its the “original version” of the album officially released in 2017. “This is much more than a demo tape. Compared to the final version of the album, this Demonstration Tape feels like it came from an alternate universe. It is every bit as polished as the original, containing all of the artful compositions from the final work, but somehow existing on an alternate timeline that has now broken through to our fucked-up world.” (Joyful Noise Recordings)
Where to from here… The Italians Do It Better catalogue is large and very (very) reasonably priced for digital. “the idea was to avoid the bullshit that comes from meeting other people halfway: distributors, marketing executives, or listeners. In the decade-plus since, IDIB has become a beacon of true industry independence, a rare success story in unbending devotion to one’s own vision.” (Fact Mag). I have been seriously getting into all Johnny Jewels production work – especially his soundtracks.
I found some sundrenched hazy dreampop films with great soundtracks to stream such as ‘Firecrackers‘ (2018) and its soundtrack creator Casey MQ. The synth-laden soundtrack neo-noir of Johnny Jewel also led me to find the film ‘Drive‘ (2011) and its soundtrack by Cliff Martinez. The director of ‘Drive’ is Nicolas Wnding Refn and he and Cliff Martinez came together again more recently to create the neon-washed David Lynch-paced noir of 2019’s Too Old To Die Young. Its a ten part series. “Despite its occasional forays into the fierce sunshine of California and New Mexico, this is a creature of the night, lit by neon, an underworld of madness and fear.”(The Guardian). I literally just started to watch it – so good – and so glad this little music journey led me to it.
Want More
LISTEN: Johnny Jewel Productions Mixtape by Claude Mono here
LISTEN: Italians Do It Better ‘Night Music‘ 2 Hour Playlist on Spotify
READ: An essential Guide to Italians Do It Better article (Fact Mag) here
LOOK: at a very ‘Neon Noir’ set of live photos from the Italians Do It Better showcase in 2019
READ: About Chromatics and their Synth sounds article (Reverb Machine) here
WATCH: Chromatics live at a private party in 2019 video
WATCH: Chromatics live at ‘The Roadhouse’ (Twin Peaks) video
WATCH: the opening scene to ‘Too Young to Die Old’ featuring the music of Cliff Martinez
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: claude mono, dreampop, electronica, Golden Apples of the Sun Radio Show, outsider, private press, rtrfm
Claude Mono discovers the old entwined with the new… sounds of love, psychedelic sounds, dreampop, lo-fi electronica, library, new age, private press, outsider sounds and more….
restream the show here
HQ Mixcloud edition here – no talk, extra tracks, better sequence
PLAYLIST (Mixcloud Edition)
Bibio – Capel Celyn (excerpt) – Phantom Brickworks
Biosphere – Black Mesa – The Petrified Forest
Tara King th. & Dominique Paturel Apres – Apres (excerpt) – Fantaisies Stellaires
Jacco Gardner – Eclipse – Somnium
Death & Vanilla – Nothing Is Real – Are You A Dreamer-
Bill Osborn – Bamboo and Rice – Praise Poems 4: A journey into deep, soulful jazz & funk from the 1970s.
Bob Edmund – Saturday Thought – Paul Major: Feel The Music Vol. 1
Sound of Ceres – Gemini Scenic (Demonstration) – The Twin: Demonstration Tape
Karen O & Danger Mouse – Lux Prima (excerpt)
Vanishing Twin – Eggs – Choose Your Own Adventure
Stereolab – Seeperbold – Aluminium Tunes
Turn On – Turn On
Vanishing Twin – You Are Not An Island – Live on KEXP (5 Feb 2019)
Death and Vanilla – A Flaw in the Iris – Are You a Dreamer
Lisa Sonada – Goodbye – Karaoke Life
Larkin – Two Souls Dance – I Am The Center
Seefeel – Minky Starshine – Pure Impure
Blue Gas – Shadows From Nowhere
The Roger Webb Sound – Musette
DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid – The Terran Invasion of Alpha Centauri Year 2794
Paper Dollhouse – Empty Rave
Paper Dollhouse – Siren (DB1 Redux)
Outerzone Jazs – Cavern Of Anti-Matter- Hormone Lemonade
Salty Miller One More Time – Seafaring Strangers
Mike Hurst – Lord I Don’t Have Time
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: claude mono, dreampop, folk, glitch, Golden Apples of the Sun Radio Show, krautrock, psych, rtrfm
Claude Mono presents a mix of musical explorations that form a strange beautiful bell curve of sounds from stillness through intensity and then back again….psych folk, dream pop, intense electronica and glitchy love sounds…
Show re-stream here – select 25 June 2017
Mixcloud HQ Mix here (just the music)
PLAYLIST
Fern Knight – Magpie Suite (Excerpts) – Fern Knight
Linda Perhacs – The Dancer
Linda Perhacs – Parallalograms (Deux Space Version)
Grouper – Poison Tree
Grouper – I’m Clean Now – Paradise Valley
Darkel – Satanama – The Man of Sorrow EP
Still Corners – Cuckoo – Creatures of an Hour
Throwing Snow – Klaxon and Glissette – Embers
Throwing Snow – Recursion and Cosmos – Embers
Kreidler – Kannibal – European Song
Kreidler – Radio island – European Song
Deux Baleines Blanches – Jaguar – Tank
Boris Brejcha – I Am A Maschine
Sylvia Plath – Interview Excerpt
Million Brazilians – VI – Wet Dry Jungala
White Poppy – Hearing Wishes – Dorval & Devereaux
Murmur Mori – Bodhi at the end – Murmur Mori
Venn – Ceremony
Tape Waves – Age Of Consent
in love with a ghost – flowers feat. Nori – Lets Go EP
in love with a ghost – we were friends – Lets Go EP
in love with a ghost – other excerpts
Express Rising – Winter The Heart – Express Rising
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: c86, claude mono, dreampop, Golden Apples of the Sun Radio Show, indie pop, jangle, shoegaze
love is a wonderful colour…golden apples indie pop for valentines day returns for 2017…
indiepop…jangle…c86 …dreampop …shoegaze…shed a tear of joy at the beauty of some of these tracks and send a link with your love
…curated with love by Claude
re-stream the show here (Select 12 Feb 2017)
mixcloud HQ here (just the music in HQ audio)
BONUS flexidisc on the cover of the magazine – so much good music…another mix of the cassettes and 45s that were just left lying on the carpet as they could not fit into the main mix…get your flexidisc here
PLAYLIST
The Durutti Column – Sketch for Summer Live at the Venue London 1983
Antena – To Climb The Cliff
Weekend – Drumbeat For Baby (Demo)
PS22 Chorus – Round and Round (excerpt)
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Round and Round
Allo Darlin – Dreaming
Frankie Cosmos – Art School
The John Candy – Carmenère 2096
Melodys Echo Chamber – Be Proud of Your Kids
Gurr – Moby Dick – In My Head
The Death Of Pop – Sun In My Eyes
Camera Obscura – Lunar Sea
Paul Quinn and The Independent Group – Stupid Thing
Miles Kane – A Girl Like You
Hong Kong In The 60s – Diaryland
The Field Mice - Emma’s House
Grave Pool – Frost Pockets
The Proctors and Terry Bickers – Cellophane
Slowdive – Crazy for You
Chloe Sevigny – Surface (excerpts)
Shoestrings – Some Things Never Change
The Softies – Sleep Away Your Troubles
The Clientele – Reflections After Jane (Live)
Nite Fields – Like a Drone
The Candy Twins – Edwyn Collins is Back
Orange Juice – I Cant Help Myself (Kid Jensen BBC Session 82)
The Hobbes Fanclub – Love From The Stars
The Sundays – Here’s Where The Story Ends
Talulah Gosh – Talulah Gosh
BONUS TRACKS (Mixcloud Edition)
Rocketship – Hey,Hey,Girl
Electric Lo Fi Seresta – Everything She Does
The Pastels – Kicking Leaves
Pop Romantique! – Tuesday Morning, Mondays Gone
Tahiti 80 – Better Days Will Come
Papooz – Ann Wants To Dance (live)
want more….
more Golden Apples indiepop here , here and here
the legendary Twee as Fuck article here