What happened to Slowdive? Why did they go all ambient on us? And who the hell are Mojave3 and how do you pronounce that name? Don't fret people, all will be revealed (well, except the name bit), in the following informative piece, a complete handbook to these rather wonderful and underated bands.

Slowdive | Mojave3

Slowdive

Slowdive was formed by two old high-school friends Neil Halstead (principal songwriter, vocals/guitar) and Rachel Goswell (vocals/guitar) in Reading in the English Autumn of 1989. The band formed at the height of the "Manchester" scene although their early sound was derived more from My Bloody Valentine and The Cocteau Twins than The Stone Roses or The Happy Mondays. A third guitarist (Christian Savill) was added in the early months of 1990 after Neil and Rachel had advertised for a female guitarist but Christian was the only one who replied. In Rachels' words, "He wrote a sweet letter though and he said he'd wear a dress if necessary."

After the addition of Christian and with Nick Chaplin playing bass and Simon Scott on drums/percussion Slowdive began to develop a sound all of their own. Their second demo was passed onto Creation Records by Swervedriver who were also from Reading, however attempts to recreate the mystical atmosphere produced on the demo by recording in a more expensive studio failed and an ep was recorded from the original demo. It was their first release and was simply titled the "Slowdive EP". It contained three tracks in all (Slowdive, Avalyn I, and Avalyn II). (Simon later left Slowdive in the early stages of 1994 and was replaced by Ian McCutcheon just prior to a North American tour which they had to pay for themselves after their U.S. distributor, SBK records, went bust.)

During their five year history Slowdive released three critically acclaimed albums on Creation Records: Just For A Day (1991), Souvlaki (1993), and Pygmalion (1995) plus a number of ep's. Their first two albums and the first two albums of Ride ("Nowhere" and "Going Blank Again") represented all that was great about a new music scene that developed in England in the early nineties. The scene which came to be known as "shoegaze" or "dreampop" depending on which side of the Atlantic you were from grew as an alternative to the "Manchester" scene.

For me the sound created on the first two Slowdive albums by layering vocals over a hazy background of electronically distorted guitar sounds generates an atmosphere of complete tranquillity. Slowdive are at their best on songs like "Celia's Dream", "Catch The Breeze", "Waves", "Alison", and "When The Sun Hits". Although not as immediately accessible as the music of Ride and lacking the melodic distortion of sounds created by My Bloody Valentine (circa 1991) the sound created by Slowdive on these first two albums was 'shoegaze' at its finest.

The third album Pygmalion was recorded during the middle months of 1994 in a small home studio and possessed a more ambient sound than the previous two albums. This was achieved in part through the use of electronically created sounds (as on tracks like "Miranda" and "Trellisaze") in preference to the swirling background of electric guitar as used on the first two albums. Perhaps as a result of this change in sound it was not as widely received by the musical press and by Slowdive fans in general. In Neil's words, "the main aim when it came to mixing was to let the music breath, amplify the details and to retain the flow as much as possible." Tracks like "Crazy For You" and "Blue Skied An' Clear" are brilliant and allow you to escape from reality at least for a short while.

However Christian (third guitarist) and Nick (bass player) disliked the sound that Slowdive had adopted on this album. The dissatisfaction of these two band members together with the fact that Neil and Rachel decided that they musically had done all they could with the band resulted in Slowdive disbanding in the early months of 1995.

Mojave 3

In the middle of 1995, out of the ashes of Slowdive, Mojave 3 was formed by the two main members of Slowdive (Neil Halstead {songwriter, guitars/vocals} and Rachel Goswell {vocals, bass} plus their drummer Ian McCutcheon {drums, percussion}). In November 1995 Mojave 3 released their first effort on the 4AD label. The album Ask Me Tomorrow contains 9 tracks in all and represents a significant departure in sound from that produced by Slowdive. The use of acoustic guitars (Neil Halstead, Simon Rowe), a cello (Audrey Riley) and a piano (Christopher Andrews) add a new dimension to a sound that may have been exhausted by the three previous Slowdive albums.

The music created by Mojave 3 seems to be more personal than that of Slowdive's. Often the songs seem really sad and even slightly depressing. If you listen to the lyrics of songs like "Sarah", "Tomorrows's Taken", "Where Is The Love", "Pictures" and "After All" you will see that these songs describe the pain associated with relationships that break down and loneliness. However songs like "Love Songs On The Radio" and "You're Beautiful" are simply beautiful love songs. Although this album has received mixed reviews the combination of the dreamy vocals of Neil and Rachel over a background of acoustic guitar, piano and cello does create an atmosphere perfectly suited to the lyrics of their songs. If you are tiring of the sounds of Britpop, dreaming about the good old days of "shoegaze" or just looking to expand your musical horizons this CD from Mojave 3 is definitely worth a listen.

Brendan Sinnamon

Slowdive Homepage | e-mail Rachel Goswell!