A fun thought experiment I like to engage in with friends, neighbors, and peers concerns what particular public figures are doing right now, at this moment. Last week on FaCeBoOk, I played “What is Sarah Palin Doing Right Now?” with everyone. Many of my cohorts left decidedly excellent responses – everything from cleaning muskets, to shooting polar bears, to grilling mooseburgers, to Wikipedia-ing “VP,” to activities and extracurriculars that I dare not reprint here. Despite my penchant for making cusses every now and again, I try to keep this blog PG-13.

Time to play again! What do you, dear reader, think that Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records, is doing right now? My educated inference: he’s probably still waxin’ on why and how much he, with the fury of colliding galaxies, loathes Kevin Shields. Dude hates Kevin Shields

Kevin has never struck me as an unsavory fellow – manic maybe, but always polite – so one could assume that McGee is still sore from him spending all of his cheese on an album that McGee never really saw much money from, and subsequently played a factor in his meltdown around that time. The two-year Loveless recording cost a quarter of a million pounds (spent mostly in payments for 18 different engineers who worked on it), eventually bankrupting Creation and prompting McGee to sell half of his enterprise to Sony. Creation was laid to rest in 1999, and McGee has stated that, to this day, he can still only stomach listening to Oasis (ahoy!), as they were the only Creation group that recouped their expenses. Take a gander at this sneer of unsurmountable bummed-outness. As often indicative of the times in which we live, the least culturally significant of acts often corollate to the most commercially viable. Not trying to be a snob here, but it’s futile to ignore the sweeping smorgasbord of dongs that Oasis sucks upon (that might be one motive as to why Noel Gallagher got his ass sacked last week). Despite the critical lauding and undeniable musical impact of Loveless and other earlier Creation releases, the means did not justify the end for McGee, financially or emotionally.

From the Guardian:
“Loveless was a factor in my personal meltdown,” McGee [said]. Creation, he explains, dropped My Bloody Valentine after the album’s release because he couldn’t face working with the temperamental band-leader again. “It was either him or me,” says McGee, who was reduced to tearfully pleading with the musician to deliver the record before the whole enterprise went bankrupt.

You would never suspect that behind Shields’s unassuming exterior lay such a monster. “That,” says McGee, “is called passive-aggressive.” Legend has it that Shields, infuriatingly, would respond to demands as to when his magnum opus would be finished by blankly reciting My Bloody Valentine song titles: To Here Knows When. When You Sleep. Sometimes. Soon.“

McGee is still bitter, and has already condemned the MBV “reunion” (I use reunion in quotes as the group never, technically, broke up):

“My Bloody Valentine were my comedy band,” McGee said in 2007. “Ride were different – they were a rock band, really, a fantastic rock band – but My Bloody Valentine were a joke, my way of seeing how far I could push hype.“

All things considered, this isn’t a particularly unfair reaction. It’s hard to buddy up with someone who, directly or indirectly, sank your company and squandered your investment, regardless of whether the product was a masterpiece. No one except Kevin and Alan know the complete story, and as such, I maintain an equal respect for both men and their contribution to music. The quotes and general Behind the Music worthy anecdotes are fun nonetheless.

Of course, McGee has a lot else going on right now, from DJing around the UK as Death Disco, to writing for the aforementioned Guardian, to teaching and consulting. It’s good to see him making lemonade. It’s unfortunate, though, that he doesn’t sit back in his recliner and say “man, Creation was pretty brilliant.”

Because it was! Creation, for all intents and purposes, was the most important record label of its time. Creation, named after the mid ’60s English psychedelic pop group, singlehandedly created a second psychedelic age in the late ’80s.

OMG… DID SUMONE SAY ’80s?! I LUV TEH 80s!!!11!!!one!1!

Irrelevant sidenote: Sorry, I have to make fun of ’80s obsessed morons whenever I have the chance. At the music venue I worked at, we had ’80s night every Friday after whatever concert was that night. It usually started around 1a.m., and you felt the room get stupider around that time. But hey, I can’t say too much as this event’s bar sales average pretty much funded my modest paycheck.

Okay, where was I?

Oh, yes, Creation in the ’80s. Primal Scream, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Slowdive, Swervedriver, The Boo Radleys, Teenage Fanclub, The Telescopes, House of Love, and of course, My Bloody Valentine, all called this label home at one time or another. Very few musical ventures ever boasted as flawless, consistent, and vital of a roster as Creation. When you need to namedrop a group to cultivate cred with some hipster douchebag, bring out the big guns with a Creation creation of your choice.

Creation was shoegazing, and visa versa. Creation was as important as Motown and Sun, the only other record labels that actually originated a whole new genre, celebrating it with each and every album they distributed, and offered a community feel between each artist on the label and the fans themselves.

Thankfully, Creation still functions, just not as a label. The Creation website archives a vast array of amazing recordings, documentaries, history lessons, rad schwag, and tasty morsels for people like me who would’ve preferred to come of age during this time period.

Oh, and you can witness some of the madness unfold in this recent documentary about Creation and McGee. McGee’s cockney is a challenge to discern, for me at least:

I bring Creation up today because I discovered not too long ago that I still have the Creation Records sampler Patron Saints of Teenage, originally released in 1994 (and may or may not still be available). I use the verb “discovered” because I never purchased it. It ended up at my house sometime during my senior year of college. I used to throw myriad soirées and theme parties at my house wherein marathon drinking ensued. Big surprise, huh? Anyway, I found it in the living room after cleaning up, and held onto it. Though I love every song on this album, I would certainly give it back if the owner ever claimed it. So, if you:
1) attended a gathering at my house circa Februrary of 2007, give or take a month
2) are missing your copy of Patron Saints of Teenage, and
3) are known by me or my roommates (you can’t invite people to your house you don’t know, you see – so don’t try to swipe a free jam hive) – feel free to contact me about it.

Enjoy some smatterings from Patron Saints of Teenage below. Biff Bang Pow, to connect some dots, was Alan McGee’s band, and consequently, the first Creation band. The Jesus and Mary Chain isn’t included on this particular compilation, but since Creation is the sole force responsible for “Upside Down,” I felt it was appropriate to include.

And for shits and giggles, there’s a “Which Creation Records Band Are You?” quiz, which is hilarious to think about. I love these quizes, especially when someone decides to post their results all over the Internets since they reveal, I guess, something insightful about themselves or whatever. Turns out I’m Slowdive, and hence, discovered a whole new facet of my personality.

MP3 :::
The Pastels – Baby Honey
The Telescopes – High on Fire
Biff Bang Pow! – There Must Be a Better Life
Meat Whiplash – Don’t Slip Up
Revolving Paint Dream – Flowers in the Sky
The Jesus and Mary Chain – Upside Down

For those who were absent last time… the Super Swingin’ Mix is, like, a fuckton of MP3s in a single post focused on a particular genre or theme. The songs sequenced are meant to be listened to, ya know, as a mix. Hence, it’s recommended that you enjoy each song in order without commercial interruption. So you should hit Apple + T (or Ctrl + T for you, egad, PC users) on that shit, throw some D’s on that bitch, and keep the MP3s on this page rockin’ whilst you browse whatever it is you browse on the Internets. Rotate thy volume dial clockwise. Tinnitus for days. Today, you guys are getting nine blockbusters – a veritable kaleidoscope of face melters. Nine! That’s one more than eight psychedelic rock bangers to jolly you up and lubricate that brain. Nobody keeps it hype like The Decibel Tolls. Nobody. Pass that Electric Kool Aid.

Now… I have to say that I’m decently pumped for this weekend’s Flugtag. Thanks to the seven useless years (seben jahren!) of German I took throughout school, I can tell ya that Flugtag, directly translated, means “fly day.” What Flugtag really is, though, is the most amazingly, exultantly dumbtarded event ever, which is why I’m stoked for it. Though I had aspirations to participate, it’ll be just as rowdy to observe. You see, this Saturday, September 6th, hundreds will converge onto North Avenue Beach (here in Chicago) to watch their peers launch makeshift flying machines off a 30 ft. ramp into Lake Michigan. Yes, flying machines.

Better living through technology. Behold the Flugan. Would’ve been awesomer if it had some rims up on that piece:

Back to the point, this is my first year going to Flugtag. My friends have already informed me that, unlike Orville and Wilbur, no one actually gets airborne. It’s like watching a skateboarding video – the fun lies in watching failure after failure after failure. Lift vs. drag… shit’s hard.

So yes, completely pointless and asinine. Should be awesome. The shebang takes off (hardy har har) at 11 a.m., which, if you’re not a morning person, shouldn’t be a problem as Flugtag is brought to you by Red Bull (because Red Bull “gives you wings,” you see). So chances are, there will probably be a lot of free RB, as that company is wont to drive around and sling that shit hither and fro for free. That’ll be rad, since Red Bull is a good replacement for drinking Antifreeze, which I like to do when I can. Czech Flugtag’s lil’ webby guy here for more info.

Irrelevant aside: Astute observers will notice that the Flugtag site uses my fuckin’ font – Gotham Book Condensed. That’s mine, dudes. Did you know there’s a documentary about fonts called Helvetica? Did you know that my girlfriend totally will not let me rent this for us to watch?

So to celebrate Flugtag and a possibly righteous weekend ahead, here’s a most triumphant mix of sick cuts to tax that ass and assist in maximum stokeditude. As you’re probably aware, I use any excuse I can to throw a bunch of jams together and send ‘em out there. Billy Corgan does the same thing, except he does that with his own shitty music. Enjoy the mix, and a gold star for those who “connect the dots” (protip: all of the song or artist names have to deal, in some way, with flying… you… did you see what I did there?).

MP3 :::
The Free Design – HowDjadoo (Fly Me Down)
Pentangle – Light Flight
Landing – Fluency of Colors
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Flying Circles
The Byrds – Eight Miles High [BBC Session]
Broadcast – You Can Fall
Experimental Aircraft – Electric Surgery
The Telescopes – Flying
Pink Floyd – Point Me at the Sky [BBC Session]

The Decibel Tolls’ Super Swingin’ Mix is, like, a fuckton of MP3s in a single post focused on a particular genre or theme. The songs sequenced are meant to be listened to, ya know, as a mix. Hence, it’s recommended that you enjoy each song in order without commercial interruption. So you should hit Apple + T (or Ctrl + T for you, egad, PC users) on that shit, throw some D’s on that bitch, and keep the MP3s on this page rockin’ whilst you browse whatever it is you browse on the Internets. Rotate thy volume dial clockwise. Tinnitus for days.

Today, it’s time for the inaugural Shoegazing mix. Considering that shoegazing is generally the second genre I list when discussing this blog, I haven’t posted a lot of shoegazing tracks. I’ve scoured my digital arsenal for a small cross-section of shoegazing from the classic groups and the revivalists, as well offerings from groups who aren’t considered shoegaze proper, but rope in the aesthetic nonetheless. Here’s a healthy collection of wailing, screeching, but melodic canticles of wonder.

Remember, if you like what you hear, click on some of the provided links and show these groups some love.

The Telescopes – Flying
One of the big underrated groups of the shoegaze movement, The Telescopes were probably the loudest band on Creation Records before the label folded. Creative head Alan McGee liked the Telescopes more than MBV because the Telescope didn’t spend all his cheese like Kevin Shields did. The Telescopes reformed this decade and released Altered Perception that, unfortunately, was nothing more than a Spiritualized knock-off. For the true Telescopes experience, 1989’s The Perfect Needle was siiiick (but out of print).

Velocity Girl – Always
VG for most of their career encapsulated the Vaselines-style sound and ethos of Sub Pop’s non-grunge groups in the late ’80s and early ’90s. However, before toning down the volume and pumping up the twee, Velocity Girl’s first, eponymous EP was total shoegazing action. Normally, I would plop down a link somewhere in this entry so you can buy the EP, but guess what, it’s out of print. Well nevermind, it’s called “6 Song Compilation” these days, and you can find it here.

Chapterhouse – On the Way to Fly
Though their 1993 full-length Blood Music is not my favorite (like My Bloody Valentine’s “Soon,” most of that album prominently features very dated, very early ’90s programmed beats), this is an exceptional standout track and gives you a good idea what Chapterhouse was about. They, unlike many other groups in this period, really liked vocal harmonies. I, too, really like vocal harmonies. It’s the same reason why I love Queen. And oh junk! They’re on MySpazzz.

The Swirlies – Upstairs
The Swirlies served as a Yankee response to the Thames Valley-centric shoegazing movement. Well, I guess they were closer to dream pop and noise pop, but many of their songs followed the ‘gaze aesthetic like champs. The Swirlies never really released a bad album – particularly impressive for any early ’90s band. “Upstairs” comes from their 1992 EP What to Do About Them, and it totally rips. I can’t really write anything better than this hilarious Wikipedia article.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Awake
BRMC is another group that isn’t necessarily known for being a shoegaze group, but their first record was unequivocally a fine offering for the genre. I was in a huge Primal Scream/Jesus and Mary Chain phase when I picked up this album, and remember thinking “wow, this is almost better than the bands they’re emulating.” I wore it out. I think my copy of B.R.M.C. eventually turned to dust. “Awake” brings the crescendo that we all need and deserve. I still think BRMC is a good group, and I like the new acoustic D-blues direction they’ve diverted toward. Despite Peter Hayes’ rep for being super fan-friendly and a nice guy, I still feel like smacking him for agreeing to tour with Stone Temple Pilots. The fuck, Hayes? You were in the BJM! Do you think Anton approves of this?

Bottom of the Hudson – Holiday Machine
From their 2005 EP of the same name, “Holiday Machine” piles on layer after layer of gorgeous guitar fuzz and never lets up on the song’s intensity after the third bar. The track becomes suffocating toward the end, which I like. Just one week after their full-length Absolutely Kosher debut hit the shelves, bassist Trevor Butler was killed in a car accident. It’s hard to say whether Bottom of the Hudson will continue or not. Really sad. Sorry to bum the convo out.

Astral – Blinder
Despite the fact that they’re Californians (jay/kay lolz), Astral is one of my absolute favorite shoegzazer revivalist groups – easily on par with Serena Maneesh. They have a new record out on Vibraphone called Sleepwalkers that I have yet to peep, but this jam off of 2005’s Orchids is too good to not post somewhere on this blog. Thump this hard. Oh, and I’m kidding, I like Californians… for the most part.