Exitmusic - Passage (2012)

Glistening, ethereal post/indie rock for sad lovers. Sigur Rós by way of Brooklyn. Everything I'm listening to right now sounds like it was made to be played in stadiums. I believe that a lot of the hype around this band revolved around the fact that its two members were/are married, and one of them (Aleska Palladino) was Angela on Boardwalk Empire, but none of that has anything to do with Passage's ability to make you feel like you're levitating.

Track listing:

1. Passage

2. The Night

3. The City

4. White Noise

5. Storms

6. The Wanting

7. Stars

8. The Modern Age

9. The Cold

10. Sparks of Light

I'll vacuum the spaces

Used to separate me from you

You from me

Death from birth

If you like this, try:

Auburn Lull - Cast from the Platform (2004)

Air Formation - Nothing to Wish For (Nothing to Lose) (2010)

Auburn Lull - Cast from the Platform (2004)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Auburn Lull - Alone I Admire (1999)

Yesterday I wrapped up the three most demanding weeks of school of my life -- multiple group projects and presentations, individual essays, massive Excel workbook problems, then finals -- and I am honestly still reeling. Usually, finishing my last final is accompanied by a massive sense of relief then a desire to party, but there's an instinctive part of me that won't stop anticipating the next assignment, lest I miss it, fuck up my grade, drop out of school, get shunned by my family and friends, and die broke and alone.

Over the next few days, I hope to convince that part of me to simmer down a bit, and get my year-end list(s) up. I've already done most of the writing, just need to piece it all together. So I'm kicking off the big come down with Auburn Lull, whose gentle, chiming, reverberating calm never fails to ground me. Hopefully tomorrow I won't wake up stressing over literally nothing at 5:30 am.

Track listing:

1. Building Fifty

2. Sinking Meridian

3. Jersey Narrows

4. Seasons of False Starts

5. Deterior

6. Direction & Destination

7. Rising Meridian

8. Seaforth

9. Trenches

10. Sovereign Messages

11. Shallow in Youth

12. [untitled]

Time lost

You would also enjoy:

The Arms of Someone New - Susan Sleepwalking (1985)

Songs of Green Pheasant - Songs of Green Pheasant (2004)

Telefilme - Pocket Horror Symphony (1997)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Telefilme - Fade In, Fade Out (1995)

By request, here's the second and final album by this truly phenomenal duo. Somewhere between the electronic sounds of the mid 90s, the romantic depression of 80s new wave/pop, and the cluttered aesthetic of a burgeoning indie/post-rock scene, Telefilme struck a magic kind of musical alchemy on two 10/10 albums, then broke up because they were too good for this world.

Track listing:

1. Electric Farm

2. Hi-Fi Ghost

3. Shopping List Blues

4. Da Haus

5. California Punch

6. Jeremy

7. Catastrophe Baby

8. Fahrenheit

9. I Will Follow the Leader

10. Doll-House

11. Peter Pain

12. Ballad of the Droog

Life's like a big supermarket

You should also hear:

Mark Renner - All Walks of This Life (1986)

Jack Frost - Jack Frost (1991)

The Paradise Motel - Left Over Life to Kill (1996)

Dark, dreamy Australian indie rock. Pretty, pristine vocals over glacial noir-Americana, complete with strummed acoustics, and bending, tremolo-saturated leads. Man, I'm loving my old time indie rock and roll over here. There's both an EP and a compilation version of Left Over Life to Kill, both of which have excellent songs that aren't included on the other; bafflingly, the comp only has two songs from the EP. I hemmed and hawed for days over which one to post before ultimately landing on the EP as it's the original, but will probably post a link for the comp version in the comments because they're both essential, and someone is definitely going to request it anyway.

Track listing:

1. German Girl

2. Ashes

3. Letter to a Stranger

4. North of God

5. Jack Star

6. Thumbelina

7. Serpent Intro

It always rained in her life

If you like this, you'd also like:

Julee Cruise - Floating into the Night (1989) + The Voice of Love (1993)

The Clientele - The Violet Hour (2003)

Frazier Chorus - Wide Awake (1995)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Frazier Chorus - Sue (1989)

Third and final album from the quietly brilliant Frazier Chorus. On Wide Awake, they embraced a smooth, R&B-ish, 90s production style, with palm muted guitars, downtempo beats, muted horn lines, and other stuff that might make for good make-out music if you don't listen to the lyrics.

Track listing:

1. Wide Awake

2. If the Weather Was Up to Me

3. Bye-Bye Little Bird

4. Here We Are

5. Take Us Away

6. Driving

7. Lie, Mimic and Mime

8. Sound Asleep

How did I read the stars so wrong?

If you like this, listen to:

Nona Hendryx - SkinDiver (1989)

Ega and Alice - 24 Years of Hunger (1991)

The Arms of Someone New - Susan Sleepwalking (1985)

Enveloping, lo-fi sounds that land somewhere between a minimal, narcotized take on jangle rock, dream pop, early Cure, and ethereal darkwave. Metronome-like beats, chiming guitars, simple keyboard lines, and reverb-drenched vocals. Quiet appropriately, Susan Sleepwalking was eventually reissued by Projekt. This one's pretty new to me and I seriously can't recommend it highly enough.

Track listing:

1. St. Catherine

2. The Fisherman

3. Song for Krista

4. With Louise

5. The Turning

6. Seven Days from Now

7. Karen Said

8. Rainbows

9. Susan Slept Here

10. A Turner Sky

Faith I have a memory of

You should also hear:

This Kind of Punishment - A Beard of Bees (1984)

Steve Kilbey - Unearthed (1987)

All in the Golden Afternoon - Magic Lighthouse on the Infinite Sea (2011)

Generally laid-back psych/dream pop/shoegaze. The kind of album that reminds me how much I, contradictory as it may seem, loathe music-writing, as it forces the lazier writers among us to trot out, over and over again, the same list of tired adjectives (see: "laid-back", also could have been "hazy", "heavy-lidded", etc.) to stand in for that beautiful, rejuvenating, and possibly indescribable feeling that we all get when we hear a great record. Or I could say something dumb like: this sounds like a really nice, lazy summer day spent laying on blankets in the sun, high on mushrooms. But that doesn't capture the emotional nuances at work here, as it's certainly not all sunshine, smiles, and highs. Don't listen to me, listen to this record.

Track listing:

1. Advice from a Caterpillar

2. Tidal Wave

3. Symphonies of Spirits

4. 30th and Sanchez

5. Gulf Coast Highway

6. Up All Night

7. In the Sky

8. Less and Less

9. The Pool of Tears

10. In a Box

11. Beneath the Setting Sun

12. Up All Night - Western Arms Remix [bonus]

The sun is up, the sky is blue

It's beautiful and so are you

If you like this, listen to:

Spectrum - Soul Kiss (Glide Divine) (1992)

Astrobrite - All the Stars Will Fall (2012)

Papercuts - Mockingbird (2004)

Downcast indie pop from SF songwriter Jason Quever. Gauzy, organ-heavy melancholy with sleepy vocals and a 60s-referencing aesthetic. The kind of earnest, un-self-conscious record that really makes me miss the pre-social media days of the early aughts indie boom.

Track listing:

1. Mockingbird

2. Poor and Free

3. A Fairy Tale

4. My Ivory Tower

5. Pan American Blues Pt. 2

6. Tulips

7. December Morning

8. Oh Nobody's Son

9. Judy

10. Well I Don't

For every kingdom down

Another builds again

They make their maker sigh

And never wonder why

More sad indie folks:

Camera Obscura - Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi (2001)

Thee More Shallows - More Deep Cuts (2004)

Monoland - Cooning (2001)

A top-tier obscurity of German shoegaze bliss. Starts out sounding like it's gonna be some really great Loveless-worship, then quickly dives into a deep, shimmering pool of ambient dub.

Track listing:

1. De Pale

2. Cooning

3. Motel Fumatore

4. MC Cann

5. Orcin

6. Moon

7. Voodoo

8. Embrace

9. Honolulu

Cupid come

If you like this, you should hear:

Swallow - Blow + Blowback (1992)

Guitar - Sunkissed (2002)

The Clientele - The Violet Hour (2003)

Heavenly English indie pop/rock. Chiming guitars, shuffling drums, and dreamy, whispery vocals, all awash in reverb. I know that we're all paying attention to 5 things at once, and this band's super easy to just vibe to, but I highly recommend actually giving this record the close listen that it deserves; like, read along to the lyrics and everything. Here, you don't even have to Google them.

(Re: previous post: I deleted it, so anyone who commented on it obviously won’t be getting a direct response. Definitely makes me think that I should always do at least a little research about bands before I post about them — I usually do, but sometimes I just stumble across a record, get super stoked about it, and post it without knowing anything about the artist. My bad. Thanks to everyone for letting me know. I’m drunk and on vacation, so I’m gonna leave it at that for now, but might want to share more thoughts when I’m in a better position to do so.)

Track listing:

1. The Violet Hour

2. Voices in the Mall

3. When You and I Were Young

4. Missing

5. Jamaican Rum Rhumba

6. House on Fire

7. Everybody's Gone

8. Porcelain

9. Haunted Melody

10. Prelude

11. Lamplight

12. The House Always Wins

13. Policeman Getting Lost

You're so tired that you believe in everything

Listen to these, too:

The Orchids - Unholy Soul (1991)

Luna - The Days of Our Nights (1999)

Flesh World - Flesh World (2013)

Deathrock/dream pop hybrid from SF. Echoing drums, reverb-washed guitars, creepy keyboards, and vocal melodies/guitar leads/overall songwriting approach right out of the punk rock playbook. Dream punk, maybe? I really thought this band was gonna take off, but haven't heard anything from them since 2017. And since I always hate on Pitchfork, I'm thinking it's only fair to mention that, regardless of how wrong they are sometimes, I have found a lot of great music through that site, including Flesh World.

Track listing:

1. Sturdy Swiss Hiker

2. A Trip to the Living Ice Age

3. Church of Flesh

4. Reckon and Know

5. Lost My Heart in Transit Thru the Post

6. Are We Saved Or Are We Damned?

To hell with your purity

You should also listen to:

The KVB - Subjection/Subordination (2011)

Wildhoney - Wildhoney (2013) + Seventeen Forever (2014)

Dip in the Pool - Silence (1986)

Heaven-sent Japanese ambient synth pop. Understated, deceptively complex, and way ahead of its time. Little bits here and there remind me of some of the greats, but Dip in the Pool never really sound like anyone but themselves. 10/10.

Track listing:

1. Rabo del sol

2. Facing the Sea

3. はすのえにし

4. Sur le pois

5. Silence

6. ひなまり

7. View

8. Again

9. Spring from the Surface

10. Dormir

It's so different here

You might also enjoy:

Akira Inoue - Splash (1983)

Jan Bang - Frozen Feelings (1989)

Mahogany - The Dream of a Modern Day (2000)

One of the great slept-on dream pop/shoegaze records. An airy wall-of-sound composed of cello, guitars, synths, miscellaneous electronics, and more, with gentle vocals that kinda remind me of Lætitia Sadier.

Track listing:

1. Movement I

2. Chance

3. Optimism

4. The Mystique of the Locomotive

5. Soleil Radieux

6. Anaïs No. 4

7. Movement II

8. Vista-Dome

9. Anaïs No. 3

10. Red Marrow, His Sorrow

11. On the Threshold of the Absolute

12. Synchromie No. 1

My bed is my castle

If you like this, listen to:

Pram - The Stars Are So Big, the Earth Is So Small... Stay as You Are (1993)

Moscow Olympics - Cut the World (2008)

Moscow Olympics - Cut the World (2008)

Melancholic dream pop/shoegaze with more than a hint of New Order-y post-punk/new wave swoon. All chiming guitars, gauzy synths, wiry rhythms, and whispery vocals. FFO: Beach Fossils, DIIV, Wild Nothing, and all those other new-wave-on-heroin bands.

Track listing:
1. What Is Left Unsaid
2. No Winter, No Autumn
3. Second Trace
4. Safe
5. Carolyn
6. Ocean Sign
7. Cut the World

I think you are a pig
Should be in a zoo

If you like this, try:

Sleep ∞ Over -
Forever (2011)

Au.Ra -
Jane's Lament (2015)

Child Actor - Never Die (2014)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Child Actor - Promise EP (2013)

Glimmering, hazy electropop with a synth-saturated, 80-s indebted sheen.

Track listing:
1. Morning
2. Against the Night
3. Never Die
4. Last Time
5. Dream Prayer
6. Forever
7. You're a Ghost
8. Fear & Pleasure
9. The Memory
10. The Moment
11. Ungone

There are some things that stay with you for life

Similar listening:

Korallreven -
An Album by Korallreven (2011)

tooth ace. -
Flash and Yearn (2013)

The Hope Blister - ...Smile's OK (1998)

Downcast ambient dream pop from a band assembled by (4AD cofounder) Ivo Watts-Russell. The core sound is very much a continuation of This Mortal Coil, but without the ever-shifting lineup -- whereas This Mortal Coil was a project, The Hope Blister was a band. And every song is a cover, including versions of songs by Slowdive, John Cale, Brian Eno, David Sylvian, and more.

Track listing:
1. Dagger
2. Only Human
3. The Outer Skin
4. Sweet Unknown
5. Let the Happiness In
6. Is Jesus Your Pal?
7. Spider and I
8. Hanky Panky Nohow

I thought I heard you whisper
It happens all the time

You should also listen to:

black tape for a blue girl -
Mesmerized by the Sirens (1987)

Lisa Germano -
Lullaby for Liquid Pig (2002)

Lisa Germano - Lullaby for Liquid Pig (2002)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Lisa Germano - Happiness (1994)

"These are your secrets / Hidden inside / Wherever you go / Wherever you hide."

Thus starts a devastating but beautiful exploration of an inner world where memory, love, loneliness, shame, and addiction co-mingle and inextricably intertwine. To be sure, there's some joy in there, but it always feels fragile and fleeting. Cohesive to the point of playing like a single song-suite, but with each track occupying its own magical little sonic space. The title track hits a nerve in me like no other. No hyperbole, one of my all-time favorites.

Track listing:
1. Nobody's Playing
2. Paper Doll
3. Liquid Pig
4. Pearls
5. Candy
6. Dream Glasses Off
7. From a Shell
8. It's Party Time
9. All the Pretty Lies
10. Lullaby for Liquid Pig
11. Into the Night
12. ....To Dream

What if I do stop
Or if I don't stop
It doesn't matter
I probably won't stop
Without you here
Without your love
The world is just there
It doesn't move me

Similar listening:

Lilys -
Eccsame the Photon Band (1994)

Hospital Ships -
The Past Is Not a Flood (2016)

Medicine - Her Highness (1995)

Medicine's absurdly underrated third album. Heavenly, pop-leaning shoegaze. It's like, I get it, y'all, it's less abrasive than their first two records, and we're all supposed to pretend that that's inherently bad, but come on -- taken on its own terms, this album's great. Sure, it's super 90s, but I refuse to hold that against it.

Track listing:
1. All Good Things
2. Wash Me Out
3. Candy Candy
4. I Feel Nothing at All
5. A Fractured Smile
6. Farther Dub
7. Farther Down
8. Aarhus
9. Seen the Light Alone
10. Heads

I tell you lies
I sympathize
With your demon
When he turns you inside out

You'd also like:

Curve -
Open Day at the Hate Fest (2001)

Guitar -
Sunkissed (2002)

Erik Blood - Lost in Slow Motion (2016)

Hazy, synth-saturated dream pop from another slept-on Seattle artist. He apparently works with Shabazz Palaces and THEESatisfaction -- pretty sure that's Shabazz on the intro cut -- but Blood's sound hews much closer to the laid-back psychedelia of Tame Impala and Beach House's elegant, shimmering melancholy.

Track listing:
1. (when they are loving)
2. The Attic System
3. Chase the Clouds
4. Bloused Up
5. Covered in a Color
6. Quiet
7. Remove Control
8. Hold for Laughs
9. Ostrich
10. Out This Way

I hear you calling

More along these lines:

Sleep ∞ Over -
Forever (2011)

Au.Ra -
Jane's Lament (2015)

The Church - Untitled #23 (2009)

Related:
Steve Kilbey - The Slow Crack (1987)
Steve Kilbey - Unearthed (1987)
The Church - Priest=Aura (1992)
Steve Kilbey & Russell P. Kilbey - Gilt Trip (1997)
The Church - Church of Baal (1998)

My favorite late-career Church record. The same echoing guitars and dark, surreal lyrical concerns as ever, just applied to some of the best, most beautiful songs they've ever conjured forth from the infinite subconscious of the universe.

Track listing:
1. Cobalt Blue
2. Deadman's Hand
3. Pangaea
4. Happenstance
5. Space Saviour
6. On Angel Street
7. Sunken Sun
8. Anchorage
9. Lunar
10. Operetta

Darkness returning
My torch keeps on burning for you
In the life you keep on spurning
Everything is hurting me

You might also enjoy:

The Ocean Blue -
Cerulean (1993)

Air Formation - Nothing to Wish
For (Nothing to Lose) (2010)