Dream Pop: Difference between revisions

Generally, if someone says "dream pop", they're most likely thinking of bands in [[The Eighties]] on the 4AD label, such as [[Dead Can Dance]], [[Cocteau Twins]], Dif Juz and the genre's own [[Supergroup]], [[This Mortal Coil]]. These bands represent dream pop's "classic sound" - all instruments and voices soaked in reverb, breathy vocals, introspective themes and creating a wall of sound out of generally sparse instrumentation ,<ref>even the more arrangement-heavy dream pop bands like the Cocteaus stuck to the standard guitar-bass-drums-keyboards lineup; only [[This Mortal Coil]] really used string sections, and even they stuck to minimal arrangements instead of overproduction</ref>, adding up to something that, all snarkery aside, is really quite beautiful. Most dream pop bands varied in terms of emotion between [[Tear Jerker|somber and depressing]], [[Nightmare Fuel|terrifying]] and [[Sweet Dreams Fuel|optimistic]]. Still, not every band on 4AD was dream pop ([[The Pixies]], [[The Breeders]], Colourbox and [[Throwing Muses]] were on the label) and not every dream pop band was on 4AD (Cranes, The Passions, Bel Canto, Galaxie 500 and The Dream Academy among many others were on other labels). While dream pop was intially a pretty unified genre, variations on the basic "ethereal soundscapes + pop melodies" formula soon appeared, in particular bands that focused more on guitars than synths. Pretty soon, the genre started splintering into a ton of other subgenres as well: Low went into [[Slowcore]], Mazzy Star smashed together [['''Dream Pop]]''', [[Shoegazing]] and [[Psychedelic Rock]], [[Love Spirals Downwards]] went into electronica, and so on.

Dream pop was an important influence on the emergence of [[Shoegazing]], and starting with [[The Nineties]] the two genres began cross-breeding and eventually became indistinguishable. You're not likely to find many [['''Dream Pop]]''' bands that use the "classic sound" of the Cocteaus or This Mortal Coil anymore, although there are a few new bands, such as [[Beach House]], that continue the "traditional" dream pop sound. There aren't many of these, but they're pretty popular amongst indie kids. Instead, there's a ton of bands that are somewhere between dream pop and shoegazing (which in itself could be called [['''Dream Pop]]''' taken [[Up to Eleven]]), most likely thrown under the umbrella term "post-rock" - a good example of this would be [[Sigur Rós]].

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* [[Cocteau Twins]] ([[Trope Maker|Trope Makers]]s and [[Trope Codifier|Trope Codifiers]]s)

* [[Deftones]] (a cross between [[Alternative Metal]] and [['''Dream Pop]]''', with [[Shoegazing]] and [[New Wave]] influences)

** Chino Moreno's side project Team Sleep, on the other hand, is mostly [['''Dream Pop]]'''.

* [[Iamamiwhoami]] ([['''Dream Pop]]''' + [[Shoegazing]] + [[Concept Video]])

* [[This Mortal Coil]] (not technically a "band", see above explanation; also [[Trope Codifier|Trope Codifiers]]s)

* [[Radiohead]], while nominally [[Alternative Rock]] have occasionally shown influences from it, such as on "No Surprises", which is both [['''Dream Pop]]''' and [[Art Rock]].