Swallow - Blow (1992) + Blowback (1992)

Swallow were a short-lived shoegaze duo based in London. As I recall (and correct me if I'm wrong) the story of these two records goes something like this: The band was utterly dissatisfied with their debut LP, Blow, feeling that it sounded nothing like them, and blaming the producer for attempting to shoehorn them into the shoegaze movement. Thus, they released a dramatically different, remixed version of the album -- Blowback -- which they said sounded like the record they had intended to make all along.

As far as I'm concerned, you don't have to pick a side, as both records truly are great. Blow is as fine an example of early 90s shoegaze as you're likely to find, and Blowback is a darker, abstract, dream-like, drugged-out work without any obvious peers. I guess, if I had to pick one, Blowback has the edge.

Track listing:
-Blow-
1. Lovesleep
2. Tastes Like Honey
3. Sugar Your Mind
4. Mensurral
5. Peekaboo
6. Lacuna
7. Oceans and Blue Skies
8. Follow Me Down
9. Halo
10. Cherry Stars Collide
11. Head in a Cave
-Blowback-
1. Oceans and Blues Skies
2. Head in a Cave
3. Tastes Like Honey (Instrumental)
4. Peekaboo (Dub)
5. Sugar Your Mind
6. Follow Me Down (Excerpt)
7. Mensurral (Instrumental)
8. Cherry Stars Collide (Instrumental)

How much can you take from my innocent smile?




You should also try:

Secret Shine - Untouched (1993)

Seefeel - Polyfusia (1994)