Best Shoegaze Albums Of 2011

Best Shoegaze Albums Of 2011 Wednesday 21 December, 2011

*Note: Best shoegaze albums of 2011; this list is in no particular order and is based on traffic and feedback (not sales)… may contain personal bias!

Genre lines were as blurry as ever in 2011. Purists may scoff at this list but… if its all about reliving the shoegazing glory days of yesteryear then it doesn’t say much for creativity, or the present state of affairs. That’s where the incredible work of True Widow, Weekend and I Break Horses step in. None of these records sit firmly within a genre but were still adopted by shoegaze fans. True Widow sounds like alt rock at half speed, Weekend like a post punk band with a reverb overload, I Break Horses like indie pop meets dream pop meets… I could go on and on… before I do, here’s some of the best shoegaze albums of 2011…

True widow – ‘As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth’ (11/04/11)

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I Break Horses – ‘Hearts’ (19/08/11)

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Youngteam – ‘Daydreamer’ (28/03/11)

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The Laurels – ‘Mesozoic’ EP (08/07/11)

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Ringo Deathstarr – ‘Colour Trip’ (14/02/11)

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Widowspeak – ‘Widowspeak’ (09/08/11)

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Lucy Dreams – ‘Vivian’ (20/09/11)

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Pure X – ‘Pleasure’ (06/07/11)

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Weekend – ‘Red’ EP (20/09/11)

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Young Prisms – ‘Friends For Now’ (18/01/11)

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What record has been overlooked!? Click through to comment or email your best shoegaze albums of 2011 direct.

Tags: Best Of, Best Of List, Best Shoegaze Albums Of 2011, shoegaze, Sounds Better With Reverb

4 Comments

Chris says:

12/22/2011 at 4:52 am

I’m going to track down the Widowspeak album, thanks for the share!

Loved I Break Horses – ‘Hearts’ (the bedroom sessions version). For me, is kind of a mix of soundtracks, Lost in Translation and Days of Thunder.

I can relate to the genre labelling issue, there was this song Careless Love by Arborea I liked, which I could have put as acoustic, dream pop, or folk, it was all 3! Tricky ( : I usually follow AllMusic.

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Alpo says:

12/23/2011 at 12:05 pm

This is by far the best list I have seen yet. The inclusion of The Laurels and Youngteam show that you are indeed a true world class purveyor of shoegaze.

The toughest exclusions for me would be:

SPC ECO – You Tell Me
Deep Cut – Disorientation
Spotlight Kid – Disaster Tourist
Be Forest – Cold
Echo lake – Young Silence
Mast – Wild Poppies

Thanx for a superb list!

Alpo

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David Betz says:

01/01/2012 at 7:44 pm

I think that you overlooked Psychedelic Horseshit’s Laced, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s Belong, 93millionmilesfromthesun’s Northern Sky, Drowner’s Self Titled, and Dinosaur Jr’s Farm.

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Greg says:

03/03/2012 at 9:54 am

I’ve gotta second Alpo here, in that Be Forest was a watershed in 2011, came out of nowhere. Well, Italy, specifically, but wasn’t on radar anywhere until it exploded mid-2011. I’d put Belong – Common Era at a strong second.

LOVE the list, I have some things to catch up on! Thanks!

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