Slowcore: A Brief Timeline
April 30, 2017 2:13 PM Subscribe
You could easily argue against the idea of “slowcore” as a genre. But, crucially, there is a sound—or, rather, a continuity of sound—a commitment to allowing songs the room to breathe, to stripping things down to their essence before something bigger can be built back up around them. Even when the songs are fast or loud or busy, they never lose that essential clarity, that push toward beauty as its own end.
slBandcamp
That ship has sailed.
posted by teh_boy at 2:20 PM on April 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by teh_boy at 2:20 PM on April 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
With the yachtcore movement of the early 80s.
posted by LionIndex at 2:21 PM on April 30, 2017 [22 favorites]
posted by LionIndex at 2:21 PM on April 30, 2017 [22 favorites]
Hey, cuddlecore was and still is a thing.
posted by loquacious at 2:28 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by loquacious at 2:28 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Goddamnit, wait, cuddlecore is actually a real genre now?
Uh, my friend made that up as a joke about 1994 when we were still doing college radio. It was not - at the time - a reference to twee indie pop. At the time I think he was talking more about cute/fuzzy ambient IDM that you could sleep/cuddle to.
posted by loquacious at 2:31 PM on April 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Uh, my friend made that up as a joke about 1994 when we were still doing college radio. It was not - at the time - a reference to twee indie pop. At the time I think he was talking more about cute/fuzzy ambient IDM that you could sleep/cuddle to.
posted by loquacious at 2:31 PM on April 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
That description made me think of Chet Faker's astonishing 'Gold' (cw: rollerskates)
posted by Sebmojo at 2:34 PM on April 30, 2017
posted by Sebmojo at 2:34 PM on April 30, 2017
Don't let the stupid name get in the way of all the great bands mentioned in that article.
To quote Wikipedia: "The term slowcore itself is unpopular. It is related to the trend in heavy rock and dance music where the suffix “-core” can be attached to any genre name to distinguish itself. The term has not been widely adopted by the bands it is used to describe nor the music press [...]"
(the Wiki article mentions Stina Nordenstam, btw. Will now disappear on a "where are they now" Google adventure, while listening to Memories of a Color.)
posted by effbot at 2:39 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
To quote Wikipedia: "The term slowcore itself is unpopular. It is related to the trend in heavy rock and dance music where the suffix “-core” can be attached to any genre name to distinguish itself. The term has not been widely adopted by the bands it is used to describe nor the music press [...]"
(the Wiki article mentions Stina Nordenstam, btw. Will now disappear on a "where are they now" Google adventure, while listening to Memories of a Color.)
posted by effbot at 2:39 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
/considers pulling together a cephalopod-themed mixtape and calling it 'cuttlecore'
posted by Existential Dread at 2:40 PM on April 30, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by Existential Dread at 2:40 PM on April 30, 2017 [18 favorites]
Why isn't In a gadda da vida [SLYT] in this list? It's the first thing I thought of when you mentioned letting a song breathe.
posted by MikeWarot at 2:46 PM on April 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by MikeWarot at 2:46 PM on April 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Gasp, I've always loved this style of music, but never had a name for it. Thanks for sharing!
posted by Toddles at 3:09 PM on April 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Toddles at 3:09 PM on April 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
I love the Bandcamp Daily blog, I love slowcore, but saidly they're (still) missing the earliest (and arguably best) albums of some of these bands. (And if you're a fan of the genre/style, you know that little beats early Low, early Ida, early Red House Painters and early Codeine.)
Let's hope the Bandcamp of the future will have a considerable back catalogue to all of my favorite bands, and let's hope I'll have saved some money until then.
posted by bigendian at 3:32 PM on April 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Let's hope the Bandcamp of the future will have a considerable back catalogue to all of my favorite bands, and let's hope I'll have saved some money until then.
posted by bigendian at 3:32 PM on April 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Metafilter: Blogcore
posted by blue_beetle at 3:35 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by blue_beetle at 3:35 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Well, blogcore was actually a thing some 10-15 years ago, more or less as a catch-all for indie bands that got international exposure thanks to music blogs.
No, I'm not joking.
posted by lmfsilva at 3:54 PM on April 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
No, I'm not joking.
posted by lmfsilva at 3:54 PM on April 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
I remember proposing Bleak House as a genre a very, very long time ago, when I wasn't really in a position to do anything about it. I expect it's been a reality for almost as long.
(I expected it to be like House but slower and with the piano bit in minor keys, the vocals all samples of children crying.)
Is this the kind of genre where I think after five minutes "If I hear these four chords for very much longer someone is going to get hurt", but mercifully ten minutes later the chords haven't changed but neither have I hurt anybody? Music for people who are not only sad and introspective but also very, very stoned?
Not my kind of genre, that one.
posted by Grangousier at 4:02 PM on April 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
(I expected it to be like House but slower and with the piano bit in minor keys, the vocals all samples of children crying.)
Is this the kind of genre where I think after five minutes "If I hear these four chords for very much longer someone is going to get hurt", but mercifully ten minutes later the chords haven't changed but neither have I hurt anybody? Music for people who are not only sad and introspective but also very, very stoned?
Not my kind of genre, that one.
posted by Grangousier at 4:02 PM on April 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
I thought the (anything)core thing died with crabcore?
posted by effbot at 4:07 PM on April 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by effbot at 4:07 PM on April 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
Oh wow, thanks for this. My knowledge of slowcore (which yeah ok ugh it's not a great label but seriously we've been making fun of it for decades?) pretty much ended with Low and Red House Painters, both of which I loved back in the day and then stopped paying attention to, and I can see I've been missing out.
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:03 PM on April 30, 2017
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:03 PM on April 30, 2017
I thought the (anything)core thing died with crabcore?
Goddamnit, I just plugged in my speakers and cranked them up, then forgot I did that before clicking the link.
posted by loquacious at 5:07 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Goddamnit, I just plugged in my speakers and cranked them up, then forgot I did that before clicking the link.
posted by loquacious at 5:07 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
→ I thought the (anything)core thing died with crabcore ?
Just why are all of those men squatting?
posted by scruss at 5:08 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Just why are all of those men squatting?
posted by scruss at 5:08 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Goddamnit, wait, cuddlecore is actually a real genre now?
Back in the 90's I saw Cub* open for the Muffs and Southern Culture on the Skids and one of their fans called them 'cuddlecore" so I guess so.
*they were great, as were the other acts at the show
posted by jonmc at 5:14 PM on April 30, 2017
Back in the 90's I saw Cub* open for the Muffs and Southern Culture on the Skids and one of their fans called them 'cuddlecore" so I guess so.
*they were great, as were the other acts at the show
posted by jonmc at 5:14 PM on April 30, 2017
My ex-wife introduced me to Low, and another friend described their songs as lessons in patience when I first heard about them. I still love them for how beautiful their live shows were: exactly what somebody with inattentive ADHD needs not to feel overwhelmed and to be able to really listen. I will always have a special soft spot in my heart for them. They inspired me to try to make music with my ex-wife, and no matter how that worked out (badly, it seems, in the end) the experiences we had together and the things I learned still make it all worth it. Sorry if that's too earnest, but when your starting point in music is thrash metal and hardcore punk, to reach a point where you can appreciate music like Low and other slowcore bands feels like an accomplishment.
posted by saulgoodman at 5:35 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by saulgoodman at 5:35 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
I coined the term "Graycore" when reviewing the Buzzcocks self-titled 2003 album. It didn't have legs.
posted by davebush at 5:37 PM on April 30, 2017
posted by davebush at 5:37 PM on April 30, 2017
I feel weird about seeing Grouper on this list. Slowcore is intrinsically tied to electric guitars in my mind, and while Liz Harris’s stuff is emotiaonally and tonally similar, it just doesn’t seem the same to me. Also, please see Raum, her joint project with Jeffre Cantu-Ledesma (not to be confused with the at-least-one-other band named Raum): Event Of Your Leaving
posted by Going To Maine at 5:42 PM on April 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Going To Maine at 5:42 PM on April 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Hey, cuddlecore was and still is a thing.
I was under the impression that punk means cuddle
posted by thivaia at 5:43 PM on April 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
I was under the impression that punk means cuddle
posted by thivaia at 5:43 PM on April 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
I never thought about Ida as being slow-core (really?), but hey, Simple Machines!
posted by thivaia at 5:47 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by thivaia at 5:47 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Songs about Jessica Alba and Tuna?
Albacore.
posted by blue_beetle at 6:04 PM on April 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
Albacore.
posted by blue_beetle at 6:04 PM on April 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
Get out.
posted by loquacious at 6:08 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by loquacious at 6:08 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Just why are all of those men squatting?
They studied under a puppet unicorn, I'm told
posted by Existential Dread at 6:21 PM on April 30, 2017
They studied under a puppet unicorn, I'm told
posted by Existential Dread at 6:21 PM on April 30, 2017
Cool article, with a few new bands to investigate, but slightly weird choice of songs for several of the bands mentioned: Low's relatively pedestrian (groan...)"Ones and Sixes" from 2015, versus genre-defining songs such as "Violence", or the mercurial "Stars Gone Out", for example. And Galaxie 500's cover of Yoko Ono versus something like "Decomposing Trees" from "On Fire", or even "Sorry" from "This is Our Music". Heck, the sheer single-mindedness of "On Fire" might just qualify it as corest of the slow.
Including only one non-US band in the list is also a little odd: maybe throw in "Bluetile Lounge" for a little southern hemisphere flavour (particularly their lovely "Lowercase"), or the crystalline "Shift These Thoughts", by (sometime "Talk Talk" member) Tim Friese-Greene's band "Heligoland".
posted by pjm at 6:25 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Including only one non-US band in the list is also a little odd: maybe throw in "Bluetile Lounge" for a little southern hemisphere flavour (particularly their lovely "Lowercase"), or the crystalline "Shift These Thoughts", by (sometime "Talk Talk" member) Tim Friese-Greene's band "Heligoland".
posted by pjm at 6:25 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
t is worth remembering that there was a time when Mark Kozelek believed in the existence of melody or the virtue of composing lyrics a few minutes before recording them.
Great driveby burn of Sun Kil Moon. As the man himself says:
Sunshine in Chicago makes me feel pretty sad
My band played here a lot in the nineties when we had
Lots of female fans and fuck, they all were cute
Now, I just sign posters for guys in tennis shoes
posted by selfnoise at 6:31 PM on April 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Great driveby burn of Sun Kil Moon. As the man himself says:
Sunshine in Chicago makes me feel pretty sad
My band played here a lot in the nineties when we had
Lots of female fans and fuck, they all were cute
Now, I just sign posters for guys in tennis shoes
posted by selfnoise at 6:31 PM on April 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Tonight I'm launching a new category for music produced using Garageband ...
Applecore.
I'll show myself out.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:32 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Applecore.
I'll show myself out.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:32 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Corewave is the new hotness though.
posted by Jimbob at 7:07 PM on April 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Jimbob at 7:07 PM on April 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Synthcore, you olds.
posted by loquacious at 7:08 PM on April 30, 2017
posted by loquacious at 7:08 PM on April 30, 2017
*slamdances slowly due to incipient arhtritis*
posted by jonmc at 7:37 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by jonmc at 7:37 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
If this is a thread where we talk about how we like Low I'd like to be involved.
posted by not_the_water at 8:20 PM on April 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by not_the_water at 8:20 PM on April 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
True: I've taken a bit of a break from listening to punk. For the past 6 months or so I've been listening to cuddlecore (Almost People) and sparklecore (Katie Ellen / Chumped) and gee golly it feels weird to admit that in public because it's all such hipstery twee punk-offshoot indie stuff done by people that are so young they could be my children. And yes the genres exist and in my opinion we're going to see a big wave of sparklecore bands in the next few years.
Agreed. Low is spectacular.
posted by littlewater at 9:18 PM on April 30, 2017
Agreed. Low is spectacular.
posted by littlewater at 9:18 PM on April 30, 2017
So, does The Meeting Places count?
What about Spiritulized? The Golden Palominos? I'm very unsure but I want to get this right as to not look stupid in front of the 30 year olds.
posted by markbrendanawitzmissesus at 10:23 PM on April 30, 2017
What about Spiritulized? The Golden Palominos? I'm very unsure but I want to get this right as to not look stupid in front of the 30 year olds.
posted by markbrendanawitzmissesus at 10:23 PM on April 30, 2017
Spiritualized! Yes!
Experimental Audio Research!
Spaceman 3!
What about Tones on Tail?
Swans! You Fucking People Make Me Sick!
Windy and Carl!!
I'm totally forgetting others. I mean, what about Jesus and Mary Chain? Parts of Echo and the Bunnymen? Stereolab?
posted by loquacious at 10:38 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Experimental Audio Research!
Spaceman 3!
What about Tones on Tail?
Swans! You Fucking People Make Me Sick!
Windy and Carl!!
I'm totally forgetting others. I mean, what about Jesus and Mary Chain? Parts of Echo and the Bunnymen? Stereolab?
posted by loquacious at 10:38 PM on April 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
AMM
posted by Joseph Gurl at 10:42 PM on April 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Joseph Gurl at 10:42 PM on April 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
No way does Spiritualized count as slowcore to my ears. No way. Rock, through and through. The Windy & Carl and Experimental Audio Research points are interesting, though. I don’t tend to think of full-on instrumental rock as slowcore, somehow -you need some sad lyrics on top-, but it’s hella similar, and perhaps I should broaden my genres a bit.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:46 PM on April 30, 2017
posted by Going To Maine at 10:46 PM on April 30, 2017
Ontology remains the most mind-numbing of the philosophical arts.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 12:04 AM on May 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Joseph Gurl at 12:04 AM on May 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Oh Loqua! Thank you so much, I think I get it now.
American Dream by Love and Rockets is etherial.
Echo and the Bunnymen gives me that asmars stuff.
posted by markbrendanawitzmissesus at 12:07 AM on May 1, 2017
American Dream by Love and Rockets is etherial.
Echo and the Bunnymen gives me that asmars stuff.
posted by markbrendanawitzmissesus at 12:07 AM on May 1, 2017
Now, I just sign posters for guys in tennis shoes
Never heard of the guy, but if this article is representative for what he's up to these days, I can tell why cute female fans might prefer to keep a certain distance...
posted by effbot at 2:34 AM on May 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Never heard of the guy, but if this article is representative for what he's up to these days, I can tell why cute female fans might prefer to keep a certain distance...
posted by effbot at 2:34 AM on May 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
There is still only 1 core and it is hard...
posted by judson at 7:04 AM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by judson at 7:04 AM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Why isn't Cowboy Junkies on this list? T a l k a b o u t s l o w
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:54 AM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:54 AM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Morton Feldman whispers hi
posted by Joseph Gurl at 8:40 AM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Joseph Gurl at 8:40 AM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Holy shit, effbot. That article is brilliant, especially the way it ends:
Tell me when there's a -core genre where dudes like this face some fucking consequences for their ugly-ass bigotry and I'll be an instant fan - even if it consists entirely of wailing cats sharpening their nails on chalkboards.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 8:55 AM on May 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
He impugns online “bitching and whining”, but hides behind one-way email exchanges, balks at the idea of his peers speaking about him and issues tirades (and sometimes, sexual advances) from the cowardly remove of the stage, with the get-out clause that it’s a performance. He can use sexually violent language to reduce female critics to the status of groupies, knowing that while male musicians’ misogynist acts are examined for nuance and defended as traits of “difficult” artists, women and those who call them out are treated as hysterics who don’t understand art. “The world don’t owe us shit, I learned that real fuckin’ young,” he sings on Universal Themes’ Little Rascals. If anything remains to separate Kozelek from his work, it’s that his music preaches that the least we owe one another is decency.Which is kind of funny, because immediately after reading the lyrics quoted above in the thread, I thought the author sounded like a toxic piece of crap. And lo, I was right.
Tell me when there's a -core genre where dudes like this face some fucking consequences for their ugly-ass bigotry and I'll be an instant fan - even if it consists entirely of wailing cats sharpening their nails on chalkboards.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 8:55 AM on May 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Ugh. What:
posted by Existential Dread at 9:46 AM on May 1, 2017
Sun Kil Moon, AKA Mark Kozelek: ‘I see myself more like a novelist or polygamist than a musician in terms of my output.’Scratch an ironic misogynist, find a real misogynist. The confessional "it's my art, man" defense of misogyny is real tired, too.
posted by Existential Dread at 9:46 AM on May 1, 2017
Echo and the Bunnymen gives me that asmars stuff.
Sucks to your asmars.
posted by adamgreenfield at 10:29 AM on May 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Sucks to your asmars.
posted by adamgreenfield at 10:29 AM on May 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Why isn't Cowboy Junkies on this list? T a l k a b o u t s l o w
The thing about bandcamp lists is that they are at heart advertising - advertising with reasons, but advertising. The Cowboy Junkies aren't on the list because their music isn't available on Bandcamp.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:52 AM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
The thing about bandcamp lists is that they are at heart advertising - advertising with reasons, but advertising. The Cowboy Junkies aren't on the list because their music isn't available on Bandcamp.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:52 AM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Ah, thanks.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 3:24 PM on May 1, 2017
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 3:24 PM on May 1, 2017
Does Yo La Tengo have a slowcore album? They seem to have recorded an album of most every other indie-rock adjacent genre. (All of them with the vocals criminally submerged in the mix.)
posted by Going To Maine at 7:32 PM on May 2, 2017
posted by Going To Maine at 7:32 PM on May 2, 2017
Seeing as the main discussion here is "finished", as such, it feels ok to offer the idea that encore is arguably the greatest "-core" genre.
I'm just starting to perform it as an "artist", though my playing lacks nuance as of yet. Still, I hope my work will end up as someone's favorite.
posted by maxwelton at 2:18 AM on May 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm just starting to perform it as an "artist", though my playing lacks nuance as of yet. Still, I hope my work will end up as someone's favorite.
posted by maxwelton at 2:18 AM on May 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
ಠ_ಠ
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 12:36 PM on May 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 12:36 PM on May 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
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