There's
nothing quite as addictive as Slowdive, nothing more so than their third and
'final' album Pygmalion, which regularly does the rounds
through my ethereal and atmospheric period of bi-monthly un-categorised music
listening. Often jumping from Slowdive to Galaxie 500 and back again with a few
rarities inbetween I always find myself back at Pygmalion. There's
something quite sincere about this record which just isn't focussed on nearly
enough in 90s discussions. Slowdive really achieved greatness in releasing three top class albums, all with a
different mood, a different feel, uncategorised, never once pigeon hole’d in my
false reality. You can't call Pygmalion shoegaze because it's not brash
enough, and you can't call it dream pop because it's too reliant on ambience to
even bare the label.
"Crazy for You" is a
standout on Pygmalion which is saying something considering
the entire 50 minutes of Pygmalion is a musical experience everyone
deserves to have. This is where the listener gets involved, Slowdive are doing
all the work, but the listener is taking it, and making it their own. Neil
Halstead in godlike fashion delivers four simple words, four words: "Crazy
for loving you," that's all Halstead and Slowdive need to
create. It doesn't matter if it's live, studio, or demo; "Crazy for
You" is what it is, an excellent track full of looped repetition and
atmosphere. Words honestly can't describe what mood Slowdive put me in, but I
know it's a happy place. If there's one thing Pygmalion loving
Slowdive fans want from their upcoming reunion release, its simplicity. Pygmalion will
always be overshadowed by "Alison" and the poppier nature of Souvlaki with
"When the Sun Hits" (my personal favourite Slowdive song) and
"Souvlaki Space Station", but they, specifically Halstead's
creativity progressed and peaked in 95' with Pygmalion.
"Crazy for You" is just a placebo for Slowdive's never ending atmosphere, whether you call them dream pop, shoegaze or fugazi is completely up
to you, but they'll always be that special misunderstood looping distortion on Boss pedals to me.
Eddie Gibson
Eddie Gibson
