The Radio Dept., Clinging To A Scheme

Every fall when the weather in Seattle turns cold and rainy, my musical taste tends to turn towards the atmospheric and at times the moody. Songs by bands like the Doves, Elbow, Sigur Rós, Flaming Lips (think The Softest Bulletin), Leaves, The Blue Nile, and Mercury Rev find their way on to my playlists. I actually have a playlist entitled Cloudy Days (you can find the playlist at the bottom of my blog).

There is a common theme or thread that runs through the music of all of these bands. And there is an actual genre or sub-genre name for this music sound/style. Dream Pop. And for that music with a bit louder and more aggressive sound....Shoegazing. Never heard of these genres? You are not alone, and yet these sub-genres of Alternative music have been around for almost 30 years.

Common elements to the music of these two sub-genres are longer, slow building songs, which tend to have down-tempos, hazy guitar rifts, syncopated percussions, keyboards and pianos creating atmospheric sounds, and base lines that hold everything down while creating tension at the same time. These songs also tend to have a lot of echo, reverb, delay, and breathy vocals. 

Dream Pop originated in Britain, it is alive and flourishing today on both sides of the Atlantic. Bands like The Radio Dept., Deerhunter, Foals, Beach House, Houses, and the Silversun Pickups, are crafting super songs and albums. It is exciting to see strong, creative work coming from so many new bands. I am particularly enjoying The Radio Dept.'s new album Clinging To A Scheme, which was released earlier in the year. 

With Clinging To A Scheme, The Radio Dept. (from Lund, Sweden) continues to play with rich, textured sounds that fill whatever space they occupy. The band, the songs, and the album, are in no particular rush to get from one place to another, so no one particular track really stands out from another. Both of these aspects of the album are just fine by me. It is a great listen on a cold and rainy day...or any other day really.