New Subscriber Playlist: “Catching the Breeze”

My first exposure to Slowdive’s music was via Brendon Macaraeg’s Dreampop webzine, where he described their music as making him feel like he was still floating in his mother’s womb. Based on that evocative image, I tracked down a used cassette copy of Just for a Day, and as soon as I heard the one-two punch of “Celia’s Dream” and “Catch the Breeze,” Slowdive became one of my favorite bands.

That’s a distinction Slowdive has held for almost thirty years now. That, combined with the release of their latest album earlier this month, inspired this month’s playlist, titled “Catching the Breeze.” The playlist is actually a twofer: the first half compiles some of my favorite Slowdive songs from throughout their career and the second half highlights bands who almost certainly owe their musical careers to the iconic shoegaze outfit. All in all, it’s nearly three hours of some of the best shoegaze and dream pop you’re likely to hear all month long.

Accompanying the playlist is the latest episode of my“Playlist Breakdown” podcast, in which I spotlight one of the playlist’s songs and why it’s so special, interesting, and/or meaningful. In this month’s episode, I discuss “Rutti,” the sparse-yet-spacious opening track from Slowdive’s 1995 album, Pygmalion. And because this month’s playlist is about one of my favorite bands, I recorded a bonus podcast episode that spotlights “Slowbleed” by Alison’s Halo, one of the many bands that Slowdive has inspired and influenced over the years.

All of these are little bonuses for subscribers who support Opus financially. If you’d like to get access to them (and more), subscribe to Opus for $5/month or $50/year. (You can also subscribe for free and get my weekend newsletter.)