Gazing Backwards

Magnet MagazineThe cover story from the latest issue of Magnet Magazine, which unfortunately does not post its editorial content on its rather thin Web site, tells the tale of that nearly-forgotten, early-nineties musical fad sometimes known as shoegazing. It’s very well-written but also bizarre to read as an historical account, having lived through that time period, having bought those records as they were released, having trekked to the clubs to see those pale, undynamic English people perform that music in the flesh before the mid-nineties swept them away. Most of those records seem insignificant now, or at least too self-conscious and non-committal, but it does make me sentimental to think of a very brief time when the formula was: the weirder the music, the greater the chance for success.

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