Slowdive - Hide Yer Eyes [1993]
These first three tunes are absolute Slowdive bangers from the Souvlaki sessions that ridiculously never got released. I mean it's unbelievable that after being cut from Souvlaki these songs didn't end up on an EP or a single in their own right or at as least b-sides to other singles, mental.
Guitarist Christian Saville wanted Hide Yer Eyes on Souvlaki and the fact that one of these bootleg versions was mixed by Ed Buller means it was in contention for inclusion. Neil Halstead ixnayed the track though on the grounds of it being too poppy and the quota of poppy pop tunes for the album had already been filled...
This stands alongside Alison and Machine Gun as one of their best pop moments.
Slowdive - I Saw The Sun [1993]
Another Ed Buller mix which means this was almost included on the final track-listing of Souvlaki but the band pulled it on the basis of it being to much like The Cocteau Twins which is funny because... well have you heard the records they made before Souvlaki? Anyway this is pure Slowdive to me. The group at their best.
Beautiful pastoral psychedelia that floats off in a hazy breeze.
Dreamy.
Slowdive - Silver Screen [1992]
We live in a crazy world where one of the greatest songs of the 90s never saw the light of day, only getting leaked onto the internet in the 00s. Fucking absurd.
Starts out with buoyant fluctuating guitars that morph into fantastic eternally swirling waves of elation combined with irresistible nostalgic vocals hooks. Pure bliss.
Slowdive - Joy [1992]
Ok these next three are definitely oddities probably only of interest for diehard fans. They are interesting though and display what music Slowdive were big fans of.
Joy is post-punk with a drum machine somewhere between Chameleons and New Order. I mean its called Joy for fuck's sake. This is pretty surprising if you've never heard it before. After brutal press coverage and ruthless record company rejections Slowdive lost their nerve and went back to their roots and musical influences looking for a an inspirational way out of the crisis they perceived they were in.
Slowdive - Stars That Shine [1992?]
I always thought Mercury Rev's psychedelic space rock freak-outs were influenced by Slowdive's more overwhelming blissed guitar journeys but here you've gotta think Neil had probably given Yerself Is Steam a bit of a listen and liked what he heard. I probably would have ixnayed this one for being too much of a homage as consummate as it may be.
Slowdive - Bleed [1991?]
They never hid the fact that they loved The Cure and this one is an incredible tribute to their musical heroes. Still it's unmistakably Slowdive but that bass line might have perhaps attracted some attention from litigation lawyers for being a bit too close to The Cure's Fascination Street. While it may have been too derivative to put on any type of official record it's a whole lotta fun.
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