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==History== ===1960s–1970s: Origins=== Author Nathan Wiseman-Trowse writes that the "approach to the sheer physicality of sound" integral to dream pop was "arguably pioneered in popular music by figures such as [[Phil Spector]] and ([[Beach Boys]] founder) [[Brian Wilson]]."<ref name="class"/> The Beach Boys recorded an early dream pop song, "[[All I Wanna Do (The Beach Boys song)|All I Wanna Do]]", for their 1970 album ''[[Sunflower (The Beach Boys album)|Sunflower]]''.<ref name="Allen21"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Deriso |first1=Nick |title=Top 10 Post-'Pet Sounds' Beach Boys Songs |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/post-pet-sounds-beach-boys-songs/ |website=[[Ultimate Classic Rock]] |date=May 16, 2021}}</ref><ref name="violet">{{cite web |title=Violet's 'tracks to listen to on tour' playlist, feat. Spinn, Kylie, Swim Deep and more |url=https://readdork.com/features/violets-tracks-to-listen-to-on-tour-playlist/ |website=Dork |date=May 16, 2019}}</ref> Critic Jim Allen, who cites the Beach Boys as the "godfathers" of the style, says that the song's unprecedented "cinematic dream sequence" production style marks the point "where the dream pop family tree starts to come into focus."<ref name="Allen21">{{cite web |last1=Allen |first1=Jim |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/beach-boys-godfathers-of-dream-pop/ |title=How The Beach Boys Became The Godfathers Of Dream Pop |website=UDiscover Music |access-date=July 30, 2022 |date=December 13, 2021}}</ref> However, the Beach Boys' impact on the genre was not widely acknowledged until after the 2000s.<ref name="Allen21"/> The 1960s work of [[the Byrds]] would influence the "swoony harmonies" of later British dream pop groups.<ref name="ReynoldsNYT" /> The music of [[the Velvet Underground]] in the 1960s and 1970s, which experimented with repetition, tone and texture over conventional song structure, was also an important touchstone in the genre's development.<ref name="class">{{cite book|last1=Wiseman-Trowse|first1=Nathan|title=Performing Class in British Popular Music|date=30 September 2008|publisher=Springer|pages=148–154|isbn=9780230594975|url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=egeMDAAAQBAJ&rdid=book-egeMDAAAQBAJ&rdot=1&source=gbs_vpt_read}}</ref> Their 1967 debut ''[[The Velvet Underground & Nico]]'' incorporated what music critic Marc Beamount terms "[[psychedelic music|psychedelic]] dream pop" in addition to a variety of other styles.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Beaumont |first1=Marc |title=The Velvet Underground's Loaded at 50 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-velvet-underground-s-loaded-at-50-how-being-ignored-birthed-a-classic-album-b1720985.html |website=The Independent |date=13 November 2020 |access-date=27 June 2021}}</ref> Elements of dream pop could also be found in Velvet Underground songs such as "[[Candy Says]]" (1969).<ref name=keymag>{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Nathan |title=Gateway to Dream Pop |url=https://www.keymag.co.uk/features/gateway-to-dream-pop |website=Keymag |access-date=3 August 2024}}</ref> Music journalist John Bergstrom recognises [[George Harrison]]'s 1970 track "[[Let It Down]]" as a progenitor of the genre, while stating that its Spector-produced parent album ''[[All Things Must Pass]]'' influenced "many guitar-driven, echo-drenched bands have come around since, mixing powerful rave-ups with moody, reflective down-tempo numbers and a spiritual bent.<ref>{{cite web|first=John|last=Bergstrom|url=https://www.popmatters.com/135411-george-harrison-all-things-must-pass-2496093467.html |title=George Harrison: All Things Must Pass|work=[[PopMatters]]|date=14 January 2011|access-date=1 April 2012}}</ref> === Early–mid 1980s: Development === [[File:Cocteau Twins - Los Angeles Times (1985).jpg|thumb|upright|Newspaper clipping of Cocteau Twins, 1985]] A.J. Ramirez of ''[[PopMatters]]'' recognises an evolutionary line from [[gothic rock]] to dream pop.<ref name="goth">{{cite web|last=Ramirez|first=A.J. |url=http://www.popmatters.com/post/115525-bela-lugosis-dead-thirty-years-of-goth-gloom-and-post-post-punk/|date=31 October 2009|title='Bela Lugosi's Dead': 30 Years of Goth, Gloom, and Post-Post-Punk |website=PopMatters |access-date=2017-01-11}}</ref> The early 1980s gothic-derived "[[ethereal wave]]" subgenre, with its [[effects unit|effects]]-laden guitar sounds and female vocals, led to the dream pop and shoegaze scenes; it was represented by [[Cocteau Twins]] and labels such as [[4AD Records|4AD]] and [[Projekt Records]].<ref name="Bernard2013-99" >''"L'ethereal wave s'est développée à partir du gothic rock ... Cela est rendu par des effets d'écho, de reverb et de delay très imposants sur les guitares ... On relève une prédominance d'un chant féminin haut perché ou très ample et de voix masculines soufflées, douces at contemplatives. Les paroles sont parfois difficilement compréhensibles ... L'ethereal wave (et notamment les Cocteau Twins) a grandement influencé le shoegaze et la dream pop. Les labels principaux promouvant le genre sont 4AD et Projekt Records."''</ref> ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' describes "modern dream pop" as originating with the early 1980s work of Cocteau Twins and their contemporaries.<ref name="rs"/> [[AllMusic]]'s Jason Ankeny credits the Cocteau Twins' "distinctly ethereal" sound and singer [[Elizabeth Fraser]]'s operatic, indecipherable vocals with defining their label, the UK-based 4AD.<ref name="all 2">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/cocteau-twins-p3932/biography|title=Cocteau Twins' Biography|last=Ankeny|first=Jason|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=8 March 2012}}</ref> According to ''[[Paste Magazine|Paste]]'', the band crystallized their "swelling, euphoric" dream pop sound on the 1984 album ''[[Treasure (Cocteau Twins album)|Treasure]]'', with guitarist [[Robin Guthrie]] conjuring an array of "woozy textures from his arsenal of effects pedals."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schoenfield |first1=Zach |title=The 25 Best Dream Pop Albums of All Time |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/best-albums/dream-pop-albums-of-all-time-cocteau-twins |website=Paste}}</ref> The 1984 album ''[[It'll End in Tears]]'' by 4AD's "dream-pop supergroup" [[This Mortal Coil]]<ref name="rs"/> was conceived by label head [[Ivo Watts-Russell]] and featured members of Cocteau Twins and [[Dead Can Dance]]. The album helped "set the template for dream pop" and associated the formerly gothic-affiliated UK label with the style.<ref name="Best">{{cite web |last1=Berman |first1=Judy |title=The 30 Best Dream Pop Albums |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-30-best-dream-pop-albums/?page=3 |website=Pitchfork |date=16 April 2018 |access-date=27 May 2021}}</ref> The album's 1983 single, the [[Tim Buckley]] cover "[[Song to the Siren#This Mortal Coil version|Song to the Siren]]", became an influential work in the genre, and saw success in the [[UK Indie Chart]], remaining there consistently for two years.<ref name="Best"/> Other early acts to touch on the style included [[Lori and the Chameleons]], [[Dif Juz]], and [[the Durutti Column]].<ref name=keymag/> According to ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'', [[Vini Reilly]] of the Durutti Column "embodied the cliché of the suicidal dream-pop guitarist in the mid-1980s" with his "narcotic performances" presaging later acts such as [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]] and [[Galaxie 500]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Unknown |title=The Durutti Column: Keep Breathing Album Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/2490-keep-breathing/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=26 March 2022}}</ref> The Dif Juz album ''[[Extractions (album)|Extractions]]'' (1985) would expand the dream pop sound, incorporating saxophone, shifting tonalities, and off-kilter rhythms.<ref name="vinyl">{{cite web |title=The Top 40 Essential Dreampop Vinyl |url=https://longlivevinyl.net/2019/10/30/the-essential-dreampop/ |website=Long Live Vinyl |date=30 October 2019 |access-date=4 August 2024}}</ref> Film director [[David Lynch]], unable to obtain the rights to This Mortal Coil's version of "Song to the Siren" for his 1986 film ''[[Blue Velvet (film)|Blue Velvet]]'', enlisted composer [[Angelo Badalamenti]] and singer [[Julee Cruise]] to record a replacement track. The result was "Mysteries of Love", described by ''Rolling Stone'' as a significant development of the dream pop sound which "gave the genre its [[Synthesizer|synth]]y sheen".<ref name="rs">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/dream-team-the-semi-mysterious-story-behind-the-music-of-twin-peaks-20140725|title=Dream Team: The Semi-Mysterious Story Behind the Music of 'Twin Peaks'|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|publisher=Wenner Media|last1=Grow|first1=Kory|date=25 July 2014|access-date=6 August 2016}}</ref> The trio of Cruise, Lynch and Badalamenti later recorded the 1989 album ''[[Floating into the Night]]'', which further elaborated on the style and featured the ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' theme and UK top 10 single "[[Falling (Julee Cruise song)|Falling]]".<ref name="rs"/> ===Late 1980s–1990s: Shoegaze scene=== {{main|Shoegaze}} The term "dreampop" was coined in the late 1980s by Alex Ayuli of [[A.R. Kane]] to describe his band's eclectic sound, which blended effects-laden guitar with [[dub music|dub]] production and [[drum machine]] backing, among other elements.<ref name="King2012">{{cite book|last=King|first=Richard|title=How Soon is Now?: The Madmen and Mavericks who made Independent Music 1975-2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iCPH4iyQf3MC&pg=PT206|year=2012|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-571-27832-9|page=206}}</ref> The group released their 1987 EP ''Lollita'' on 4AD, with production by Cocteau Twins guitarist Robin Guthrie.<ref name="biography">{{cite web|title=A.R. Kane Biography |first=Jason |last=Ankeny|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ar-kane-mn0000921542/biography|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=10 February 2017}}</ref> ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' describes their debut album ''[[69 (album)|Sixty Nine]]'' (1988) as a "crucial document" of the dream pop movement, commenting that the group "aimed to emulate an ethereality that could just as easily become nightmarish", resulting in music that feels "just out of reach."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/ar-kane-69/|title=A.R. Kane: 69 Album Review |website=Pitchfork |first=Quinn |last=Moreland |date=February 14, 2021 |language=en|access-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref> Their "dreampop" label was subsequently adopted by music critic [[Simon Reynolds]] to describe that group<ref name="reynoldsretro.blogspot.com">{{cite web|url=http://reynoldsretro.blogspot.com/2008/06/ar-kane-interview-melody-maker-july-25.html|title=A.R. Kane features 1987-2012|first=Simon|last=Reynolds|website=ReynoldsRetro |access-date=31 July 2017}}</ref> and later extended to the nascent [[shoegazing]] scene in the UK.<ref name=ReynoldsNYT/> Reynolds describes the movement as "a wave of hazy [[neo-psychedelic]] groups" characterised by a "blurry, blissful sound", and credits the influence of the "ethereal soundscapes" of Cocteau Twins as well as more distorted styles of American [[alternative rock]].<ref name="ReynoldsNYT" /> In the 1990s, "dream pop" and "shoegazing" were interchangeable and regionally dependent terms, with "dream pop" being the name by which "shoegazing" was typically known in America.<ref name="Kieron">{{cite web|last1=Tyler|first1=Kieron|title=Reissue CDs Weekly: Still in a Dream - A Story of Shoegaze|url=http://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/reissue-cds-weekly-still-dream-story-shoegaze|website=The Arts Desk|date=17 January 2016}}</ref> AllMusic describes the dream pop label as covering both the "loud, shimmering feedback" of [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]] and the "post-Velvet Underground guitar rock" of [[Galaxie 500]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Dream Pop Genre Overview |url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/dream-pop-ma0000012303 |website=AllMusic |access-date=30 May 2021}}</ref> My Bloody Valentine showcased a unique dream pop sound on their 1988 debut album ''[[Isn't Anything]]'', with guitarist [[Kevin Shields]] employing a [[glide guitar|tremolo-arm technique]] in order to produce "an amorphous drone, at once visceral and disembodied".<ref name="ReynoldsNYT" /> Galaxie 500 provided a "cornerstone" of the genre in their 1989 album ''[[On Fire (Galaxie 500 album)|On Fire]]'', with their downtempo, [[reverb]]-laden sound becoming influential.<ref name="paste1"/> UK bands acts as A.R. Kane, My Bloody Valentine and [[Ride (band)|Ride]] played an influential role in the development of the movement.<ref name="LA">{{cite web |last1=OUMANO |first1=ELENA |title=Dream Pop Landscape Is Very Lush |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-05-01-ca-1463-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |date=May 1992 |access-date=29 May 2021}}</ref> Other prominent acts to emerge from the movement include [[Slowdive]] and [[Chapterhouse (band)|Chapterhouse]].<ref name="ReynoldsNYT" /> The 1990 Cocteau Twins album ''[[Heaven or Las Vegas]]'' proved an iconic release in the genre.<ref name="Best"/> ''[[Spin Magazine|Spin]]'' credited My Bloody Valentine's "landmark" 1991 album ''[[Loveless (album)|Loveless]]'' with "crystalizing (and obliterating) the genres of dream pop and shoegaze guitar rock."<ref>*{{cite magazine |title=100 Greatest Albums 1985-2005: No.22 'Loveless' |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p6-UYTO7l1MC&q=loveless+dream+pop&pg=PA78 |date=July 2005 |magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |page=78 |issn=0886-3032 |access-date=15 November 2020 |archive-date=20 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720122400/https://books.google.com/books?id=p6-UYTO7l1MC&q=loveless+dream+pop&pg=PA78 |url-status=live}}</ref> The UK band [[Lush (band)|Lush]] became an influential act in the genre during the 1990s, with Robin Guthrie producing their 1992 debut album ''[[Spooky (album)|Spooky]]''.<ref name="LA"/> The 1993 album ''[[So Tonight That I Might See]]'' by American band [[Mazzy Star]] reflected a dream pop sound specific to "the glitzy decay that is L.A.", according to ''Pitchfork''; that publication called the album a "dream pop classic".<ref name="pitchfork">{{cite web |url= https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/mazzy-star-so-tonight-that-i-might-see/ |title=Mazzy Star: So Tonight That I Might See |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=June 14, 2020 |last=Moreland |first=Quinn}}</ref> The late 1980s dream pop of A.R. Kane and My Bloody Valentine influenced 1990s acts such as [[Seefeel]] and [[Insides (band)|Insides]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reynolds |first1=Simon |title=Bring the Noise: 20 Years Writing About Hip Rock and Hip Hop |date=2011 |publisher=Soft Skull |page=190}}</ref> who began incorporating elements such as [[music sample|samples]] and [[Music sequencer|sequenced]] rhythms.<ref>{{citation|last1=Reynolds|first1=Simon|title=Quique – Seefeel review|work=[[Spin Magazine|Spin]]|date=1994}}</ref> [[Ambient pop]] music is described by AllMusic as "essentially an extension of the dream pop that emerged in the wake of the shoegazer movement", distinct for its incorporation of electronic textures and techniques such as [[sample (music)|sampling]].<ref name="Ambient pop">{{cite web|title=Ambient Pop|url=http://www.allmusic.com/style/ambient-pop-ma0000012263|website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> [[Bowery Electric]]'s 1996 album ''[[Beat (Bowery Electric album)|Beat]]'' was described by ''Long Live Vinyl'' as an important touchstone of both dream pop and [[trip hop]].<ref name="vinyl">{{cite web |title=The Top 40 Essential Dreampop Vinyl |url=https://longlivevinyl.net/2019/10/30/the-essential-dreampop/ |website=Long Live Vinyl |date=30 October 2019 |access-date=4 August 2024}}</ref> ===2000s: Contemporary developments=== The 2007 album ''[[Person Pitch]]'' by [[Panda Bear (musician)|Panda Bear]] combined Beach Boys-influenced dream pop with modern [[sampledelic]] techniques, winning acclaim and exerting a wide influence.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Oinonen |first1=Janne |title=Tomboy - Panda Bear |url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/panda-bear-tomboy-52835 |website=The Line of Best Fit |access-date=19 January 2022}}</ref> Much of the music associated with the 2009-coined term "[[chillwave]]" could be considered dream pop.<ref name="chillinp4k"/>{{refn|group=nb|In the opinion of ''Grantland''{{'}}s David Schilling, the critical discussion surrounding "chillwave" revealed that labels such as "shoegaze" and "dream pop" were ultimately "arbitrary and meaningless".<ref name="Schilling2015">{{cite web|last1=Schilling|first1=Dave|title=That Was a Thing: The Brief History of the Totally Made-Up Chillwave Music Genre|url=http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/that-was-a-thing-the-brief-history-of-the-totally-made-up-chillwave-music-genre/|website=Grantland.com|date=8 April 2015}}</ref>}} The 2010 album ''[[Teen Dream]]'' by Baltimore duo [[Beach House (band)|Beach House]] established the group as purveyors of modern dream pop that drew on the "languid reveries" of Cocteau Twins, Mazzy Star and Galaxie 500.<ref name="Best"/> The group's success in the late 2000s solidified the popularity of dream pop with [[millennial]] listeners.<ref name="reverb.com">{{cite web |last1=Fumo |first1=Dante |title=How to Record Dream Pop in Your Home Studio |url=https://reverb.com/news/how-to-record-dream-pop-in-your-home-studio |website=Reverb |date=16 October 2018 |access-date=17 July 2021}}</ref>
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