This month on The Allender Calendar I'm delighted to be joined by the music journalist Simon Reynolds to discuss his new book Still in a Dream: Shoegaze, Slackers and the Reinvention of Rock, 1984–1994. Simon has previously written about music's obsession with the past (Retromania) and the future (Futuromania), as well as publishing acclaimed volumes on post-punk (the essential Rip it Up), glam rock and rave. Still in a Dream is different from Simon's other books in some ways because it's less about a specific genre or musical impulse, and more about a particular moment in musical history, when bands sought to reimagine guitar music and challenge and intoxicate listeners with ravishing sounds and pure noise, offering an escape from grim reality into a narcotic dream. And Simon, as a writer for Melody Maker, was there on the frontline, in a team of young journalists working symbiotically with the artists they put on the cover.
You can get hold of Still in a Dream here:
https://store.whiterabbitbooks.co.uk/products/still-in-a-dream
Simon's blog:
https://blissout.blogspot.com/
If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:
https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender
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