softlightsymphony
The Veldt’s seemingly effortless ability to bring something fresh and genuine to the genres of dreampop and shoegaze should not be overlooked. They can make that “beautiful noise” with the best of them while never sounding like they are trapped in a cliche nor painting by numbers.
Favorite track: Sanctified.
rikm
The Veldt embody the Shoegaze ideal, a swirling chorused kaleidoscope of sound and beauty that speaks to bright summer days and nineties bliss. Perfect...
Sebastian Galasso
A glimpse toward a psychedelic cyberpunk future. Twin brothers Daniel and Danny Chavis craft lush, dreamy guitars with the hypnotic, moody atmospherics with the brilliant Hayato (programming, and playing bass). There is a spirit of Love (Arthur Lee), with the haunted traces of Da Capo, and Forever Changes. One could wander through places like New York, Paris, and Berlin and feel the next step in the evolution of what has become known as shoegaze..
Favorite track: Sanctified.
Charlie Mayer
How had I not heard this band's music before? It is excellent, every track could be a single! The world needs more music like this, not more Miley Cyrus. Thank you The Veldt!
Favorite track: Sanctified.
FOR FANS OF: A.R. Kane, Massive Attack, Cocteau Twins, Jesus & Mary Chain, Dif Juz
The Veldt could never be pigeonholed, no matter how hard the world tried to put the African-American brothers and their bandmates into a box… with songs that should have been massive hits… anthems that demand to be heard – Pitchfork
With Danny’s enveloping hooks, Daniel’s swooning falsetto... the new songs invite paradoxical praise: serenely assaultive, vertiginously soothing – The Guardian
Atmospheric sounds... their presence in and of itself is historic – Noisey / VICE
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On the trail of their successful Record Store Day 7” single ‘Symmetry / Slow Grind’, Raleigh-based Schoolkids Records have announced the coming release of The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur: The Drake Equation Mixtape EP by alternative soul and shoegaze pioneers The Veldt. The four-piece will also be heading out on tour in the USA in support of this release.
Identical twins Daniel and Danny Chavis and drummer Marvin Levi originally hail from Raleigh/ Chapel Hill, North Carolina, but the brothers have been East Village residents for the past 29 years. Bassist/ programmer Hayato Nakao, originally from Japan, hooked up with the Chavis brothers while living in New York.
Lifting their band’s name from a Ray Bradbury science fiction story, their own life stories have also been quite fantastic. After signing to Capitol Records in 1989, The Veldt were soon in the studio with dream-gaze guru Robin Guthrie working on their initial recordings, playing American concert halls with Cocteau Twins and The Jesus and Mary Chain, and recording 'Marigolds' with Lincoln Fong (Moose). Not long after, they would record their classic ‘Afrodisiac’ (1994), produced by Ray Shulman (The Sundays, Bjork, Sugarcubes) and released via Mercury Records.
They have also collaborated with TV On The Radio, Mos Def and Lady Miss Kier (Deee-Lite), and shared the stage with The Pixies, Throwing Muses, Echo & The Bunnymen, Cocteau Twins, Manic Street Preachers, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Oasis, Chuck D, Living Colour, and Schooly D.
This past year has also been pretty monumental, with highlights including sold-out tours with Phantogram and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, a European tour, two separate Canadian tours, appearance at some of North America’s and Europe’s hottest psych fests, a spotlight feature on Time Warner Cable TV and being named as east coast support for Modern English.
Performing since they were children, the Chavis brothers’ musical roots lead back to the church and southern juke-joints, and listening to music that included gospel, Motown and Pink Floyd. The Veldt formed in the late 80’s in Raleigh amongst the royalty of the legendary North Carolina music scene, including bands such as Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, The Connells, Dillon Fence, The dBs, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and Ryan Adams. Pitchfork recently included their album 'Afrodisiac' in the top 50 shoegaze albums ever released. Their sound also inspired future generations of alternative artists, including TV On the Radio.
This latest EP sees the band returning to their roots, albeit with plenty of distortion, programmed beats and pedal effects. They’ve also involved A.R.Kane, who produced 'And It's You'. Borrowing the title ‘The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur’ from an E.E. Cummings poem, this EP includes five tracks with a raging sound influenced equally by the emotional soul of Marvin Gaye, free jazz warriors Sun Ra and Pharaoh Sanders, various Drake hip-hop tracks, long-term musical kin Cocteau Twins, and their own fertile electric imagination.
**LIVE DATES**
MAY 20 Raleigh (Carrboro), NC - Cat's Cradle (Schoolkids Records label Launch Party) with Happy Abandon, Those Manic Seas
MAY 31 Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle with Mahogany
JUNE 2 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge ("The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur" EP Release Show)
JUNE 24 Raleigh, NC - Dorthea Park Festival
AUG 4 Birmingham, AL - Secret Stages Festival
AUG 7 Atlanta, GA - 529 with Shepherds, Twin Studies
AUG 9 Athens, GZ - Athens PopFest at 40 Watt
AUG 25 Charlotte, NC - Snug Harbor
credits
released June 2, 2017
All tracks performed, recorded, and mixed by The Veldt - Danny C. Chavis, Daniel Chavis, Hayato Nakao
Tracks 1,2,4,5 written by The Veldt - Danny C. Chavis, Daniel Chavis, Hayato Nakao
Track 3 written by Daniel Chavis, Calvin Nivens
Tracks 1,2,3,4,5 - Vocals and lyrics by Daniel Chavis
Tracks 1,4 Additional vocals by Marie Cochrane
Tracks 2, 4 Additional guitar by Andrew Prinz
Tracks 1-4 Produced by The Veldt - Danny C. Chavis, Daniel Chavis, Hayato Nakao
Track 5 Produced by Rudy Tambala / A.R. Kane
Tracks 2, 3, 4 Mastered at Engine Room Audio NYC by Mark Christiansen and Jeet Suresh Paul
Tracks 1, 5 mastered by Alexander Kretov at Ummagma Studio
Cover artwork by Andrew Prinz and Danny Chavis
Soul-shoegaze-alternative rock band from Raleigh & NYC (Danny Chavis, Daniel Chavis, Hayato Nakao, Marvin Levi, Alex Cox, Martin Newman, Micah Gaugh). Previously known as Apollo Heights.
Really rad fusion of shoegaze, postrock, dream pop and indie noise from Russia... with our friend Shauna from Ummagma on vocals. also features BJM / Swervedriver drummer Graham Bonnar The Veldt
supported by 44 fans who also own “The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur: The Drake Equation”
Shoegaze ist die Kunst des Dröhnens, doch „Everything Is Alive“ setzt diese Elemente nur sparsam ein. Statt Hall- und Zerr-Sounds aufzutürmen, schäumt die Musik in feinen Bläschen über.
https://tortue.substack.com/i/140348114/slowdive-everything-is-alive-dead-oceans Daniel Welsch
A pandemic project from members of Spirit of the Beehive, draag me make a woozy tangle of pop, industrial, r&b, and electronic music. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 6, 2023