MAZZY STAR (ABO #174)

MAZZY STAR
NIGHT VISION

A descrition of Mazzy Star's music? Allmusic has it:
"If psychedelic music had a voice in '90s post-punk, Mazzy Star may have been its strongest reincarnation. That doesn't necessarily mean that fans of the Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead will find the band to their liking, however. Mazzy Star much prefered the dark side of psychedelia, as exemplified by the most distended tracks of the Doors and the Velvet Underground. Their fuzzy guitar workouts and plaintive folky compositions are often suffused in a dissociative ennui that is very much of the 1990s, however much their textures may recall the drug-induced states of vintage psychedelia."
As for biographical details, wikipedia says:
"Mazzy Star was an American alternative rock band formed in 1989 from the group Opal, a collaboration of guitarist David Roback and bassist Kendra Smith. Smith's friend Hope Sandoval became the group's vocalist when Smith left the band.
Mazzy Star is probably best known for the song "Fade into You" which brought the band some success in the early to mid 1990s and was the group's biggest mainstream hit, earning radio and MTV airplay. Roback and Sandoval were the creative center of the band, with Sandoval writing most of the lyrics and Roback composing most of the music.
After the release of Among My Swan, the band toured until early 1997, after which they would not be heard from for three years. During this time, Sandoval, who had appeared on The Jesus and Mary Chain's 1994 release Stoned & Dethroned, made another guest appearance on their final record Munki, and also collaborated with The Chemical Brothers.
In 2000, the band reunited for a mini-tour in Europe, which featured new songs that Sandoval later revealed in interviews would be on the new Mazzy Star record, which was also recorded during this time. However, these sessions were not released.
Although the band never officially broke up, Sandoval would go on to found the band Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions, and appear on recordings by Bert Jansch, Air and Death in Vegas.
Sandoval made her solo debut in 2001 with Bavarian Fruit Bread ostensibly backed by the Warm Inventions, though really this is a pairing with Colm Ó Cíosóig (once of My Bloody Valentine), and with folk legend Bert Jansch on "Butterfly Mornings" and "Charlotte". Largely written by Sandoval, the album is more free-flowing and abstract than what was attempted with Mazzy Star.
In November 2003, Mazzy Star made their last appearance (to date) at Jansch's 60th Birthday party, when Sandoval and Roback joined Jansch, his son Adam, and O'Ciosoig to play three songs featuring Sandoval on vocals including her solo track "Suzanne".
Roback wrote songs that were later performed by actress Maggie Cheung in the 2004 film Clean, about a former drug addict who wants to become a singer."
This selection has been cooked by Pierre (who did a terrific job!) with an artwork by SFP... ENJOY THIS UNIQUE-SOUNDING AND MUCH UNDERAPPRECIATED BAND!

Fade Into You (1993)

Pierre's MAZZY STAR list:
1 - So tonight That I might see (1993)
2 - Among My Swan (1996)
3 - She hangs Brightly (1990)