Hope Sandoval & Mazzy Star

[dragster]

Mazzy Star was an American dream pop/alternative band. They formed in 1989, from the band Opal, a collaboration of guitarist David Roback and bassist Kendra Smith. Smith's friend Hope Sandoval became 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 mid-1990s and was dream pop's biggest mainstream hit. Roback and Sandoval were the creative center of the band, with Sandoval writing most of the lyrics and Roback composing most of the music.

I LOVE HOPE SANDOVAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hot dog]

The only work of hers I am familar with is the single she did with 'The Jesus & Mary Chain' - Sometime Always, from 1994. Great song and I like her voice.

[Strider]

The Long-Awaited (by me, at least) Return of Mazzy Star

Last night I saw the exquisite Mazzy Star. There is a long and winding history to this band, which has roots in the Los Angeles Paisley Underground scene of the 80s (Rain Parade, Dream Syndicate, etc.), but I won't bore you with that unless you ask me specifically for the background.

Suffice to say: I loved them back when they first arrived out of the ashes of the equally haunting Opal in the late-80s, I kept loving Hope Sandoval through her subsequent solo albums, and I am ecstatic to have Mazzy Star back, after a 17-year hiatus, with a new album, "Seasons of Your Day". Their music is like a slow burn...moody and bluesy-psychedelic and very still in spots, almost glacial. Like the Rolling Stones' "Sister Morphine" and "Wild Horses". As I have joked before, it's the auditory equivalent to the smacked-out bliss of heroin...without the dangerous side-effects.

There are very few bands out there currently that can do this type of music well. For one thing, you need a vocalist with hypnotic pipes and presence...as Hope Sandoval does. Her way with a tambourine is the stuff of opium dreams...and she will hypnotize you on the xylophone and glockenspiel, too.

My favourite song on the new album is probably "Does Someone Have Your Baby Now?" and it was a mesmerizing part of the concert last night:

Followed shortly after by "Into Dust", which is from their earlier album "So Tonight I Might See":

Which is also the album that features the song most people know Mazzy Star from, "Fade Into You"...this is a fantastic song to slow-dance to!:

The entire new album picks up right where Mazzy Star left off in 1996...they have a 'sound' that works and they know not to mess with it or update it like so many other bands that get back together try to attempt. The great Bert Jansch (influence on many guitarists, including Jimmy Page) plays on the song "Spoon", and My Bloody Valentine's drummer Colm also appears on some tracks (having been the drummer for Hope's solo band 'The Warm Inventions').

http://youtu.be/MF1E2EAbvcs

Mazzy Star just began a North American tour and hopefully, they are headed to a town near you. If you like what you hear, I cannot urge you strongly enough to make any attempt you can to see them live in concert. It will be one of the most serenely transplendent concerts you will experience.

MAZZY STAR 2013 TOUR

11-03 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
11-04 Seattle, WA - Neptune
11-06 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre
11-07 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
11-10 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
11-12 Minneapolis, MN - Mill City Nights
11-13 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
11-15 Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre
11-16 Toronto, Ontario - Danforth Music Hall
11-17 Montreal, Quebec - Club Soda
11-19 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
11-20 New York, NY - Terminal 5
11-22 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
11-23 Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore

[zepscoda]

I LOVE Fade into You, I can listen to that tune over and over and just drift away.

[Sagittarius Rising]

Thanks Strider, this is great news indeed as I have been a huge Mazzy Star fan since the 90's. I always like the tune Blue Light as well but they never put out a stinker. Too bad I live in Phoenix, I guess the group has too much class and intelligence to play this shithole (Phoenix). Oh well, maybe next time.

[Strider]

I LOVE Fade into You, I can listen to that tune over and over and just drift away.

"Fade Into You" was part of the setlist on this tour. Don't know why they bypassed Texas. Not even Austin got a date, but maybe next time they will swing through Texas and the South.

The set list from the Wiltern show Nov. 7:

1. Look on Down From the Bridge

2. Cry, Cry

3. In the Kingdom

4. Lay Myself Down

5. Ride It On

6. Does Someone Have Your Baby Now?

7. Into Dust (this was a religious/mystical experience)

8. She Hangs Brightly

9. Halah

10. Fade Into You

11. Blue Flower

12. Disappear

13. Flying Low

First Encore:

14. California

15. So Tonight That I Might See

Second Encore:

16. I've Been Let Down

[kirchzep27]

I remember hearing one of their songs on college radio at some point, but never searched out any of their material online. Very good stuff, i like the mood and the way they don't vary too much from the formula they have going.