to listen to

Flotation Toy Warning is a band from London, UK formed in 2001. Their sound has been described as a cross between space rock and chamber pop, with musical similarities to bands such as Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lips, Grandaddy, Sparklehorse, The Unicorns, and Air. The band is made up of frontman and lead vocalist Paul Carter, guitar and bass guitar players Ben Clay and Nainesh Shah, drummer Steve Swindon, and keyboardist Vicky West.

Pavement is an American indie rock band that formed in Stockton, California, in 1989. For most of their career, the group consisted of Stephen Malkmus, Scott Kannberg, Mark Ibold (bass), Steve West (drums) and Bob Nastanovich. Initially conceived as a recording project, the band at first avoided press or live performances, while attracting considerable underground attention with their early releases. Gradually evolving into a more polished band, Pavement recorded five full-length albums and ten EPs over the course of their decade-long career, though they disbanded with some acrimony in 1999 as the members moved on to other projects. In 2010, they undertook a well-received reunion tour, with another international tour currently ongoing in 2022 and 2023.

The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid. After signing to independent label Creation Records, they released their first single "Upside Down" in 1984. Their debut album Psychocandy was released to critical acclaim in 1985 on major label WEA. The band went on to release five more studio albums before disbanding in 1999. They reunited in 2007 and have subsequently released the album Damage and Joy in 2017.

Brothers Jim and William Reid had been inspired to form a band as far back as 1977, having heard groups of the British punk scene; in the early 1980s they formed their own. William stated, "It was perfect timing because there weren't any guitar bands. Everybody was making this electronic pop music." Before forming the band, the brothers had spent five years on the dole, during which they wrote and recorded songs at home and worked out the sound and image of the band. Originally called The Poppy Seeds, and then Death of Joey, they initially told journalists that they had taken their eventual name from a line in a Bing Crosby film, although six months later they admitted that this was not true. Other accounts suggest that the name derived from an offer on a breakfast cereal packet, where customers could send off for a gold Jesus & Mary chain. As neither brother wanted to be the singer, they decided Jim would be via him losing a coin toss.

Spacemen 3 were an English rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "trance-like neo-psychedelia" consisting of heavily distorted guitar, synthesizers, and minimal chord or tempo changes.

Ride is an English rock band formed in Oxford in 1988. The band consists of vocalists and guitarists Andy Bell and Mark Gardener, drummer Laurence "Loz" Colbert and bassist Steve Queralt. They are recognised as one of the key pioneers of shoegaze, an alternative rock subgenre that emerged to prominence in the United Kingdom during the early 1990s.

The band's first two albums, Nowhere (1990) and Going Blank Again (1992), are critically acclaimed as two of the greatest shoegaze albums of all time. The latter's lead single, "Leave Them All Behind", was the band's most commercially successful song, reaching No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart. Both Going Blank Again and its 1994 follow-up, Carnival of Light, peaked at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart.

Th' Faith Healers were an English indie rock band who were originally active between 1990 and 1994. The members of the group were Roxanne Stephen (vocals), Tom Cullinan (guitar and vocals), Ben Hopkin (bass), and Joe Dilworth (drums). They recorded multiple EPs and singles along with two full LPs.

Tom Cullinan, who handled the bulk of the songwriting, went on to help form the band Quickspace. Signed to Too Pure in the United Kingdom, their albums were released by Elektra in the United States. Both albums feature clear krautrock influences, most evident in their cover of Can's "Mother Sky", from Lido.

Since their initial break-up in 1994, the band have reformed intermittently. They embarked on a short reunion tour in 2006 in conjunction with the release of their compilation Peel Sessions the previous year. The band reformed in 2009, playing at the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival twice, first in May (curated by The Breeders) and then again in December (curated by My Bloody Valentine).

Deerhunter is an American indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2001. The band currently consists of Bradford Cox, Moses Archuleta, Lockett Pundt, Josh McKay (bass) and Javier Morales.

My Bloody Valentine are an Irish-English rock band formed in Dublin in 1983 and consisting since 1987 of founding members Kevin Shields, Colm Ó Cíosóig with Bilinda Butcher and Debbie Googe (bass). Their music is characterized by dissonant guitar textures, androgynous vocals, and unorthodox production techniques. They are credited with pioneering the 1990s genre shoegaze.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American musical project and band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990.

Mercury Rev is an American indie rock band formed in 1989 in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker (vocals), Jonathan Donahue (vocals, guitars), Sean Mackowiak, known as "Grasshopper" (guitars, clarinet), Dave Fridmann (bass guitar), Suzanne Thorpe (flute) and Jimy Chambers (drums).

The band's members met while students at the University at Buffalo. Buffalo media studies professor Tony Conrad was a strong artistic influence on co-founder Grasshopper. The band was initially formed to score its members' student films.

With their early records, Mercury Rev offered experimental, psychedelic rock, which gradually shifted to a melodic, ornate sound. Mercury Rev is often compared to The Flaming Lips, and share close ties: soon after the band's formation, Donahue also joined the Flaming Lips as second guitarist and appeared on two of their albums; and since the 1990 album In a Priest Driven Ambulance, Dave Fridmann has co-produced every Flaming Lips studio album to date except 1993's Transmissions from the Satellite Heart.

Clinic are an English rock band, formed in 1993 in Crosby, Liverpool by frontman Ade Blackburn, guitarist Jonathan Hartley, bassist Brian Campbell and drummer Carl Turney. The band were originally named Pure Morning.

Lilys are an American indie rock band formed in Washington, D.C in 1988. The only constant member is Kurt Heasley, with the line-up changing regularly. Several of the band's tracks have been used in television advertisements, including the band's biggest hit, "A Nanny In Manhattan", which reached No. 16 in the UK after being used in a Levi's advertisement directed by Roman Coppola.

Galaxie 500 was an American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums: Today, On Fire and This Is Our Music. The band was made up of guitarist/vocalist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist and vocalist Naomi Yang.

Low is an American indie rock band from Duluth, Minnesota, formed in 1993 by Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker. The band was a trio from 1993 to 2020, having featured four different bassists. Parker was a member from its formation until her death in 2022.

Yo La Tengo is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley, and James McNew. In 2015, original guitarist Dave Schramm rejoined the band and appeared on their fourteenth album, Stuff Like That There.

Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo remained together for the entire history of the band, while Steve Shelley (drums) followed a series of short-term drummers in 1985, rounding out the core line-up. Jim O'Rourke was also a member of the band from 1999 to 2005, and Mark Ibold was a member from 2006 to 2011.

Lush were an English rock band formed in London in 1987. The original line-up consisted of Miki Berenyi (vocals, guitar), Emma Anderson (vocals, guitar), Steve Rippon (bass guitar) and Chris Acland (drums). Phil King replaced Rippon in 1991. They were one of the first bands to have been described with the "shoegazing" label. Following the death of Acland, the group disbanded in 1996.

The group reunited for a short time between 2015 and 2016 with Berenyi, Anderson, King and Justin Welch. They toured and recorded an EP of new material.

The band was formed in 1987 in London, initially named the Baby Machines (after a line in the Siouxsie and the Banshees song "Arabian Knights"), with a line-up of Meriel Barham (vocals), Anderson (guitar, vocals), Berenyi (guitar, vocals), Steve Rippon (bass guitar) and Chris Acland (drums). Their influences were diverse; they were inspired by the garage rock scene of the Nuggets series, Cocteau Twins, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Beach Boys and the Byrds.

Lift to Experience is an American indie rock band from Denton, Texas, that formed in 1996 with vocalist and guitarist Josh T. Pearson, drummer Andy "The Boy" Young and bassist Josh "The Bear" Browning.

When the band performed at the South by Southwest festival in 2000, they impressed Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie so much that the duo decided to sign the band to their record label, Bella Union, that same day.

The band's characteristic sound comes from a solo guitar with heavy use of effects pedals and a modified Leslie speaker. The band's major work, the double-disc concept album The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads, was released in 2001. The album's lyrics are replete with Biblical Christian imagery relating to the Second Coming of Christ and a professed love of Texas and the United States. The music features a multilayered Wall of Sound and feedback-driven aesthetic. The band performed three times on the John Peel BBC Radio 1 show.