At long last, groundbreaking shoegazers The Veldt have released their ‘Illuminated 1989’ album on vinyl via Portland-based Little Cloud Records and North Carolina’s 5BC Records. This is the original 1989 full-length record produced by Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie, who also remastered this album especially for vinyl. While originally intended to be the band’s first album, their label Capitol Records shelved the recording and sent them back into the studio with producer Lincoln Fong (Moose, Piroshka), resulting in their first album released with the title ‘Marigolds’.
They earlier previewed the singles ‘Angel Heart’, ‘The Everlasting Gobstopper’, and ‘Aurora Borealis’ (featuring Elizabeth Fraser cameo on backing vocals and a B-side remix by The Veldt). The Veldt has also just wrapped up their U.S. tour with TREMOURS, culminating in a performance at Seattle’s KEXP.
One of the most notable first-wave shoegaze bands, formed in North Carolina in the 1980s, The Veldt revolves around identical twins Daniel Chavis (vocals, guitar) and Danny Chavis (guitar). Their unique sound was influenced by Cocteau Twins as readily as Marvin Gaye and free-jazz warriors Sun Ra and Pharaoh Sanders. Referencing European post-punk while embracing modern hip-hop, these trailblazers work with transient dreamscapes as fluidly as solid song structures.
Pitchfork included The Veldt’s album ‘Afrodisiac’, produced by the legendary Ray Shulman (The Sundays, Bjork, The Sugarcubes) and released via Mercury Records, in the top 50 shoegaze albums ever released, while Stereogum included ‘Until You’re Forever’ in the top 31 shoegaze tracks. Their sound also inspired future generations of alternative artists, including TV On the Radio.
The Veldt’s journey is fascinating. 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 legendary North Carolina music scene of the time, initially signing with Mammoth Records – leading to a chain of major-label relationships that took the group across Europe and the U.S. playing shows with the likes of Throwing Muses, Pixies, Cocteau Twins and Jesus & Mary Chain.
After moving from Raleigh to New York, they briefly performed as Apollo Heights before returning to their original name The Veldt. Joined by Japanese bassist-programmer Hayato Nakao, they together forging music that is a heady and sensual blend of shoegaze and progressive soul, dreamy soundscapes and infectious grooves. Some of the band’s recent notable releases include ‘The Shocking Fuzz Of Your Electric Fur’ EP (2017) and the album ‘Entropy is the Mainline to God’ (2022).
Over the years, The Veldt has collaborated with TV On The Radio, Mos Def, Lady Miss Kier (Deee-Lite), A.R.Kane and toured or played with Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Pixies, Throwing Muses, Echo & The Bunnymen, Cocteau Twins, Manic Street Preachers, Phantogram, Modern English, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Oasis, Chuck D, Living Colour and Schooly D.
The ‘Illuminated 1989’ album is out now on limited edition translucent pink or clear vinyl with a gatefold sleeve. It is also available from fine digital platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp.
CREDITS
‘Illuminated 1989’ released via Little Cloud Records and 5BC Records
Danny Chavis – guitar
Daniel Chavis – vocals, guitar, lyrics
Marvin Levi – drums
Joseph Hue Boyle – bass
Elizabeth Fraser – additional vocals
Robin Guthrie – programming, additional guitars
Lincoln Fong – programming
Written by Danny and Daniel Chavis
Recorded and produced at September Sound by Robin Guthrie
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
ALBUM TRACK LIST
01. Aurora Borealis
02. C.C.C.P
03. It’s Over
04. Shallow By Shallow
05. Pleasure Toy
06. Angel Heart
07. Willow Tree
08. Git Up
09. Heather
10. Daisy Chain
11. The Everlasting Gobstopper
FOR SHARING
‘Illuminated 1989’ album https://theveldtmusic.
Vinyl order https://littlecloudrecords.
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/
‘Angel Heart’ https://youtu.be/gC9VKNTarE4
‘The Everlasting Gobstopper’ https://youtu.be/oW7WI6DjM0Y
‘Aurora Borealis’ https://youtu.be/yt0a3lM-Sk8
‘Aurora Borealis’ single + The Veldt remix B-side https://theveldtmusic.
“This album is not only a historical sonic document, but it’s a shimmering, charming, sensual and cinematic body of remarkable psychedelic rock that resembles nothing currently in the music sphere” ~ The Spill Magazine
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