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The first in the Sci-Fi-Lo-Fi series was Andrew Weatherall with an eclectic selection of rare rock’n’roll, garage and post-punk with a cover to match! And then Damian Lazarus followed with a leftfield mix of house and minimal techno so no big surprise that Vol.3 goes off in a totally different direction with Rob da Bank but can you imagine, “Mr. da Bank, your specialist subject is shoegazing from 1985 to 2007, your time starts now!”

I’ll admit that over that 22 year period, I would be listening to what da Bank normally plays (on the Radio or at Bestival) so I’d say the highlight of Terry Christian’s career on The Tube was when Dinosaur Jr. refused to stop playing ‘Start Choppin’ until the plugs were pulled in 1992.

So apart from that, my professional dealings with Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine (non-included here) and my old mate Jim once having a bass player audition for Jesus & Mary Chain (unsuccessful) are the only reference points I’ve got so it’s a 101 on Shoegazing for me.

The CD chronological kicks off with the umbilical link to the art-rock legends of Velvet Underground with the aforementioned Jesus & Mary Chain. Student t-shirt staple of the time, ‘Just Like Honey’ is them at their popster best (by coincidence, a track that turned up on the Lost In Translation soundtrack that was mostly produced by Mr. Shields).

By the time we get to Pale Saints, we’re into the comfortable shoegazing territory of downtempo trash/twangy guitar (with varying degrees of distortion/feed back), post-punk-proto-grunge dirge and dreamy vocals; also see Chapterhouse’s ‘Pearl’ (which reached the UK Top 75 in 1991), Lush and Slowdrive.

Ride were yet another band influenced by My Bloody Valentine and were known for their neo-psychedelic drone. That sound too promising but their ‘Nowhere’ is my favourite track on this album (nice use of harmonica and seagull noises) whilst Spiritualized take the sound that one step further with horn arrangements and a bit of electronica on ‘If I Were With Her Now’ (it’s just been announced that Spiritualized are bringing their stunning stage show to The Big Chill 2009 along with David Byrne and Gong!)

By the mid-nineties, other influences were coming to the scene with more minimalist ideas that boarder on the ambient that evolved into “nu-gazers” such as Ulrich Schnauss, Maps, M83 and Boards Of Canada (‘Zoetrope’ is a sharp turn into such electronica that’s closer to Tangerine Dream). M83 are probably best known for their remix work (Depeche Mode, Bloc Party et al) and you can see where all this links up with their track ‘Teen Angst’.

We’re now into more obvious da Bank territory with his past Blue Room connections with Chris Coco that’s probably best represented by Schnauss’ ‘On My Own’ that gets a Robin ‘Cocteau Twins’ Guthrie dance mix, the chill out mix of Cocteau Twins’ ‘Cherry Coloured Funk’ and the closing track, the cover of the TV Theme ‘White Horses’ that came out last year and was produced by Tony Visconti!

The whole scene seems to be over represented by a Scottish contingent which probably accounts for Soma’s support as a Scottish label (and Sub Club institution) is usually much more electronic-oriented releases. But like the Sunday Best A to Z’s compilations, Rob links the dots perfectly here between the Spector/Beach Boys inspired ‘Just Like Honey’ to the jazz-lounge Jonny Trunk-ness of the last track.

I thought I’d really dislike this album but it has improved on every listen and whilst I’m no expert and still more of a fan of ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill (De La Edit)’, da Bank clearly can do both (and more) and he’s done a great job; time for a shoegaze revival?

Reviewed: Various - Sci-Fi-Lo-Fi Vol. 3 (Shoegazing 1985 - 2007) (Soma Quality Recordings) Cat. No: SOMACD076 Release date: 23rd February 2009
Tracklisting:
1. Jesus + Mary Chain - Just Like Honey (3:02)
2. Ultra Vivid Scene - Mercy Seat (4:04)
3. Dinosaur Jr. - Freak Scene (3:38)
4. Pale Saints - Sight Of You (5:48)
5. Ride - Nowhere (5:22)
6. Spiritualised - If I Were With Her Now (5:41)
7. Chapterhouse - Pearl (5:15)
8. Slowdive - When The Sun Hits (4:45)
9. Lush - Sweetness & LIght (5:18)
10. Boards Of Canada - Zoetrope (5:01)
11. Ulrich Schnauss - On My Own (Robin Guthrie Mix) (6:41)
12. M83 - Teen Angst (2:53)
13. Cocteau Twins - Cherry Coloured Funk (Seefeel Mix) (5:48) Remix by Mark Clifford
14. Maps - You Don’t Know Her Name (3:53)
15. Dean & Britta - White Horses (5:29)

Links:
www.myspace.com/robdabank
www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/robdabank
BBC RADIO 1 : THE ROB DA BANK LEFTFIELD SHOW (Sun-Mon 0000hrs-0200hrs)
www.sundaybest.net
www.jesusandmarychain.org
www.dinosaurjr.com
www.myspace.com/dinosaurjr
www.spiritualized.com
www.slowdive.co.uk
www.4ad.com/artists/catalogue/lush
www.boardsofcanada.com
www.ulrich-schnauss.net
www.robinguthrie.com
www.myspace.com/robinguthrie
www.myspace.com/m83
www.mapsmusic.com
www.myspace.com/mapsmusic
www.deanandbritta.com
www.myspace.com/deanandbritta
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Word_(TV_series)
http://www.sterlingtimes.org/music_themes21.htm