Behold the Shoes: A Brief History of Shoegaze

By Douglas Wolk, eMusic Contributor

No, it's not a great name: "shoegazing." Very few artists who've actually played in that style like the term; Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai has called it "a dumb term made up by clueless... idiots... if someone called us shoegazers, I'd be pretty unhappy." The other leading candidate seems to be "dreampop," which is also not quite satisfactory. But we're stuck with those words, because it's undeniable that there's a certain tendency in rock music, especially British… more »