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All Music Guide:
Dream pop cult icons the Telescopes formed in Burton-on-Trent, England, in 1986 -- singer/guitarist Stephen Lawrie, guitarist/singer Jo Doran, lead guitarist David Fitzgerald, bassist Robert Brookes, and drummer Dominic Dillon comprised the original lineup, which in 1988 issued its first single, Forever Close Your Eyes, a split flexidisc with Loop issued on Cheree in honor of the two groups' joint New Year's Eve performance. The Telescopes' official debut single, Kick the Wall, followed a year later, its feedback-laden trance-rock earning the band critical comparison to the Jesus and Mary Chain and Spacemen 3 -- 7th # Disaster appeared in the spring, and in the summer of 1989 the group issued its breakthrough effort, The Perfect Needle, its debut for the American indie label What Goes On. The Telescopes' debut LP, Taste, closed out the year, and in 1990 the Fierce label also issued a live LP, Trade Mark of Quality.
When What Goes On went bankrupt, the Telescopes relocated to Alan McGee's Creation label, where the white noise assault of their early releases gave way to a more ethereal, textured approach with 1991's Celeste. In the wake of the gorgeous Flying, which reached the number 79 spot on the U.K. pop charts, the Telescopes issued their first Creation LP, a landmark effort officially known as Untitled. Sculpted from shimmering guitars, sinuous basslines, and soulful rhythms, the record remains a classic of the shoegazer era but its success proved the band's undoing, and after contributing a reading of "The Good's Gone" to the Who tribute album Who Covers Who, the Telescopes dissolved in 1994, citing creative differences. Lawrie and Doran reunited in 1996 in the likeminded Unisex, releasing "TV Cowboy" -- one half of a split single with Good Morning Canada -- in mid-1997. An EP, Deadlock, and a full-length, Stratosfear, followed on the U.S. indie Double Agent before Lawrie and Doran revived the Telescopes' name for 2002's Third Wave.
Wikipedia:
Formed in 1987 by Stephen Lawrie, The Telescopes are an English noise, space rock, dream pop and psychedelic band, drawing influence from artists such as Suicide, The Velvet Underground and The 13th Floor Elevators. They have a total of six released albums since their debut, Taste, released in 1989.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).
History[edit]
Their debut release was a split flexi disc with Loop on the Cheree label in 1988, which was given away with the Sowing Seeds fanzine. There followed their debut single, "Kick the Wall", and "7th# Disaster" also on Cheree Records. They moved to the American What Goes On Records and released their debut album Taste and "The Perfect Needle" single which is perhaps their most famous song. A live album appeared on Fierce Records and following What Goes On’s bankruptcy they signed to Creation Records. In contrast to Taste's noise-rock, a more laid back, baggy influenced sound followed, described by journalist Alexis Petridis as having "an almost fragile sense of elegance and melody", and the band scraped the lower reaches of the UK singles chart with the single "Flying", and released The Telescopes, their second album, in 1992. Lawrie explained the change in direction: "Your idea of perfection changes as you move on. I think we still hold the same approach to our music now, we still try just as many mad ideas, it's just a lot more subtle and works to a different end".
In 2002 they made a surprise return with Third Wave on Double Agent Records. In 2005 they released their fourth album #4 on their own Antenna Records. By this time they were a core of just Stephen Lawrie and Jo Doran, with additional member Lorin Halsall (a member of The Dust Collectors), and were a much more experimental band specialising in electronic soundscapes. In 2006 The Telescopes line up again changed to Stephen Lawrie and Bridget Hayden. In July 2011, the band were invited by Portishead to perform at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror at Alexander Palace in London, where they performed songs from their debut album. An event repeated at Austin Psych Fesival 2012 curated by The Reverberation Appreciation Society.
The Telescopes live experience is currently Stephen Lawrie and members of One Unique Signal. The live album Live. Aftertaste was released in 2010 on the Static Charge label. It is a livid document, recorded in past/present/future tense; a rare and memorable glimpse into the waves beyond the realm of natural vision that first inspired Lawrie to write the original back in 1988.
In April 2012 came two new singles, the first a drone version of Nick Drake's "Black Eyed Dog" on the Trensmat label. The second, a new composition entitled "We See Magic And We Are Neutral, Unnecessary". A flexi-postcard release on The Dream Machine label. An album of new songs is also underway, following sessions at the Brian Jonestown Massacre studios in Berlin and Spectrum co founder Richard Formby's studio in Leeds.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).
