Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions

The Passions

The Passions were a British band which formed in 1978, and disbanded in 1983. They were one-hit wonders with their misty song, "I'm in Love with a German Film Star". which was released in early 1981.-Career:...

, Dif Juz

Dif Juz

Dif Juz was a British instrumental band, strongly influenced by dub, who were active in the early to mid 1980s. Retroactively they can be seen to be most strongly allied with the Post-rock movement.- History :...

, Lowlife

Lowlife (band)

Lowlife was a Scottish alternative rock/dream pop band, active from 1985 to 1997. Although the group never obtained mainstream popularity, they developed a cult following that continues to this day.-Pre Lowlife:...

 and A.R. Kane (to whom the term has been attributed) began fusing post-punk

Post-punk

Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...

 and ethereal

Ethereal Wave

Ethereal Wave, also called ethereal darkwave in Europe and ethereal goth or simply ethereal in the US, is a term that describes a subgenre of Dark Wave music...

 experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost exclusively used in the United States. An "all-star" dream pop collective named This Mortal Coil

This Mortal Coil

This Mortal Coil was a gothic dream pop supergroup led by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British record label 4AD. Although Watts-Russell and John Fryer were technically the only two official members, the band's recorded output featured a large rotating cast of supporting artists, many of whom...

 were known for covering obscure songs mainly from the 1960s and 1970s.

The essence of the music is a focus on ethereal textures and moods, rather than on propulsive rock riffs. Breathy, high-register female vocals or almost whispered male vocals are usually the means of lyrical delivery; lyrics are generally introspective and existential

Existentialism

Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...

 in nature. Cover art tends to consist of blurry pastel imagery or stark minimalist designs, or a combination of these two styles. Overall, the 4AD

4AD

4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...

 record label is the one most associated with dream pop, though others such as Creation

Creation Records

Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were...

, Projekt

Projekt Records

This is the article for the record label. You might be looking for Pro-jekt, ProjeKct, Project Pitchfork, or Projekt RevolutionProjekt is a Brooklyn, New York-based independent record label specializing in gothic rock, ambient, ethereal, darkwave, shoegaze, dream-pop, and dark cabaret created by...

, Fontana

Fontana Records

Fontana Records is a record label which was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records; when Philips restructured its music operations it dropped Fontana in favor of Vertigo Records. In the seventies PolyGram acquired the dormant label....

, Bedazzled

Bedazzled Records

Bedazzled Records was an American record label, based in Washington, D.C., which existed from 1989 to 2000. It primarily featured dream pop, goth rock and shoegaze bands...

, Vernon Yard and Slumberland

Slumberland Records

Slumberland Records is an American independent record label formed in 1989 in Washington, D.C. area and currently based in Oakland, CA. The label has released recordings from artists including Velocity Girl, Honeybunch, Lilys, Stereolab, St...

 also released significant records in the genre.

History and artists

Early songs that influenced the dream pop genre include "Sunday Morning

Sunday Morning (The Velvet Underground song)

"Sunday Morning" is a song by The Velvet Underground. It is the opening track on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. It was also released as a single in 1966 with "Femme Fatale".-Recording:...

" by The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...

 and "#9 Dream

Number 9 Dream

"#9 Dream" is a song written by John Lennon and first issued on his 1974 album Walls and Bridges. It was released as the second single from that album months later, on Apple Records catalogue Apple 1878 in the United States and Apple R6003 in the United Kingdom...

" by John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

, which both contained many elements of dream pop such as breathy vocals and atmospheric soundscapes. Other artists that have been identified as influences on the genre include the Cocteau Twins

Cocteau Twins

Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...

, This Mortal Coil

This Mortal Coil

This Mortal Coil was a gothic dream pop supergroup led by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British record label 4AD. Although Watts-Russell and John Fryer were technically the only two official members, the band's recorded output featured a large rotating cast of supporting artists, many of whom...

, Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...

, Hüsker Dü

Hüsker Dü

Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart....

, Spacemen 3

Spacemen 3

Spacemen 3 were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce. Their music was "colorfully mind-altering, but not in the sense of the acid rock of the '60s; instead, the band developed its own minimalistic psychedelia"...

, The Chameleons

The Chameleons

The Chameleons were an English post-punk band that formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, England in 1981. They consisted of singer and bassist Mark Burgess, guitarist Reg Smithies, guitarist Dave Fielding, and drummer John Lever...

, The Cure

The Cure

The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...

, Bauhaus

Bauhaus (band)

Bauhaus was an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978. The group consisted of Peter Murphy , Daniel Ash , Kevin Haskins and David J . The band was originally Bauhaus 1919 before they dropped the numerical portion within a year of formation...

, Galaxie 500

Galaxie 500

Galaxie 500 was an American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums.-History:Guitarist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang had met at the Dalton School in New York City in 1981, but began playing together during their time...

 and Spiritualized

Spiritualized

Spiritualized are an English space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Jason Pierce after the demise of his previous outfit, space-rockers Spacemen 3...

.

From the 1980s to early 1990s, bands such as Pale Saints

Pale Saints

Pale Saints was formed in 1987 by Ian Masters , Graeme Naysmith , and Chris Cooper in Leeds, England. The group began as a jangly indie pop band, influenced by Primal Scream's early sound.-History:...

, Spoonfed Hybrid

Spoonfed Hybrid

Spoonfed Hybrid were a dream pop duo in the north of England in the early 1990s.The band was formed in 1993 by Ian Masters and Chris Trout, initially as The Long Lost. Masters had just left the band he founded in 1987, Pale Saints, which continued without him. Trout had been guitarist in A.C...

, Spirea X

Spirea X

Spirea X were an alternative rock band from Glasgow, Scotland, formed by Primal Scream founding member Jim Beattie in 1990.-History:After six years in the band, Jim Beattie left Primal Scream in 1988...

, early-period Seefeel

Seefeel

Seefeel are a British electronic/post-rock band formed in the early 1990s. They are currently signed to Warp Records.-Biography:Seefeel formed during 1992 in London, England; with Mark Clifford on guitar, Mark Van Hoen on bass, Justin Fletcher on drums and Sarah Peacock on vocals and guitar. During...

, early-period The Verve

The Verve

The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space...

, Kitchens of Distinction

Kitchens of Distinction

Kitchens of Distinction were a three-person alternative rock/dream pop band formed in Tooting, South London, England in 1986...

, The Church

The Church (band)

The Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...

, The Sundays

The Sundays

The Sundays were an English alternative rock band. The band formed in the late 1980s and released three albums in the 1990s.-Career:The band's beginnings came with the meeting of Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin at university. Wheeler had played gigs with 'Cruel Shoes' an early...

, Belly

Belly (band)

Belly was an alternative rock band formed in 1991 by former Throwing Muses members Tanya Donelly and Fred Abong. The band was based in Boston, Massachusetts, though all of the original members grew up in Newport, Rhode Island. The band consisted of Donelly on lead vocals and guitar, Abong on bass,...

, The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...

, The Ocean Blue

The Ocean Blue

The Ocean Blue, formed in Hershey, Pennsylvania in 1986, is an American indie pop band that combines melodic guitars and synthesizers. Its core original members included David Schelzel on lead vocals/guitar, Steve Lau on keyboards/saxophone, Bobby Mittan on bass guitar and Rob Minnig on drums and...

, Bel Canto

Bel Canto (band)

Bel Canto is a Norwegian music duo, originally a trio, fronted by Anneli Drecker, and signed originally to Crammed Discs.-Biography:Their first two records were licensed to Nettwerk Records in Canada and its second album was licensed to IRS/MCA Records...

, Hum

Hum (band)

Hum is a post-hardcore band from Champaign, Illinois. They are best known for their 1995 radio hit "Stars." Hum has not been consistently active as a recording or touring group since 2000.-Founding and early recordings:...

, Cranes

Cranes (band)

Cranes are a British music group formed in 1986, whose style has been described as "gothic minimalism".-History:Formed in 1986 in Portsmouth, England by siblings Alison and Jim Shaw, and named after the many mechanical cranes around the city's docks, Cranes are best known for the childlike,...

, Frazier Chorus, Strange Boutique

Strange Boutique

Strange Boutique was a band from Washington, D.C.. They were active between the years of 1987 and 1994 and released 4 full-length albums and 2 live albums on the Bedazzled Records label. They are also featured on several compilation albums...

, Curve

Curve (band)

Curve was an English music group formed in 1990 chiefly around the collaboration of singer/songwriter Toni Halliday and bassist/guitarist/programmer Dean Garcia.-History:...

, The Dream Academy

The Dream Academy

The Dream Academy was a folk rock band from England, comprising singer/guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes; multi-instrumentalist Kate St John; plus keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel. They are most noted for their hit single, "Life in a Northern Town".-History:Laird-Clowes and Gabriel met each other in the late...

 and No-Man

No-Man

No-Man are a British art-pop duo formed in 1987 as No Man Is An Island by singer Tim Bowness and multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson . The band has so far produced six studio albums and a number of singles/outtakes collections...

 were representatives of the genre.

Concurrently, a number of more predominantly guitar-driven dream pop bands emerged in the United States, including Sentinel

Sentinel (band)

Sentinel is an American rock band from Oakland, California. Their music style is self-described as Indie-Dream Pop. The band plays regularly in clubs and venues around the San Francisco Bay Area...

, For Against

For Against

For Against are a United States post-punk/proto-shoegaze rock band from Lincoln, Nebraska. Despite numerous lineup shuffles and some periods of dormancy, the band has produced material steadily from its 1984 inception to the present.-History:...

, Alison's Halo

Alison's Halo

Alison's Halo was a dream pop band from Tempe, Arizona. Their airy vocals and delayed riffs were often also associated with shoegazing or space pop. Their first single, "Dozen", was released in 1995. Their first CD, Eyedazzler, is a compilation of songs the band created between 1992 and 1996, was...

, BOBBY

BOBBY (band)

BOBBY is a cooperative musical project based on the talents of musicians from Partisan Records and Knitting Factory Records which is notable for achieving an avant garde alternative sound using polyrhythm as well as achieving critical acclaim before releasing their first album entitled Bobby...

, Low

Low (band)

Low is an American indie rock group from Duluth, Minnesota, formed in 1993. As of 2010, the group is composed of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker , both founding members, and Steve Garrington ....

, Mazzy Star

Mazzy Star

Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock band formed in Santa Monica, California, in 1989 from the group Opal, a collaboration of guitarist David Roback and bassist Kendra Smith...

, Velour 100

Velour 100

Velour 100 was a dream pop / ethereal rock band from Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA. The band existed from 1995 to 2000, with most of its music seeing release via Tooth & Nail Records in 1996 & 1997. The band was essentially masterminded by multi-instrumentalist Trey Many of His Name Is Alive and...

, Fine China, Love Spirals Downwards

Love Spirals Downwards

Love Spirals Downwards was an ethereal darkwave, dream pop, Atmospheric drum'n'bass and electronica recording act from California.-History:Love Spirals Downwards was begun by multi-instrumentalist Ryan Lum and then-girlfriend Suzanne Perry. In 1991, Lum and Perry recorded a demo, which led to a...

, Ars Poetica

Ars Poetica

Ars Poetica is a term meaning "The Art of Poetry" or "On the Nature of Poetry". Early examples of Ars Poetica by Aristotle and Horace have survived and have since spawned many other poems that bear the same name...

, Duster

Duster (band)

Duster is an American space-rock band. It consists of multi-instrumentalists Clay Parton, Dove Amber, and Jason Albertini. Albertini played drums on three tracks for 1998's Stratosphere, and with 1999's 1975, became much more involved in the group process, playing many more instruments and...

, Warm Ghost

Warm Ghost

Warm Ghost is an American alternative music group based on the multi-instrumentalist Paul Duncan who specializes in eclectic sounds from a variety of music genres and who has a background is sound design. Duncan teamed with Oliver Chapoy and records music under the moniker Warm Ghost in 2011...

, Azure Ray

Azure Ray

Azure Ray is an American dream pop duo, consisting of musicians Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink. The pair met at the age of 15 at the Alabama School of Fine Arts...

 and Frownland

Pretty Mary Sunshine

Pretty Mary Sunshine was a band formed in Seattle, Washington in March 1993.Almost as quickly as they were formed, they were signed to A&M Records. Instead of unifying the five piece, being signed to a major record label hastened their disintegration. "PMS" was contracted to produce two albums...

. In Europe, some dream pop bands emerged, mixing more folk or electronic components, such as The Legendary Pink Dots

The Legendary Pink Dots

The Legendary Pink Dots are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. Although far outside the mainstream , LPD have released more than 40 albums, have a devoted worldwide following, and tour frequently.-Overview:The Legendary Pink Dots formed in August 1980 in London...

 and Hooverphonic

Hooverphonic

Hooverphonic are a Belgian rock/pop group, formed in 1995. Though early on categorized as a trip hop group, they quickly expanded their sound to the point where they could no longer be described as a lone genre, but rather encompass alternative, electronica, electropop, rock, and mixture of others...

.

Shoegazing

A louder, more aggressive strain of dream pop came to be known as shoegazing

Shoegazing

Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...

; key bands of this style were Lush

Lush (band)

Lush were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1987 and disbanded in 1998. They were one of the first bands to attract the "shoegazing" label...

, Slowdive

Slowdive

Slowdive were an English shoegaze band that formed in 1989. The band formed in Reading, Berkshire and primarily consisted of Nick Chaplin , Rachel Goswell , Neil Halstead , and Christian Savill...

, My Bloody Valentine, Starflyer 59

Starflyer 59

Starflyer 59 is an alternative rock band from Riverside, California that was founded in 1993 by Jason Martin, brother of Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric. While Jason Martin has written nearly all of Starflyer 59's songs, the band has included a number of different musicians over the years, including...

, Chapterhouse

Chapterhouse

For the religious buildings, see Chapter houseChapterhouse are a British shoegazing band originally of the early 1990s, from Reading, Berkshire, England. Formed in 1987 by Andrew Sherriff and Stephen Patman, the band began performing alongside Spacemen 3...

, Catherine Wheel

Catherine Wheel

Catherine Wheel were a four-piece alternative rock band from Great Yarmouth, England. The band was active from 1990 to 2000, experiencing fluctuating levels of commercial success, and embarking on many lengthy tours.-Biography:...

, Ride

Ride (band)

Ride were a British alternative rock band that formed in 1988 in Oxford, England, consisting of Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Laurence "Loz" Colbert, and Steve Queralt. The band were initially part of the "shoegazing" scene. Following the break-up of the band in 1996, members moved on to various other...

 and Levitation

Levitation (band)

Levitation were an English rock band fronted by ex-House of Love guitarist Terry Bickers. Levitation's music and attitude challenged an early 1990s UK alternative music scene dominated by shoegazing and Madchester....

. These bands kept the atmospheric qualities of dream pop, but added the intensity of post-punk-influenced bands such as The Chameleons

The Chameleons

The Chameleons were an English post-punk band that formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, England in 1981. They consisted of singer and bassist Mark Burgess, guitarist Reg Smithies, guitarist Dave Fielding, and drummer John Lever...

 and Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...

. Shoegazing arose out of a love for dream pop's textures and moods, at the same time rejecting its more passive tendencies.

Further development

In the 1990s and early 2000s, bands like Sigur Rós

Sigur Rós

Sigur Rós is an Icelandic post-rock band with classicaland minimalist elements. The band is known for its ethereal sound, and frontman Jónsi Birgisson's falsetto vocals and use of bowed guitar. In January 2010, the band announced that they will be on hiatus. Since then, it has since been announced...

, M83

M83 (band)

M83 is a musical act by French musician Anthony Gonzalez. It is named after a spiral galaxy, Messier 83. The band was founded in 2001 by Gonzalez and former member Nicolas Fromageau in Antibes, France...

, Mercury Rev

Mercury Rev

Mercury Rev is an American alternative rock group, that formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker , Jonathan Donahue , Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a...

, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead is an American alternative rock band from Austin, Texas. The chief creative members of the band are Jason Reece and Conrad Keely . The two switch between drumming, guitar and lead vocals, both on recordings and live shows...

, Dubstar

Dubstar

Dubstar are an English band, performing mostly dream pop and indie dance music, as well as occasional pop ballads and, on later releases, guitar-heavy rock with an industrial influence. The group was formed in 1992 by Steve Hillier and Chris Wilkie in Newcastle-upon-Tyne...

, Laika

Laika (band)

Laika is a British alternative rock band founded in 1993 by ex-Moonshake members Margaret Fiedler and John Frenett, and producer/engineer Guy Fixsen. The band was named after the first animal to orbit the earth, the Russian dog Laika.-Sound:...

, Asobi Seksu

Asobi Seksu

Asobi Seksu is an American dream pop band based in New York City. Their music draws influence from the shoegazing genre as well, and similarly uses a textured and effects-heavy vocal and guitar sound...

, Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed in 1999 by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. Most of its members currently play in various other groups and solo projects, mainly based around the city of Toronto...

, Readymade, Bethany Curve

Bethany Curve

Bethany Curve is a shoegaze and alternative rock band from Santa Cruz, California.-Biography:Founding members Richard Millang, Ray Lake, Chris Preston and David Mac Wha formed the band in 1994. Ray Lake and Chris Preston saw a local street sign reading "Bethany Curve" and decided amongst themselves...

, Halou

Halou

Halou, pronounced huh-loo, was a band from San Francisco, California. Their music could be described as dream pop with female vocals; they are sometimes labeled trip hop, but the band rejects that label.-History:...

, Windy & Carl

Windy & Carl

-Overview:Cited as "A leading light of the Michigan space-rock scene" by Allmusic, the minimalist group formed in 1993 around the core husband-and-wife duo of guitarist Carl Hultgren and bassist/singer Windy Weber...

, Trespassers William

Trespassers William

Trespassers William are an indie rock/dream pop band known for their ethereal music. Hailing from Southern California, they work and live in the Sodo/Capitol Hill area of Seattle, Washington. Their latest release is the 2009 EP, The Natural Order of Things. They are currently working on their...

, Southpacific

Southpacific

Southpacific was a space rock band with prominent dream pop/post-rock leanings, originally based in Ottawa, Canada.-History:...

, Amusement Parks on Fire

Amusement Parks on Fire

Amusement Parks on Fire are a shoegaze band from Nottingham, England.The band was formed by Michael Feerick in 2004, who wrote and performed all the instruments for the self-titled debut album...

, Mira

Mira (band)

Mira are a five-piece dream pop/shoegaze band from Tallahassee, Florida. One of their earliest gigs was opening for Low at Florida State University. After releasing several EPs , the band signed to Projekt Records, on which they have released three full-length albums and toured nationally in the...

, Yume Bitsu

Yume Bitsu

Yume Bitsu , was a psychedelic rock/space rock band from Portland, Oregon active between 1995 and 2002.Their debut Giant Surface Music Falling to Earth Like Jewels From the Sky was self-released in 1998 and was re-released by BaBaBing! Records in 1999...

, Devics

Devics

Devics is a dream pop band from Los Angeles, California consisting of Sara Lov, Dustin O'Halloran, Ed Maxwell, Theodore Liscinski, and Evan Schnabel. Their music can be described as melancholic....

, Xinlisupreme

Xinlisupreme

Xinlisupreme is a Japanese Musician from Kumamoto, Japan. Xinlisupreme’s first release 7” single "All You Need Is Love Was Not True" in December 2001. Their debut album, "Tomorrow Never Comes", was released in early 2002...

, Mew

Mew (band)

Mew is a Danish alternative music band consisting of Jonas Bjerre, Bo Madsen, and Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen. Bassist Johan Wohlert was also a founding member of the band, but left in 2006...

, Air Formation

Air Formation

Air Formation were an English Shoegazing/Dream pop/Space rock band, that debuted with their first 7" in the summer of 1998 under the name "b.e.a.b Approved". In early 2000 they were forced to change their name, they chose Air Formation...

, Psychic Ills

Psychic Ills

Psychic Ills is an experimental rock band from New York. The current line-up consists of Elizabeth Hart , Brian Tamborello and Tres Warren .- History :The band took shape in 2003...

, Charlene

Charlene (band)

Charlene is an indie rock band that originated in Allston, Massachusetts in the latter half of the 1990s. The group has released three seven inch singles, an eponymous debut album and, most recently, a digital-only single...

, Auburn Lull

Auburn Lull

Auburn Lull are a five-member dream pop/shoegaze band from Lansing, Michigan, which formed in 1995.-Biography:The band consisted of guitarists Sean Heenan, Jason Kolb, Eli Wekenman, Ron Gibbs and drummer Jason Wiesinger...

, and (in their more recent years) Blonde Redhead

Blonde Redhead

Blonde Redhead is an American alternative rock band composed of vocalist/rhythm guitarist Kazu Makino and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace , which formed in New York City in 1993....

 have had the dream pop label attached to them. Groups like these are sometimes (dismissively) called nu-gaze bands. The genre terms "ambient pop" and post-rock

Post-rock

Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...

 have been applied to some of these artists as well.

Dream pop is often credited with providing the creative "anti-rock" catalyst for textural-based musical styles such as trip hop

Trip hop

Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...

, slowcore, and post-rock

Post-rock

Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...

.

A resurgence of dream pop in the independent music scene occurred in 2008, with the relatively successful indie acts of Silversun Pickups

Silversun Pickups

Silversun Pickups is an alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2002. The band comprises Brian Aubert, Nikki Monninger, Christopher Guanlao, and Joe Lester....

, Beach House

Beach House

Beach House is a dream pop duo formed in 2004 in Baltimore, Maryland, consisting of French-born Victoria Legrand and Baltimore native Alex Scally. Their self-titled debut, Beach House, released in 2006, was critically acclaimed. This was followed by their second release, Devotion, in 2008...

, Tame Impala

Tame Impala

Tame Impala are a psychedelic rock band from Perth, Australia. They are signed to Modular Records. The band came to prominence in 2010 with the release of their first debut album, Innerspeaker. Their name refers to the impala, a medium sized antelope...

, Deerhunter

Deerhunter

Deerhunter is an American four-piece indie rock group originating from Atlanta, Georgia. The band, consisting of Bradford Cox, Moses Archuleta, Josh Fauver, and Lockett Pundt, have described themselves as "ambient punk," though they incorporate a wide range of genres, including noise rock, art...

, Animal Collective

Animal Collective

Animal Collective is an experimental psychedelic band originally from Baltimore, Maryland, currently based in New York City. Animal Collective consists of Avey Tare , Panda Bear , Deakin , and Geologist...

, Panda Bear, Bat for Lashes

Bat for Lashes

Natasha Khan , also known by her stage name Bat for Lashes, is an English musician. She sings and plays the piano, bass, guitar, harpsichord and the autoharp....

, High Places

High Places

High Places is a band originating from Brooklyn, NY, recently relocated to Los Angeles, CA. The band is a duo comprising multi-instrumentalist Rob Barber and vocalist Mary Pearson.-History:...

, Lykke Li

Lykke Li

Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson , better known by her stage name Lykke Li , is a Swedish singer-songwriter. Her music often blends elements of pop, indie rock and electronic; various instruments can also be found in her songs, including violins, synthesizers, tambourines, trumpets, saxophones and cellos...

, Chairlift

Chairlift (band)

Chairlift is an American electronic pop Duo.Based in Brooklyn, New York, Chairlift consists of members Caroline Polachek and Patrick Wimberly .-History:...

, Anomie Belle

Anomie Belle

Anomie Belle is an American musician and activist. Originally a classical violinist and songwriter from Portland, Anomie began performing and recording her own music as a child. She has since worked as a musician and producer in Madrid, Glasgow, Amsterdam, New York, Buenos Aires, and London...

, School of Seven Bells

School of Seven Bells

School of Seven Bells is a band formed by Benjamin Curtis of Secret Machines, together with identical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza, formerly of On!Air!Library!. The band is named after the School of the Seven Bells, a mythical South American pickpocket training academy.-History:Curtis and...

, The xx

The xx

The xx are an English indie pop band, formed in London in 2005. The band's members met while studying at Elliott School, the same school that produced Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet. They became a trio when their second guitarist and keyboardist, Baria Qureshi, departed in late 2009. In September...

, Letting Up Despite Great Faults

Letting Up Despite Great Faults

Letting Up Despite Great Faults is an Indie/electronic music act founded by Los Angeles native Michael Lee. Pitchfork has dubbed them "shoegaze-y indie pop." Rolling Stone and Canada's Exclaim! have compared them to Postal Service, while the consensus in the blogosphere has been more M83 and The...

, Marissa Nadler

Marissa Nadler

Marissa Nadler is an American dream-folk singer-songwriter and fine artist based in Boston.-Early life:Marissa Nadler was exposed to art at a young age through her mother Pamela, an abstract painter, and her older brother Stuart, a guitarist and writer...

, Holly Miranda

Holly Miranda

Holly Miranda is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Besides being trained in piano, Holly is a self-taught guitar and trumpet player. In 2001, she recorded "High Above The City", a 20-track solo album available only at shows. In the fall of 2003, Holly met and teamed up with Alex Lipsen,...

, iamamiwhoami

Iamamiwhoami

iamamiwhoami is an electronic music and multimedia project headlined by Swedish singer-songwriter Jonna Lee. Videos released from the project's YouTube channel have spread virally. The first clip was uploaded on December 4, 2009, and was forwarded to a number of music journalists and blogs. Another...

, and Wild Beasts

Wild Beasts

Wild Beasts are an indie rock band from Kendal in Cumbria. They released their first single, "Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants", on Bad Sneakers Records in November 2006, and subsequently signed to Domino Records. They have released three acclaimed albums, Limbo, Panto in 2008, Two Dancers in...

. Many of these bands were heavily plugged by the Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

website.

External links

• [ Allmusic entry on dream pop]