Nu-Gazing?

As covered already in this blog, the previously maligned (in the UK at least) shoegazing sound has been making something of a comeback this year. With the likes of Asobi Seksu and Deerhunter (among others) sending a wash of feedbacked and fuzzed-out melodies our way, it's hard to deny there isn't something afoot.

It seems the Guardian have cottoned on to this and written a whole article on this straw in the wind. All in all it's not a bad read, but then they go and label this burgeoning scene 'Nu-Gazing'.

Yeah. Nu-gazing.

Have the Music Press listened to other people's ideas, imaginations and descriptions so often that they can't conjure original thoughts anymore?

Nu-Gazing.

It can serve a purpose to emulate the scientific descriptions of flora and fauna, indicating cross pollinations of genres and to give immediate indication of the music's DNA - see Heavy Metal, Hair Metal, Death Metal etc. But any Nu-(insert previously existing genre here) does a disservice to both genres. It robs the original of relevance and the newcomer of its originality (see Nu-Metal and Nu-Rave). Above all, it is just plain lazy.

It's kind of redundant anyway to put something as widescreen as music in to a draw as constraining as a one or two word description, even my fave yet for the genre (Dreampop) robs the sound of its depth and meatiness. But lets face it, we do it for the sake of expedience, a kind of short-hand script for something much, much larger.

If this new trend is substantial enough, it will have to be given a moniker. The Guardian throws a few other naff names about such as 'stargaze' and 'shoetronica', but they chose to lead with the woeful Nu-Gaze.

So, now that the Guardian has taken the lead and labeled it Nu-Gazing, does this make it official? Idolator doesn't think so. But I fear, in the UK at least, it's likely to stick - just as NME's complacent 'Nu-Rave' label stuck for the likes of The Klaxons.

Shame.