Pitchfork: 30 Best Dream Pop Albums
by 
teague 
https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-30-best-dream-pop-albums/
- Chart updated: 09/04/2021 21:15
- (Created: 09/04/2021 21:06).
- Chart size: 30 albums.
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This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from Galaxie 500. (Remove this filter)
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With its dislocating atmospheres and diffident vocals, all dream pop is outsider music. Galaxie 500 sounded so removed from a sense of time or place that they made this fact nonnegotiable. The droning, doleful music of their second album, On Fire, arrived with the quiet subtlety of a profound secret. Over a few chords and understated drumming, Dean Wareham mumbled clever lyrics about his Dodge Dart, the weatherman, and liminal things. Drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang made their spare neo-psychedelia burst with emotion.
On Fire sounds like the Velvet Underground slowly warming up: In lieu of a Pop Art banana, Wareham sings about waiting in a line eating Twinkies; instead of heroin, he has a song about dropping acid in the woods; instead of Warhol, Galaxie 500 pair with an eccentric, no-frills producer named Kramer. As in all great dream pop, these impressionistic elements congeal into a single atomic sound, as if the instruments have eclipsed one another, moving with the crawl of a cloud. –Jenn Pelly
On Fire sounds like the Velvet Underground slowly warming up: In lieu of a Pop Art banana, Wareham sings about waiting in a line eating Twinkies; instead of heroin, he has a song about dropping acid in the woods; instead of Warhol, Galaxie 500 pair with an eccentric, no-frills producer named Kramer. As in all great dream pop, these impressionistic elements congeal into a single atomic sound, as if the instruments have eclipsed one another, moving with the crawl of a cloud. –Jenn Pelly
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,114
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
40
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Inspired by the Velvet Underground, Joy Division, Jonathan Richman, and New Zealand’s Flying Nun label, Galaxie 500 stood out in the rollicking Boston underground thanks to their introspective minimalism. The 10 tracks on their 1988 debut, Today, are sprawling washes of sound that manage to capture an ineffable sensation: a nostalgia both known and unknown, intensely familiar yet completely mystical. But any shot at shoegazing here is thwarted by a subtle restraint. No matter how high Damon Krukowski’s primal, jazz-inspired drums, Dean Wareham’s psychedelic guitar ramblings, and Naomi Yang’s robust basslines soar, their playing always returns to Earth. Their heads, however, stay in the clouds on songs like “Flowers” and “Oblivious,” in which the trio ponder the trappings of romance. And then of course there’s the fuzzy and careening “Tugboat,” in which Wareham declares his humble resolution to buoy his love through whatever choppy waters they face. –Quinn Moreland
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
927
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 2. Page 1 of 1
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Pitchfork: 30 Best Dream Pop Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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|
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| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1970s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1980s | 5 | 17% | |
| 1990s | 8 | 27% | |
| 2000s | 10 | 33% | |
| 2010s | 7 | 23% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Galaxie 500 | 2 | 7% | |
| Grouper | 2 | 7% | |
| Cocteau Twins | 2 | 7% | |
| Mazzy Star | 2 | 7% | |
| Low | 2 | 7% | |
| Beach House | 2 | 7% | |
| Mojave 3 | 1 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
Pitchfork: 30 Best Dream Pop Albums similar charts
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| Top 20 Music Albums of 1990 | DanielU | 1990 year chart | 2020 | |
| Top 25 Greatest Music Albums | robosteven | Overall chart | 2012 | |
| Top 22 Greatest Music Albums | gnarlyraejepsen | Overall chart | 2016 | |
| Top 20 Music Albums of 2008 |  Komorebi-D | 2008 year chart | 2018 |  |
| Popnews Bilan 2010 | cicadelic | Custom chart | 2025 | |
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Other custom charts by teague
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| My Favorite Album Covers | teague | Custom chart | 2021 | |
| My Favorite Albums | teague | Custom chart | 2022 | |
| Pitchfork: 50 Best Shoegaze Albums | teague | Custom chart | 2021 | |
| Pitchfork: 30 Best Dream Pop Albums | teague | Custom chart | 2021 | |
Pitchfork: 30 Best Dream Pop Albums ratings
85/100 (from 1 vote)
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Showing all 1 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
75/100  | 06/04/2025 15:58 | Johnnyo | | 80/100 |
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