Mojave 3

“Mojave 3”这个乐队是由前“慢潜”(Slowdive)成员在1994年成立的。Rachel Goswell，以及Neil Halstead和Ian McCutcheon发现在扭曲状态下环境声域变得绕有趣味，于是他们便这样的元素制作了三张专辑，当然这成为一个转变时期——用木吉他创作并演奏简洁的歌曲。这个重新被命名的三人小组录了几个安静又不可思议的Demo，为他们迅速换来新东家4AD，随即几乎不加修饰地发行了他们的首张专辑——《明日问我》(Ask Me Tomorrow)。这支乐队两年之后制作《走调》的时候扩大了他们的队伍——Alan Forrester签约，结束了与Hammond C3机构的合作，同时还有吉他手Simon "Rosie" Rowe，来自最近解散的Chapterhouse)主要参与控制基调，以及Robbie Robertson极好的吉他线路。在被问及第一张和第二张专辑的差别的时候，霍尔斯特德以他特有的不以为然的幽默回答说，“他们从慢节拍的乡村音乐开始过渡到中速节奏的乡村摇滚音乐.”事实上，《走调》是一个慢热古典和叙事型歌词的集合——从那个时期开始的歌曲，像《给予你带走的》(Give What You Take)和《一种天使》(Some Kinda Angel)，仍然是“Mojave 3”真实经历里最珍贵的基础。

Between the recording and release of Slowdives ambient Pygmalion, Neil Halstead began writing more song-based tunes to occupy down time. Weeks after being dropped by Creation, Halstead and the remaining members of Slowdive (Rachel Goswell and Ian McCutcheon) recorded six demos within three days, much of it live without overdubs. Their manager brought the tape to 4AD head Ivo Watts-Russell, who immediately gave the trio money to record more material. Feeling that the direction was too removed to retain the Slowdive moniker, they christened themselves Mojave, only to add 3 later for legal purposes. Signed to 4AD, the six demos and three later-recorded songs made up 1996s Ask Me Tomorrow. Subtle, sparse, and somber, the record drew likenesses to Mazzy Star and Cowboy Junkies, along with some debatable country references. Not necessarily country, it sounded like unplugged Slowdive with a slight twang. The band gigged for several months, including a package 4AD tour in the U.S. with Scheer and Lush, dubbed the Shaving the Pavement Tour.

The shift away from Slowdive was completed with 1998s Out of Tune. More upbeat in nature, it also featured more involved arrangements. Former Chapterhouse guitarist Simon Rowe was officially added as a member, as well as Alan Forrester on keys. Their full-time presence helped round out the bands sound. At this point, Mojave 3 — and Halsteads classicist songwriting in particular — began to earn favorable comparisons to Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, and Neil Young. Excuses for Travellers followed two years later, continuing in similar fashion as something of a hybrid of their first two LPs. Three years came and went — and were broken up by a Halstead solo album — before the release of Spoon and Rafter, an album that was recorded throughout the course of a year, at the bands studio in Cornwall. The next bandmember to release a solo record was Goswell, whose 2004 release Waves Are Universal was met with critical and commercial indifference. Perhaps the whole group was feeling this wave of indifference too, because their next record, 2006s Puzzles Like You, threw their formula out and recast them (quite successfully) as an uptempo pop band with the occasional country-influenced ballad.