The Story of Creation (1992)

The bands on the teeny-weeny Creation Records label are among the best in the hypnotic rock genre known as dream pop, but you wouldn't know it from this tape. While Storyconsists of music videos and interview segments with three bands, the videos are too cluttered, and the interviews will make you understand why critics call these groups shoe gazers. That pretty much leaves the music, and unless your VCR is plugged into the stereo, you'll miss the dense, cathedral-like beauty that makes songs like My Bloody Valentine's ''Only Shallow'' so unearthly. That band comes off the best here, with singer Bilinda Butcher resembling a sweet, post-punk Keane painting. Coming off worst is Primal Scream, led by the genuinely annoying Bobby Gillespie. Not that there's anything wrong with pillaging the Stones, circa 1970, for your sound (careers have been built on less), but Gillespie's stage persona is so druggily fey that he makes Donovan look like Ted Nugent. My advice: Fast-forward past the tape's first third and slap on the headphones. C+