Commonly identified as shoegaze, Slowdive nonetheless exhibited a broader set of inspirations – one that spanned four decades, including folk-rock, dub, and ambient techno – than the majority of their '90s contemporaries. A combination of geographic origin, labelmates such as My Bloody Valentine and Ride, and a sustained predilection for dreamlike harmonies and psychedelicized layers of guitar, led to inevitable restrictive classification. The band's distinctive sound continually evolved from their late-'80s start through 1995, when they closed out their first phase with a misunderstood ambient album that shed nearly all rock convention. Two decades later, while most of the members remained involved with individual pursuits, the band was reactivated for touring and recorded again. Formed in Reading, England in late 1989, Slowdive originally consisted of Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell (guitar, vocals), Neil Halstead (guitar, vocals), Christian Savill (guitar), and Adrian Sell (drums). Goswell, Halstead, and Sell were previously the core of the Pumpkin Fairies, an indie-pop act that had recorded a demo. Savill was a member of Eternal, who released a single on Sarah. Within less than a year, Slowdive signed to Alan McGee's Creation label and released their debut, a self-titled EP of demos.

Like the Velvet Underground, their most obvious influence, the chart success of the Jesus and Mary Chain was virtually nonexistent, but their artistic impact was incalculable; quite simply, the Scottish group made the world safe for white noise, orchestrating a sound dense in squalling feedback that served as an inspiration to everyone from My Bloody Valentine to Dinosaur Jr. Though the supporting players drifted in and out of focus, the heart of the Mary Chain remained vocalists and guitarists William and Jim Reid, Scottish-born brothers heavily influenced not only by underground legends like the Velvets and the Stooges but also by the sonic grandeur and pop savvy of Phil Spector and Brian Wilson. Collection includes: Psychocandy (1985) Deluxe Edition 2011; Darklands (1987) Deluxe Edition 2011; Barbed Wire Kisses: B-Sides And More (1988); Automatic (1989); The Sound Of Speed (1993).

Armed with an already extensive catalog of stunning music, Palace return their deeply personal, fourth studio album, Ultrasound. The record's production sees the band reunited with Adam Jaffrey, eight years after working together on their debut album, and arrives off the back of Part I - When Everything Was Lost and Part II - Nightmares & Ice Cream, the band's 2023 companion EPs.

With nods to their earlier work, Ride’s 7th album contains some of the best songs they have ever written. It is a record in the old-school sense, a rich listen that flows from start to finish, at times urgent and formidable, at others wistful and melancholic. It’s a record about perseverance, sticking together, finding a way forward. Claudius Mittendorfer’s mix provides the final touches on a startling, stop-you-in-your-tracks LP. This is the sound of a band hitting a new peak of their powers.

After a decade-long hiatus, Bristol-based shoegaze ensemble, The Fauns, have reemerged from their secret bunker with eagerly anticipated third album, How Lost via Invada. The Fauns’ journey began in 2007, self-releasing their eponymous debut album in 2009, followed by the 2013 release of Lights.

First comprehensive anthology from one of Creation Records' shining lights. Compiled by the band and featuring rarities and previously unreleased material. This two CD anthology charts the rise of Britain's best loved shoe gazing rockers, featuring all their most celebrated tracks. The band's entire catalog is unavailable domestically. Castle Music. 2005.

This new double LP version restores the track “Deep Sky Objects” to the original running order of the album as it was left off of the original single LP version due to side length restraints. This is the first time this album has been available on vinyl in almost two decades, and the first time the Drop EP has been available in any format since original release in 1994.
At the same time, Kranky is making the CD version available once again for the first time in many years, with the Drop EP tracks also included. The debut album from New York City’s Bowery Electric was released by Kranky in late summer 1995 after they came to the label’s attention via their self-released 2x7-inch Drop EP from the year previous. The first in a trio of albums released by the core duo of Lawrence Chandler and Martha Schwendener finds them in their most raw form.

Heart Under, Just Mustard's second album, asks you to forget what you know. At every turn, this remarkable record reconfigures and stretches the ideas and ambition of a rock band, and turns a year of lockdown and personal struggles into a breathtaking artistic statement. The music the five friends from Dundalk, Ireland make is strikingly untraditional. Though to look at them, it appears that the band are a five-piece with uniform make-up of a vocalist, two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer, not a single one of them utilizes their instrument in a confined or regular fashion. Guitarists David Noonan and Mete Kalyoncuoglu make their six-strings shriek and wail, the sounds produced sounding like everything from whirring machinery to horror movie monsters.

Will Anderson believes in true love—as both concept and catalyst, aspiration and inspiration. During his 34 years, the Hotline TNT founder and architect has found such love perhaps half-a-dozen times. Each instance has prompted some enormous swing of commitment, like a cross-country move or simply being honest about his budding attraction. It is a hopeful and vulnerable way to exist, a way to ensure maximum bruising during the fall of the breakup. And so far for Anderson, that is how it has always ended, whether the air has slowly seeped out of some once-full balloon or whether it has simply popped, those expanded feelings expelled in an instant.

Stars & Embers is the third album from Sweden’s Ison. The project is led by Daniel Änghede, who writes and produces the music. For this release, he is joined by new full-time vocalist Lisa Cuthbert, plus guest singers Mikael Stanne, circle&wind, and Dimming.
The music is based around droning ambient synthesiser soundscapes that recall classic electronic music luminaries such as Tangerine Dream and Vangelis. The influence of metal - especially the doomy, gothic kind - is also notable; heavy distorted guitar chords often augment the climactic segments, and chiming clean arpeggios make atmospheric contributions. The tempos are slow and contemplative, and the songs are generally long and drawn out…

The 1990 debut album from Pale Saints, The Comforts of Madness, is an outstanding record that owed as much to post-punk and L.A.’s Paisley Underground scene than it did to shoegaze. The Sunday Times called it “an unintended indie manifesto: music that is at once wayward and concise, dissonant and beautiful.”

The fifth album from shoegaze giants Slowdive contains the duality of a familiar internal language mixed with the exaltation of new beginnings. everything is alive is transportive, searching and aglow, the work of a classic band continuing to pitch its unmistakable voice to the future. Six years after the group’s monumental self-titled album, everything is alive finds Slowdive—vocalists and guitarists Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead, guitarist Christian Savill, bassist Nick Chaplin, and drummer Simon Scott—locating evermore contours of its immersive, elemental sound.

Whether you're a fan of the Cure or not, when a 30th-anniversary reissue of Wish was announced, along with a bunch of unreleased material, it made even the coldest of hearts tremble. Even though it may not be a go-to Cure album (and who can be surprised as it follows the immense Pornography in 1982 and Disintegration in 1989), this 9th album in their gold-plated discography still didn't receive the critical success it deserved upon its release. Despite success in the charts and reaching number one in the UK in only its first week of release on 21st April 1992, Wish received mixed reviews. However, after more than ten years at the top, the press became more inclined to appreciate the violent electric freshness of grunge as well as more melancholic shoegaze.

everything is alive, Slowdive’s 5th record, is exactly what the title suggests: an exploration into the shimmering nature of life and the universal touch points within it. While there are parts of this record that could sit neatly next to the atmospheric quality of 1995’s Pygmalion; everything is alive also manages to break down the boundaries of what’s come before it. Spanning psychedelic soundscapes, pulsating 80’s electronic elements and John Cale inspired journeys, the album lands immediately as something made for 2023 and beyond. For a genre that is often thought of as divisive, and often warrants introspection, here Slowdive show their craft as the masters of it by pushing it outwards, beyond the singular; the end result being a record which feels as emotional and cathartic as it is hopeful.

Limited Deluxe two CD edition includes bonus disc of rarities & live tracks. 2023 studio release from the Britpop band. Given encouragement by the tremendous reception of last year's live return and first album in more than two decades, the three-piece return with Eight. Marking perhaps their busiest ever year in 2023, the band makes up for lost time having been missing from the musical map since 1998 prior to reforming in 2021 and releasing their seventh album, Keep On With Falling, last March. Where last year's album, joyful in tone yet brooding with heavyweight lyrical themes, came together as an exploration of the isolated ideas of each member, Eight is, according to vocalist and co-songwriter, Sice formed of songs recorded "purposefully to appear together on an album." Before adding, "There is also a greater depth of integration, which means that it's more difficult to tell which member of the band the song originated with." Reflecting on Seeker, the new album's opening track, written about leaning on those we trust to share life's highs and lows, bassist and co-songwriter, Tim Brown says: "This song started out as a three-chord synth pop tune and mutated into a brassy bop courtesy of trumpeter, Nick Etwell. The electric guitar flourishes were added by Louis Smith before Sice added layers of backing vocals which help drive the song along and bring it to it's joyful conclusion."