Duly impressive is the shear magnitude of Skywave's sound. At live shows, the band is known for soundchecking at half-volume, then cranking it all the way up at curtain time for an unsuspecting soundman. Bassist Oliver Ackerman designs his own effects pedals, including the Supersonic Fuzz Gun and a series called Total Sonic Annihilations, which Skywave employ to help achieve their massive sound. His clientele includes Keith Fullerton Whitman, who used FX-pedal-augmented, laptop-produced guitar tones to construct 2002's beautiful Playthroughs. Synthstatic is similarly experimental in its delicate treatment of extreme noise, and its oscillating high-volume dynamics more than live up to the band's promising URL. The record even sounds potent on laptop speakers.
If only for its formalism is it impossible to call Synthstatic a great album. Bands following similar formulas in different genres might be pilloried, and Skywave will doubtless endure their own share of derision. But some forms of rock, given an occasional tightening of the bolts, never seem to grow stale. Had it been released 15 years ago, a work of this songwriting caliber would likely have been wildly acclaimed. As it is, Synthstatic lacks any shred of originality, but is probably the best of all possible end-results from a monument built completely out of scrap material, a shoegazing "Junkyard Workshop" that, like any successful tribute, enforces the significance of its forebears while managing to hold its own ground.

Pale Saints 的第一张，shoegazing经典专辑之一

"Armed with the ethereal mystery of the Cocteau Twins and the crunchy guitars of Lush, Secret Shine's songs come in striking musical layers ... a stirring and melodic blend of shoegazing bliss." -- Amplifier

"Songs crescendo, shake, and shudder like a dense, hot mist falling on your shoulders, filling your head with visions of vistas and weightless elation. It's flat-out majestic on the orchestral strings ... like a trip by rail through snowy mountain ranges." -- Big Takeover

"Immense swirling soundscapes that reek of the nostalgia of Slowdive but bristle with the undoubted influence of contemporaries Sigur Rós and Mogwai provide the orchestral backdrop to the mesmerizing ethereal boy-girl vocal harmonies. Irrepressibly gorgeous." -- Tasty Fanzine

All of the Stars is Secret Shine's second studio album, and their first in fourteen years. The band took an unscheduled nine-year break before returning in 2004 with the release of their back catalog on Clairecords, followed by two emphatically received EPs of new material in 2006 and live shows in Europe and America.

Although it could sit comfortably alongside shoegaze classics like Slowdive's Souvlaki, My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, and The Pale Saints' The Comforts of Madness, All of the Stars is a unique treasure and possibly the new wave of "stargaze."

Adorable's hugely overlooked and grossly underappreciated debut album, "Against Perfection", is easily among the finest pieces of pure pop pleasure I have in my ridicously bloated CD collection. If you enjoy the darker, moodier side of pop music (especially if you listen to British alt/indie rock), and if you have a sweet tooth for the 3-4 minute single, then this album is for you.
Opening track "Sunshine Smile" is simply breathtaking. This song is so good, it is worth the price of the CD alone. Alternating between an infectious arpeggiated guitar melody (with an absolutely killer harmony part that sounds sooooo good!) and a crushingly heavy guitar riff that would make the Reid brothers weep with envy, this track encapsulates what the very essence of the Adorable sound is: unbelievably catchy and emotional vocal lines combined with melodic and abrasive sounding guitar parts that work in tandem to create something that is at once both beautiful and destructive.
Many Adorable fans cite the track "Homeboy" as the band's zenith and it's easy to see why. This track is easily one of the most infectious pop tunes I have ever heard. The fact that I sing this song in the shower almost daily is a testament to that (laugh). Combining a brooding bass line with simple but effective guitar parts and moody vocals, this track is a homerun for British pop music. Whoever thought that something this dark, moody and angry sounding could also be so incredibly infectious? Adorable proves it can be done with flying colors (as long as those flying colors are all different shades of black---laugh)...
While the band largely stick to this winning formula throughout the record, they do manage to eschew the "one-trick pony" trappings of such bands as The Jesus & Mary Chain by offering songs with wider and more spacious dynamics, such as the introspective sounding "A to Fade In" and the quiet, but still brooding, "Still Life" and "Breathless."
The album closes on a triumphant note with the dramatic "I'll Be Your Saint"---another song that could easily serve as an exemplary example on How To Write A Good Pop Song for all prospective musicians.
To sum up, this is a wonderful record from start to finish. And you don't have to enjoy bands like Jesus & Mary Chain, Echo & the Bunnymen & The House of Love to appreciate it. This album is for anyone who treasures well-written pop melodies and music with genuine feeling and emotion. Give yourself a nice little treat and order this album as soon as you can!

内容紹介
High Fader RECORDS リリース第4弾! 「永遠希望の世界へ」
アーティストについて
イマニシ マサシ(g)とYUKO(G)とYUKI(Dr)による2ギター・ 1ドラムのインスト・アンビエントシューゲイザーユニット。ギ ターで揺らぎと眠れる轟音を表現し、永遠希望のレクイエ ムをコンセプトとしている。 ライブでは感動して涙をながす人もいることから「哀愁 シューゲイザー」と称されている。今回のフルアルバムで、 永遠の希望音がついに完成! 09年01月には、アメリカシューゲイザーレーベルSERIES TWO RECORDSより音源リリース。09年05月にはシューゲ イザーレーベルHigh Fader RECORDS設立。同年、ミナミ ホイール2009に出演。SPECTRUM(ex スペースメン3)や Ceremony/eskimohunter/Screen vinyl image、RINGO DEATHSTARR等、様々海外なシューゲイザーバンドとの 共演を果たす。本年には、THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEARTの来日公演に参加や、4月8日には、イギリス からChapterhouseやulrich schnaussとclub AC30を迎えたレ コ発を開催。関西を代表するシューゲイザーバンドである。

Ceremony is a post-punk/shoegaze band from Fredericksburg, Virginia, featuring two members of Skywave. Paul Baker left the band and formed Static Daydreams, leaving John Fedowitz alone.
Well known for its outstanding mixture of aggressive, rock and shoe-gaze the band keeps the spirit of the legendary band skywave (John Fedowitz, Oliver Ackermann, Paul Baker) going.
Ceremony was formed in 2004. Since then the band toured the East Coast/USA several times and played two week in Tokyo/Japan. Moreover Ceremony played some very successful shows in Germany, Italy, Denmark, The Netherlands and France.

大分県を拠点とする男女ツインボーカルのシューゲイザー/ドリームポップ風なJ-POPデュオの1st Mini Album!

The debut album from Monster Movie has hatched and is ready to walk around a bit. Written, performed & produced by Christian Savill & Sean Hewson, it is a landmark follow-up to their self-titled debut EP from 2001. The album, recorded between March and August 2001 at The White House studio in Weston-Super-Mare with Martin Nichols engineering (also the birthplace of their debut EP as well as Slowdive's `Souvlaki'), shows a move away from the layered guitars and strong vocals of the EP to a more somber, subdued & warm sound. Here the vocals are more often layered with Martin Wheeler & Louise Hewson, adding their vocals to those of the band, to create a ghostly, disembodied effect. The instrumentation is more varied here as well, with cheap keyboards and acoustic guitars mixing with radios, feedback & broken effects pedals to create a warm hum. As with the EP, the songwriting is still a strong point but Monster Movie have moved forwards, investigating instrumental so! ngs (witness the cinematic 'Star City') and structure (a la the Faust-like sudden change in 'Winter Is Coming'). Everything on here has a great tune even when it is layers of noise, but the most obvious pop songs are 'Waiting', 'Shortwave', 'Take Me Away', '4th & Pine' & 'Home' with 'Sleeping On A Train' providing a change of pace & some rock action. Monster Movie are known to be collectively fond of Grandaddy, Air, Yo La Tengo & the Super Furry Animals. They are also more likely to be influenced by their intense and occasionally psychotic dislike of most other rock music. Their individual tastes are not considered 'sexy' enough to be listed.