‘Cataclysmic times, it’s often said, produces great art. So does diversity. The modern day musical landscape is in a constant state of change with its many scenes recreating themselves into something interestingly new. This equally applies to the shoegaze genre. Beautiful Noise is still being made and it’s sounding from all four corners of the globe.’
So read the liner notes to this ambitious and expansive compilation album that draws on the talents of acts from no fewer than 16 counties. Its timing couldn’t be better: there’s certainly been something of a shoegaze renaissance bubbling under for a good couple of years or so now.
You’re unlikely to have heard of the majority of the bands here, but then, that’s precisely the purpose of a compilation like this. Love shoegaze? Love the contemporary exponents of the genre you’ve heard? Then you need to hear this!
Driving indie guitars reminiscent of The Wedding Present, skewered with shards of feedback and sent skywards by ethereal female backing vocals shape the very 90s sounding ‘She Doesn’t Feel the Sun’ by Duelectrum. I’ve no idea who they are, but it’s a great way to start an expansive assemblage that features no fewer than 30 tracks by 30 different acts (unless you count Ummagama, who feature three times, as an act, as collaborators and remixers).
The guitars warp, MBV style, on ‘Hazy Youth’ by Trementia and conflict with the vocals which shift from the dreamy to something bordering on shimmering surf pop.
Jangling guitars enveloped in swirling effects slowly melt together as the album evolves, and one slightly flat, downcast male vocalist flows into another, to be replaced by a delicately soaring and heart-tuggingly introverted female vocalist, but be assured this is no criticism.
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And no, the album doesn’t lack range or variety: from the lo-fi (Ummagama’s ‘Live and Let Die’) to the stripped-back (Digilite’s ‘Dance of Angels’) via the gothic (Stella Diana’s ‘Isbeau’ and ‘Heartbeats’ by Bloodlips) and the noisy (the Chapterhouse-esque ‘Muffhead’ by Jaguwar). The post-punk electro-pop of ‘Hipgnosis’ by Clustersun is nicely realised and provides further contrast, demonstrating the breadth of the shoegaze umbrella in 2015. Robsongs provide another standout track with the deep psychedelia of ‘Essa Grande Falta de Voce’, while Wzniak’s epic ‘El Maresme’ truly soars when it spreads its wings.
The one thing that is clear – alongside the fact the standard of music presented here is exceptionally high – is that shoegaze does not mean wish-washy, wimpy, drab indie, and while the first wave of artists in the 90s were maligned by the media for their floppy fringes, etc., their legacy is now emerging through the output of a diverse range of acts who are making music that instead of sounding retro or dated, is very much the music of the present.
Revolution Online
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