CHAPTERHOUSE 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: A great choice by Music On Vinyl - whom at this point have proven their mettle at sating the desires of almost any type of past music enjoyer - Chapterhouse's 'Whirlpool' is the debut studio album by the English shoegaze band, and thoroughly deserves this case of retrospection. In just nine tracks, the quartet of Andrew Sheriff, Stephen Patman, Simon Rowe and Ashley Bates established a hugely maximal sound, stylistically nailing the form by pairing its vacuuming vocal washes with more propulsive, hard-limited mixes and masters, informed by industrial and dance music most notably. Contemporaries of similarly tersely-named bands like Lush, Moose, Ride and Curve, Chapterhouse were indeed the most multi-syllabic, not to mention least restrained band out at the time; standouts 'Pearl', 'Autosleeper' and 'Falling Down' nailed the explosion of '90s indie ferment and the overflow of emotions that came with the decade.

Review: Although they're widely considered to be a shoegaze band, Chapterhouse were quite wide-ranging in their sound, and that's best demonstrated on their run of EPs. Music On Vinyl continue their mission to reissue all these landmark records from the early 90s, and so we come to the third record, Mesmerise. Ahead of their debut album, this four-track selection speaks to the unique space the band occupied between the baggy sound from Manchester and the ethereal grandeur of shoegaze. It's a sound which has a strong nostalgic tint from a modern perspective, truly a product of the time with a rose-tinted power to sweep you away. Just put on 'Precious One' and try to resist the sentimental swell.

Review: 'Pearl' is the headsier shoegaze fan's classic of choice, and it's all thanks to Chapterhouse's lack of fear in incorporating hard industrial elements to their squeeze-waxen, sunsoaked dream pop sound. The original single-EP for 'Pearl' consisted of three hip-hop-tempo electronic shoegaze songs, and had a brightness to them that could only be rivalled by their contemporaries Lush or Ride. This reissue comes to translucent yellow vinyl, much like the colour of refracted light off moths' wings or duneside beach water.