SLOWDIVE 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Shoegazers delight as Slowdive finally return with their first new album in six years. As you would expect, the band took their time working towards the perfect end result after lead singer and guitarist Neil Halstead laid down preliminary demos back in 2020. Obvious global crises impeded the progress until the band were able to reconvene and embark on two years worth of recording from those foundations until they reached the album we're presented with today (with a little help from Shawn Everett on mixing duties). As lead single 'kisses' intimates, the band's treasured dream-pop qualities remain intact while hinting at a more subtle, introverted sound than was heard on their standout self-titled album in 2017.

Review: Having just performed their first ever Glastonbury set this summer, Reading shoegaze pioneers Slowdive are set to unveil their much anticipated fifth full-length Everything Is Alive. Following on from 2017's exceptional self-titled return to form, marking their first new material in over two decades, fans have been eagerly awaiting a continuation of the group's second wind since revealing in 2020 that work was under way for yet another full-length. Promising more minimal electronic based soundscapes as opposed to the ethereal dream-pop of its predecessor, as well being directly influenced and reflective of the passing of both vocalist/guitarist Rachel Goswell's mother and drummer Simon Scott's father, prepare for yet another reshaping of melancholic grandeur in the atypical incomparable Slowdive fashion.

Review: Legendary Reading shoegaze band Slowdive had s short but powerful run from 1989 until 1995 (during their first spell) and that included the 5EP. In the same year, it was remixed to perfection by Bandulu and Reload and now it gets reissued on limited hand numbered vinyl. First up, Bandulu stretch the original's heavy minor chords and fatten the track out into a dubby masterclass and then the Reload version from Tom Middleton & Mark Pritchard (better known as Global Communication) is even more impressive. It's a supremely blissed out cut with a slow motion rhythm and futuristic sense of soul cut on 45 rpm but just as suited to 33rpm playback.

Review: It has been said that Slowdive's 5 EP is unlike anything else the band had done by this point in their journey - circa 1993 - and unlike anything they would go on to release. A four-tracker that's largely instrumental, it's arguably their closest venture into full-blown electronica, and given it doesn't sound too far from some of the choral-infused ambient on the release schedule today it's safe to say they pulled the idea off.

Of course it's still Slowdive, masters of shoegaze, and so despite clear differences compared with preceding work and all that followed, there are hallmarks of the band everywhere. Opener 'In Mind' provides a great example of the grand yet quiet atmospheres they're best known for, painting fantastical, emotionally enchanting pictures only visible through your third eye.

Review: It's 1991 and all looks alarming right with the world - little did we know what was coming a few decades later. Nevertheless, the Berlin Wall has already fallen, uniting East and West, and Slowdive have been drumming up some serious support by way of that self-titled EP and sequel, Morningrise. Then they dropped Just For A Day, the debut album, and cemented their place in shoegaze ambient rock 'n' roll history.

Holding Our Breath is both a collector's item reissue, which originally arrived slightly ahead of that first full album, and an exceptional example of how newcomers can be blown away by the euphoria and strange opiate intensity of this band after hearing only a handful of tracks. Comprising 'Catch The Breeze', 'Golden Hair', 'Shine' and 'Albatross', everything soars, glides, ebbs and flows its way through stunning, epic soundscapes that are somehow loud and quiet.

Review: Originally unveiled in 1992, Blue Day represents one of the most exciting periods in the evolution of British shoegaze heroes Slowdive - their formative years. Comprising the first three EPs, or at least a good chunk of each and the entirety of the seminal Morningrise, it's less of a history lesson and more a reminder of just how well the seven-piece's music has stood the test of time.

There are some notable omissions, it's true. So the Slowdive songs here are missing 'Avalyn II'. And there's no 'Catch The Breeze' or cover of Syd Barrett's 'Golden Hair' included from Holding Our Breath. Still, with the ethereal yet jangly rock of 'She Calls', 'Losing Today''s dark, almost choral atmospherics, and the white noise and discordance of 'Albatross', ain't nobody complaining here.

Review: When it was initially released three decades ago in the summer of 1990, Slowdive's eponymous debut EP was heralded as an instant shoegaze classic: a drowsy, dreamy collection of hazy wall-of-sound, reverb-drenched songs that put the Reading band right at the heart of a growing musical movement. As this 30th anniversary reissue proves, it remains a fine collection of cuts. While lead cut 'Slowdive', a more orthodox fusion of shoegaze, dream-pop and indie-rock, was the one that chimed with listeners at the time, it's the two-part soundscape 'Avalyn' - and in particular the epic 'Avalyn II' - that resonates loudest in the 21st century. The latter track is so good that it's worth buying the EP just to get your hands on it.

Review: It could not have been less on-trend at the time. It's 1995 and the UK is getting to grips with the commercial potential of rave, house music and other dance genres, while momentum is building behind the most unashamedly 90s and British music movement in history, Britpop. Oasis are readying '(What's The Story) Morning Glory?' and Blur have just introduced us to 'Parklife'. Then along come Slowdive with their third album, arguably their deepest, most serene and captivating in the cinematic sense. The vision of guitarist, singer and songwriter Neil Halstead, the tapestry of beautiful melodies presented across the record owe plenty to electronic and ambient music, although in many ways were ahead of their time in terms of how those are interpreted by a live band rooted in rock. In short, a landmark release.

Review: Reissues go one of two ways. Well, OK, maybe three. You're either left blown away by how fresh something sounds, reminded of a special moment in music history and how good an example a record is of that time capsule, or walk away wondering why you thought it was necessary to play, let alone buy, from this particular archive. As you'd hope, listening back to Slow Dive's seminal 'Just For A Day' fits into the second of those conclusions. Yes, soaring rock that seems to foster our dreams and fantasies in walls of power shoegaze does feel like a recollection rather than where we're at today. But my goodness do the epic arrangements and woozy artistry in the songcraft still sound as awesome, grandiose and yet personal as ever. One for the books, for sure.