Two Piers Vinyl & CDs

Review: Despite the style's influence and enduring legacy, shoegaze has not been celebrated with a raft of compilations and retrospectives. Waves of Distortion attempts to set the record straight via two discs of classic (and occasionally overlooked) shoegaze gems recorded and released at different points between 1990 and 2022. It offers a neat overview of the sound and some its greatest practitioners, flitting between the glistening, reverb-laden dream pop of Slowdive, the bowl cut-sporting loved-up swagger of Ride, the densely layered country-shoegaze haziness of Telescope, the jaunty jangly-ness of AR Kane and Spirea X, the psychedelic heaviness of Ringo Deathstarr, the tactile bliss of Beach House and the slow-burn, post-rock majesty of Mogwai.

Review: Night Train: Transcontinental Landscapes 1968-2019 offers a lifetime of a music on this magical collection chosen from the familiar and surreal, guided by an eclectic selection of tracks curated by the compiler of Music For The Stars. From the laid-back grooves of JJ Cale's 'Cherry' to the haunting beauty of Linda Perhacs' 'Hey, Who Really Cares,' each song paints a vivid picture of the changing fields and coastline outside your window. This assortment showcases the power of compilations to expand one's musical taste, with artists like The B-52's, Chris & Cosey and Tangerine Dream offering their own unique contributions to the sonic tapestry. With tracks ranging from introspective to euphoric, The Night Train celebrates the beauty created by artists and musicians alike, inviting listeners on a transcendent journey through space, sound and emotion.

Review: During the mid 1980s, years before he found fame with loved-up acid house/rave era outfit The Grid, Richard Norris ran a "psychedelic and freakbeat" club night in Liverpool called The Hangout. This fine compilation rounds up some of Norris's favourite 'floor fillers' from that night, joining the dots between the propulsive krautrock of Can, the NYC headiness of The Velvet Underground, the organ-rich Mod quirkiness of The Turtles, the high-octane psych-jangliness of The Seeds, the driving garage-rock of The Seeds, the gnarled psych-pop of Captain Beefheart, the flash-friend hedonism of Sharon Tandy's 'Hold On' and much more besides. An absolute masterclass from a man with an incredibly good record collection.