VA - Waves of Distortion (The Best of Shoegaze 1990​-​2022) (2023)

Review by Paul Simpson
Shoegaze compilations tend to be history lessons, like Cherry Red's massive Still in a Dream: A Story of Shoegaze 1988-1995, or otherwise focus on a particular regional scene or label roster. Waves of Distortion: The Best of Shoegaze 1990-2022 takes a different, more inclusive approach, gathering tracks from key artists of the style's original wave while acknowledging the fact that those acts have cast a long shadow on alternative and indie rock, continuing to the present day. The fact that the set opens with a track from Slowdive's 2017 comeback effort best exemplifies the compilation's intention of bridging the old with the new. Songs like Ride's timeless and heartbreaking "Vapour Trail," Chapterhouse's euphoric indie dance classic "Pearl," and Lush's gorgeous "Sweetness and Light" are all required listening for anyone interested in shoegaze and dream pop, and tracks by other acts with significant releases on labels like 4AD and Creation make up much of the comp's first half, including the Telescopes, Pale Saints, and A.R. Kane (whose vicious "Lollita" actually appeared in 1987, on their only 4AD EP). Ultra Vivid Scene and Galaxie 500 (covering Joy Division's "Ceremony") also turn up at the end of the release, but most of what's in between focuses on 21st century acts. Old-school shoegazers or new listeners who haven't yet moved past the original canon will wonder how they missed out on Airiel's tremendous "In Your Room," essentially the "Vapour Trail" of the 2000s. While most of the compilation prefers dreamy and jangly textures to noisy guitars, Ringo Deathstarr and Astrobrite represent the more overtly MBV-inspired side of shoegaze -- or shoegaze-adjacent, with the inclusion of Horsegirl's lo-fi rumble "Billy." Tracks by Beach House and Mogwai also seem like they were selected in order to demonstrate shoegaze's influence rather than serve as examples of the style itself. Air Formation's "Daylight Storms," bdrmm's "A Reason to Celebrate," and Fleeting Joys' "Go and Come Back" are all sublime, wistful gems that evoke "classic" shoegaze at its most melancholy. As with any compilation that attempts to summarize multiple decades of a genre in two hours, listeners can quibble about why certain well-known tracks or artists were omitted in favor of more obscure ones, or whether certain acts actually count as shoegaze or not. Ultimately the album is about discovery, picking genre highlights and favorites while also inspiring further exploration and immersion.