Ulrich Schnauss: Goodbye

Label: Domino

Like most goodbyes, this latest Goodbye is light on words, breathy on vocals and heavy on atmosphere. And if you think you hear a hint of My Bloody Valentine in there too, you’re not alone. The German-born Schnauss draws sonic cues from the shoegaze pioneers to the extent that the ghost of Kevin Shields seems an ever-present phantom presiding over this album. Still, there is more than meets the eye. Schnauss is an electronic artist, and Goodbye succeeds in reinventing the tried and true genre by imbedding the familiar and often hazy guitar-infused dream pop in a sea of ambient beats and beeps. Ethereal and mesmerizing, every track sweeps, lulls, and lures the listener into layer upon layer of synths, bells, and sighs over faint distorted guitars and barely-there vocals. Overall, this is an album of electronic otherworldliness you would want to hear over and over again. (Carrie)