Alison - Slowdive

[link] A more canonical shoegaze sound from these guys.  This way of making music defies the melodic convention, although there are usually melody elements present in the vocals.  The instrumental sound is sort of a color faucet that is pointed outward and manipulated.  The effects on the guitars and sustains and reverb in the other audio elements set up a background, which is then manipulated and sculpted by the performers. I think the narrative content of the music can be huge, such that the vocals themselves are often free to go abstract.  In the case of the Cocteau Twins, one of the founders of this sound, the vocals typically went into experimental and conceptual (if not sonic per se) spaces that musical composition usually reserves for the instruments.  The era of shoegaze was pretty short. But it never really ended, either.  There is still huge potential for the genre.