HIGH ROTATION

By Beth Keating.

The last week's weather in Melbourne has been a mixture of beautifully crisp days and dreary rain and wind. Perfect for reacquainting myself with shoegaze classics - old and new, which is exactly what I've found myself doing.

How about yourself? What has been playing on your iPod/stereo/record player/walkman? Tell us in the comments.

My Bloody Valentine: No album in particular, I've been making my way through the whole catalogue, EP and LP's alike. Much better writers, and much smarter people have analysed the various periods of MBV, and explored the reasons why they are so special. In my mind, their lush, textured soundscapes of Loveless and Tremolo are all-enveloping. Earlier releases offer a different interpretation of the post-punk sound.

Slowdive, Souvlaki: This is one of my favourite albums, ever. I went through a massive obsession earlier in the year, listening to it non-stop for about two months, and then switched it off for a while to discover other things. I put it back on this week, and really remembered how brilliant the songs on this album are. They move you - the way they are constructed, delivered, the subtlety in certain textures, the restraint in vocals and delivery - each song pulls at something inside. It's also an example of an album which hasn't dated - of course because of the songs, but also they style in which they've been recorded and mastered. It's constantly fresh on each listen, whilst beautifully familiar. I probably won't take this one off rotation for a while.