不一樣的後搖

As we've seen so many Instrumental Rock (and/or Post-rock) bands walking the unfortunate path of self-repeating their earlier work, the creative sparkles that helped to launch the whole revolution of rock music have faded into the history books, only cherished by nostalgists who still remember the time when it all happened.

Even though sonic amazements come far and between nowadays, it's not unusual to pick up some hidden gems along the way, sincere efforts made by little known small-town bands who have their own unique interpretations of rock music. In 2007, we witnessed one of the best cover albums in quite some time from the Athens, Georgia six-piece Japancakes, whose meticulously re-arranged renditions of the paramount shoegazing masterpiece—"Loveless"—has stunned some of the long time followers of the recently revived genre. The use of strings in place of vocals, if not ingenius, is a delightful deviation from conventional composition that has brought joyous listeners and fans around the world raving on their blogs, yours truly included.

Around the same time at which "Loveless" was released, Japancakes came out with their sixth original full-length, titled "Giving Machines", an eight-track compilation of instrumental bliss that vaguely resembles the style in which the sister album is written. One only has to lend his ears to the first two tracks—"Double Jointed" and "Lalita"—to appreciate the harmonious beauty composed of melodic strings, ethereal guitar lines and warm keyboard notes. "Heaven or Las Vegas", which originally appeared on Cocteau Twins' eponymous album in 1990, is arguably the best effort given by the band by staying true to the distinctive sound of the 80's despite the superficial face-lift. "The Enabler", a short spacious dreamscape followed by "Recovering Australia"—the most visual track on the album—is as close as the band gets to their drone origins, which is not entirely a bad thing considering the band's congenital ability to pen sweet, harmless soundtracks.