Less than six years after
Sanctuary released
Catch the Breeze,
Cherry Red put together
The Shining Breeze: The Slowdive Anthology. Both releases are two discs in length and provide an overview of the band's entire discography, from 1990's
Slowdive EP through 1995's
Pygmalion. There is a little less overlap than one would expect: 13 of the 31 songs here are not on the
Sanctuary set.
Slowdive was such a consistent band, with several B-sides and album tracks as strong as their A-sides, that the two releases are both representative and nitpick-prone. The most obvious gripe here is that seven of the nine songs from
Pygmalion are included, yet the album's gorgeous
"Crazy for You" is not. Among the highlights that cannot be found on the
Sanctuary compilation:
"She Calls" (a towering
"Morningrise" B-side, one of their most psychedelic moments),
"Moussaka Chaos" (an ambient dub mix of
"Souvlaki Space Station" that hangs in suspense), their storming cover of
Lee Hazlewood and
Nancy Sinatra's
"Some Velvet Morning," and the lead track from the
5 EP (thudding, mind-bending ambient techno, a bit of a shock upon its 1993 release). ~ Andy Kellman
