Album of the Day

In the early 1990s, a wave of groups that used guitars to build hazy walls of sound crested in Britain; dubbed “shoegazers” because of their players' focus on effects pedals, these bands made some of the most dreamiest sounds in alternative rock. Oxford quartet Ride were leaders of this movement, and their debut NOWHERE remains among its crowning achievements, cited by Pitchfork as one of the decade's top 100 albums. Effectively coupling melody and distortion with spacey neo-psychedelia, the Sire set features 11 originals by guitarist Andy Bell and Mark Gardner including the shimmering single “Vapor Trail.” Bell turns 45 today, and we'll celebrate the birthday with a trip to NOWHERE.