Originally released in 2005, 'Shimmer and Fade' was a limited time download EP from n5MD's sub-label En:peg Digital. Within its forty-eight minutes, bass and guitar arose from the background to a place of prominence and carried the EP's melodic content. This change in form represented an important period in the natural evolution of the Bitcrush sound, a time that found Mike Cadoo transitioning from his post-industrial and IDM beginnings found on Enarc to the more ambient/post-shoegaze direction of 'In Distance.' After years of requests to bring Shimmer and Fade back, n5MD has chosen to re-release it as a re-mastered CD which contains four extra tracks not found on the original EP. Limited to 1000, this release will serve as a time capsule of what was yet to come.

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Previously issued on n5MD's sub-label en:peg Digital in 2005 as a forty-eight-minute download, Shimmer and Fade returns in re-mastered form containing four extra tracks (one an alternate take of the originally-issued “The Missing”) not found on the original “EP.” Bitcrush may be the solo outlet for n5MD head Mike Cadoo's music-making but it's no exercise in vanity or self-indulgence. Rather Cadoo leaves his original stamp on the experimental field by deftly fusing post-rock, shoegaze, and textural soundscaping into a distinctive blend and by seamlessly integrating conventional instrumentation (vocals, guitar, bass, drums) with electronic elements in wholly convincing manner.

Cuts like “Aventious” and “The Missing” serve up the kind of tranquil and emotive electronica n5MD excels at. In the poppy “No Bridge No Water,” a grungy mix of guitars, bass, and drums meets the kind of ethereal vocalizing and chiming guitar playing one associates with shoegaze, while the blend of slow-motion post-rock and atmospheric electronica in “Every Sunday” is equally affecting. “Waiting For Something” unspools in an impassioned and controlled roar until its final, string-drenched minute, while the original EP closer “And We Fade” kicks into epic shoegaze mode about three minutes into its eight-minute run and pretty much stays there for the duration. There's no discernible lapse in quality in the four newly-added tracks, though Cadoo's singing in “When Swallowing Becomes Difficult” is a bit more ragged (perhaps by design) compared to the multi-tracked vocals appearing elsewhere. All in all, Shimmer and Fade provides a thorough accounting of Cadoo's talents and his Bitcrush persona, even if it's the embryonic one predating the subsequent 2007 and 2008 releases In Distance and Epilogue In Waves. de:bug

Nein, kein neues Bitcrush-Album. "Shimmer And Fade" ist vielmehr eine EP von 2005, die jetzt, komplett mit Bonustracks, endlich auf CD veröffentlicht wird - bislang gab es die nur als Download und auch das schon eine lange Zeit nicht mehr. Nicht ganz so episch und perfekt wie "Epilogue In Waves" kann man hier sozusagen die frühen Schritte von Mike Cadoo mithören, erste Versuche genau das zu erreichen, was ihm mit seinem Album aus dem Frühjahr gelungen ist. Rauher geht es hier zu, jedenfalls teilweise. "When Swallowing Becomes Difficult" zum Beispiel ist ein kompletter Überhit, der U2 mit ihren eigenen Mitteln schlägt und dennoch eigentlich viel mehr eine von Slowdive gespielte Joy-Division-Coverversion ist. Naja, ihr kennt mich und meine Vergleiche. Essentielle CD für alle Fans und auch für die, die es noch werden wollen.

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