mikgazer vol 1 Review

This is a review for my month long Album-a-Day adventure in Jan. 2022. if you want to read the other reviews, check out the original post.

First album of the month is a compilation album, mikgazer vol. 1. This is a collection of shoegaze instrumentals with vocals by none other than everyone’s favorite vocaloid, Hatsune Miku. Part of the reason I picked this album was because of the odd pairing of those two things, but it honestly worked super well. I must admit that I’m just starting to get into shoegaze and have not listened to hardly any vocaloid music, but I think this album did both of those styles of music a lot of justice. The songs on the album either tend to use the Hastune Miku voice in the lower registers, which fits incredible well with the noisy, ethereal sounds of shoegaze. I found myself preferring those songs to the sound of Hatsune Miku I’m used to, which is the higher pitched vocals. Don’t get me wrong - those songs still bopped, but the vibe was quite different, and I don’t think they meshed quite as well.

Part of the fun of this album was that it was a compilation - every artist present brought a pretty unique perspective to the theme, which I really loved. They were similar enough to form a cohesive album, but offered a lot of variety on every listen.

Overall, I really loved this. Maybe folks who are more into either shoegaze or vocaloid music will have gripes with it specific to how those sounds were represented, but as someone just beginning their shoegaze journey, it really hit the spot.

Score: 8.5/10

Favorite Songs: Parachute, Flash Back 0217, 千年の雨の終わりに

One Recommendation: If you like shoegaze? Probably 千年の雨の終わりに. If not? Submarine