British shoegaze-rock legends Slowdive will make their first Seattle appearance in 22 years (Rock Candy, 1992) November 4 at the Neptune Theatre. Tickets are $26.50 adv/$30 DOS, and go on sale July 18 at 10 am; the show's all ages. You can purchase tickets at Tickets.com, 24-hour ticket kiosks [located outside the Paramount, Moore and Neptune Theatres], Sonic Boom Records in Ballard, in person at the Paramount box office [M-F 10am-6pm], or by phone at 1-877-STG-4TIX.)

Hardcore Slowdive fans are ecstatic, of course. These gentle souls left a small but perfectly formed catalog of diaphanous, pacific songs that have aged better than most in the genre. Whereas most rock strives to accelerate your heart rate, Slowdive's stately compositions bring listeners to a hushed, awed stillness. With their third and final album, Pygmalion, Slowdive moved to a severely stripped-down, almost dubbed-out version of their previous selves, but still retained their reverent, seductive aura.

Slowdive superfan Rafael Anton Irisarri made a megamix of their songs back in February, if you want a crash course in the band's sound. The video below is of 1990's "Slowdive," the band's first song, and still my favorite by them.