Midrange by Dykehouse

Lo-fi meets hi-fi on Dykehouse's full-length debut for Ghostly International. A brilliant pop/rock album filled with dense textures and instrumentations, it is all the more amazing for having been recorded solely in the artist's bedroom on a home computer. Michael Dykehouse has crafted a postmodern and personal homage to the shoegaze genre, echoing his hero Kevin Shields and the immortal My Bloody Valentine. Midrange at once looks back and forward, echoing high school record collections as well as a future filled with limitless peaks.

Lead single "Chain Smoking" (available on 7') is an indelibly catchy song with an aching heart that isn't afraid to reveal itself, managing to be both experimental and extremely radio-friendly. Elsewhere, buzzing bass and soaring guitars establish Dykehouse's ear for beauty and melody, while brief instrumental passages punctuate the flow of gorgeous pop with lush synthesizers. Midrange is full of classic songs that reflect the burgeoning electronic pop scene with the resounding confidence and mastery of a young man on the brink.

Ann Arbor-based Mike Dykehouse's leftfield-focused first album, Dynamic Obsolesence, was released on Planet Mu, the label run by Michael Paradinas (AKA U-ziq). He signed to Ghostly in 2003, first appearing on the Idol Tryouts compilation with a cover of Wire via My Bloody Valentine's "Map Ref. 41 N 93 W". Dykehouse debuted his live band at SXSW 2004.

"One of the lushest, most pastoral pop-rock albums since ecstasy went out of style." -VICE

"It's in a class of its own all right -- impressive both in its individuality and distinctiveness, as well as the way that much of it sounds convincingly like a five-piece guitar band but was constructed on a home PC..." Four stars. -iDJ

"Few groups have ever harnessed their solemn detachment and surreal psychedelic underpinnings with the authenticity and fervor of Dykehouse." -Grooves

"What Lush would have sounded like if they had learned to play their instruments." Four stars. -DJ

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