ULRICH SCHNAUSS & MARK PETERS

Working primarily at night—which might explain the drowsy sound, were it not already his trademark—German electro hypnotist Ulrich Schnauss teamed with Mark Peters of the British band Engineers for this album of pure downy atmosphere. Schnauss’ aim, as always, is to re-create with keyboards the arrestingly beautiful guitar assault of Ride, Chapterhouse and My Bloody Valentine. Those bands did “shoegaze.” Call this “laptop-gaze”—the slow blossoming of lullaby piano licks into lush synth swells. On “Forgotten,” there are ghosts in the circuitry and hints of Depeche Mode and Joy Division in the beat and bass line. “So lost in time, so lost in you,” someone sings. So it goes.