The music of Ulrich Schnauss is a bit like teenage love: blissful, cloying, fairly predictable. But damn is it beautiful! This re-release of Schnauss‘ first album, including a bonus disc of rarities, serves up more of the high points from 2003‘s A Strangely Isolated Place-swirling melodies, sparkling production and big hip-hop beats-but with less of the overt homage to shoegaze bands like Slowdive. As such, it‘s a more enjoyable album, with the hissing majesty of tracks like “…Passing By” achieving a sweet grandeur of their own.