The meaning of shoegaze

If you’re a diligent little NME-reader, I’m sure you’ve come across the vague term ‘shoegazer’ being bandied about to describe the next big thing in indie land. I keep coming across it on reviews, MySpace music pages, iTunes et al, and every time I’m like, ‘what the fuck is this shoegaze shit all in aid of’? No, really. It means nothing to me. Probably a bit like the above photo means absolutely nothing in relation to this post(apart from the fact it has stars, stargazing, getit?)
Frustrated at my own ignorance, the word’s ignorance, or whatevs, today I hit up Wikipedia for some answers. Turns out the term is derived the way said ‘shoegaze’ bands stand on stage looking at their effect peddles. That’s all. I don’t know what I expected but something a little deeper than that, perhaps.
For anyone else out there who has wondered what shoegaze is, here we go:

Shoegazing (also known as shoegaze) is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted until the mid 1990s with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991. The British music press—particularly NME and Melody Maker—named this style shoegazing because the musicians in these bands maintained a motionless persona during live performances; they stood on stage and stared at their effects pedals or the floor, hence the idea that they were gazing at their shoes

And, thanks to those thoroughly avant-garde dudes at drowned in sound, here is a shoegaze mix tape, for all your shoegazing needs.