Well, no, they're not just shoegazer, but they are derivative of shoegazer. Just as enemayhem is derivative of rap. Very derivative. Let's put it this way, I saw Snoop Dogg on Las Vegas last night, and I could have closed my eyes, and it could just as easily have been M&M from SNL two weeks back. Yes, he's clever, but so are some other rap artists (he==both/either one).

Yeah, you covered yourself a bit in the text of the original post, "...least derivative...", but I wouldn't go so far as to say these qualify as "non-derivative". That was my only point.

Regarding least-derivative-ness, the first example that comes to mind is Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden -- nothing out at the time (that I heard, anyway) was even remotely like what they put together, yet I could still hear elements of the things from which they derived their unique-sounding opus. A little Miles Davis here, a bit of psychedelia there...but it was assembled in a way that I had never heard before. So it's not like I don't know what you're talking about.

And yes, I guess Cigar Rose are pretty unique...and yet, one of the things I think they derived from (besides shoegazer and minimalism, and perhaps prog) was late period Talk Talk.

But I still disagree with Emanem.

I would also agree with Fiery Furnaces -- they sound pretty unique to my jaded ears.