My Bloody Valentine thread

[Buick6]

Just read Reynolds piece - the best piece of music writing this year?

Well, 1. good for sticking up for an old friend. 2. There is no music press now, is there? So the competition is not large. TP is a good, and can be great, writer. That review was, in every sentence, bad writing.

You're jealous...

But the majopr point is you need inspiring music for inspired rock writing and alot of the music today is just fucken shit fucken post-punk junk for little fucksticks.

I'm getting into the BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE, but they're a 'veteran' band!

 

[Chris]

K so somebody posted the first show up on ILM: {link)



Sweet Jesus am I excited to see this. Sure they still sound like MBV, but !!!

 

[jonny mugwump]

saw them last night- they were incredible, the venue and the sound just extraordinary BUT what was the point?

I mean they still sound ahead of their time- they're the only guitar band i've bothered to watch in the last 10 years other than Animal Collective (not sure about their recorded output but live they are something else) but is that it- a greatest hits set and then presumably an endless tour with promises of new material that will never surface?

It was retro perfection and that to me is utterly pointless- a night out for the old fogeys...

 

[noel emits]

Saw them on Friday. Loved it, can't believe we've been missing this for 16 years or whatever. YMMR sounded better than ever - I was skanking out. I think PA technology must have finally caught up with them. Yeah, all old songs but it's still made pretty much everything else seem redundant. Listening to Loveless you can forget what a great rhythm section they have.

Funny comments from myspace:

"Honestly, for £25 a ticket, at least look like you want to be there!
Utterly disappointed.
The sound was shockingly bad too. Your "sound engineer" needs a good talking to.
When the audience shouts for the vocals to be turned up, it's because THEY CAN'T HEAR THEM!!! It's not rocket science, is it?"

 

[wonk_vitesse]

That's a great photo, it really took me back to Leicester Poly '91 where I last saw them, the total white out at the end went on for about 10mins. They really defined what loud was for me, the boundary point. Not into seeing them again. Listening back Loveless is nowhere as good as people claim. I think 'Isn't Anything' should be their claim to fame.

 

[mms]

That's a great photo, it really took me back to Leicester Poly '91 where I last saw them, the total white out at the end went on for about 10mins. They really defined what loud was for me, the boundary point. Not into seeing them again. Listening back Loveless is nowhere as good as people claim. I think 'Isn't Anything' should be their claim to fame.

those comments are weird don't those people get it?

i saw then way back probably 91 or 2 too and they did that whole play one note for ages thing, the whole experience was both exhilarating and confusing!

so noel was it a good show what parts?

 

[jonny mugwump]

Hahahahah what a totally wonderful photo- awesome...

I mean, reconsidering my comments- yeah Noel's right, i can't believe we've been missing this for that long either- i just desperately want this to become something more than just a trip down memory lane.

As for the complaints about the sound. WTF?- thats outright insanity.They sounded incredible- like they've never sounded before and you could hear the vocals. I mean, they're not exactly shouters anyway are they? Reynolds and Parks on blissblog talk about the sludge that is their legacy from uninspired bands who just never got the point. Their sound is dense but never mud and finally the technology is there for them to replicate that density live.

 

[noel emits]

so noel was it a good show what parts?

It's My Bloody Valentine! The thing is you know the songs but live it's fierce and immersive and there is BASS and DRUMS and the band grooves. It definitely sounded better than other times I've seen them, although shows at ULU, the T&C and Brixton Academy maintain a big mythic place in my mind. Everyone knows the noise blitz is coming but it's still impossible to argue with - sonic materialism, like a good dub system but on the full frequency spectrum simultaneously. The layers of sound kept ratcheting up as if additional pedals were being switched in, very much like Mainliner's 'Mellow Out'. And it's not simply white noise, there's a thrashy free jazz thing going on as well. At the end it looked like they went back into the song, lips were moving, but it was hard to tell from the sound. You can probably guess the obvious ones but it was good to hear 'Slow', 'Thorn', 'You never Should', 'Come in Alone'... And no encore nonsense. It really doesn't feel like a nostalgia thing, more like a weird loop back to a point where something left off. Doubly so as the last time I was in The Roundhouse was for a bizarre new years day party in 1994. The building was an empty shell then and so many things had yet to happen.

By the way, that's not my photo. It's great but I don't live my life through a lens.

 

[CrowleyHead]

@ this new song, this band in general, the fact that it's 40 dollars for an LP, really? (when you know it's not about the artwork, or the design expenses, it's to pay for how much of a parasitic derelict Kevin Shields is).

Also, "Loveless" is very terrible, and a testament to how weird people are.

 

[wise]

so they've got a new album but they're only playing old tunes at the shows.....
Doesn't sound too promising, anyone heard the album?

 

[Local Authority]

Half of its techno and a couple of songs like DJ Fresh but with guitars

 

[Russellchap]

Just checked out first two tracks underwhelming to say the least. They sound like Loveless outtake's.

Stream

 

[Benny Bunter]

I'm relieved to say the albums fab, I doubt many mbv fans are gonna be disappointed by it.

 

[Russellchap]

After a few more listens I have to say it's a brilliant album.

 

[bassbeyondreason]

Sags a bit in the middle ("New You" has to be one of their worst songs), but the last 2 tracks in particular are incredible.

 

[connect_icut]

Haven't looked at Dissensus in days, mainly because I'm an MBV obsessive, so I've been buried deep in all this shit. Can't be bothered to read back too far in the thread but here's my experience...

I was shitting myself when I heard the first three tracks. Didn't like them at all at first.

Started to feel more comfortable at track four, when things got a bit more "electronic".

By track seven, my jaw was on the ground. "in another way" is already one of my fave MBV songs. The whole last two-thirds of the album is incredible, including "new you", which I love.

Some more scattered thoughts...

Much more complex songwriting than before. Harmonically weird and often very Beatles-y.

Those first three tracks sound almost like generic shoegaze. They've grown on me but it's really not what I'm after.

The mastering is weirdly compressed, given how much Kevin talked about not wanting to make the remasters too compressed. I think he wanted this one to sound more contemporary, not like a museum piece.

The drum & bass element is great - not cheesy at all. Kinda like how they incorporated the hip-hop influence into "Slow".

It is what it is - a collection of tarted-up outtakes from 1996. But it's MBV, so it's still ten times better than whatever it is you like.

That is all.

 

[rubberdingyrapids]

im not a massive MBV obsessive though i did get obsessive over loveless several years back but i like this a lot. bowie should be jealous of the D&B song. im not sure it sounds compressed - i love just how 90s it sounds, it sounds really pre-digital texturally, very fat and thick. who sees you is fucking amazing. what might have been irritating isnt at all.

 

[wise]

Sags a bit in the middle ("New You" has to be one of their worst songs), but the last 2 tracks in particular are incredible.

This was my feeling, loving those last two, wish the whole album had been like them (a bit more unhinged)
Definitely enjoyed it though

 

[drilla]

New You sounds like a slower paced Pizzicato 5 track.... i kind of like it.

 

[Benny Bunter]

Much more complex songwriting than before. Harmonically weird and often very Beatles-y.

The mastering is weirdly compressed, given how much Kevin talked about not wanting to make the remasters too compressed. I think he wanted this one to sound more contemporary, not like a museum piece.

The drum & bass element is great - not cheesy at all. Kinda like how they incorporated the hip-hop influence into "Slow".

Always thought Shields' songs were quite George Harrison sounding - Long, long, long from the white album in particular springs to mind. All those unexpected chord changes and, like you say, 'weird' harmonies.

If the record has a lot of compression it doesn't seem to be going for a contemporary 'loudness wars' thing - in fact I've seen some mbv geeks on the net say they've analysed the files and they're not even normalised, so this is in fact much quieter than the average pop record. Also the top end treble has been rolled right off, there's no unpleasant frequencies jumping out at all despite the overloaded guitars. I think the production sounds lovely and warm throughout this record and probably more dynamic than Loveless is, to my ears at least.

Agree with everyone that the last track is definitely the one though - reminded me straight away of the Foul Play remix of 'Open your mind' with all the phasing/flange whatever. Wonderful stuff and better than I could have hoped for.