Random reviews of random albums...
My Bloody Valentine - MBV (2013)
22 years.
Stories are lived and lives are sculpted in 22 years. From 1991 to 2013. 22 years.
In 1991, I was an awkward middle school kid who had just discovered the soul-enlightening life-affirming power of music through Nirvana's Nevermind. I'm sure this was many kid's of my generation entry point into music obsession. But it wouldn't be a few years later until a friend would turn me on to another 1991 album--equally world-opening. Another album that equals and then exceeds the sonic brilliance of Nevermind. That album is Loveless by My Bloody Valentine. Loveless. A wall of sound saturating hooks and chord changes in a way that both invites and the listener in and challenges everything you think you know about music, and how music should sound.
Loveless, the second album from Ireland's My Bloody Valentine was the high-water mark for the British indie shoe gaze movement (along with Ride's Nowhere and the debut album by The Stone Roses... duh). But it never received a follow-up. The world (of music nerds like myself) craved a new album for years. But this was with trepidation. A new album means more sonic beauty to melt into, but what if they wait too long, and like so many other bands, are never able to capture the moment they painted on Loveless again.
22 years later. The next My Bloody Valentine album was finally released--2013's MBV. The genius of Kevin Shields had returned.
The album is a combination of time and its gaps. Part of the album was recorded before the band broke-up in 1997. The some recording happened in 2007. Finally, the last pieces were recorded in 2012. Usually an album can be a way to capture a certain period of time. A brief period of time for an artist. MBV is different. It is an album that captures 22 years, and the sound of time sometimes passing. Sometimes stopping. Some songs sound like they could have been Loveless outtakes. Others are fully dressed in mid-90's drum and bass influence. Some sound new. All sound My Bloody Valentine.
"She Found Me" opens the album as the only song that was recorded in its entirety in 2012. Every other song is built of pieces from before 1997, from 2007, from 2012. This track is drenched in distortion. Chords bend and sustain the crumbles. It is a slow building track, with primitive drums keeping time. You feel like you are exactly where you thought you would be when you listen to this--in a My Bloody Valentine record.
Much of the album lacks choruses, and sometimes the hooks are hidden. Pristine melodies lines are buried and serve as they evidence, once uncovered, of Shields' affinity for classic pop and indie pop song structures.
"Only Tomorrow's" long outro interplay of exaggerated guitar lines and a following bass beg for a cinematic visual to be projected.
Song titles seem to mean nothing. This is exacerbated by the fact that the lyrics themselves are indistinguishable. What are these songs about? I guess nothing. All that matters is the sound.
"New You" stands out as one of my two favorite tracks. It is driven by a head-bopping dance groove. You just have to dance in your car seat as you listen on that drive. The vibrating guitar chords sparkle. The tambourine tinker bell flutters.
My other favorite track is "In Another Way." Are those saxophones? Is that a jungle house beat? Fuses lit then explode. This is the auditory equivalent of a Pollock painting. Dynamite blows away the face of the mountain. Drum and bass beats and another drawn out outdo. Gorgeous highlight of the album. There is a riff of siren guitars, celestial synths, exploding snares, kick, hi-hats. It propels you along unstable paths. Comforting in its chaos. Then it ends.
And 22 years never sounded so good.
