The Return Of My Bloody Valentine

Should have gone for the .wav files

― Mark G, Friday, February 8, 2013 11:53 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

feeling likewise

Loveless sounds good on youtube, .mp3, etc. and many here have burned the new m b v mp3s and played it on speakers and gave it the thumbs up.

Would like to hear more of SR's thoughts on Wonder 2 some more (careful what you wish for so maybe not). But yes I am also thinking there was an idea here, that's where they were going to next back in '95 and...it never ever took off.

That, and those remixes from the late 90s...there were always ideas but MBV stopped being the vehicle to realise these.

I really enjoy Simon Reynolds' writings, but I have to say I'm not fully understanding what he's getting at with the new album. Which is fair enough, because it's not a proper review. And I await that eagerly.

In his metaphor, his "head is in a completely different place". But this goes both ways. He seems to be expecting the old, unchanged friend. Has he thought this old friend also has his head in a completely different place, too? This is why "the timing feels off". It has happened. It happened to me two years ago. When I moved and met up with an old friend, he was extremely different with gestures and certain habits that hinted that deep down inside there was some vestige of my old friend left from 15 years ago.

Loveless somehow feels like a more dynamic album because of it has more higher end. The high end is kind of 'rolled off' in m b v. The details are in the mids and lows, which is perfect because our ear discerns more detail in the mids. Personally, I have always loved this and the last album I recorded was done with a similar concept: nice heavy drums and bass; big lows and mids, with few high ends. If I learned something from making that album is that when mastering it for the radio, they completely stripped all of its dynamics. Personally, I thought mastering an album like this ruined it and it should have had very little 'mastering'.

I'm wondering if a less compressed, more "live" or "off the floor" recording or version would make some people happier when focusing so much on lows and mids.

Just my $0.05 CAD. ;-)

I'm also wondering if the emphasis on lows and mids has anything to do with Shields hearing. He did, after all, surround himself with really heavy noise at high frequencies.

i guess i'm just really glad that i'm not a super intense fan of MBV and i can just listen to this as a new album of a band that i think is cool & has a good sound and not really have to compare it to some romanticized personal experience of college or whatever

How dare you

haha...btw is the album wearing well with you ned?

yeah Ned I need an update

iirc Ned has wholly rejected My Bloody Valentine & is now championing Pokey LaFarge

Yeah fuck that limey shit.

Still loving it, letting it settle in, honestly hearing new things each time. It wasn't until today I actually heard the drums at the start of "Wonder 2" underneath the roaring murk. I can sense why Simon's conclusions are as they are but...*shrugs*...hey, I'm not him!

i guess i'm just really glad that i'm not a super intense fan of MBV and i can just listen to this as a new album of a band that i think is cool & has a good sound and not really have to compare it to some romanticized personal experience of college or whatever

― downton arby (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, February 8, 2013 2:36 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol

He seems to be expecting the old, unchanged friend. Has he thought this old friend also has his head in a completely different place, too?

with the comment on 'wonder 2' what SR seems to be saying is that his friend is, if anything, not changed enough from 15 years ago. They haven't gone to a different place.

I'm quite happy with the place they're at, thanks very much.

You're full of RETROMANIA!

I'm also wondering if the emphasis on lows and mids has anything to do with Shields hearing. He did, after all, surround himself with really heavy noise at high frequencies.

Thought it went the other way around? That as we age we hear fewer high frequencies so we're more likely to add treble because that's what sounds right, or balanced or whatever.

source: fifteen-year old Aphex Twin interview

I'm not trying to say anything new. Just clarifying that his friend's mind might be elsewhere and that it simply doesn't coincide with SR's. And that they may be so far apart from each other, that they can't understand one another.

I can't hold it against KS for making music he likes to make and force him, instead, to make something that is vastly different from before. But I think this complaint already lies in the realm of the discourse of the job and importance (or lack thereof) of the music critic. You have people pushing sound and being more inventive, such as Woebot (who SR likes), and then you have the other extreme which is people playing because it feels right or 'good'. I guess in a perfect world, musicians would find some middle ground, but I don't think we should be harsh with those that do not, especially when that 'middle ground' seems to be so elusive and ever-changing depending on what (moving) extremes you choose. Just my thoughts.

Eris Bueller, I guess what I meant to say was he might be sensitive to brighter sounds. I know people that have gone to too many live shows and find bright sounds discomforting, whereas mids are still bearable. But it does vary depending on how you've ruined your ears. Take it with a grain a salt because this is anecdotal and I do not have any scientific data to back this up.

xposts you are correct

doesn't this just sound bassier and fuller because, uh, it wasn't made with tech from the arse end of the 80s. we're missing something that made loveless great, 'pop-noise-pop' all focused in a narrow freq range. loads is left up to the imagination and the listening situation with loveless. loveless sounds great super quiet and super loud and they feel like two different things to me.

not that i'm complaining about m b v, this is a great sounding record. reminds me of portishead 'third', mastery of the recording situation, very mature melodically, patient, focused record that you want to give time to becuase you know what the people that made it are capable of

There's something rhythmically suppressed, aurally suffocated about the bulk of it

So if people really wanted some further thoughts...

*clicky*

As I recall SR doesn't like the bulk of Loveless nearly as much as Isn't Everything and the EPs?

Correct. And he said as much at the time!

Alex otm. Rhythmic suppression and aural suffocation are sort of WHAT THEY DO. And picking the last song as a counterexample of what they should've done is just.... he does realize "Wonder 2" is probably the least rhythmically-driven track on here, and the most suffocated?

Re: the lack of high end, it's almost certainly a conscious decision. Loveless has a similar sonic spectrum. If there are any extenuating circumstances to consider it's probably not hearing loss-- I mean, how many shows has KS played in the last 20 years-- but a by-product of repeated listening at high volumes, long hours at the mixing desk

I confess to being totally wrong on my initial assessment. On subsequent listens this album really shines. However I always skip the last 3 songs.

Whereas the last three songs for me are the best of the album by far!

you guys should just split one copy of the vinyl!

http://eastgatesdachurch.org/sites/default/files/images/solomon%20baby.JPG

I guess they just seem to busy. Too layered. Like several songs played back simultaneously. Not sure where to focus my listening.

Sly Shoddy Turpentine

I played it for the first time and it had the same effect as Loveless. Completely "what the fuck...?" Terrible. Twenty years for this shit?

Again today and it's starting to unravel.

I can't wait to play it again. It sounds so fucking woozy

fwiw,Loveless is a desert island disc for me.. It took me a while. I couldn't believe how low "come in alone" was on a ballot on here."Swallow" is on there too

There are no songs on MBV that match these two or "to here knows when" . It's really OK

I guess they just seem to busy. Too layered. Like several songs played back simultaneously. Not sure where to focus my listening.

― calstars, Friday, February 8, 2013 6:04 PM

Of course, I blame everything that I like outside of metal for my love of metal so my hypothesis might be full of shit.

just starting a 4 hour DJ set, opened with "if i am" and "new you"

sounds dope on these giant fucking vintage monitors in the DJ booth!!

What, right now? Got any Bobby Brown?

no :(

and a really cute girl just requested "that steve aoki song"

has someone already received the cd/vinyl? right now there are offers at 147 euros at ebay for the cd+vinyl.

I don’t think it’s being shipped for another couple of weeks.

And it’s still available online too!

my guess would be that cd and vinyl do not exist as yet.

and a really cute girl just requested "that steve aoki song"

― ❏❐❑❒ (gr8080), Saturday, February 9, 2013 5:01 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

wonder 2?

I don’t think it’s being shipped for another couple of weeks.

One week in & I am pretty much unreservedly loving this. Something I've noticed is that it isn't until you've familiarized yourself with the many (indelible, awesome) textural elements that you can start to parse the melodies, which ARE very strong on this album overall, but much subtler and more oblique than a lot of older MBV.

If another song comes along this year that I like more than 'in another way,' it will have been a very good year for songs.

Wait, is there a new album coming out !?!?

When you say "Wait" ....

Wait for it...

didn't Kevin say there was going to be an EP of new material soon as well? lol

to here knows when?