The Return Of My Bloody Valentine

they arrived today safe and sound, completely unmangled!

A new hour long interview on NPR with Kevin on the remastering? Don't mind if I do.

https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2018/03/06/590948939/my-bloody-valentines-kevin-shields-gets-deep-into-loveless?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nprmusic&utm_term=music&utm_content=20180306

i believe KS is technically apt when it comes to limitations and workflow within the digital/analogue domains, but fuck me, his balls must have went grey listening to the same eleven songs for the umpteenth time! for the sake of preserving their transients and going about things completely analogue for the sake of it... nobody else can honestly tell the difference. if you say you can, you're either absolutely kidding yourself, or neil young.

Hearing is very much a mental process as much as a physical process — partly, you learn to listen in different ways. For example, even people with quite bad hearing have got a certain threshold — there's a certain volume where they can hear things quite well. When I'm working in the studio or mastering, I still tend to be the one who picks up on problems first or pick up on distortions. That's not necessarily a component of good hearing from a technical perspective. It's just the way I hear sound.

i am not an audiologist but this seems uh problematic to me

It would be funny if every time he remastered something it got quieter and quieter as his hearing got worse and worse. Until it's some abstract tape-delay parallel masterpiece.

(Obv. not funny ha-ha). But yeah, his take on hearing seems, well, wrong. But there is definitely something dyadic going on in hearing loss that I don't think we quite understand. By any account Neil Young should be deaf, but he's not (afaik). Pete Townshend had tinnitus and played with an acoustic, protected, with headphones (right?) until he didn't need them anymore. Roger Miller in Mission Of Burma still plays with headphones, I think standing *behind* his amp, or at least did (as did/does Robert Fripp). By any standard many drummers should be hard of hearing, since they can't even turn down their loud instruments, but it doesn't work that way.

he just wants to sell his album for the 3rd time to fans. not with me, boy.

'Loveless' is probably my favorite album. It became my favorite album from the first Sire CD release. My favorite recording ever is "Soon" from 'Glider'. It's my favorite specifically because of how it sounds. I had it on 12" and then the Creation single CD (and the Sire CD). I heard the 'Loveless' remasters on a decent sound-system. I enjoy it on headphones when I'm in the mood to pay specific attention to the sound, but I like speakers for the physical force of it. All that said, it always sounds the same to me. I cannot discern any difference between the versions. I can discern poorly encoded mp3's, but full .wav/apple lossless/vinyl (except for the crackles) always sounds exactly the same.

I'm glad Shields has his hobby, but I wish he'd spend more time on new songs and sounds.

By any standard many drummers should be hard of hearing, since they can't even turn down their loud instruments, but it doesn't work that way.

Plenty of old rock drummers play in sound-baffling "cages" with the rest of the band piped gently in through headphones.

I'm glad Shields has his hobby, but I wish he'd spend more time on new songs and sounds.

Kinda my thought. I have the Sire CD, I have the Creation Glider EP...I'm good.

He's semi-promised a new album this year at least. I want to see them live for the first time - never saw The Fall and don't want to repeat the error :(

Obv you were too young back in 88-92, but how come you didn't see them in 2008?

if a band play one show near you in 30 years, it can be possible that you'll have another appoinment on that day.

I hear you, but they did play the same venue in London several days in a row

I saw this bit:

I want to have decent hearing when I’m old… I do. And it’s like, for my age, I do have some damage and stuff, but it’s still relative. I often see guys at building sites, and you see the noise they’re making and they don’t have hearing protection. You’re just like, “That’s going to hurt you…” and people, in factories… so, it’s a bit tough sometimes, but it’s nothing, to be honest with you, compared to what’s out there.

And it brought to mind something I've thought about, too, about relative volume. When an ambulance passes, or a train, I have to cover my ears. It's almost instinctive. Bur rarely do I have to plug my ears out of discomfort at a show. It's as much the quality of the sounds as the volume.

I remember reading a Times story (2008) about the constant level of noise in Cairo. Here's a bit:

This is not like London or New York, or even Tehran, another car-clogged Middle Eastern capital. It is literally like living day in and day out with a lawn mower running next to your head, according to scientists with the National Research Center. They spent five years studying noise levels across the city and concluded in a report issued this year that the average noise from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. is 85 decibels, a bit louder than a freight train 15 feet away, said Mustafa el Sayyid, an engineer who helped carry out the study.

But that 85 decibels, while “clearly unacceptable,” is only the average across the day and across the city. At other locations, it is far worse, he said. In Tahrir Square, or Ramsis Square, or the road leading to the pyramids, the noise often reaches 95 decibels, he said, which is only slightly quieter than standing next to a jackhammer.

“All of greater Cairo is in the range of unacceptable noise levels from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” Mr. Sayyid said.

By comparison, normal conversation ranges from 45 to 60 decibels, a chain saw registers 100 decibels and a gunshot 140. Because the decibel scale is logarithmic, every 10 decibels equals a tenfold increase in intensity.

Some notes from that NPR interview:

- The speakers and headphones he describes using are $$$$$

- It's hilarious when he tells the interviewer that he needs to buy a different turntable to hear the remaster properly.

i went to Cairo for study abroad around 2006 and it was def not that noisey

my blaring levantine

i went to Cairo for study abroad around 2006 and it was def not that noisey

1) That article was from 2008. Maybe it got louder!

2) If it was too quiet maybe you're already deaf!

US tour this summer <3

https://pitchfork.com/news/my-bloody-valentine-announce-tour/

tickets for oakland secured. I'm sure Ned will be there.

Tix are $73 in Seattle.

apparently there were some pre-sales for the chicago concert that i didn't know about, but general tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10am.

Controp: as the biggest MBV fan alive, this is not worth fucking $73.

I *had* to see them - as it was the first and at that time I thought the only chance to see them - in 2006 in Paris. Made a weekend of it. And it was perfect. But the concert ticket was like 30 euros. They're above 70 now? That is fucking insane.

$45 for the chicago show, at least. i've never seen them so i'm pretty pumped!

Yeah ok, you'll have to splash, then. Also it will blow your mind. Also: take ear-buds with you. Also also: it will rule.

Philly tickets were, like, $45 or something but $60 after fees. Snagged two!

seeing mbv live is one of the more genuinely psychedelic experiences i've ever had, honestly

And by psychedelic I mean loud. As in, that jackhammer was totally psychedelic!

yeah! that's exactly what i mean! being exposed to the sheer physical presence of that sound for so long genuinely has a mindbending effect!

how much would you pay for permanent hearing damage

£25 iirc

Ten years since I saw them in Paris, but the memory of seeing the guy in front of me putting on his motor helmet in agony during the 'holocaust' bit never fails to amuse me.

I wore earplugs when I saw MBV about 10 years ago, took them out for a bit during the holocaust bit just to see what it was like. Put them back in pretty quickly.

yeah i had the foresight to bring some basic hearing protection and it was still the loudest thing i've ever heard but there were a lot of pained expressions around me and the crowd was noticeably sparser once the 20 minutes of paint-peeling, trouser-flapping white noise was over

tix were $45 here in the twin cities and it's at a far better venue this time so i don't mind. also i flew to denver to see them in 2013 and that was still worth it

I want to see MBV. They playing London this year (except at Meltdown)?

hmm I'm actually misremembering slightly, saw my posts from 10 years ago upthread and I only wore earplugs for YMMR, the rest of it I didn't because I am so hard. Of course now I have tinnitus in my left ear, although I went to the doc last week and that might just be because I have massive amounts of compacted wax in it. They tried to syringe it out this morning but it wouldn't budge. Either way I should probably wear earplugs more often. TMI etc

$99.50 for a shitty venue in nyc, fuck you kevin!!!!

Ha, I see I've mentioned the helmet story already, ten years ago.

I'm curious how loud they are on the spectrum of loud bands. Like, there's no way they're louder than, say, High On Fire, for example. I sometimes wonder how many times I've been exposed to louder bands in terms of sheer dB and not worn earplugs strictly because they were not preceded by tales of OMG it's like a plane taking off!! For example, I once took my wife to see Metallica, and it was so loud that she's been reluctant to go to shows with me ever since. Certainly plenty of hard rock acts are super loud and noisy, like Nine Inch Nails. And just a couple of weeks ago I thought Afghan Whigs were super loud.

Six By Seven might be the loudest gig I've attended

they are the loudest band i've ever seen in my life, hands down, no contest

i've seen lots of bands who were loud but none who turned sound into a physical presence that felt like trying to walk into a strong headwind

Like, there's no way they're louder than, say, High On Fire, for example.

Citation needed tbh. Loudest band I've ever seen in a venue that size. Louder than Motorhead etc. Not most deafening, that's still JAMC in a small room, but the actual volume wouldn't've been as loud there. I said that 10 years ago as well.

High on Fire wasn't out-of-the-ordinary loud the times I've seen them.

I bring earplugs to every show. Why not.

For example, here's a whole bunch of general citations:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudest_band#2009

The most recent one cited on there is Kiss. Kiss!!!

On July 15, 2009, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Kiss achieved an SPL of 136 dB measured during their live performance (not the sound check). After noise complaints from neighbors in the area, the band was forced to turn the volume down

I've seen Swans, not even close.

Dinosaur Jr weren't far off one time

Oh yeah, the legendary Ottawa ‘09 Kiss show, forgot about that one

I heard it was so crazy everyone was plugging their ears and throwing up. And that was before they started playing.

there's a scene in the movie sunshine where one of the characters on a trip towards the sun looks directly towards it from the heavily-shielded observation deck where despite the protection his skin starts to burn

https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/sunshine.jpg?w=730&crop=1

that's kinda like what the holocaust section of an mbv gig is like but with sound instead of light