Tonight’s selections from My Bloody Valentine’s groundbreaking 1991 LP, Loveless. After Loveless, expectations were so high it took several aborted sessions and twenty-two years for the band to release a follow up album. Vocals become indistinct; just another layer in the soundscape. Hazy, gauzy guitar work that envelop the listener in a warm cocoon. Listening to this record is…an experience. It was a “holy shit” moment when I first heard it (also a great soundtrack for uh, chemical recreation).
Most of the videos below flash to some degree or another. The “no flashing” links also link to the LP versions of the songs (which are longer than the single/video versions).
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Soon [1991]
No flashing video here
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Once you’ve heard My Bloody Valentine and their magnum opus, Loveless, something inside you is forever altered. Known for its cacophonous guitar work and the great lengths taken to complete the album, Loveless threw the rule book right out the window and introduced a whole new way to express one’s self through the transcendent and tortured textures of an electric guitar. — Discogs
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Only Shallow [1991]
No flashing video here
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Kevin Shields was less a bandleader than a mad scientist, constantly developing and tinkering with new sounds. He played virtually every instrument and obsessively tinkered with the smallest details. And the genius of Loveless is its mix, the exact proportions of one sound to the next. The highlights that led off the two EPs are the tentpoles, but really, Loveless is all highlights. I've heard many thousands of albums in my life and it's one of the few that strikes me as being essentially perfect. It's also the album that has turned two generations on to the wondrous possibilities of sound as sound. It's hard to imagine someone like Fennesz getting anywhere near as much traction among indie music fans if Loveless hadn't taught them how to listen for the emotional possibilities of texture. It remains a landmark that hasn't aged a day. — Pitchfork
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To Here Knows When [1991]
No flashing video here
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External articles here. If you’re interested in the technical details of Loveless, these are for you.
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~
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When You Sleep [1991]
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WHO’S TALKING TO WHO?
Jimmy Kimmel: Magic Johnson, Naomi Scott
Jimmy Fallon: Pusha T
Stephen Colbert: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney
Seth Meyers: Tiffany Haddish, Chloë Sevigny, a performance from "Company", Aric Improta
James Corden: Nicolas Cage, Aaron Paul, Robert Winston
Trevor Noah: Alexander Skarsgård
SPOILER WARNING
A late night gathering for non serious palaver that does not speak of that night’s show. Posting a spoiler will get you brollywhacked. You don’t want that to happen to you. It's a fate worse than a fate worse than death.
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Rising from the ashes of early 80s goths Bauhaus, here’s Love and Rockets. Classic case of the lead singer going solo while the remaining members carried on under a new name.
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Love And Rockets :: No New Tale to Tell [1987]
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Might as well add a video by the singer who left the band, Peter Murphy (his classic gaunt, vampiric look is on display here — he should’ve been in movies).
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Peter Murphy :: Cuts You Up [1989]
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LAST WEEK’S POLL: WHICH IS NOT A PLACE IN THE UK?
Brokenwind 19% 3 votes
Crackpot 0% 0 votes
Dirty Bird 13% 2 votes
Great Snoring 6% 1 vote
New Invention 19% 3 votes
Pity Me 25% 4 votes
Wetwang 19% 3 votes
Dirty Bird is not a place in the UK.
