Sunday, November 09, 2008

I love Loveless


My latest musical obsession is the band My Bloody Valentine and their disc Loveless. I don't know how I missed them the first time around. The disc came out in 1991. It really is an amazing piece of music. And for me it's best to hear it as one piece. I've been listening to it for about a month pretty consistently and it continues to blow me away.

It's especially delicious to hear this music on an iPod. You let the music, the pure sound, totally engulf you. Some of it is intense, some of it is pure shimmer.

I guess it was this article in the NY Times that got me interested in checking them out. The back story of the guitar genius Kevin Shields is fascinating. Shields is a perfectionist, kind of a strange obsessive himself, who brings a truly innovative approach to the guitar.

Shields had a sound in his head and he fully realized it on Loveless. It's hard to describe. His guitar washes over you like a wave. It's a beautiful noise, the vocals are buried deep in the mix. It's pure sound. Quite beautiful, on the edge of a sparkling chaos. A great achievement.