"Better" isn't the right word, it just feels different [maaaaaan]
May 1, 2012 11:57 AM Subscribe
I celebrate this inaugural usage of the colmociosoig tag.
posted by dubold at 12:18 PM on May 1, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by dubold at 12:18 PM on May 1, 2012 [5 favorites]
I have tried (and tried and tried) to like MBV, to no avail. Is there something fundamentally wrong with me.
Yes.
posted by dirtdirt at 12:22 PM on May 1, 2012 [14 favorites]
Yes.
posted by dirtdirt at 12:22 PM on May 1, 2012 [14 favorites]
While it's not hi-fi music by any means, it does require a reasonably broad-band playback to hear the characteristic sound. Pull their music up in any frequency-spectrum display, and you'll see a dip in the middle, ramping up to big humps on both the high and low ends.
If you can't get a pretty beefy and full response on both ends, you won't get the musical effect.
posted by StickyCarpet at 12:30 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you can't get a pretty beefy and full response on both ends, you won't get the musical effect.
posted by StickyCarpet at 12:30 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
I couldn't love Loveless more, but my sister claims that the album literally makes her violently nauseous. I have to wonder if there's some sort of infrasonic effect in the mix that wards off certain listeners.
posted by Iridic at 12:31 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Iridic at 12:31 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
I loves me some MBV. I saw them several times during the late eighties / early nineties. When they played Denver a couple of years ago I was ecstatic to be able to see them again.
I was unaware though that they were considered to be one of the loudest bands in the world and turned down the earplugs that were handed out at the Denver gig. The reviewer who described their holocaust section like "sitting under a Saturn V rocket during lift-off without being burned" was spot on. I had recurring tinnitus for around a year. It still hasn't quite gone away and I still curse myself for not taking the earplugs.
posted by NailsTheCat at 12:31 PM on May 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
I was unaware though that they were considered to be one of the loudest bands in the world and turned down the earplugs that were handed out at the Denver gig. The reviewer who described their holocaust section like "sitting under a Saturn V rocket during lift-off without being burned" was spot on. I had recurring tinnitus for around a year. It still hasn't quite gone away and I still curse myself for not taking the earplugs.
posted by NailsTheCat at 12:31 PM on May 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
Ask Tim 'Cardiacs' Smith. He had a coronary after an MBV gig.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 12:33 PM on May 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by GallonOfAlan at 12:33 PM on May 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
I'll believe this remaster exists when I'm listening to it, when I have it in my hands, when I can swim in the reverb. Don't even get me started on the the new album.
posted by blaisedell at 12:35 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by blaisedell at 12:35 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
I couldn't love Loveless more, but my sister claims that the album literally makes her violently nauseous.
Does she have perfect pitch? Maybe she thinks about pitch-bendy stuff as infuriatingly missing the closest scale note instead of swirling about it. You should ask her if Indian classical music gives her moderate nausea.
posted by BEE-EATING CAT-EATER at 12:36 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Does she have perfect pitch? Maybe she thinks about pitch-bendy stuff as infuriatingly missing the closest scale note instead of swirling about it. You should ask her if Indian classical music gives her moderate nausea.
posted by BEE-EATING CAT-EATER at 12:36 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
I still much prefer their earlier jangle-pop "Sunny Sundae Smile" sound -- totally fucked-up but still definitely jangle-pop -- to the somewhat overworked later bits. I like those too, but not as much as "Sunny Sundae Smile".
posted by Fnarf at 12:36 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by Fnarf at 12:36 PM on May 1, 2012
I loved Loveless when it came out, mostly because it was so fucking awesome back then. There was nothing like it. It sounds like my dreams when I've dozing on the couch on a warm afternoon in May.
posted by KokuRyu at 12:38 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by KokuRyu at 12:38 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
my sister claims that the album literally makes her violently nauseous
I think it's supposed to! It's not just a couple of guitar strings that are twanging and bending, it's the whole world.
posted by Fnarf at 12:38 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
I think it's supposed to! It's not just a couple of guitar strings that are twanging and bending, it's the whole world.
posted by Fnarf at 12:38 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
I have tried (and tried and tried) to like MBV, to no avail. Is there something fundamentally wrong with me. I like most other bands that people who swear by MBV like, just not them.
They have the exact same effect in our household that Sigur Ros does - I listen to them just raptured in bliss and floating on a cloud of frisson and emotion, and my wife walks in and says "MY GOD YOU'RE LISTENING TO FINGERNAILS ON A BLACKBOARD."
posted by jbickers at 12:43 PM on May 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
They have the exact same effect in our household that Sigur Ros does - I listen to them just raptured in bliss and floating on a cloud of frisson and emotion, and my wife walks in and says "MY GOD YOU'RE LISTENING TO FINGERNAILS ON A BLACKBOARD."
posted by jbickers at 12:43 PM on May 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
Others may ... enjoy ... (if that's the right word) the chapter on the (spectacularly expensive and dysfunctional) Loveless recording sessions in David Cavanagh's Creation Records Story. How that record even got made at all is a small miracle. Considered from that perspective, the lack of follow-ups isn't exactly surprising.
posted by Sonny Jim at 12:44 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Sonny Jim at 12:44 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
I still much prefer their earlier jangle-pop "Sunny Sundae Smile" sound
I love that too. And Strawberry Wine etc. It's a shame they never play that older stuff live. Isn't Anything was always my favourite album. Loveless was great (and more widely lauded) but couldn't surpass Isn't Anything for me.
posted by NailsTheCat at 12:47 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
I love that too. And Strawberry Wine etc. It's a shame they never play that older stuff live. Isn't Anything was always my favourite album. Loveless was great (and more widely lauded) but couldn't surpass Isn't Anything for me.
posted by NailsTheCat at 12:47 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
I cannot wait for this. Especially the EPs, its some of their best work.
posted by just_another_crowd at 12:50 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by just_another_crowd at 12:50 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
I couldn't love Loveless more, but my sister claims that the album literally makes her violently nauseous.
I love it to death, but the wobbliness of it is really disorienting. I can easily imagine someone's brain having trouble processing it and deciding that the perceptual problem is internal rather than external, which is pretty much how motion sickness works.
posted by dfan at 12:51 PM on May 1, 2012
I love it to death, but the wobbliness of it is really disorienting. I can easily imagine someone's brain having trouble processing it and deciding that the perceptual problem is internal rather than external, which is pretty much how motion sickness works.
posted by dfan at 12:51 PM on May 1, 2012
Hopefully they'll print some lyrics this time so I can sing along.
posted by hal9k at 12:52 PM on May 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by hal9k at 12:52 PM on May 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
FROM THE INTERVIEW:
KS: I'm no victim here-- this is just the way it is for everybody. It's a bit like being in the middle of a battlefield and getting shot in the arm and going, "Why me?" I mean, to put it very, very, very simply: The corporate system is fully psychopathic, and any creative people who enter into business with any of these organizations come up against a lifetime of issues. You just deal with it as you go along. It'll keep on happening until people reorganize the organizations.
Gotta love that music industry.
posted by philip-random at 12:56 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
KS: I'm no victim here-- this is just the way it is for everybody. It's a bit like being in the middle of a battlefield and getting shot in the arm and going, "Why me?" I mean, to put it very, very, very simply: The corporate system is fully psychopathic, and any creative people who enter into business with any of these organizations come up against a lifetime of issues. You just deal with it as you go along. It'll keep on happening until people reorganize the organizations.
Gotta love that music industry.
posted by philip-random at 12:56 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
I go for long runs listening to Japancakes' cover album of Loveless sometimes. Instrumental, and somehow even more wobbly/smeary, but somehow it works. Better in the rain.
So yes, this is relevant to my interests.
posted by Earthtopus at 1:04 PM on May 1, 2012 [6 favorites]
So yes, this is relevant to my interests.
posted by Earthtopus at 1:04 PM on May 1, 2012 [6 favorites]
I believe that's a Cocteau Twins song, Greg.
posted by griphus at 1:09 PM on May 1, 2012 [6 favorites]
posted by griphus at 1:09 PM on May 1, 2012 [6 favorites]
They have the exact same effect in our household that Sigur Ros does
Dude, me too. My wife can't stand it. We got married in October and told me I could play any music I wanted at the wedding. We played "No Children" and "Dead Flowers" and any number of other songs like that but when I suggested "Hoppipolla" she vehemently protested.
OK, so here I go again. I got Loveless queued up on Spotify.
posted by holdkris99 at 1:10 PM on May 1, 2012
Dude, me too. My wife can't stand it. We got married in October and told me I could play any music I wanted at the wedding. We played "No Children" and "Dead Flowers" and any number of other songs like that but when I suggested "Hoppipolla" she vehemently protested.
OK, so here I go again. I got Loveless queued up on Spotify.
posted by holdkris99 at 1:10 PM on May 1, 2012
You have to be in the right mood. It's not every single day that I want to get my Loveless on. Or even my Isn't Anything. It's something you kind of have to steel yourself for, the same way you go into battle against a cellar full of spiders or into a commute in a violent thunderstorm. Certain accompanying substances also help.
That said, those two albums are definitely up there in my pantheon.
posted by blucevalo at 1:15 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
That said, those two albums are definitely up there in my pantheon.
posted by blucevalo at 1:15 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Also, I kind of dread a new MBV -- I worry that it'll be like the new Van Halen reunion record was.
posted by blucevalo at 1:17 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by blucevalo at 1:17 PM on May 1, 2012
I worry that it'll be like the new Van Halen reunion record was.
Eddie Van Halen does not strike me as meticulous in the Kevin Shields way.
posted by rocketman at 1:20 PM on May 1, 2012
Eddie Van Halen does not strike me as meticulous in the Kevin Shields way.
posted by rocketman at 1:20 PM on May 1, 2012
"No longer featuring Sammy Hagar."
posted by griphus at 1:21 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by griphus at 1:21 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
MetaFilter: Extremely in breach of contract
posted by spicynuts at 1:23 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by spicynuts at 1:23 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Is where I too vote for Isn't Anything?
Loveless is amazing but there's something specifically angst-y about the first album that made it matter more than, well, anything. Either that or it hit me at exactly the right bit of being seventeen-and-a-bit. Or a cosmic intersection of both factors. Man, in those days if you saw a girl's belly button it meant you had to marry her.
posted by tigrefacile at 1:26 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Loveless is amazing but there's something specifically angst-y about the first album that made it matter more than, well, anything. Either that or it hit me at exactly the right bit of being seventeen-and-a-bit. Or a cosmic intersection of both factors. Man, in those days if you saw a girl's belly button it meant you had to marry her.
posted by tigrefacile at 1:26 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
The fact that "shoegaze titan" means anything at all is one of the reasons I love being a native English speaker.
posted by sklero at 1:34 PM on May 1, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by sklero at 1:34 PM on May 1, 2012 [4 favorites]
I was unaware though that they were considered to be one of the loudest bands in the world and turned down the earplugs that were handed out at the Denver gig. The reviewer who described their holocaust section like "sitting under a Saturn V rocket during lift-off without being burned" was spot on. I had recurring tinnitus for around a year. It still hasn't quite gone away and I still curse myself for not taking the earplugs.
About 90 seconds into the (15 minute) noise section of "You Made Me Realize" I started laughing uncontrollably in a sort of gibbering Lovecraftian reverie, because even though I knew it was coming, and I knew exactly, according to legend, what they would do when they played that song, it was still so much greater and more terrifying than I could have imagined.
My head was in a gray fog for about 3 days after that show, but it's all better now, and I think I'm about ready for another MBV show now.
posted by anazgnos at 1:39 PM on May 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
About 90 seconds into the (15 minute) noise section of "You Made Me Realize" I started laughing uncontrollably in a sort of gibbering Lovecraftian reverie, because even though I knew it was coming, and I knew exactly, according to legend, what they would do when they played that song, it was still so much greater and more terrifying than I could have imagined.
My head was in a gray fog for about 3 days after that show, but it's all better now, and I think I'm about ready for another MBV show now.
posted by anazgnos at 1:39 PM on May 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
OK, so who's meeting me out in Joshua Tree National Park for a weekend-long listening session?
posted by mykescipark at 1:43 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by mykescipark at 1:43 PM on May 1, 2012
And I have to add that of all the 'legendarily loud bands', who, by that time, had reunited, MBV were really the only ones who truly delivered. Mission of Burma? Dinosaur Jr? Not even that loud.
posted by anazgnos at 1:45 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by anazgnos at 1:45 PM on May 1, 2012
I'm grateful to Shields for explaining what's up with those first generation CDs. Yeah, you can just turn the volume up, but that'll blow your ears out in a playlist with more recent songs. And even turning up Loveless on its own, I felt like something was missing (maybe also decent headphones and system, as StickyCarpet suggests).
So, I'm looking forward to this, and also just remembered to repurchase the Jesus and Mary Chain's Psychocandy, which I love to death, but also suffered from early generation CD syndrome.
posted by Idler King at 1:45 PM on May 1, 2012
So, I'm looking forward to this, and also just remembered to repurchase the Jesus and Mary Chain's Psychocandy, which I love to death, but also suffered from early generation CD syndrome.
posted by Idler King at 1:45 PM on May 1, 2012
I'm loosely familiar with mastering and how a recording with a wide dynamic range needs to be turned up in order to sound right, but Loveless always sounded quiet no matter how loud I turned it up. I'm really interested to hear these.
posted by gngstrMNKY at 1:52 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by gngstrMNKY at 1:52 PM on May 1, 2012
I would be in for some large audio experiment meetup where we put on 70 different copies of Loveless on speakers placed all over a forest, all slightly out of sync, all blaring out at full volume across the treetops (with some subwoofers below for capturing the low end). Hallucinogens optional but encouraged. Sounds like the closest we will ever get to experiencing the rapture and terror of the divine on earth.
posted by naju at 1:52 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by naju at 1:52 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
I've always preferred the cover to the original.
posted by griphus at 1:53 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by griphus at 1:53 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
So going to buy this CD. I haven't said that for a long time.
posted by merocet at 2:11 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by merocet at 2:11 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
This is a Wire thread now?Ooooh!!! [Lines up all his fish fingers, expectantly.]
posted by Sonny Jim at 2:18 PM on May 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
He sounds surprisingly sane. So I guess all those rumors about going insane in an apartment filled with chinchillas were just ... rumors?
Also, curious about this :
KS : [...] We never broke up, technically; I left the band for legal reasons once, I had to.
posted by Afroblanco at 2:22 PM on May 1, 2012
Also, curious about this :
KS : [...] We never broke up, technically; I left the band for legal reasons once, I had to.
posted by Afroblanco at 2:22 PM on May 1, 2012
The LOUDEST live performance I've ever seen. A filling in my teeth came loose and fell out from the vibrations. That was a hefty fix, but a good live music battle scar.
My ex and I always pictured MBV to be a bunch of aliens trying to write love songs and understand rock music.
posted by hillabeans at 2:27 PM on May 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
My ex and I always pictured MBV to be a bunch of aliens trying to write love songs and understand rock music.
posted by hillabeans at 2:27 PM on May 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
I've never understood the title, "Loveless". It's one of the sexiest records I know.
posted by WalkingAround at 2:31 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by WalkingAround at 2:31 PM on May 1, 2012
I've never understood the title, "Loveless". It's one of the sexiest records I know.
I don't get it. Is there supposed to be some sort of a connection between love and sex?
posted by griphus at 2:32 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
I don't get it. Is there supposed to be some sort of a connection between love and sex?
posted by griphus at 2:32 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
He says the analog multi track tapes were missing. So were they remixing it as well? Mastering does not deal with multi track tapes, mixing does. I’m not sure what he’s saying here because most of the technical stuff he’s talking about sounds completely, um, wrong. There is still no music level above "0". Maybe he’s just explaining it badly.
posted by bongo_x at 2:43 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by bongo_x at 2:43 PM on May 1, 2012
I saw one of their reunion shows (with earplugs!) a few years back, and it was the single loudest thing I have ever experienced. And it kept getting louder throughout the set. By the end, my denim jacket was billowing behind me as if in a reasonable wind, and I was leaning forward a bit to brace against the sheer volume pushing against me. Everything in my chest cavity was rumbling by the start of the noise/feedback section at the end, and it was an almost psychedelic experience (I was sober).
Such a good gig.
posted by Dysk at 2:51 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Such a good gig.
posted by Dysk at 2:51 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
I said earlier that I wouldn't believe this until I listened to it myself. Well now I can, albeit a low bitrate streamed version that probably won't sound any different to the original. You can listen to it here.
posted by blaisedell at 2:52 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by blaisedell at 2:52 PM on May 1, 2012
I found his comments on the vinyl repressings on the Plain label that he had pulled really interesting. Just like there was a weird, temporary legal bubble between US & European law that allowed all those Italian bootleg CD labels to flourish for a while in the 90s, grey market import vinyl repressings have been going crazy for years now, and it surprises me not at all to find out these labels are not particularly concerned about sourcing rights or even masters to press from.
posted by anazgnos at 2:55 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by anazgnos at 2:55 PM on May 1, 2012
I saw them when they played the Santa Monica civic center, of all places, and loved it. The last 15 minutes were like a gorgeous noise massage.
posted by flaterik at 2:56 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by flaterik at 2:56 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
item, you DO realize you're going to Hell for posting that video, right ?
posted by soundguy99 at 3:03 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by soundguy99 at 3:03 PM on May 1, 2012
There is still no music level above "0". Maybe he’s just explaining it badly.
There actually *is* a level above 0dB for certain media (tape and vinyl specifically). On those media it's basically the sound level above which you are not able to lay down to the medium an accurate signal and you get artifacts that were not present in the original sound (compression/limiting artifacts that can be frequency-dependent). Analog tape tends to compress above 0dB in ways that people find pleasing (which is part of the reason people thought digital sounded "harsh" though there are other factors as well).
In the digital realm, at the final output stage, 0dB is definitely the actual limit of the signal.... BUT it is possible to have levels in certain parts of a room higher than the SPL level at the front of the speaker due to resonance and constructive interference.
But what he's talking about doesn't entirely make sense, unless what he means is that on a lot of records, anything on the "final" unmastered version of the song that was at -6dB was pushed to 0, so all parts of the waveform between -6 and 0 in the source become clipped.
posted by chimaera at 3:50 PM on May 1, 2012
There actually *is* a level above 0dB for certain media (tape and vinyl specifically). On those media it's basically the sound level above which you are not able to lay down to the medium an accurate signal and you get artifacts that were not present in the original sound (compression/limiting artifacts that can be frequency-dependent). Analog tape tends to compress above 0dB in ways that people find pleasing (which is part of the reason people thought digital sounded "harsh" though there are other factors as well).
In the digital realm, at the final output stage, 0dB is definitely the actual limit of the signal.... BUT it is possible to have levels in certain parts of a room higher than the SPL level at the front of the speaker due to resonance and constructive interference.
But what he's talking about doesn't entirely make sense, unless what he means is that on a lot of records, anything on the "final" unmastered version of the song that was at -6dB was pushed to 0, so all parts of the waveform between -6 and 0 in the source become clipped.
posted by chimaera at 3:50 PM on May 1, 2012
That all being said, I'm very much looking forward to hearing a proper remaster. It's unfortunate that so many albums that were first mastered for CD before around 1992 or 1993 just don't take any advantage of the digital medium like those later in the decade did.
Back when the loudness wars' first salvos for higher RMS levels made for CDs that really did sound a bit better, and before the loudness wars took their worst casualties (circa 2002 to 2008, specifically things like Black Holes and Revelations by Muse).
posted by chimaera at 3:58 PM on May 1, 2012
Back when the loudness wars' first salvos for higher RMS levels made for CDs that really did sound a bit better, and before the loudness wars took their worst casualties (circa 2002 to 2008, specifically things like Black Holes and Revelations by Muse).
posted by chimaera at 3:58 PM on May 1, 2012
they were considered to be one of the loudest bands in the world
Yeah, I love MBV -- but when I saw them at Coachella a few years ago everyone was complaining during their set -- you could even hear it over the music in the Sahara tent, I was told, which is pretty impressive/annoying depending on your POV.
(Sahara tent being (a) as far from main stage as you can be, and (b) home to electronic music and generally fairly loud itself)
Music bleed is often a problem there but I heard more complaints about MBV that night than I have about any other performance there.
posted by wildcrdj at 4:06 PM on May 1, 2012
Yeah, I love MBV -- but when I saw them at Coachella a few years ago everyone was complaining during their set -- you could even hear it over the music in the Sahara tent, I was told, which is pretty impressive/annoying depending on your POV.
(Sahara tent being (a) as far from main stage as you can be, and (b) home to electronic music and generally fairly loud itself)
Music bleed is often a problem there but I heard more complaints about MBV that night than I have about any other performance there.
posted by wildcrdj at 4:06 PM on May 1, 2012
Goddamn, it is hard to beat Loveless.
I used to buy up used copies of this CD solely to give away to the uninitiated and would have multiple extras at any given time. I'll have todownload a .FLAC go to the local record shop and purchase the reissue and see if it opens any new doors.
posted by porn in the woods at 4:37 PM on May 1, 2012
I used to buy up used copies of this CD solely to give away to the uninitiated and would have multiple extras at any given time. I'll have to
posted by porn in the woods at 4:37 PM on May 1, 2012
I have no idea where my copy of Loveless came from. None. I don't recognize the handwriting on the CDR, nor do I know anyone who will admit to liking My Bloody Valentine. What I do know is that I found it among my things at pretty much the perfect time in my life to full enjoy it.
I can't wait to buy legit copies and smuggle them into other people's collections.
posted by piedmont at 5:22 PM on May 1, 2012
I can't wait to buy legit copies and smuggle them into other people's collections.
posted by piedmont at 5:22 PM on May 1, 2012
piedmont: "nor do I know anyone who will admit to liking My Bloody Valentine."
You need to make some new friends, stat.
posted by dunkadunc at 5:45 PM on May 1, 2012
You need to make some new friends, stat.
posted by dunkadunc at 5:45 PM on May 1, 2012
I like MBV and really like Loveless and love the Kevin Shields tracks that were in Lost in Translation, but I've always been a bit...nonplussed, I guess, with how MBV became the flagship shoegaze band. They were an interesting but not especially prolific group whose sound doesn't fully represent let alone epitomize the genre they were lumped in. There were a lot of "classic" shoegaze bands I enjoy more, who seemed to have more consistency in sound:
Slowdive (2) (3)
Ride
Adorable (2) (3)
Cocteau Twins
Lush
Ditto with contemporary shoegaze bands (of which there are way, way more than I can really hope to squish into a small list, but anyway):
Menkena
Asobi Seksu (2) (3)
Moscow Olympics
The Daysleepers
The Radio Dept. (2) (3)
The Raveonettes (1) (2)
Halou
Hammock
...and it would be criminal to exclude The Bilinda Butchers!
I hope this doesn't come across as a "Your favorite band sucks!" post, because I do like MBV and it's neat to hear from the band. I'm just in love with this style of music and all its dreamy cousins. I wouldn't be surprised if nobody were surprised by that list on MetaFilter, but a lot of people I meet seem not to have heard much shoegaze beyond MBV and I think it's a shame.
posted by byanyothername at 6:29 PM on May 1, 2012 [21 favorites]
Slowdive (2) (3)
Ride
Adorable (2) (3)
Cocteau Twins
Lush
Ditto with contemporary shoegaze bands (of which there are way, way more than I can really hope to squish into a small list, but anyway):
Menkena
Asobi Seksu (2) (3)
Moscow Olympics
The Daysleepers
The Radio Dept. (2) (3)
The Raveonettes (1) (2)
Halou
Hammock
...and it would be criminal to exclude The Bilinda Butchers!
I hope this doesn't come across as a "Your favorite band sucks!" post, because I do like MBV and it's neat to hear from the band. I'm just in love with this style of music and all its dreamy cousins. I wouldn't be surprised if nobody were surprised by that list on MetaFilter, but a lot of people I meet seem not to have heard much shoegaze beyond MBV and I think it's a shame.
posted by byanyothername at 6:29 PM on May 1, 2012 [21 favorites]
You need to make some new friends, stat.
Okay, none at the time. You're not wrong though.
posted by piedmont at 6:38 PM on May 1, 2012
Okay, none at the time. You're not wrong though.
posted by piedmont at 6:38 PM on May 1, 2012
I'm 38. I saw MBV at All Tomorrow's Parties a few years ago. The extended noise sequence is the only live music experience that even remotely compared to the concerts I attended as a teenager and young adult. That says a lot about me, sure, but even more about MBV.
posted by nev at 6:45 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by nev at 6:45 PM on May 1, 2012
item: yuck
I assumed at first before (regrettably) clicking you were referring to another relevant, albeit nsfw, yuck.
posted by SomaSoda at 6:52 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
I assumed at first before (regrettably) clicking you were referring to another relevant, albeit nsfw, yuck.
posted by SomaSoda at 6:52 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
There was an evening, a long time ago, when I understood the lyrics to Loveless with utter clarity; there is no way that I will be able to recreate it.
posted by holgate at 6:56 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by holgate at 6:56 PM on May 1, 2012
This is the first interview with Kevin I have ever read where he did not come across as the most arrogant, self-absorbed prick in music history (and that's even counting Van Morrison). Still, Loveless is an experience unto itself and I'll be in line to buy the reissue. My only worry is that in all his talk about 0dB and raising the volume he might actually fuck it up and brickwall the thing.
posted by Ber at 7:40 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by Ber at 7:40 PM on May 1, 2012
I've never understood the title, "Loveless". It's one of the sexiest records I know.
I don't get it. Is there supposed to be some sort of a connection between love and sex?
It's not official, but rumour has it thas Love and Sex have been seen dating downtown.
posted by WalkingAround at 9:09 PM on May 1, 2012
I don't get it. Is there supposed to be some sort of a connection between love and sex?
It's not official, but rumour has it thas Love and Sex have been seen dating downtown.
posted by WalkingAround at 9:09 PM on May 1, 2012
I don't see MBV as a shoegaze band, but if the definition=lots of pedals, then Kitchens of Distinction take the prize.
(PS: I saw MBV several times back in the day: they ranged from fabulous to seriously off. Are they one of those bands, like the Pixies, that are better live these days?)
posted by GeorgeBickham at 11:18 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
(PS: I saw MBV several times back in the day: they ranged from fabulous to seriously off. Are they one of those bands, like the Pixies, that are better live these days?)
posted by GeorgeBickham at 11:18 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
I love music but have trouble enjoying it live in many cases, due to constantly noticing sound problems and little issues and just having difficulty not overthinking everything. And MBV was, even though I was almost entirely sober, exactly as good if not better than legend. They were definitely not off either in Santa Monica or at Coachella.
posted by flaterik at 1:05 AM on May 2, 2012
posted by flaterik at 1:05 AM on May 2, 2012
I was also at the Santa Monica and Coachella shows, but one of the most (for lack of a better word) profound shows was the semi-secret show they played at the El Rey just before Coachella. When I got there, no one was being let in because one of the venue workers had a seizure during the soundcheck and an ambulance had to be called. Those of us queued up took that as "awlright this show is going to be insane" and "holy shit this show is going to be insane."
There were some great exchanges between Kevin and the audience:
Shouting Audience Guy: LOUDER!
Kevin: ok
Shouting Audience Guy: NO, LIKE SHATTER MY EARDRUMS LOUDER!
Kevin: ok
Another Shouting Audience Guy: FUCK THE EARPLUGS
Kevin: no, please don't fuck the earplugs
The show was completely fun. The band was loose and smiling, false-starting a couple of times and then just killing it with the power of an asteroid strike. Felt more like kids playing around with awe-inspiring array of equipment on-stage and less of a sound installation. No one can turn from euphoria to aggression and back like they can. Over the years I've been fortunate enough to witness a Saturn V launch (Apollo 17 represent!), a fly-by from an SR-71 on afterburner, and MBV can hold their own. It's not just the immediately "HFS that's loud!" reaction, there's a primal awe that's trying to process that a sound like that can even exist, never mind that it was made by people. Lizard brain say run away, moth brain says run to the light. It sounded like it looked. Repeat "Soon" forever while I obliterate.
Plus I thought it was cool that Deb and Colm got as many shout-outs from the audience as Kevin and Blind did.
posted by quartzcity at 2:41 AM on May 2, 2012 [2 favorites]
There were some great exchanges between Kevin and the audience:
Shouting Audience Guy: LOUDER!
Kevin: ok
Shouting Audience Guy: NO, LIKE SHATTER MY EARDRUMS LOUDER!
Kevin: ok
Another Shouting Audience Guy: FUCK THE EARPLUGS
Kevin: no, please don't fuck the earplugs
The show was completely fun. The band was loose and smiling, false-starting a couple of times and then just killing it with the power of an asteroid strike. Felt more like kids playing around with awe-inspiring array of equipment on-stage and less of a sound installation. No one can turn from euphoria to aggression and back like they can. Over the years I've been fortunate enough to witness a Saturn V launch (Apollo 17 represent!), a fly-by from an SR-71 on afterburner, and MBV can hold their own. It's not just the immediately "HFS that's loud!" reaction, there's a primal awe that's trying to process that a sound like that can even exist, never mind that it was made by people. Lizard brain say run away, moth brain says run to the light. It sounded like it looked. Repeat "Soon" forever while I obliterate.
Plus I thought it was cool that Deb and Colm got as many shout-outs from the audience as Kevin and Blind did.
posted by quartzcity at 2:41 AM on May 2, 2012 [2 favorites]
A gateway Ride track for MBV fans.
When I eventually build my underground house, it's going to have a back room with a concrete, foam and lead sheet door, and a pair of very large transmission line speaker enclosures that will compete fairly with my drum kit. And then I am going to learn to play these things properly.
posted by flabdablet at 6:40 AM on May 2, 2012
When I eventually build my underground house, it's going to have a back room with a concrete, foam and lead sheet door, and a pair of very large transmission line speaker enclosures that will compete fairly with my drum kit. And then I am going to learn to play these things properly.
posted by flabdablet at 6:40 AM on May 2, 2012
Ooooh!!! [Lines up all his fish fingers, expectantly.]
If I whip up a bowl of custard this will be a Dr Who thread. You don't want that.
I loved MBV way back then, but my listening dwindled after the played an awful live show here (they hadn't seen each other in a year or so).
I never fully grokked shoegazer as a musical genre, but I knew it when I saw it, and I loved You Made Me Realise in a manner so unholy that it's probably banned in several American states.
I'd play it now, but it needs to be played loud, and I'd bet I'd have Billy Bragg and REM banging on my door.
(Also love early Ride, through to Twisterella.)
posted by Mezentian at 7:21 AM on May 2, 2012
If I whip up a bowl of custard this will be a Dr Who thread. You don't want that.
I loved MBV way back then, but my listening dwindled after the played an awful live show here (they hadn't seen each other in a year or so).
I never fully grokked shoegazer as a musical genre, but I knew it when I saw it, and I loved You Made Me Realise in a manner so unholy that it's probably banned in several American states.
I'd play it now, but it needs to be played loud, and I'd bet I'd have Billy Bragg and REM banging on my door.
(Also love early Ride, through to Twisterella.)
posted by Mezentian at 7:21 AM on May 2, 2012
something specifically angst-y about the first album that made it matter more than, well, anything
Their first album, This Is Your Bloody Valentine, is not shoegazey or jangly at all and has a surf punk feel to it. I feel kind of inauthentic unless I've got ripped fishnets and creepers on while listening.
This reminds me I really need to upcycle my t-shirt with the cover from Glider on it that I've been saving forever. Why in the world did I wear my t-shirts so big in the 90s?
posted by *s at 7:39 AM on May 2, 2012
Their first album, This Is Your Bloody Valentine, is not shoegazey or jangly at all and has a surf punk feel to it. I feel kind of inauthentic unless I've got ripped fishnets and creepers on while listening.
This reminds me I really need to upcycle my t-shirt with the cover from Glider on it that I've been saving forever. Why in the world did I wear my t-shirts so big in the 90s?
posted by *s at 7:39 AM on May 2, 2012
Why in the world did I wear my t-shirts so big in the 90s?
It was the style at the time.
*ties onion to belt*
posted by Mezentian at 7:44 AM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
It was the style at the time.
*ties onion to belt*
posted by Mezentian at 7:44 AM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
Yes. Loudest gig I've been to by quite some margin.
Announcer: "I hope you've all got your earplugs"
People without earplugs: "hah, funny"
MBV play for about 5 minutes before all of the people without earplugs left clutching their ears, heh.
It was wonderful.
posted by knapah at 10:30 AM on May 2, 2012
Announcer: "I hope you've all got your earplugs"
People without earplugs: "hah, funny"
MBV play for about 5 minutes before all of the people without earplugs left clutching their ears, heh.
It was wonderful.
posted by knapah at 10:30 AM on May 2, 2012
I really want to listen to Loveless now, but my speakers are awful! It'll have to wait, damn.
posted by knapah at 10:51 AM on May 2, 2012
posted by knapah at 10:51 AM on May 2, 2012
I'm setting up my 5000 watt sound system for a beach party on saturday, and now I kind of want to play some of loveless as a sound check. The only problems are that a) 5000 watts is not nearly enough for MBV and b) I'm guessing people wouldn't... like... that.
posted by flaterik at 12:58 PM on May 2, 2012
posted by flaterik at 12:58 PM on May 2, 2012
Pressing errors on the new Loveless remaster:
The leaked version in 2008 matched the packaging: CD1 was the "original tape" remaster, and CD2 was the "1/2 inch analogue tape" remaster.posted by anazgnos at 7:23 AM on May 8, 2012
The 2012 release has the CDs backwards, though the cover art still indicates above.
Another critical error is in the "1/2 inch analogue tape" remaster: there is an ugly digital transfer glitch approximately 2:46 into "What You Want", during the "I do, I do..." bit. It's prominent and ugly, audible (yuck! through headphones) and visible in a spectral view. This error was also present in the 2008 leak of the analogue tape variant, so Kevin/Sony has had (at least) 4 years to fix this.
These are critical errors. The packaging/labeling error will confuse any and all buyers, and reviewers won't be reviewing the proper discs.
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posted by holdkris99 at 12:06 PM on May 1, 2012