My Bloody Valentine - "Loveless" (LP Review)

I had been resisting reviewing "Loveless" because it is just too obvious: there are innumerable reviews proclaiming the excellence of this LP (e.g., Allmusic, Wired, Pitchfork, Drowned In Sound).   But with My Bloody Valentine's out-of-print EPs collected on "EPs 1988-1991" and *finally* a new LP,  "m b v", I've decided to include it.

I first heard this LP in 1999, ordering it at the same time as DJ Shadow's seminal "Endtroducing.....".  They don't sound anything alike, but they are similar in that once you listen to them, you'll never hear music the same way again. 

Rather than throw hundreds of words at this LP, the eccentricities and innovations of Kevin Shields, or how the cover art matches the sound, instead I'll offer my initial, visceral reaction from 1999:

Dying Swan Music*.

Yes, that's the best I can do, courtesy of Tennyson:

But anon her awful jubilant voice,
With a music strange and manifold,
Flow'd forth on a carol free and bold;
As when a mighty people rejoice

Standout songs:  All, and it really should be consumed as a whole, start to finish (Youtube playlist).  If forced to pick three, I'd go with: "To Here Knows When", "Sometimes", "Blown A Wish"

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final Score: In addition to "10/10", this LP earns my very rare "beyond music" label; "music" is just too limiting a concept to describe it.

Bonus links: official videos for "To Here Knows When" and "Soon" (radio edit).  I'm pretty sure most of the "official" videos for MBV are the same footage used over and over again, but how else would you do it?



* = Listen to "Touched", a sort of intro to "To Here Knows When", and then get back to me when you come up with a better description.