Wednesday, October 27, 2010

What Ever Happened To That My Bloody Valentine Reunion?

Way back in 2007, Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine fame stated that the band had reunited and tours were in the works. Shoegaze fans across the country rejoiced at the fact that the band would be playing their first set of shows in 16 years. The band blew audiences away with their notoriously loud concerts and frontman Kevin Shields even promised that the scrapped follow-up to 1991's Loveless would finally be finished and their were even rumblings that it would come out in 2008. It is now three years since My Bloody Valentine announced their reunion, and while their shows were considered a smash hit and allowed fans the chance to see them live for the first time in ages, the promised album still has not been released.

The thing that I find confusing is that Shields has stated in numerous interviews that the album is about 75 percent finished and that he has been working on it, yet there is not a single peep out of the My Bloody Valentine camp. This is incredibly frustrating for those who have been waiting years for new material, and although Shields seemed ready to complete the album, I cannot help but feel that the expectations placed on whatever he puts out next are keeping him from finally releasing the album.

Loveless is considered one of the best albums of the 1990's and the gold standard of shoegaze records. Not only that, it has served as a major inspiration for numerous acts. Critics made the members of My Bloody Valentine gods of music, and undoubtedly some of that pressure had to have impacted the band and their willingness to record. What will be interesting to see, if the album is released, is how it is received critically and by fans. Most of the material for the album was written in 1996, so it will be interesting to hear those songs if they go untouched and see how far ahead of the curve the band was at the time.

Hopefully, Shields and company will make good on their promise and release a new album soon.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

New Rival Schools Video!



Will, who runs the excellent blog Sound As Language, posted this new video from Rival Schools a few days ago. The song is off their upcoming album that comes out in the spring. I am pumped for this record and I can remember when I literally listened to "Used For Glue" once a day for a loooong time. Hopefully people don't sleep on this record and even though it is their first album since their 2001 self-titled effort (if you don't count their unreleased material), they sound just as strong as ever.