Albums of the Year! 2!

2. My Bloody Valentine - mbv

Do you know how hard it is to find a picture of My Bloody Valentine these days?  Sure I can dig through the archives and find messrs Shields, Butcher et al back when they were in their late 20s.  That in itself says much about the power and beloved loyalty of the thousands who have been waiting 22 years for an LP of new material (although much love had been poured on the fantastic 'EP's 1988-1991')

It already feels like eons ago when 01/02/13 became 02/02/13 and...

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...became canonized in the year's pop journey.

When it came though, first thoughts?  I can't hear this.  Are my top end earphones good enough to be able to distinguish what's happening here? Will Shields completely abandon what is essentially the most perfect blueprint in recent rock history?

When i'd put the volume up to ear-destroying levels I was, from the first moment, thrusted right back into a world which I had loved and able to love again.  A 'My Bloody Valentine' world to me is one so personal and individual to the unique listener that to recreate that or even attempt to recreate that was so precarious a position to put a legacy.  In the end though, it didn't matter.  Shields had still written amazing songs that fit straight away into a discography which is a musical pilgrimage for many. 

The tracklisting works wonderfully also.  Starting with 'She Found Now' and 'Only Tomorrow' settles the listener into a comfortable mode.  Tracks 4-6 start to lead away from the golden formula ending in as pop an artefact as My Bloody Valentine are likely to produce (New You).  But then.  Tracks 7 and 8.

Wow.

'Nothing Is' and 'Wonder 2' rivals the opening salvo of 'Shaking The Habitual' as the best 1-2 punch of 2013.  'Nothing Is' is this repetitive juggernaut, the quasi-recreation of the walls of sound the band is reknowned for producing in it's live shows. 'Wonder 2' is the star of the show and I can't imagine listening to the flange-blur of the rhythm section not being blown away.  Yes it's an absolute assault.  Violent and raging.  Yet 'My Bloody Valentine' create this wonderful juxtaposition, a dichotomy of angelic vocals on a bed of turmoil and it sounds like home.

Key Tracks: Only Tomorrow, New You, Wonder 2