First Blog! My Bloody Valentine - 4 Rarities

This is the first post in what will, with any luck, be a long-running series of MP3 blog entries. This is probably a really good time to make clear my intentions and policy on file sharing.

I'll be posting files (or links to files, as it were, because I'm not quite facile enough with HTML to figure out how to embed them in the posts) of music that I'd like to share with other people. It'll probably tend toward the slightly obscure, but every now and again it may take a detour into whatever kinds of things are getting heavy rotation in my headspace at any given moment. You know, kinda like everyone else's MP3 blog.

Anyway, to make a short story quick, I make no claims to the quality of this site or any of the files I make available herein. I also make no claims to own the copyright to anything here, and I would like to make it clear that the reason I'm posting this stuff is either a) because it's rare and/or out of print and I believe it should be available, or b) because I really like the artist(s) in question, and I want you to hear some of their stuff and go wild for it and buy every commercial release available the way that I did.

Feel free to leave comments whenever you like, whether you're a Blogger.com member or not. I like feedback, so I know whether I should keep things as they are/modify my approach/quit altogether. I believe there's a method of emailing me through this site, but if you can't find it, feel free to make requests in the most recent Comments field and I will do my best to fill them. Or not.

Alright, onward and upward...

For my first post, I'd like to start things off with a few rare tracks from one of my favorite bands of all time, My Bloody Valentine. I'm gonna start off with 4 songs for the moment, and probably add a few more in the very near future. (I'm still learning how to do all this stuff, you know.) The tunes in question are...

1. Instrumental A - This track was one side of a 7" released by Creation Records that came free with original vinyl copies of Isn't Anything in the UK. I find it interesting because it's closer to the more intense, Sonic Youth-y style the band started exploring around this time. It's not a far cry from stuff like "You Made Me Realize" and "Feed Me With Your Kiss." A cool, punky riff collides with Kevin Shields' infamous "glide guitar" and the whole thing gets kinda fuzzy/noisy toward the end. http://files.to/get/235088/6658/my_bloody_valentine_-_18_-_instrumental_A.mp3

2. Sugar - One of my favorite MBV tracks of all time, this one was released as a free Flexi-disc promo with some UK music journal called The Catalogue (#67, if that helps you remember it), and later appeared as a B-side on the "Only Shallow" US promo CD. Anyway, a weird galloping, clip-clopping rhythm machine kicks off the proceedings, joined shortly thereafter by a lovely keyboard line and some typically in/out of tune guitar work from Mr. Shields. The vocal melody is nothing short of heart-achingly beautiful. http://files.to/get/235089/49692/My_Bloody_Valentine_-_Sugar.mp3

3. Soon (Andrew Weatherall "Sabres of Paradise" Remix) - I'm not a huge fan of remixes, and the vocal samples that open this cut are a pretty big reason why. For some reason, every producer who wants to add a cool beat to a song always feels the need to add some kind of instantly-dated nonsense that they've imported from the hip-hop or dance music scene, and it almost never works. This remix is no exception, but at around 1:15 this one takes a turn for the better, which is fortunate because the damn thing is 7 and-a-half minutes long. So the beat that gets added here is pretty 90's sounding but don't let that stop you from enjoying the new focus around Belinda Butcher's erotic "ahhh-hahhhh" sighing chorus melody. That shit could melt butter across a crowded room. http://files.to/get/235090/24032/My_Bloody_Valentine_-_Soon__Andrew_Weatherall_Sabres_of_Paradise_Remix_.mp3

4. We Have All the Time in the World - The only track recorded to see a release after MBV signed to Island Records (they really did, it's true!), this neat little slice of orchestral chamber-pop saw the light of day on the label's Peace Together compilation, which hit shelves in 1993. It's quite 60's sounding in terms of production and musical content (Burt Bacharach ought to collect royalties on that string arrangement), and it definately feels like a departure from the band's signature sound. Gone are the noisy beds of droning guitars, replaced instead with some jangly six-string action and mellow keyboard work (harkening back to the band's Ecstacy & Wine era, but much more laid-back). And only someone as rediculously, self-indulgently reclusive as Kevin Shields would have the sheer cojones to call a song "We Have All the Time in the World" and then keep everyone waiting for 40 goddamned years for a new MBV record. Thanks, bud. http://files.to/get/235091/32660/My_Bloody_Valentine_-_We_Have_All_The_Time_In_The_World.mp3

Alright, this concludes my first post. Hope you (whoever you are...) enjoy it. Get these damn files.