MY BLOODY VALENTINE | LOVELESS
The history of Loveless is a lesson in perfectionism and obsessive compulsive tendencies. Guitarist Kevin Shields mulled over the vision for his album through experiments with vibrato techniques, tuning systems, samplers, and meticulous production methods. Several years and nineteen different studios later they emerged with a record that was rumoured to have cost over a quarter million dollars, bankrupting their indie label Creation Records.
In hindsight, it was worth it. The album is considered one of the greatest works of all time and is praised for its importance in creating the shoegaze genre. Loveless is fuzzy, thick saturated, sucked out, warm, abrasive, soft, and gloriously distorted. The album changed the idea on how a pop song could be played, arranged, and produced and served as the blueprint for several other effects-saavy bands.
It stirs up moods, feelings, and emotions akin to a head buzz or a woozy dose of codeine. The music almost turns itself inside out in an inverted thickness, harsh and layered yet fragile. The soft and sweet vocals of Bilinda Butcher are dream-pop perfection, like smooth blush silk carefully placed upon rough wool. The entire effect was all Shield’s operation, as he cultured up the feeling of a hundred guitars with only a tremolo arm.
The lyrics are hard to understand and deliberately so, opting to be obscured into the instrumentals. It’s all a washy fever dream that was miles away from anything in mainstream in the rock ocean at the time, though it’s not always an easy listen despite its immense credibility and critical acclaim. The album cover perfectly captures the blush-red and pink saturated tones of the music. The blurring effect of the photo was influential in nearly every band’s artwork in the years to follow.
Loveless works best work as a mood piece, one of those albums that serves as genre blueprint and a body of expression that can never be re-created.
LOVELESS
2 oz Glenglassaugh blush whiskey
1 oz lemon juice
1 tsp honey
1 tbs granadine
1 tbs red wine
3 dashes cherry bitters
*Shake well with ice in a shaker and roll into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with a cherry.
Alternate Version:
2 oz Vodka
1 oz lemon juice
1 tsp honey
1 tbs granadine
3 dashes cherry bitters
*Shake well with ice in a shaker and roll into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with a cherry.