Though we're all excited here at KJP about the news that there may be a new My Bloody Valentine album coming in 2008, we've been able to tide ourselves over with an echo of MBV provided courtesy of Japancakes.

In a gift of the magi moment, AZ and I each bought the other a copy of "Loveless" as performed by Japancakes, a reverential track-by-track tribute to the seminal My Bloody Valentine record of the same name.

However contrived the project would seem on the surface (covers are harder than they seem), the instrumentation is fully changed across the record in construct and production, lending a different feel to the whole thing while retaining its otherworldly nature. In some ways the acoustic-in-electronic instrumentation is evocative of the Amiina record "Kurr" from the past year, particularly the (sparing) use of the bowed saw, this decade's theremin. If you're familiar with the original Loveless, you'll find the 'next track' feeling challenged, as the percussion is lighter, but the spaces just as airy and dense in turn.

Good stuff, great gift - certainly worth a lock of your hair. Recommended.

Technorati Tags: music, MyBloodyValentine, japancakes

Posted by esinclai at December 31, 2007 09:16 AM |