My Bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine is an Irish band formed in 1984 in Dublin. They are best known for the modern classic Loveless. The band's key member is guitarist/singer/composer Kevin Shields, a reclusive perfectionist and radically inventive guitarist/engineer. The band's other original member is drummer/studio maven Colm O'Ciosoig; during their heyday MBV also included singer-guitarist Bilinda Butcher and bassist Debbie Googe. Their band shares its name with a low-budget Canadian slasher film; it was more apt during their early years as a The Wedding Present and The Jesus and Mary Chain-inspired band. Though they released a handful of EPs during the mid-1980s, only their two official albums Isn't Anything (1988) and Loveless (1991), are considered representative of their sound: a distinct blend of noise rock, ambient, and off-kilter melodic pop. The songs were written by Shields, except for Touched, a short instrumental by Colm O'Ciosoig. In 1999 Pitchfork Media declared Loveless to be the greatest album of the 1990s; however in their 2003 revision of the list, it moved down to number two, swapping places with OK Computer. Kevin Shields has also been noted by Alan McGee as "a genius artist. A visionary.", whilst an NME review of Loveless declared, "...however decadent one might find the idea of elevating other human beings to deities, My Bloody Valentine, failings and all, deserve more than your respect." After leaving Creation Records in 1992 and signing with Island Records, the band fell into a creative black hole. Rumors spread among their fans of albums being recorded and then shelved. Debbie Googe left the band to form Snowpony; she had not played bass on their recordings since You Made Me Realise. Colm O'Ciosoig eventually left and formed a band with Hope Sandoval, formerly of Mazzy Star, called Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions. Kevin Shields sporadically collaborated with other artists, most notably Experimental Audio Research, Curve, and Primal Scream. He revealed in a fall 2003 National Public Radio interview that Island Records quit financing his My Bloody Valentine endeavors after he spent a half-million pounds of their money. As of 2006, many rumors mentioned the possible reformation of My Bloody Valentine for a new studio album, but none of these were true. In January 2007, Kevin Shields quoted to media outlets that MBV would release another album, though dates have not yet been mentioned. He has contributed music to the soundtracks of two Sofia Coppola films to date, Lost In Translation and Marie Antoinette.

Influences include The Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, Cocteau Twins, late-1970s Wire, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and independent artists such as the The Pastels. Kevin Shields has also named The Beach Boys as a personal influence. As of Autumn 2007 rumours of a possible reunion concert at the 2008 Coachella Festival in late April 2008 surfaced with prospects of a new album and world tour to follow. Later through various media sites Kevin confirmed at least 2 new albums are to be released as soon as the end of 2007. As of July 2008, no new material has been released. It was announced on November 15th 2007 that the band would return to the live stage in summer 2008 with three gigs in London, Manchester and Glasgow respectively. When the tickets went on sale the next day they sold out in just over an hour for all three dates. Four additional shows were immediately added, at the same UK venues. The band have also confirmed that they are returning to their Irish roots to headline the 2008 Electric Picnic festival in Stradbally, Ireland. MBV will headline Bestival on the Isle of Wight on Friday 5th September 2008. They have also scheduled a handful of US tourdates in New York, LA, Chicago and San Francisco for the end of September 2008.
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