Pure Pop Heaven (x2)

Just been listening to, and transported to a considerably more wondrous place by, My Bloody Valentine’s version of ‘We Have All the Time in the World’, the most blessed antidote to a waning, grey afternoon, such a gorgeous, swooning, perfect little shot of pop heaven, the aural equivalent of a Cadbury’s Caramel as it used to be advertised on TV…mmm. This had been preceded by ‘Loveless’ in its glorious entirety and a small selection of others of The Val’s very best. I’m still struck, the greater part of 15 years on, by how amazing ‘Loveless’ sounds whenever it’s heard, and how it seems to have rendered most subsequent guitar-based music somewhat redundant, how nothing has been quite able to scale its peak or match its sensual pleasures, however many have tried. I recall ‘Young Team’ and ‘CODY’-era Mogwai attempting something of a challenge, how exhilarating their quiet-loud-quiet or vice versa dynamic could on occasion be, yet ‘Loveless’ remains a monumental presence - an apotheosis of, apparently, art-rock, the genre of which the most recent Observer claims it to be a classic, occurring during the course of a recent live review of a Mogwai performance. Certainly, ‘Loveless’ is art, arguably one of very few examples of rock or popular music that may be considered such as it transcends itself. ‘Glider’, too, taking MBV’s sound to further extremes and whilst in an art context, is a damn fine piece of Minimalism.

Also, finally had the patience to wait for the download (still dawdling along at 56k here) of the animated movie, by Stephanie Anderson, a wonderful, beautiful watercolour work, accompanying Sol Seppy’s lovely song ‘Wonderland’, quite magical and enchanting both, and more so in perfect combination, floating along on a complementary drifting journey of transformation into light and air and wonder. You can download the movie via here (where there’s a brief, delightfully apposite description of the effect of hearing the song!), and I recommend that you should, as there is absolutely no reason not to and it will make your world a much better place and you a much lovelier person. There’s also an interesting article about Stephanie Anderson and her animation for ‘Wonderland’ here, and this is a still from the movie as an appetizer.


And, yes, this blodge may well be in danger of becoming something of a cyber-shrine to Sol Seppy, but anything less would an unforgivable dereliction of duty.