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“Blown a Wish” – My Bloody Valentine
(Words/music: Bilinda Butcher and Kevin Shields, available on Loveless, Sire 1991)
I realized that I have a unique relationship with Loveless. I don’t put it on to marvel at the swirling guitars or to experience a visceral charge from the guitars. This is my musical equivalent of “comfort food” – it’s the kind of album I’ll put on when I get home and want to try to slow down my racing mind. It fills this role perfectly because it lets me be as attached to it as I want. On the afternoons where I want to focus on the music, I dive in and hear different guitar sounds I hadn’t heard before. On other occasions, I’ll put it on and let it fill the rest of the room, letting its melodies and distorted harmonies drift in and out of my consciousness. It’s also an album I’ve heard so many times now (and long gave up on understanding more than a couple phrases here and there) that I can put it on when I’m in a coffee shop and want something to block out the ambient noise.
Of course, there are the times where I sit back and marvel at the way it sounds, and on those days I find myself drawn toward “Blown a Wish.” If “Sometimes” and “Soon” are the individual tracks I’d listen to out of context, “Blown a Wish” feels most representative of the album as comfort listening. Bilinda Butcher uses her voice almost like a string instrument, drawing out these long melodic lines that immediately wrap into the rest of the arrangement. It has the trademark oscillating guitars, but here they feel warm rather than the aggressive sonic dive-bombing in their live shows. In a strange way, it feels like a big comforter with waves from being scrunched up at the foot of the bed. I realize that I’m in the (extreme) minority describing something with distorted guitars as a sonic bedspread, but I guess that’s how my brain works. On the days where a little fuzz helps reorient my brain, “Blown a Wish” hits just right.
More on My Bloody Valentine: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm
