A selective retrospective, My Bloody Valentine’s new reissue/compilation, EPs & Rarities, covers the breadth of the band’s output spanning both of their landmark studio LPs, Isn’t Anything (1988) and Loveless (1991). Featuring the EPs You Made Me Realise, Glider, Tremolo and whatever happened in between (singles and unreleased tracks), EPs & Rarities is interesting in that it provides both the prologue and epilogue to MBV’s best known work, summing up songwriter Kevin Shields in terms of the evolution he’d undergone over this period of time, the culmination of which led to what many consider his masterpiece, Loveless.
Beginning with You Made Me Realise, the bass-prone title track and super-fuzzed out 'Slow' offering some thick and heavy contrast to the lush fields of sonic semi-disarray better associated with the band, the modernity Shields was exploring in '88 is significant. Though kaleidoscopically textured, psychedelic haze hanging over every note like a studio generated aurora borealis, Shields was expanding the language of the college rock circuit by utilizing samplers, drum loops and the studio. In some ways MBV’s approach wasn’t such an innovation, bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain and Cocteau Twins also accredited with the development of the shoegaze subgenre.
But, Shields knew how to harmonize and layer, thicken and glaze. At first listen, one might consider songs like 'Thorn', 'Cigarette In Your Bed' and 'Drive It All Over Me' very pleasant and catchy. But, the noise factor seems to elevate the music to something more, art-injected rock musings cultivating a then-new musical perspective, one that’s unfortunately over-saturated the musical climate over the last decade or so.
The compilation is two discs and twenty-four songs in length. Isn’t Anything’s 'Feed Me With Your Kiss' makes an appearance alongside the three tracks that comprise the Feed Me With Your Kiss single: the piano-tapped 'I Believe', 'Emptiness Inside' and the thudding and folk-tinged 'I Need No Trust'. Loveless closer 'Soon' was included on the Glider EP, the title track a repetitive instrumental experiment that also appears in its 10+ minute full-length version.
Songs from 1991’s Tremolo begin disc two, an alternate version of the Loveless song 'To Here Knows When', the India-flavored 'Swallow' guitar track, 'Honey Power' and hand-drummed 'Moon Song'. The compilation’s rarer inclusions begin with 'Instrumental No. 2' and 'Instrumental No. 1' - the former a mash of Public Enemy’s 'Security of the First World' (or Madonna’s 'Justify My Love' if you prefer) and Shields’ sound collages, which are minimalist and ghostly. Also expanding on his tendencies to experiment is the New Order-meets-jangle-pop 'Sugar', which had apparently appeared in a French pressing of the 'Only Shallow' single in 1991.
Unreleased is the lovely 'Angel' (which probably would’ve fit nicely into Loveless), the motored churn of 'Good For You', and 'How Do You Do It' closing out the collection nicely. Shields acted as the compiler for this release, the sole decider tasked to keep or chuck at his discretion and provide as much of a picture for listeners as he was willing to. Within EPs & Rarities, a very comprehensive selection of music resides, a worthwhile companion piece to MBV’s two major milestones.