Japan Cakes cover My Bloody Valentine

(From Pitchfork)

Ambient-Rock band Japan Cakes will release an entire album cover of My Bloody Valentine's landmark shoegaze album Loveless. Pitchfork posted the first track, "Only Shallow", on their website yesterday. The original is one of my favorite albums of all time. I realize that isn't the most brave or groundbreaking choice but, after all, some things become cliche because they happen to be true.

Needless to say, the Japan Cakes project is of great intrigue to me. I do like what the band has done with "Only Shallow." What is interesting to me about what Japan Cakes did with the song is that their approach is arguably just as layered as My Bloody Valentine's was; only the instrumentation is different.

The dreamy production is there (on a much smaller level, granted), but instead of stacks of swirling, looping guitar noise, there's pedal steel, cello and other orchestral instrumentation. Japan Cakes do entirely away with the vocals, which I think is wise because a). the vocals on Loveless are virtually indecipherable and b). Even though Kevin Shields is the early 90s Brian Wilson, he is actually a terrible lyricist. By replacing the vocals with cello, Japan Cakes redefine MBV's serenity and put it into an entirely different, and pleasing, context.

You can listen to Japan Cakes take on "Only Shallow" at the top of the post, then get their take on "Loomer" below. In addition, you'll find the original My Bloody Valentine tracks for the sake of comparison and some songs from Ecstasy And Wine and the Glider EP.

From Loveless

Download: My Bloody Valentine - "Only Shallow"
Download: Japan Cakes - "Loomer"
Download: My Bloody Valentine - "Loomer"

From Ecstasy And Wine:

Download: My Bloody Valentine - "Never Say Goodbye"
Download: My Bloody Valentine - "The Things I Miss"

From Glider:

Download: My Bloody Valentine - "Glider"
Download: My Bloody Valentine - "Off Your Face"

(Jonathan Graef)