April 28th, 2026
Blog Post #3: Listening to the MBV 1988-1991 EPs Compilation CD & discovering secret songs :)
hello blog world!! yesterday the CD i ordered, which was MBV's EP compilation, arrived in my mailbox! so let's talk about it.
i've been wanting to get this CD for a long while, and i finally decided to order it recently with the Boards of Canada news, as i detailed in my last blog post . a thing that made me very excited to listen to this CD was the fact that this new version made in 2021 under Domino Records contains two new bonus tracks, containing two never-before-heard mbv rarities! and as a super big nerd about the band of course i would want to get my ears on those tracks.
you might be thinking, though, why didn't you just find the tracks online a long time ago and just hear them that way? and yeah i could've done that, but i wanted to wait until i ordered the CD to listen to the secret tracks because it's just more fun doing it that way. in the age of streaming and having everything online sometimes you just gotta give yourself restrictions and a reason to buy CDs to make things more fun and meaningful, in my view. and plus, buying the CD helps support the band too so that's always nice. and now that i have the CD comp, i have all of the main MBV CDs as listed on their website, so for now my collection is complete ^^
one day i might order the original CDs for each EP, (especially Tremolo), because i think that would be really cool to have, but not today...
of course one day i also plan on ordering the vinyl records for their music too (and for all of my other favorite artists), but i don't have a record player or a real place to put it so that'll have to be in the future too. you might notice on my RYM profile that i do have lots of vinyl in my collection already, and that's because they're all from my dad. they're just sitting in a plastic bin in my closet and honestly i have no idea if some of them even play or not because they're so old... one day i want to play all of them and quality-check them, that'll be really fun.
anyways, let's get back on track. the EP comp CD. let's go to last night when i pressed play on the CD player :)
when i first pressed play, this thing happened again that's been happening sometimes when i listen to their music lately. it felt TOO QUIET!!! this may be because i'm going deaf from listening to them too much (god i hope not) but it could also be because the way their music is mixed to have a lot of dynamic range, so the music file itself is actually just not as loud. i'm hoping it's the latter. and i think it is the latter because i've heard some people say their music is infamously quiet-sounding on the recordings and that you have to crank it up really loud. i had my volume at max on the CD player for almost the entire time listening to both discs.
the thing with this, though, is that i really only felt this for the first 2 songs, YMMR and Slow, and then after that once Thorn started playing the volume started to not bother me anymore and i could get into it again like i always do. so maybe my brain had to like... get adjusted to the volume ??? idk. it was a bit unfortunate since i was excited to have those two songs hit me really hard as they've both done to me in the past, but i guess the magic can't happen on the same level every single time... :|
anyways yeah on Cigarette in Your Bed especially i felt a lot of clarity in the mix, i could really see the guitar very clearly strumming along and it was very hypnotizing for me... and when the chorus hit on Thorn i felt like i comprehended it different that time, like i realized what was really happening for the first time. that backing guitar with the reverse reverb thing (the first sound you hear in the song that stays throughout) just felt so nice to listen to for me and i was so happy. seriously, that song Thorn makes me SO happy! like i just want to frolic in the fields or something when i hear it. i have so many beautiful memories listening to that song... love♡♡♡
anyways, a highlight of the listening session that night HAD to be the song Soon from the Glider EP. my god. i don't even know how to describe what happened when i heard it last night. seriously, the second Kevin started singing on that song i felt my thoughts quiet down and i was off and away to psychedelic-land, and i didn't leave that headspace until the second the song ended. the whole time the song was on it felt unreal... i don't think i've ever floated to it that hard before. wow...
and right when Soon started, before i got entranced by it, i was remembering how kevin once said that the mix on the Glider version and Loveless are different, because he had to adjust the Loveless version a bit to fit the brighter sound of the album better. but, honestly when i was listening to this Glider version last night i couldn't tell a difference between it and the version on Loveless that i usually listen to. (though i might have been too far gone mentally to even be able to tell any differences :'D)... it's funny, though, because i remember listening to the Glider version once, and actually feeling a difference between it and the Loveless version (i felt like the Glider version was worse/less full feeling), but last night i couldn't tell at all. strange.
another highlight was the codas on the Tremolo EP and Moon Song last night, too. the codas felt so nice... it was like i was floating to all of the cute little comfy sounds. and then moon song... that song has always been a lot for me, and it was especially a lot to take in last night. i never can listen to that song on its own because it's too powerful emotionally...
oh yeah and the Glider track! the EP compilation has the full length version and what i really realized last night listening to it is that the full length version of Glider makes the shorter version sound like just a demo - or a tease of sorts - of the full thing... if i want to put myself through listening to Glider, i'm always gonna go for the full length version. to me, that song is just an experience that you have to get lost in for 10 minutes or else you're not getting the full feelings out of it. and plus, the fade out on the full length version is incredible too, very psychedelic.
alright and now this finallyyy leads us to the 2 secret tracks!!!!!!! yay!!!!!! i was gonna write this blog post last night, but it was way too late at night and i had to go to sleep... but before i went to bed, i wrote down my reactions right after hearing the 2 songs... here are the quotes below!
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Untitled #1 (possibly titled “What Can You See”) (c. 1989)
this one was really interesting, it had a little bit of a different feeling to the rest of their songs, very windy feel and the percussion elements felt very light and airy in certain parts. i liked the start and stop with the instruments during that one part too! the vocals were also beautiful as always. i don’t think it’s one of their best songs but it was amazing all the same. it gave a color in my head… a gentle rosy pink. when the song ended it felt a bit abrupt.
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Untitled #2 (Don’t Ask Why remix) (1990)
i love the original song, it’s definitely a standout amongst their catalogue with the limited fuzzies compared to their other songs. this remix changes that and makes it just as fuzzy as their rest of their songs, and adds Colm’s drumming on top of it too. i gotta say… bilinda’s backing vocals felt a lot more buried unfortunately, and the euphoric ending of the original song where the fuzzies got piled on… basically didn’t happen because the fuzzies were here the entire time. but, i do really appreciate this version’s existence, and i loved listening to it. it’s just different and that’s okay
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so yeah that's about it for my experiences last night ^^ so happy to finally own this CD comp, definitely amongst my prized possessions now for sure!