New My Bloody Valentine album OUT NOW!

UPDATE:  2/2, 9:17PM (Central)

It's over, the website is up and running and the album that seemingly would never see the light of day is available for purchase.  Listening to it right now...this is what being a music fan is all about.  It has been awhile since an earthshaking release like this has been made.  Look for a review in the next few days, once all of this sinks in.

In the meantime, the album is, at least for the time being, available in its entirety on YouTube; thanks to user acs111501

My thoughts on the album during my first listen:

ORIGINAL POST:

The 20+ year wait for My Bloody Valentines followup to 1991's gamechanger Loveless will continue for at least a little bit longer.  Just over an hour ago today the band made the brand new album available for stream on their website.  Of course, the server was crashed almost instantly due to overwhelming amounts of traffic, leaving thousands of music fans staring at this message while frantically refreshing their browser-

The impact of this album truly can not be overstated.  In the late-80's My Bloody Valentine spearheaded the groundbreaking "shoegazer" scene, and in 1991 released the album that epitomized the genre (and at the time, indie rock itself) with Loveless.  The seamless meshing of harsh, hypnotic distortion and soft, tender melodicism continues to be highly influencial in all genres of music.

Frontman Kevin Shields spoke with England's NME in November, and had the following to say about the long-awaited followup:

 "with this [new] record, people who like us will immediately connect with something. Based on the very, very few people who've heard stuff -- some engineers, the band, and that's about it -- some people think it's stranger than 'Loveless.' I don't. I feel it really frees us up, and in the bigger picture it's 100 percent necessary".

UPDATE:   2/2, 8:05PM (Central)

The website has been blinking in and out, here are some screenshots of what the lucky individuals that have managed to get in were greeted by (images courtesy of buzzfeed):

purchasing info and details on the release

MBV tracklisting

shipping info and details on the vinyl pressing

Here is what the website currently looks like for me:

(this album rocks!)

My Bloody Valentine - Debut new song, suggest new album THIS WEEK

Consequence of Sound reports that My Bloody Valentine surprised an audience in London with the premier of a new song (referred to on the setlist as "Rough Song").  The surprises didn't end there however, as frontman Kevin Shields went on to respond to a fan's question by announcing that the new album, the near mythical hypothetical followup to 1991's legendary Loveless, will be released in "maybe two or three days".  Granted this must be taken with a sizable grain of salt given the out-of-nowhere (and noncommittal) nature of the announcement and prior comments about the new album coming out last year, but with a group like MBV it is definitely worth talking about.

As far as the new song goes, it is hard to base any early judgement on the low-quality fan video, but it sounds very much Loveless-esque, which is certainly a good thing.  The video of the performance, as well as Shield's claim can be seen below.

Too good to be true?  Sound off in the comments.

At any rate, this seems like a good time to give an old classic a nostalgically anticipatory spin: