Customer Reviews

23 (Dig)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

blonde redhead is one of those bands i always meant to get around to listening to -- and were it not for a bunch of other great bands out there, i probably would've gotten to them sooner. having heard and digested '23,' i'm kicking myself for not giving them a go either. and since this is the only blonde redhead album i've heard, i'm coming from a completely unbiased angle...

...and that angle is that this is a really terrific record. the songs are focused, direct, and fully realized. it's enough to make anyone still pining away over my bloody valentine giddy with joy (that's now to say, however, this is a drippy, shoegazer record. it's not). the opener,'23,' is a great opener with lots of layered guitars and interesting sonics, relentless drumming, and a great vocal performance, and sets the stage for the first half of the album. 'dr strangeluv,''sw,' and 'spring and by summer fall,' are all terrific uptempo rockers displaying skilled musicianship and craftsmanship. the second half of the album slows things down, if just a bit. 'silently' is my personal favorite on the album. it's got 40+ plays in just over two days in my iTunes. there are lot of things to like about this album. i could list them all here but that would take away the joy of discovering it for yourself.

and let me just say i don't really understand the reviews with comments like 'what happened?' or 'its not as good as ________.' you might as well say 'apples aren't as good as bananas' or 'cherries are better than strawberries.' both are fruits. both taste great. they're just different. judge an album on its own merits, not what came before it or after it. you do yourself and everyone else a disservice by doing so. not to mention it's also just a really naive attitude. so ease up.

long story short: amazing record by a really great band. for me personally it's making a run at lcd's 'sound of silver' as my favorite album of the year so far. i look forward to digging into the rest of their catalogue. thanks, gang, for a great record.

I'm one of those people who is guilty of comparing a band's newer releases to their older albums. I get bummed when new stuff "doesn't hold up" to previous releases, and have knocked great bands like R.E.M., Cat Power and U2 because of it. Reading how many die-hard Blonde Redhead fans are dissapointed by this record is going to cause me to go back and listen to some of these other later records by other bands with new ears, because... what I hear here is a great, great, great album.

I bought Blonde Redhead records back when they did "Fake Can Be Just as Good" all the way up through "Misery Is a Butterfly" (which is the first of theirs that I really, really liked). I thought their older albums... thogh good... kind of aped a popular grungy Sonic-Youth sound. With this one and "Misery" they've come into their own thing, and I think it's beautiful. But then again, I was a teenager in the eighties, so it reminds me of all the great stuff like Lush, My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins that I couldn't get enough of back then.

When I wanna hear Sonic Youth, I'll go listen to "Daydream Nation." When I want to hear Blonde Redhead, I'll turn to their last three releases.

What a beautifully crafted album. The songs are polished, well produced, and much different than their previous albums. In this gem of an album, Kazu's squeeky voice is tamed and Amedeo's boyish vocals are more mature now. Simone's drumming is getting more sophisticated and complex, his strongest and most refined showing on 23 in my opinion, although could stand out more on some tracks where his drumming is on fire. The vocals have more directions than ever and the harmonies are taking on a new form and style for this Trio. The album sound can be compared to noisy side of LUSH, IVY, even Rollerskate Skinny at times. By far my favorite album so far and the keyboards and arrangements are really coming alive now and the Trio's musicianship has blossomed and hope they will keep pursuing this new sound for the next couple of albums to come.

Now that the albums out, I wonder how they will reproduce the parts and sounds when playing live... Maybe Vern of Unwound will tour with them...

I recommend buying the 12" Vinyl Album which has all of the songs which includes a 45" and also a link and password to download the full album in high quality audio format from BB's site.

For the previous reviewer with less than amicable comments for this hardest working Trio in the underground scene, the fact that you can't find the song titles listed on the album is unfortunate but have you heard of the "White Album" by the Beatles?

I love the artwork. I had the pleasure to meet them at one of their concerts and they were very gracious and lovely people well deserving of everything they have and will receive from their success.

Blonde Redhead has really softened over the years -- you won't find angular melodies and jagged guitars in "23."

In fact, it's not really rock at all. Instead the New York band spins out full-blown, sensual melodies out of smooth keyboard and gently cycling riffs. They try out all kinds of pop sounds here, but never lose the delicate dreampop edge.

It opens with a few echoing, ringing chords.... before bursting into a strong, swirling dreampop melody, which would sound ghostly if it weren't so vibrant. Then Kazu Makino's ethereal voice murmurs, "23 seconds, all things we love will die/23 magic, if you can change your life/Your tainted heart, my tainted love, repent now..."

That song is the springboard for the rest of the album, which balances out between guitars and shimmery synth. It's full of driving guitarpop with a trippy edge, delicate pop ditties, blurry trip-hop, shimmering dreampop, and quirky fusion songs like the overstuffed spring ditty "Spring and By Summer Fall."

It's a pretty big change from their last album "Misery is a Butterfly," which was sort of soft indie-rock, and an even bigger change from the albums before it. But if you're going to depart from an old sound, then make it worthwhile -- and fortunately, they have.

Musically, it's all heavy on guitars and synth, which get mingled together into one big shimmering mass. The guitars can ring and chime, then can kick itno a driving rock riff, while the keyboard is almost as versatile -- it can buzz, shimmer, sweep and ripple over the guitarpop melodies.

The blurrier songs like "Publisher," are perhaps the only problem, actually, since they sound less refined and more lo-fi. They don't fit in well.

Makino's voice is almost painfully ethereal; she sounds positively ghostly at times. The songs she sings don't hurt the impression -- they're full of pain, loneliness, and even when you're happy, it can't last. "The glow you see on my face, you do have something to do with/Fear starts creeping up when you have so much to lose/Your love wait you while you're cheating/Lighting strikes you when you're moving..."

This is not quite the same Blonde Redhead as in their prior albums, but they're as good at exquisite shimmering pop as they are at indie-rock.

In 2004 Blonde Redhead released its 6th studio album, the beautiful and truly mesmerizing "Misery Is a Butterfly", which was for me personally one of the best albums released that year. After touring tirelessly behind the album and taking their time to write new material, now finally comes the eagerly awaited follow-up album.

"23" (10 tracks, 43 min.) continues the trend of "Misery Is A Butterfly", with a less distorted and dissonant sound that was found on the early albums, instead expanding on the lush musical landscape painted on "Misery" by the trio. The opener (and title track) is typical for the album. Other highlights are found primarily on the first half of the album: the stark "The Dress", the haunting "SW", and "Spring and By Summer Fall" which rocks harder than any other track on here. On the second half my favorite tracks include the playful "Silently", as well as "Top Ranking". Overall, this album is richly layered and sounds great. However, as a whole I must rate it slightly below "Misery Ia a Butterfly", which remains the band's finest work to date.

Let me also give a big thumbs down on the artwork of the album: no song titles, no production credits, absolutely nothing. In fact, the album is sold with a small red paper wrap, which gives you the song titles, but I imagine most will lose that in no time. On the CD itself, you are referred to the band's website for all this information, which of course doesn't do you any good while you are playing the album. Just incomprehensible, and disrespectful of the buyer in my opinion.

It may be too poppy for serious Blonde Redhead fiends, but of all their albums this is the only one that I found absolutely wonderful from start to finish. It's definately worth the listen.

I have been a fan of Blonde Redhead since the first album back in '95...and this is one of the best! Saw them live and these new songs translated very well, too!

To be direct and clear, Blonde Redhead's 7th LP, "23", is exactly at the cross of Emiliana Torrini's "Love In The Time Of Science", Mercury Rev's "All Is Dream" and My Bloody Valentine's "Loveless" (Alan Moulder, engineer for that last record, has mixed two tracks of the present item, and that's saying something). And yes, it's THAT good.

I don't wanna quote any song "in particular" (private joke, when you get me...), as each of the ten here are absolute gems. But to fans of the previous two albums, namely "Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons" (2000) and follow-up "Misery Is A Butterfly" (2004, and their 4AD debut), be warned that "23" is a work that might not appeal on first listen. To be more accurate, the production is far less "organic" than Guy Picciotto's job on these masterpieces, as the trio seems to have oriented their sound towards both a much poppier and etherial approach (ranking this LP alongside earlier 4AD releases, like Cocteau Twins's "Treasure"), while also deciding to produce it themselves, to obtain a more hypnotic feel to most of the material featured here.

Anyhow, if their first four Lps showcased an obvious Sonic Youth-oriented sound, it took them the last 8 years and an awful lot of time getting their act together to stand, eventually, among American's Alternative Music Scene's best acts at a unique place: a band as much treasured for the universality of their melodies as for the way they find out how best to carve these marvels deep inside our hearts, bodies and souls.

A strong contender for album of the year, NO LESS.

While arguably the most conventional Blonde Redhead album to date, "23" manages to neither be an extension of "Misery Is A Butterfly" nor a return to their noisier, more textural no-wave roots. Songs like "23," "The Dress," and "Silently" recall the aching sweep of "Misery..." the most; while only "SW" comes anywhere close to pushing the angsty buttons of the older Blonde Redhead repertoire.

Blonde Redhead may be showing their gray hairs, but they've matured admirably. The bite and dissonance are sublimated and sculpted into mellower, more accessible territory. "Accessibility" is no longer the 4-letter word it was in the 1990s -- much like "alternative" is no longer really a useful tag for this band.

In my never ending search for new sounds, bands I have not heard I came across this band. Very impressed with their sound, great vocals and the music quite original. At first I was not sure about the female lead vocals but in time it became quite interesting. But also to my surprise, when I thought that only she did the singing, another male vocals came to play which in my opinion made the album much better if for the change of pace alone. Never heard of Blonde Redhead before this and by the time the CD had ended I was definitely sold and bought for. I would rate them higher than a 4 but not quite a 5. This is a very delicately woven endeavor and it shows. Now all I need is to play it at a louder volume with a more concentrated sweet smoke and enjoy the ride, they are a classy act and I am very happy I found them. The sound was tight and the songs interesting and appealing, did not find a bad one to complain about. Like most albums there are standouts but the overall quality of the songs is there. Yes, I know, I am not a professional critic that is able to dissect the songs to their lowest denominator and that knows the history of the band. No. I am an avid fan of good music and believe me when I say it is indeed a rare treat to find an act that deliver the goods. I like to change the famous saying "All Men are equal but some are more equal than others" to "All Bands are equal but some are more equal than others". Blonde Redhead "23" was certainly a good buy, one I am very content with, and when it comes down to it, what more can a music loving consumer wish for?