Melodie Citronique [Vinyl]

Blonde Redhead | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (January 29, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Touch & Go Records
• ASIN: B0002JC3DQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #620,440 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. En Particulier [In Particular, French Version]

2. Odiata Per le Sue Virt [Hated Because of Great Qualities, Italian Vers]

3. Chi É E Non É

4. Slogan

5. Four Damaged Lemons [For the Damaged, Remix]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Chi é e non é, January 7, 2005

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Melodie Citronique (Audio CD)

If you are planning to get into Blonde Redhead... start somewhere else. "Melodie Citronique" is pretty much a goodie bag EP for fans who already know what they are getting into, rather than a sampling of their work. It's a pleasant listen, but their forays into French and Italian stumble.

It opens with a pair of non-English tracks from their "Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons." "En Particular," the eerily poppy French version of "In Particular," opens the album, followed by the sultry "Odiata per le Sue Virtú" ("Hated Because Of Great Qualities"). These are solid enough songs, but vocalist Kazu Makino sounds rather awkward when she sings in these songs, as if she isn't quite sure how to enunciate the words.

It's followed up by another Italian song, the sidewalk-cafe folk of "Chi é e non é" ("Who Is and Who Is Not"), and a thumpy, trippy experiment in sound, "Slogan." The last song is the only one in English: A spacey, haunted-house remix of "Four Damaged Lemons."

Blonde Redhead is well-known for its mixture of the graceful and gritty, which serves them well in this EP. The sole problem is Makino singing in French and Italian. She doesn't botch the songs, and she has a pretty, clear voice. But she sounds vocally clumsy with the song lyrics. It only gets worse as the album goes in; in "Slogan," her singing just sounds laborious.

It's not really a good introduction to the band, since these are not the most obvious or accessable songs. But they do make outstanding use of sweet piano, solid guitar and percussion, and keyboards that can spawn sonic sweeps, or turn the sound into a muddy, foggy mass of overhanging white noise.

"Melodie Citronique" is a fun listen for the fans of this band, but Makino's awkward delivery is a stumbling point. Even so, it's a pretty and offbeat EP.

11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SINGLE OF THE WEEK - NME - Sep 16 2000 by Victoria Segal, January 19, 2001

By 

scotty (chicago, il United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Melodie Citronique (Audio CD)

It's beyond language, of course. A Japanese singer and Italian twins plays French songs in New York - it would have to be, really. Yet although it would certainly be in keeping with Blonde Redhead's art abstractions to leave a blank space in tribute to this record, those of us less prone to wordless transcendence would like that opportunity to say, "What the hell was that?" For all their reputation as Sonic Youth's more humorless offspring - and God, that's REALLY working hard at not smiling - the first track here makes you wonder if they've missed an "I" out of their first name. "En Particulier" (the French version of "In Particuler" from their last album "Melody...")is nothing less than cubist Blondie, Kazu Makino lullabying through a glass-hearted rapture that's almost, ALMOST, like pop. This is followed by the Italian version of the any-storm-in-a-port "Hated Because of Great Qualities", a gauzy, unsettling flutter through Serge Gainsbourg's "Slogan", and a music-box remix of "For the Damaged." All excellent, all as clear as mud. Yet through all the scrambled syntax, the encrypted emotions, they're always discussing the possibilities, and most preciously, reminding you what they are. So go on, go mad. Namecheck Pasolini. Speak five languages. Title a song called "Four Damaged Lemons." An remember, it's only pretentious if it doesn't work

5.0 out of 5 stars all things we love will die, March 3, 2011

By 

jose n - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Melodie Citronique (Audio CD)

This ep is awesome, its has kazu singing in French, italian, and english. And the third song, sung by amedeo is soo beautiful, even if i can't understand it. Just get this now!!!