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at a glance...
Hometown: New York
Year Formed: circa 1993
Personnel:
Simone Pace -drums, keyboards
Amedeo Pace -guitar, bass, vocals
Kazu Makino -guitar, vocals
(guest piano by Toby Christensen)
Related Bands:
The Lapse, Unwound, Fugazi, Sonic Youth
Notes:
Formed by Italian twins Amadeo and Simone and two Japanese art students after a chance meeting in a New York restaurant. Their performances attracted the attention of Sonic Youth's drummer Steve Shelley, who produced and released their eponymous debut on his own label, Smells Like, in 1994. Maki departed shortly after its release, and the band continued on as a trio for 1995's La Mia Vita Violenta, 1997's Fake Can Be Just As Good, 1998's In An Expression Of The Inexpressible, and 2000's Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons. Guy Picciotto of Fugazi has been acquired as producer, and Vern of Unwound has helped out with bass duties.
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Blonde Redhead
Melody Of Certain
Damaged Lemons
Touch and Go, Released 2000
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Can you say "psychedelic"? Can you say "math-rock"? Can you say "angular"? Can you say "seamless, surreal transitions from song to song"? Blonde Redhead can. It's difficult to be convinced that no one in this band is French, because there's a pervading chill of the ghosts of Serge Gainsbourg, Camus and Sartre-esque existentialist confusion, French pop of the sixties, the films of Renoir, and music of Plastic Bertrand.
Not that Blonde Redhead replicate any of these, just that they somehow envelop themselves in all of it while further evolving their own trademark sound. Whispers, acoustic guitar, loops, bleeps, coos, drums, weaving electric guitar, handclaps, shrieks, piano keys, bass. Chabrol-like contrasts are particularly embraced in the sudden, abrasive blast of "Mother" after the soothing lull of "For the Damaged."
Word has it that the band had more studio time than ever before, and the result is a concept album which combines elements of Lennon-McCartney experimentation with elements of Yoko Ono eccentricity. "Melody of Certain Three" is a sure hit, as are "Loved Despite of Great Faults," "This Is Not," and "A Cure." This album has quieter passages than any previous Blonde Redhead album, and it will definitely be looked back upon as a benchmark of their career.
If you like Blonde Redhead, check out:
Blonde Redhead Blonde Redhead
Blonde Redhead In An Expression Of The Inexpressible
Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin
Plastic Bertrand An 1
The Beatles Abbey Road
Wings Band On The Run
Mishima Wakeuptomakeup
Shipping News Save Everything
-- Lars Rosenblum-Sorgenfrei
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