Blonde Redhead’s “23″, Gifts

Blonde Redhead’s career has spanned most of my experience as an underground and independent music fanatic, but it’s easy to forget that they’ve been playing music together for over a decade. The band started with a quite angular and Sonic Youth-ish feel, and through the years has become more of a collection of parabolas rather than right angles. Still carrying the dissonant and noisy torch, they’ve also taken on a certain My Bloody Valentine-ish adoration of gorgeously executed reverb and swooshing layers. The new album, 23, is quite brilliant. From my write-up elsewhere:

It’s hard to discuss 23 without mentioning how far Blonde Redhead has come musically in the last twelve years, and it’s worth noting because the development has been a fairly interesting one. The traditional Sonic Youth comparison still stands in many respects, since the common thread between all of the band’s transformations is their noisy, damaged art sort of vibe. On 23, however, the noise is less dissonant and more cohesive. The album plays well with the band’s comfort zone with ample use of feedback, multi-tracked vocals and cinematic layers. If they’ve refined their sound, it’s because they’re tightening the belt on their universe, not creating a new one.

They’re nice folks, too. They’ve offered you a gift: an Annuals’ limited edition 7”–”Brother” b/w “Ease My Mind” as well as one Blonde Redhead 7”, in honor of their shows together. Send me an email or leave me a comment with your reason for why you should win and I’ll be in touch. <3