FAVORITE ALBUM #8

#8 23 / BLONDE REDHEAD [taste] [buy]

key tracks: 23 / dr. strangeluv / spring and by summer fall / silently / publisher

maybe it was the tone-bending nods the my bloody valentine on the title track that drew me into this record. maybe it was the layers thick, swirling, gloomy guitars. maybe it was the fact that '23' just rocked so mightily that it was impossible for me not to get sucked up into the majesty of it all. my guess? all of the above.

blonde redhead is yet another one of those bands i always meant to get around to, but never really heard until this past spring. sure, i'd heard the occassional song on the border's listening station, or some random compilation someone made me, but those songs, for whatever reason, never really stuck with me. maybe that's why i never bought an album. it wasn't until i heard '23' and 'silently' that my ears perked up and i took notice [i've since gone back and picked up their back catalogue, finally]; it's an amazing album; it is by turns dark, mysterious, gloomy, magical, and majestic. yes, it's blonde redhead's most accessible album, but it's also their best.