Misery is a Butterfly by Blonde Redhead

Re: Blonde Redhead though, i always had a soft spot because the singer and guitarist would run into each other on stage on purpose. It made it interesting.

I have not looked forward to an album like this since In Utero, and I was really disappointed. I used to really like this band, if you check the archives, the only person who was more on BR's nuts was Momus. I hate to say they peaked on MCDL, but they did.

On a lighter note, you have a 1998 interview on Brave New Waves tonight, Mr. Currie. Appearantly, you have a sharp wit, and are a master of the pop idiom. Good for you Momus.

I really like the album; I haven't heard any of their past work but it's just so beautiful, you could lose yourself in those textures.

i had written this album off. i've loved pretty much everything they've ever done, but this one i thought was weak, murky and samey and missing the sting and rhythmic invention.

well, rong! it's great! funny how "murky and samey" changed to "incredible album-long sustained mood of resignation and heartbreak" with a few more listens.

do you like 23? because it's almost as good

Partially agree, though substitute "really nice" for "incredible". After the surprises of Certain Damaged Lemons, I guess anything so elegant & understated was bound to seem dull at first.

Same goes for 23, though with less enthusiasm.

oh, i think 23 is way better actually. much more of the clarity and snappiness of melody. but now i've started to think the lack of clarity and snappiness on misery is part of its charm. kind of a season-in-hell vibe. i'm tempted to say it does for live-threatening injury what shoot out the lights did for divorce.

xp

also: isn't the chorus on "Equus" a self-quote of one of their early songs?? could have sworn it is, but i can't place it.

oh, i think 23 is way better actually.

-- gff

Really? Individual songs on 23 seem much less distinctive/memorable to me. It's as though they've so perfected the mood they're shooting for that they don't want anything too particular to stand out against it.

I think 23 is better too

It's definitely possible to like Blonde Redhead both during their current Misery/23 phase and their earlier stuff, ending at Melody (I do, at least), but I think it's hard to like both periods equally. I still prefer their earlier albums, especially Fake can be Just as Good. The last time I saw them, on the Misery tour, I was hoping they'd throw in "Kazuality", or some older song of that ilk, and I came away very disappointed. The last two albums have been decent, but if they were by a band that wasn't called Blonde Redhead, I doubt I would have given them more than 2 spins apiece, rather than the 10 each that they ended up with.

I'm pretty much on the same page, preferring BH Phase 1 to the recent albums, though I like Misery a bit more than you seem to. Just listened to 23: as hookless and enervated as I remember.

that seems nuts to me, 23 had way more obvious hooks than misery, but whatever.

melody, in retrospect, is the hinge album between their two periods, and it's the best thing they've done imo.

i like the last two much more than the earlier ones, but I think "melody" is pretty close to the last two; kind of a comfortable middle area. when I'd only heard their earliest stuff I kind of wrote them off as sub-sonic youth copyists (xpost!)

that seems nuts to me, 23 had way more obvious hooks than misery, but whatever. melody, in retrospect, is the hinge album between their two periods, and it's the best thing they've done imo.

-- gff

That's the thing. I listen to each song on 23, and I think, "this is nice!" Mood & texture are consistently gorgeous. I hear what seem like memorable hooks. But each song closely resembles the last, and the next, and by the time a few have passed, I can't remember a single thing about any of them. Nothing sticks with me. It all evaporates into this dark-pretty, discreetly sexy fog.

Agree about the greatness of Misery, but it's hard not to see it as the peak of their career, with Misery a last fading gasp. Maybe the next one will change things up a bit.

Agree w/ akm that the very early albums wear the SY badge a bit too prominently.

Umm, 1st "Misery" in 2nd par. above = "Melody". In case you were wondering.

i'd rate the post skronk redheads like this:

1) melody
2) 23
3) misery

i always thought that misery had about 4 songs that were so good they made you overlook how the rest was kinda, like you said samey etc...

but either way this band is so great, it's a shame that TV on the Radio got so much more success for doing similar things in a way worse way.

sounding like the nightmare team björk plus the singer of supertramp

I don't see how this is a bad thing at all!

This is such a good depressio record.

def one of the best bands of this decade IMO

you may well be right. and that says much more about this decade than about the band.

This is really the only album of theirs I like. I thought it was funny that the big sadsacktacular album they do is when they get on 4AD, like it stipulated in their contract they had to be sad.

did you hear 23? cuz to me they are sorta the same vibe but i still think 23 has stronger songs overall...

yeah i prefer 23 as well

23 is good, but agree w/ Abbott that Misery is more sacktacular.

def one of the best bands of this decade IMO

― i feel like i'm an antenna and i want to be that antenna (M@tt He1ges0n), Monday, October 26, 2009 2:25 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

yeah no kidding. whenever i bring it up, ppl are all "oh yeah, that band."

assholes.

ha, still i haven't heard more than two songs by them

actually melody of certain damaged lemons is official dope on wax as well, don't know if i could choose between that and 23

Yeah, I just wanted to use "sacktacular" in a sentence.

I find most of the stuff off the last couple records pleasant but forgettable. I mean, I like it while I'm hearing it, but after about half an hour, it all congeals into into this soggy, amorphous goo-vapor that is also a not interesting goo-vapor. A few standout tracks excepted, most of them on Misery. Plus the live show was crazy boring and the audience crazy off putting, and I don't think I ever entirely forgave them that. Melody is still gr8.

Even though I'll always prefer Fake, have to grudgingly admit that 23 isn't bad for what it is. I come back to it every six months or so, and am always slightly surprised to find that it's less generic indie than I remembered. Don't think they ever topped "Symphony of Treble," which is better than like 80% of the Sonic Youth that they were accused of ripping off!

Does anyone have any idea whether there's any new material in the pipeline?

http://www.blonde-redhead.com/news.html

Monday, March 30, 2009
recording and a show

Friends, Sorry we've been a bit out of touch. We've been really busy, locked away writing for our new album. We're really excited about what we've been doing! At the end of April however, we're coming out for one quick show in Virginia. If you're able, we hope some of you can make it.

Wait:

Blonde Redhead Composing Score For Dungeon and Dragons Documentary

So, one old bit of news and one new bit of not-totally-awesome news.

Thanks Nick

this album is a total classic

never bettered, certainly, by them

i did like 23 a lot too but this is def the classic of the band's goth period

(i like the earlier touch & go mathy/shellacky stuff for different reasons)

yeah I like 23 too. it's been diminishing returns since.

23 is good like all BR is good, but MIAB is their best by miles for me. It's like a fever dream. It makes me feel feverish physically, but in a good way; it's like a tale or nightmare to get lost in. It just sounds magical, and also that never before there was so much at stake. It's so honest in its urgency. Top 25 records of all time.