MOG

I can't believe there is no previous MOG post on Blonde Redhead. The band consists of the Japanese front lady Kazu Makino and the Italian twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace, who met randomly in New York in 1993. The conventional wisdom has it that BR began as yet another Sonic Youth follower (including in the perennial concert favorite, "(I Am Taking Out My Euro Trash) I Still Get Rocks Off" from La Mia Vita Violenta), and emerged with a distinctive sound and style of their own not until a few albums into their career.

That's more or less correct, but not very informative. To take Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons (BR's fifth album, released in 2000, and my own introduction to the band) as an example, what get rarely mentioned are such utterly crucial specifics as the deft minimalism and unconventional riffs of "In Particular," the gentle restraint and melancholy (and the majestic bridge) of "Hated Because Of Great Qualities," and the Brandenburg concerto -like beat of "This Is Not" (a chamber mini-concerto for the new wave set). Check out a live version of "In Particular" on YouTube. (For some reason the embedding of this particular clip doesn't agree with MOG.)

Melody is much more quiet than your typical Sonic Youth inspired fare but no less effective for that. It is also here, more than on any previous album, that the distinctive contribution of the baritone guitar to the band's sound comes to the fore. But I should note, from my own experience of playing BR to other people, that not everyone can stand Makino's vocal style.

BR's perhaps best-known work is Misery Is A Butterfly (2004). Like Melody, it was produced by Guy Picciotto (Rites Of Spring, Fugazi). The four-year gap between these records (which also involved a move to the 4AD label) was largely due to Makino's lengthy recovery from a nearly-disfiguring horse riding accident, which inspired such songs as "Elephant Woman" and "Equus".

Here is what I wrote about Misery when it was released: "I'm deeply torn about this record. Some of the chord progressions, melodies, and lyrics are among the band's most haunting and hypnotic ever. But the production is too 4AD-style for Blonde Redhead. I thought Guy Picciotto could do no wrong! The guitars that previously sustained stunning minor-chord and diminished-chord progressions are now so muted as to be barely audible, smothered by the layered strings. It's a shame that the album sounds mushy, with the earlier rhythmic sophistication also gone, when it could have been gloriously lush and delicate. Despite all that, Misery is so graceful and beautiful that I can only cry."

Over two years later, I still stand by these conflicted sentiments. But I should add that the material from Misery is more effective, because more spare, in concert. (I've seen BR live twice and both experiences have been mesmerizing.) Here's a live version of the title track:

This is a Filling in the gaps post.