Any Blonde Redhead fans here?

[oustemnow]

I'm wondering, specifically, about the new album. After initially writing them off as a Sonic Youth knockoff, I was really impressed with their Melodie Citronique EP, which showed a real growth in musicality (and, I must add, is a damn sexy record). How does the new record compare to Melodie Citronique? Does it follow along the same musical path? I'm definitely interested in checking out the record but, having been laid off recently, I have to be judicious in my music purchases these days.

[DoctorBombay]

1. Here's a good review...

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/b/blonde-redhead/misery-is-a-butterfly.shtml

I like this site a lot, very in depth reviews.

Personally, I can kind of take or leave Blonde Redhead. They get some airplay on the college station here in LA, but I haven't heard the record all the way through to be able to judge it.

[oustemnow]

2. Thanks, and, what college station to you listen to?

KXLU? I'm looking for good radio here in LA. After listening to KROQ (ugh, I know) for too long, I got hooked into that "classic alternative" station, which was fun for a while, but their playlist seems just as restrictive as any mershy station.

[DoctorBombay]

3. Yup, KXLU!

Got the bumper sticker on the car and everything...

It's hard to get in unless you're hugging the coast. I'm in South Bay, comes in fine, and I commute past LMU, so I can always hear it in the car.

Most of the time it's great...depends on the deejay. A few of them get way too avant-garde for me, and I end up listening to a cd. McAllister and Kim are my favorites, they're both on Thursday.

[oustemnow]

4. Cool, I'll give that station further listening

I find it harder and harder to keep up on new music, as essential as I find doing so to be (there are just SO MANY new bands); open-format radio is the only way I can hope to do so.

[DoctorBombay]

5. Excellent...pitchfork is a great source, too

The site I linked, I mean. Reviews of all things indie rock, very in-depth and timely. I like "Spin" magazine, too.

[oustemnow]

7. Ha, Spin

I've actually done a fair amount of writing for them (not in the last few months, lamentably), and that's one of the reasons I need to seek out new music. (Well, that, and I love music.)It's tough with them, though, because they've gone to a smaller format, and they tend to cover new music in a trend-conscious way. (I can't tell you how many nu-metal bands I interviewed for them; suddenly, a few months later, I was covering all of the "emo" stuff, which was much better, but still, it gets hard to write about essentially the same type of music over and over again and find a unique angle each time.) I'll definitely check out Pitchfork in further detail.

[iconoclastic cat]

6. Yeah, saw them w/ Shellac in '95.

Not bad, but not exactly enduring.

[oustemnow]

8. I saw them about that same time period as well

It was when they were playing the second stage at Lollapalooza, and they did a local show in SF. Going by Melodie Citronique (which came out a few years ago), they're a completely different band from what they were in 95. (I agree, they were nothing special then, that's why I was so surprised in the development, and why I was wondering if the new record followed more in the footsteps of their more recent stuff or their older stuff.)