Listen to “Silently” by Blonde Redhead [download]

Blonde Redhead, one of my favorite bands, just released the marvelous 23 last month to mixed reviews. While many have rightfully lauded the album, other misguided souls have criticized it for being too lush, too baroque and too multi-layered. I revel in such overindulgence.

I was introduced to the band in 2004 when their last album, Misery is a Butterfly, came out. I was immediately taken by the ethereal voices of Kazu Makino and Amedo Pace, and the sad, brilliant melodies that made up the deceivingly simple songs. My friend Matt had picked it up on the night of its release, and we listened to it together in an SUV while we drove down desolate country roads on the way to a remote, unseen cemetery. That eerie excursion may have been the best introduction to an album that haunted me for the rest of the summer.

Under its spell, I submerged myself in the similarly dreamlike literature of Haruki Murakami, and isolated in my room, imagining what it might have been like for Kazu after she was trampled by a horse in 2002. She fell off while riding the animal, became trapped underneath it as she fell, and had her jaw shattered by its hoof. What kind of thoughts go through your mind while you’re a singer in a hospital bed, waiting to see if you’ll ever be able to move your jaw again?

Pictures I took of the band at the LA Weekly Detour Festival last fall.