reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » Blonde Redhead - 23

My first thought on listening to the title track of 23 was, “Hey everybody, Alan Moulder showed up and brought a box of warptastic guitar noises!”  You know, just in case you looked at the mixing credits and weren't sure if it was that Alan Moulder.  Momentary descents into shoegazing aside, 23 is a remarkable development of BR's sound.  The strategic sparseness of the band's more traditional instrumentation gives way to something altogether richer and more dreamily expansive.  Some might view this as a decidedly bad thing, for example, those remembering the trio's aesthetic as something generated in the bleak spaces between well-tortured guitars and forlorn vocals.  While not as jarringly sublime as prior releases, 23 is at least twice as sweet.  Its an evolution not so severe as to alienate long-time fans, but comprehensive enough to surely win the band many more. – Ted Flynn