''23'' is the seventh

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American alternative rock band Blonde Redhead. It released on April 10, 2007 by

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...

Background

''23'' was self-produced by Blonde Redhead. The members of the band stated that while working on ''23'', they aimed to be more "spontaneous" in their songwriting; "for simplicity and clarity"; and to avoid overanalyzing their compositions. Drummer Simone Pace said that he found it "nerve-wracking" to begin recording the album with only loose ideas for songs. Mitchell Froom collaborated with Blonde Redhead for several days in the middle of the album's recording period, assisting the band on two tracks, "Silently" and "Top Ranking". Lead vocalist Kazu Makino admitted that making ''23'' "wasn't an entirely enjoyable experience", adding: "Without a producer, a referee, we could really get on each other's cases. It got intense." Guitarist Amedeo Pace stated that the band was unsure of the album's direction until the mixing stage. Artist Alex Gross designed the album's cover art.

Release

''23'' was released by the label

on April 10, 2007 in the United States. It debuted at number 63 on the American ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart, selling roughly 11,000 copies in its first week of release. In the United Kingdom, the album was released on April 16, 2007. The track "23" was released on April 2, 2007 as a one-track 7-inch vinyl single. "Silently" was released on May 28, 2007 as a digital EP featuring the additional tracks "(We Are a Real Team) Harry and I" and "Signs Along the Path", and as a 7-inch vinyl single featuring an alternate version of "(We Are a Real Team) Harry and I" on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

Melodie McDaniel Melodie McDaniel (born 1967) is a Los Angeles, CA-based American still life, celebrity, and advertising photographer and film director. Early life and background Born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, McDaniel graduated in 1992 from Art Center Coll ...

directed the first official music video for "23". Mike Mills directed music videos for five of the album's tracks: "23", "My Impure Hair", "Silently", "The Dress" and "Top Ranking". The "Top Ranking" video stars actress Miranda July.

Critical reception

''23'' was met with critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received an average score of 83, based on 30 reviews. Heather Phares of AllMusic noted that on ''23'', Blonde Redhead "trades the cloistered

chamber rock Chamber pop (or Chamber rock; also called baroque pop and sometimes conflated with orchestral pop or symphonic pop) is a music genre that combines rock music with the intricate use of strings, horns, piano, and vocal harmonies, and other compon ...

" of their previous album ''

Misery Is a Butterfly ''Misery Is a Butterfly'' is the sixth studio album by American alternative rock band Blonde Redhead. The album was released on March 15, 2004 by 4AD. Much of the visual and lyrical imagery of the album is reflective of an accident in which lead ...

'' (2004) "for tone-bending dream pop and subtle electronics". She found that "while the wide open spaces sound a little bare at first, this streamlined approach ends up making this Blonde Redhead's loveliest and most accessible work yet." '' The A.V. Club''s Michaelangelo Matos said that the band's stylistic shift toward a "softer" sound "fits them exceptionally well." '' Entertainment Weekly'' critic Simon Vozick-Levinson praised ''23'' as "an enthralling listen, proving once and for all that they deserve the wide success of fellow travelers like

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

and

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

." '' Pitchfork''s D. Shawn Bosler was more reserved in his praise, finding the songs on ''23'' to be "well-written" but overproduced. Dave Simpson of '' The Guardian'' felt that the album is marred by "muddy, unfocused production", despite having "more than most seventh albums' share of otherworldly pop delights." Joe Gross of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' stated that the band lapses into "overheated ambience", and was particularly critical of Amedeo Pace's "wailing, overemotive" vocals. At the end of 2007, American webzine '' Somewherecold'' listed ''23'' as one of the year's best albums. In 2016, ''Pitchfork'' ranked ''23'' as the 30th best

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

album of all time.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Blonde Redhead * Kazu Makino * Amedeo Pace * Simone Pace Additional musicians *

Chris Coady Chris Coady (born June 5, 1978) is an American record producer and mixing engineer who is best known for his work with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, Deadbeat Darling, Grizzly Bear, Beach House, Blonde Redhead and others. Since moving to New Y ...

– robot voice on "Heroine" * Morgan King – French horn on "SW" * Skúli Sverrisson – bass Production * Blonde Redhead – production * Greg Calbi – mastering * Chris Coady – recording *

Rich Costey Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling ** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...

– mixing * Mitchell Froom – assistance on "Silently" and "Top Ranking" * Eddie Jackson – engineering, editing * Alan Moulder – mixing * Andy Savours – engineering * Brian Thorn – engineering * Ted Young – engineering Design * Alexander Gelman –

creative direction A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...

* Alex Gross – artwork * David Heasty –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

Charts

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2007 albums Blonde Redhead albums 4AD albums