23 (Blonde Redhead album)

23 was self-produced by Blonde Redhead.{{cite web|url=http://www.blonderedhead23.com/biography.php|title=Blonde Redhead Biography|publisher=blonderedhead23.com|access-date=May 14, 2018|last=Chick|first=Stevie|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129105739/http://www.blonderedhead23.com/biography.php|archive-date=November 29, 2016|url-status=dead}} 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.

23 was released by the label 4AD on April 10, 2007 in the United States.{{cite web|url=http://www.blonderedhead23.com/about23.php|title=Blonde Redhead: About 23|publisher=blonderedhead23.com|access-date=May 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128235058/http://www.blonderedhead23.com/about23.php|archive-date=November 28, 2016|url-status=dead}} It debuted at number 63 on the American Billboard 200 albums chart, selling roughly 11,000 copies in its first week of release.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1052694/now-remains-no-1-as-bright-eyes-debuts-high|title='NOW' Remains No. 1 As Bright Eyes Debuts High|magazine=Billboard|date=April 18, 2007|access-date=July 1, 2014|last=Hasty|first=Katie}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://4ad.com/releases/397|title=Blonde Redhead: '23'|publisher=4AD|access-date=May 15, 2018}} "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",{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/silently-ep/256708167|title=Silently – EP by Blonde Redhead|publisher=Apple Music|location=United States|access-date=March 8, 2021}} and as a 7-inch vinyl single featuring an alternate version of "(We Are a Real Team) Harry and I" on the B-side.{{cite web|url=https://4ad.com/releases/399|title=Blonde Redhead: 'Silently'|publisher=4AD|access-date=May 15, 2018}}

Melodie McDaniel directed the first official music video for "23".{{cite web|url=https://www.videostatic.com/content/new-release-blonde-redhead-23|title=New Release: Blonde Redhead '23'|publisher=VideoStatic|date=May 1, 2007|access-date=May 15, 2018|last=Gottlieb|first=Steven}} Mike Mills directed music videos for five of the album's tracks: "23", "My Impure Hair", "Silently", "The Dress" and "Top Ranking".{{cite web|url=https://theplaylist.net/miranda-july-stars-in-new-mike-mills-20070521/|title=Miranda July Stars In The New Mike Mills-Lensed Blonde Redhead Video; 4 More Clips Revealed|website=The Playlist|date=May 21, 2007|access-date=May 15, 2018|last=Perez|first=Rodrigo}} The "Top Ranking" video stars actress Miranda July.{{cite web|url=http://www.papermag.com/blonde-redhead-and-miranda-july-1425298682.html|title=Blonde Redhead and Miranda July|website=Paper|date=July 17, 2007|access-date=May 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515185534/http://www.papermag.com/blonde-redhead-and-miranda-july-1425298682.html|archive-date=May 15, 2018|url-status=dead}}

{{Album ratings

| MC = 83/100{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/23/blonde-redhead|title=23 by Blonde Redhead Reviews and Tracks|publisher=Metacritic|access-date=March 8, 2021}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/23-mw0000479293|title=23 – Blonde Redhead|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=June 1, 2016|last=Phares|first=Heather}}

| rev2 = The A.V. Club

| rev2score = A−{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/blonde-redhead-23-1798202514|title=Blonde Redhead: 23|website=The A.V. Club|date=April 24, 2007|access-date=June 1, 2016|last=Matos|first=Michaelangelo}}

| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev3score = A−{{cite magazine|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2007/04/09/23|title=23|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=April 9, 2007|access-date=June 1, 2016|last=Vozick-Levinson|first=Simon|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118174445/http://ew.com/article/2007/04/09/23/|archive-date=January 18, 2018|url-status=dead}}

| rev4 = The Guardian

| rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/apr/13/popandrock.shopping|title=Blonde Redhead, 23|newspaper=The Guardian|date=April 13, 2007|access-date=June 1, 2016|last=Simpson|first=Dave}}

| rev5 = Mojo

| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Blonde Redhead: 23|magazine=Mojo|issue=162|date=May 2007|last=Barnes|first=Mike|page=110}}

| rev6 = Pitchfork

| rev6score = 7.0/10{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10102-23/|title=Blonde Redhead: 23|website=Pitchfork|date=April 11, 2007|access-date=June 1, 2016|last=Bosler|first=D. Shawn}}

| rev7 = Q

| rev7score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Blonde Redhead: 23|magazine=Q|issue=250|date=May 2007|last=Yates|first=Matt|page=123}}

| rev8 = Spin

| rev8score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AuTSBJnG06YC&pg=PA86|title=Blonde Redhead: 23|magazine=Spin|volume=23|issue=4|date=April 2007|access-date=May 23, 2016|last=Gross|first=Joe|page=86}}

| rev9 = Uncut

| rev9score = 8/10{{cite magazine|title=How to Buy... Blonde Redhead|magazine=Uncut|issue=233|date=October 2016|last=Pinnock|first=Tom|page=49}}

| rev10 = Urb

| rev10score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Blonde Redhead: 23|magazine=Urb|issue=145|date=April 2007|last=Wasfie|first=Giselle Zado|author-link=Giselle Zado Wasfie|page=100}}

}}

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" of their previous album Misery Is a Butterfly (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 and Sonic Youth."

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 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.{{cite web|url=https://somewherecold.net/2007/12/30/somewherecold-awards-2007/|title=SWC Awards 2007|website=Somewherecold|date=December 30, 2007|access-date=September 30, 2020|last=Lamoreaux|first=Jason T.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412082908/https://somewherecold.net/2007/12/30/somewherecold-awards-2007/|archive-date=April 12, 2018|url-status=live}} In 2016, Pitchfork ranked 23 as the 30th best shoegaze album of all time.{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9966-the-50-best-shoegaze-albums-of-all-time/?page=3|title=The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time|website=Pitchfork|date=October 24, 2016|access-date=May 8, 2018|page=3}}

{{Track listing

| all_writing = Blonde Redhead (Kazu Makino, Amedeo Pace and Simone Pace)

| title1 = 23

| length1 = 5:18

| title2 = Dr. Strangeluv

| length2 = 4:47

| title3 = The Dress

| length3 = 4:00

| title4 = SW

| length4 = 4:35

| title5 = Spring and by Summer Fall

| length5 = 4:15

| title6 = Silently

| length6 = 3:57

| title7 = Publisher

| length7 = 4:01

| title8 = Heroine

| length8 = 4:11

| title9 = Top Ranking

| length9 = 3:27

| title10 = My Impure Hair

| length10 = 4:52

| total_length = 43:23

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = iTunes Store edition bonus track

| title11 = (We Are a Real Team) Harry and I

| length11 = 8:03

| total_length = 51:26

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Japanese edition bonus tracks

| title11 = Signs Along the Path

| length11 = 3:45

| title12 = (We Are a Real Team) Harry and I

| length12 = 8:03

| total_length = 55:11

}}

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.{{cite AV media notes|title=23|others=Blonde Redhead|publisher=4AD|year=2007|id=CAD 2717CD|type=liner notes}}

{{columns-start}}

Blonde Redhead

• Kazu Makino
• Amedeo Pace
• Simone Pace

Additional musicians

• Chris Coady – robot voice on "Heroine"
• Morgan King – French horn on "SW"
• Skúli Sverrisson – bass

{{column}}

Production

• Blonde Redhead – production
• Greg Calbi – mastering
• Chris Coady – recording
• Rich Costey – 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
• Alex Gross – artwork
• David Heasty – art direction

{{columns-end}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Discogs master|22467|23}}
• {{MusicBrainz release group|mbid=91808703-144d-347e-aade-b2c58a039344|name=23}}

{{Blonde Redhead}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2007 albums

Category:Blonde Redhead albums

Category:4AD albums

Category:Dream pop albums by American artists

Category:Chamber pop albums

Category:Shoegaze albums by American artists

Category:Art pop albums

Category:Space rock albums