Blonde Redhead - Melodie Citronique EP
(Touch and Go)
Blonde Redhead's first EP after five full lengths, Melodie Citronique, offers
only one new, original track and, as such, is hard to recommend for purchase
despite how good the four altered and re-presented tracks are.
Melodie Citronique is a concept EP, the main purpose behind it being to
present songs with vocals in languages other than English, a natural
experiment given the band is composed entirely of American immigrants.
The EP starts with two songs from the band's latest LP, Melody of Certain
Damaged Lemons, both sung by Kazu. "In Particular" features lyrics in French,
and "Hated Because of Great Qualities" features lyrics in Italian. And, guess
what? The music is exactly the same as on the LP; only the vocals have been
changed. There is little reason to listen to these songs unless you get
really turned on by hearing people speak in Romantic languages.
The one fully new song in the five song bunch is "Chi É E Non É"
which also features Italian lyrics, this time sung by Amedeo. The song
is very good; I have always preferred the band's male-fronted songs, and
the band seems to have put slightly less focus on them since Fake Can Be
Just As Good, so it is always nice to hear a new song by the band of this
variety. The songs starts with an acoustic guitar intro, somewhat
odd for the band, but eventually shifts into mellow (electric) guitar
interplay.
Tacked on to the end of the EP are one song from a 1998 7" and a remix.
The only previous non-English lyrics Blonde Redhead have ever used was in
a song on their "Slogan" 7", a cover of Serge Gainsberg. That version of
"Slogan" is included here, and it is an entertaining interpretation,
slow-paced with male/female vocal sections, complete with toy xylophone
and an extended drum solo. The remix is by Third Eye Foundation and is
of the song "For the Damaged" from Blonde Redhead's last LP.
The redone song is still a good listen, thanks to the quality of the source
material, but the remix just does not add much other than some trademark
Third Eye Foundation sounds, mostly used in the song's outro, and some
rearrangements and extensions of the parts already there.
Blonde Redhead is a great band. I will buy anything they put out, but
I consider myself lucky to have gotten this EP for free; it simply
does not contain enough new material.
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