Blonde Redhead at the Showbox Wednesday

Blonde Redhead is a pair of Italian-born twins, Amedeo and Simone Pace, that now call New York home by way of Montreal and Boston. They, along with Kazu Makino, formed the band back in '93 with a rotating cast of bass players. Their music is softly-flowing melodic rock with electronic backing. The addition of Kazu's enchanting voice washes over you like a constant and rhythmic river of music. Over the years their sound has been pretty consistent so if you've been a fan in the past their new album, Penny Sparkle released in September, won't disappoint. Like their music, live performances are pretty subdued but beautiful in sound and visuals. We're looking forward to it.

The opener is an adorable woman from Iceland of all places, Olof Arnalds. Not quite understanding Icelandic music (basically limited to Bjork) it's hard to make comparisons or even understand the music. It's very different as she uses her upper register about ninety-nine percent of the time. It's hauntingly beautiful to listen to. Apparently the instrument she uses most of the time originated in South America and is called a Charango; it sounds very similar to a ukulele. The last time she visited Seattle it was a little over a year ago and she stopped by KEXP studios. Luckily they recorded the performance which you can watch below. It'll be interesting to see her play at the very least and most likely we'll leave enchanted.