LimeWire Music Blog

It’s been a good three years since Blonde Redhead dropped their most recent album, 23 (4AD). So what has the trio been up to in the years since then?

Well, for one thing, they’ve been working on the score for The Dungeon Master, a documentary about — you guessed it — Dungeons & Dragons players that promises to be epic. And while that’s been in the works for a while, we’ve just gotten our first chance to listen to what they’ve recorded. “Il Padroni,” which you can download at Stereogum, combines the film’s main theme and final reprise. Oh, and it kicks off with someone who I can only assume is said “Dungeon Master” telling us, “Imagine the absolute worst possible thing that could ever happen to you — and it is happening not only to you, but to everyone you know and all your friends, and everyone you have ever loved, all at the same time.” As someone else chimes in, “Okay, that’s bad.” The instrumental music that follows is fittingly dark, slow, funereal and minor-key. Things lighten up a bit with the transition to the reprise, which features delicate, repetitive guitar strumming.

The verdict? The music is nice and atmospheric and all… but I’m not sure it’s particularly unique to Blonde Redhead. When I listen to them, I expect to hear countless tissue-paper-thin layers and, of course, Kazu Makino’s singular voice. Perhaps those elements have no place on a film soundtrack, though. So I’m hereby withholding judgment until I can hear the music in context.