BLONDE REDHEAD EMBRACES CHANGE.

Byline: Paul Andersen

Correspondent

There is safety in the familiar. Driving the same route to work, eating at the same restaurants, hanging out with the same group of friends. Like Linus' blanket, all of these can give one a sense of security and comfort.

Of course, there are those who would disagree. For some people, change is the only constant that provides comfort.

"I think it is important that a band changes and evolves," said guitarist-vocalist Amedeo Pace of the New York-based rock trio Blonde Redhead, a group that has thrived on evolution and progression ever since it started 14 years ago. "If you don't grow with your music, you become redundant. It is important you don't make the same album over and over."

That is something that no one could ever accuse them of doing. The group, playing Saturday at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, has been playing songs from their just-released album, "23" (4AD Records).

Like the six records before it, "23" marks yet another step forward in the formulation of the Blonde Redhead sound. What began as a clangingly chaotic noise rock experiment akin to Sonic Youth has now become a whispery, wistful, swirling wash of electronic textures and haunting vocals by Pace and guitarist-keyboardist Kazu Makino, with Pace's twin brother Simone pinning it all down with percussion that keeps the groove quietly in the background. It is shimmering, haunting, beautiful music full of melodies and open spaces.

Simply stated, it is music that stays in the mind, inviting one to simply hit repeat on the CD changer.

"Ultimately, one of the things you have to take into consideration when recording is the fact that you will have to play these new songs every night, so you want something fresh, something that will keep you interested," said the guitarist.

"It can't just all be one thing. Different songs, you can find different ways of playing them, not just how they were recorded.

"From the beginning, we've always taken our time with the music, and gone slowly. Luckily for us, our (different) labels never pushed us into making 14 records; making seven (over the years) has allowed us to grow with our music. It's really been an organic process."

Blonde Redhead began in 1993 when a pair of Japanese art students, Makino and Maki Takahashi, had a chance meeting with Italian twin brothers Amedeo and Simone Pace.

Finding common musical ground in the experimental art/noise rock scene that was being championed by bands like Sonic Youth (the young quartet took their name from a song by '80s no-wave group DNA), they soon began practicing together, polishing their music in rehearsal spaces and basements.

Takahashi, who played bass, exited the band after recording their self-titled debut record, which, coincidentally, was released by Smells Like Records, the label run by Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley.

"Simone and I had obviously been playing together all our lives but had only ever been in one group before this one, and that was a high-school rock band that played Zeppelin covers, just jamming in each others' parents' basements," Pace explained.

"We had never been in a real band before, so this was a whole new experience for us."

BLONDE REDHEAD

What: The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Where: Empire Polo Field, 81-800 Avenue 51, Indio.

When: Friday through April 29. Blonde Redhead performs April 28.

In a nutshell: $249 for three-day pass (sold out); $85 for single-day pass, available at www.ticketmaster.com and coachella.com.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

Rock trio Blonde Redhead -- Kazu Makino, center, and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace -- play the Coachella Music and Arts Festival on April 28.