The XX

IMO don't try to listen to the whole album at once; focus on "Crystalised" and "Basic Space" first, then play the whole album.

Also I completely disagree that they are about de-emphasizing hooks; their arrangements are sparse but there are hooks aplenty in their songs.

i got irritated by so much dee-dee-dee-dee barney-style guitar playing but there are some real wow! moments on here... as per possible intent i've forgotten what they were or what songs they were in

On Crystalised. This is GREAT. Like moody soul/disco with 90% of itself erased. Getting chills at the chorus. Either I was not in the mood for good things when I heard this, or I bailed after the first two. Which still suck, IMO. Big part of my initial reservation was that I just did't like her reserved & breathy vocal approach, and that's still true. She's okay in small doses, but gets boring when she has to carry the whole sound. He's fantastic though, slippery & rich, pulled way back to suit the mood.

Could definitely see this album being a grower, but I'm not sure I'll ever really enjoy her singing. She deflects my attention and highlights a dispiriting sort of stylization -- the "emptiness" I was complaining about earlier. Otherwise, it's better and more independently interesting than I initially gave it credit for. Cryztalized does seem to stand head and shoulders above the rest, though.

lol most ppl like her and hate him

Though I'm more favorably inclined towards The XX on a relisten, the YMG comparisons, though valid, seem a bit too generous, IMO. This isn't anywhere near as distinctive, risky, personal or strange as Colossal Youth. I'd be more inclined to describe it in terms of Hot Chip and Chris Isaak.

also I sort of felt that way about "Crystalised", then I got into the first track and "Basic Space", and then before I knew it I was digging the whole album

lol most ppl like her and hate him

― HI DERE

rly? Her approach is so familiar and one-trick ordinary. Plus she just doesn't convince me. I don't get any sense of her connection to the music, the rhythm. It's not a good kind of aloofness, either: she just sounds generic. Do have the feeling that I'll grow to like her and this record more in time.

I think it's more of an "she sings in tune and he doesn't" issue

btw i have no style-consciousness, generally don't care about minimalism, love hooks, and i think this is a great album. i like the dude's singing but i also have a thing for "bad" singers so

I like him too but I do think she's a better singer.

Yeah, but I'm an indie, so I'm listening less for quality and more for character.

NP: Credit In the Straight World - such a great goddam band

I'm in the same boat as contenderizer, 'cept after a month and half, the weaker tracks aren't' growing for me. I'd like it better, in a weird way, if they was more filler. It would show off the best tracks. Crystalised is perfect, yep, and Islands and Infinity are close. But some of the songs aren't just empty (good!) but empty headed. And it bugs me. It's like half the record is this sexy new lover, and the other half is like having these annoying roommates who are always going at it.

They're really vital and original though. Major talent. Just wish I could take it as a whole. I like both their voices, when I like them.

Also I completely disagree that they are about de-emphasizing hooks; their arrangements are sparse but there are hooks aplenty in their songs.

oh yeah, i didn't mean to imply that their songs are hook-free - they're certainly there and they stick in my head. but they're not the first things to grab you, and you kind of have to accept the other traits before you can access the hooks.

i prefer her voice but he's a great foil for it, and also much deeper and richer live than on record.

listening to this all the way thru for the first time....i think i like dude's voice better???

listened to the whole thing once from start to finish. altogether quite solid but much less exciting than portishead's 3 from last year which is covering similar wild ground. lots of tracks i skip. many songs are too dense and compressed for my likes. coyne's voice is less embarrassing than usual. not too much falsetto on this. i don't think i will purchase it. i would trade it in for the last yo la tengo though.

I am almost 100% certain you are not talking about The XX at all.

habba?

in fact, I am going to assume you meant to post on this thread and call it a day:

The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

Don't you see? The dude is actually Dwayne Coyne, he records under a pseudonym. Alex just spoilt it for us all.

yes sorry, wrong thread, you are right, dan i meant the flaming lips album...

It's like Burial turned out to be famous after all.

This was confusing, 'cause there is a similar starkness to Portishead. And after all the other comparisons, I can't believe they just got mentioned for the first time.

I was half joking when I mentioned it before, but "Infinity" is so so strongly reminiscent of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game". Especially the gtr (tone, phrasing, melody).

Ooops, the Chris Isaak cop's been mentioned by at least two people. Should have searched first.

Yeah, but I'm an indie, so I'm listening less for quality and more for character.

― a bleak, sometimes frightening portrait of ceiling cat (contenderizer), Tuesday, October 13, 2009 2:11 PM (5 hours ago)

ha

it's nice to hear somebody figured out how to bottle the vibe of the chromatics

i finally bought this and it is so goddamn good.

I wish more of the album was in the vein of "Intro"

Just bought tix for the xx/Friendly Fires show in a few weeks.

The album is growing on me exponentially - "Islands" is lovely, would be curious to hear it remixed in either a dubstep or electro treatment.

yeah, there's def a couple tracks on here that seem like they've been primed for remix

also got tix for mpls show

am i the only one who likes "VCR" the best?

i really like VCR!

Love VCR, yeah.

VCR = awesome, although I don't know if it's the best. Need to contemplate.

dan i agree with you about "intro"--feels bigger and even roomier than some of the other songs.

also got tix for mpls show

― rad bandit (gbx), Monday, October 19, 2009 7:00 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

sheeit need to get on this!!

i finally own this on CD tonight. i kept from listening to the MP3 because i knew this day would come.

i think the last debut album that gave this overwhelming feeling was Funeral. this is truly a special record for this particular moment in time...

to clarify, i did listen to the leak a couple of time. i wanted to wait to fully absorb the power of this record. i, for instance, loved the way "Islands" was able to breath and so on and so forth.

thanks for the clarification!

i really like them, theyre really original sounding

I <3 Bee OK.

this here is one damn elegant debut lp.

Nice they did an extra track 'Hot Like Fire' on the LP too.

btw everyone who i have turned on to this band has become insanely addicted to them too. Islands still kinda kills me.

They played as a three piece for the first time last night.

If you have tickets to see them in the next week or so, the gigs may have been cancelled due to Baria leaving/having some time off.

The show was amazing - the did the album and 'Teardrops' but they were visibly gutted that one of them was missing.

Just saw them open for Friendly Fires. The set was fucking incredible, pretty much all I could wish for in terms of commanding the SOLD OUT crowd. Somehow they played everything off the album EXCEPT for Crystalized and Heart Skips a Beat (granted they started ten or fifteen minutes late, so maybe that's why). Nothing off the Bonus EP either, although as the left the stage, Jamie threw their remix of Florence over the speaker system.

It looked as though a decent number of people were only there for the xx and cleared out after, but it was still pretty packed for Friendly Fires whose set was completely next level compared to their album - horn section and discofunk. Possibly the most disparate bill of bands I've seen stylistically but a great show.

They'd substantially reworked one or two tracks with new beat and different arrangements that were interesting and maybe better? Also had an extended instrumental jam in the middle of a song or two. They're fucking with their standard m.o. and it's paying off.

It looked as though a decent number of people were only there for the xx and cleared out after,

Same was true of the Chicago show.

Tbh, the acoustics at the venue here were pretty horrible and made the xx sound muddy and distant, which is a shame. But Friendly Fires definitely brought it.