The XX

Christgau loves the new record.

this threadis tl;dr- what would you guys recommend to me for liking this?

She sort of reminded me of Tracy Thorn a bit

Just a bit?

I love this record. Unique sound and unique songs.

riding this album on a bus through south london A+

"Can't get a fix on the male singer, though - he's this really singular "type"."

How so? His vocal style? His appearance? Confused by this statement.

both I think? his vocal style is really idiosyncratic and his personal style seems to be goth chav, which is a new one on me

what would you guys recommend to me for liking this?

if you like it, pat yourself on the back

lol badly wording things

Just a bit?

She was partially hidden by a speaker from my vantage point, so I couldn't see her too well.

Their remix of Florence and the Machine's "You've Got The Love" is astonishing, one of my favourite things of this year.

It truly truly is. That they blasted it from the speakers at the end of their set almost made up for the lack of "Crystalized".

As much as I adore the album and their aesthetic as a band, there's a kineticism in Jamie's remixxes that isn't present in most of their music - I'd love to hear him become a regular mixer on the singles circuit while they tour and write new material.

He has a wonderful ear for anticipation - it's not the sparseness per se, but knowing when to pull everything back for a moment, or insert a long xylophone build, or delay the chorus by an extra bar or two. Also, the tweaking of Florence's "You know it's real" is this delightful ping-ponged present to my ears.

Yes. Also you only realise how slamming the beat is when he allows an extended beat outro at the end.

i am listening to the youtubes on this thread again and still can't quite get it...does remind me of the band scrawl in a weird way. like an 00s r&b scrawl.

xp The low end, especially. When I first downloaded it and heard it on my computer speakers, it didn't hit me. On headphones, it's massive.

jamie xx rmx of "basic space" >>>>>>> original "basic space"

popjustice's hatred of the "you got the love" rmx = proof if it were needed that no one should ever click on popjustice again

Here's a nifty post about the evolution of that remix from Candi Staton/Frankie Knuckles (with mp3s):

http://www.stanford.edu/~gdegroat/NT/oldreviews/lady.htm

LOL Ooops!!! Talking to Pashmina while posting music links is a no-no. Here's the link:

http://music-addiction.com/2009/10/you-got-the-love-digital-archeology/

ha, just got back from a night time mile run listening to their florence and the machine remix. it's like the perfect song to do a mile to, got the right peaks and ascensions, and i finish about 10-15 seconds before the mix drums at the end start. so i get basically the whole song.
it's so rad

This record is what I hoped the Young Marble Giants would sound like. When I finally got around to hearing that "classic" it left me cold. This is far better.

NME voted the album its no2 album of 2009.

this album is holding up very well for me. thought at first (when i first came to appreciate) that it might fade quickly. pop that seems to consist of little but pretty sounds, a fistful of hooks and a seductive vibe often has a short shelf-life for me. and perhaps that's too reductive a description, but this was the question going in...

as it turns out, XX keeps getting deeper and more intriguing to me. nice trick when there's seemingly so little going on in the first place. and i've come around 180 degrees on the vocals - on romy's singing anyway, which initially struck me as pleasant but bland. the more i listen, the more i find myself anticipating and remembering her lines. love how rhythmically precise and expressive her phrasing is, given that it all sounds so offhand drowsy. jamie's slur is a wonderful foil, but she's clearly the star (shelter for ex).

thanks again to all who pushed this hard over the last few months.

"to me" x3 [rolleyes]

Yeah I really got into the whole album while in hospital. The other point of similarity between XX and Insides for me is that Romy's vocals are just so perfectly placed, there's a real sense of restrained tension in the way she holds herself back.

Insides? Don't see it referenced elsewhere on the thread.

I said upthread that they reminded me of Insides X Colder.

Oh shit. Searched without expanding the thread. That kind of day, apparently.

In the YMG's defense, I don't think they were trying to leave anyone feeling warm.

welcome back, Tim!

I hope this remix represents a direction they'll evolve in.

can't wait to see these guys play a small show in my hometown, nobody ever comes here really (tho fuck buttons r playing the next night) so its sortof a sign of how crazy the touring they're doing is.

kinda suprised no one has mentioned drums and guns by low in this thread

Yeah, I think Low is a huge (and largely unacknowledged) influence here...

I said upthread that they reminded me of Insides X Colder.

― Tim F, Wednesday, 9 December 2009 02:08 (14 hours ago) Bookmark

Also Circlesquare maybe?

Ahem:

The other thing this reminded me of was LOW - who evidently aren't as fashionable a touchstone as, I dunno, dubstep or whatever.

― Tuncay Stryder (Matt DC), Wednesday, September 2, 2009 9:25 AM

huh they didn't remind me of low at all

oops sorry mattdc

This record is what I hoped the Young Marble Giants would sound like. When I finally got around to hearing that "classic" it left me cold. This is far better.

^insane

^^^

Low tend to harmonize much more often - like, almost constantly. The sense of intimacy is somewhat similar.

Further ahems:

Maybe some Bizarro World version of Low where they don't harmonise, and Alan can't sing...

― Bill A, Wednesday, September 2, 2009 10:20 PM (3 months ago)

As long as people keep repping for this lot, I'll keep hating.

you could say low, but that only makes as much sense as young marble giants and the cowboy junkies' trinity sessions. that is, pin-drop quiet, maximum loveliness, lots of space & reverb, a taste for understatement that perversely makes high drama of every nuance.

main difference IS the set of reference points and function. this is built around post-punk, r&b, disco and yeah maybe reflects dubstep. don't hear any of that in low, who rise more from doomy country & folk, vaguely gothic ambient stuff, and slowcore. so while the XX's fragile, silvery hush resembles lots of other "fragile, silvery hush" bands, it doesn't make them the same as.

actually, low = an entirely career built around liking the trinity sessions makes much more sense to me than the idea that either have anything to do with this.

"entire career" ahem

i dunno. i'm not saying it SOUNDS exactly like low, but i hear some in it, and frankly i could just as easily see low being a band these kids like as young marble giants, low is way more well known.

yeah, not saying that there isn't a similarity or that influence is unlikely, just that i don't see any "LOW WITH BAD SINGING HA!" kinda copycat thing going on.

Also Circlesquare maybe?

― Neil S, Thursday, December 10, 2009 3:53 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

ayo anyone digging this should def check out the really really good Circlesquare album from earlier this year 'songs about dancing and drugs' you will like it

finally got round to hearing this. no idea if anyone else feels similar as i cant scroll through this thread right now, but i like the dreaminess of what they do, but it does become a bit one-note after a while, and oddly a bit depthless. almost too wilfully mono-dreamy. as if they can do something else too but chose not to for some reason. at times im sure it sounded like the girl was almost going to giggle from all the straight faced oh so sincere innocence/sweetness. i like the idea of a band like this doing hot like fire and the cover is interesting but its so fucking coy in how it removes all traces of sex and suggestiveness from the song. pretty weird. i am going to keep listening to it but theres something a bit pastichey about what it does with its dream poppy showgazy influences, something missing. all perfectly executed, just not much gravitas to it.

*shoegazy

sudden vision of a shoegaze night on American Idol, kids belting out "Head On" and "Feed Me With Your Kiss" Broadway style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jte8gzCKsYs

kinda wish they capitalized "XX" tbh

xx is just smaller XX