The XX

All that coaching didn't pay off after all, you mean?

Kind of lolling that people are getting this irate over The XX, who are kind of like mood stabilizers pressed onto a CD.

― in the name of the purple and gold (HI DERE), Tuesday, January 26, 2010 9:50 AM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark

i'm only irate at ppl who don't understand the concept of discussing music on a music message board

they have sold one less album than the last Mastodon. what a blow for people who dress as if they chop wood and stalk deer on the regular.

The X(ana)X

i love the xx but am astonished that i've never seen this joke made before!

I've always thought The XX sounded massively amateur (while still being accomplished enough to be minimal); it's one of the things I'm NOT keen on about them.

not really - amateur-sounding bands tend to sound a bit ramshackle, a bit as if it's all guesswork; the xx sound like they know exactly what they're doing at every point, that they're executing a very specific aesthetic. one that you need to go halfway to meet them for, but still.

i don't think they sound amateur, just precise! not a wasted note.

curious why you think so, though, Nick. a lot of the press surrounded the record was all about how incredible it is that this isn't the bands' third record or whatever. i kind of agree.

*band's

The singing sometimes sounds amateur. The rest of it, not so much.

I know, I know, and I can totally understand that inference from the music; I just... to me it almost seemed as if they played so slow, and so economical, was because they were hesitant about what they were doing. I know this is counter-intuitive if you take the punk = playing-badly-fast idea, but that's just how I feel (felt) about them.

i could get on board with calling the dude's singing amateur, but it'd be difficult for me to say that about the girl's

Male singer still reminds me of Tricky somehow.

I don't like Emusic or whoever telling me that as an electronic music consumer I have to get this XX record.

I guess if that is what eMusic is saying, it's poor marketing. I think fans of electronic music might be into the xx more than they would be into other indie bands, but it's not like they obviously belong in that world. When I think of people I know who are into the band, it's certainly not all electronic/dance fans. And I don't know anywhere else that's marketing them that way.

It seems better suited to the general pop market.

You're going to have to define "pop" here. I think the band has a fairly broad fanbase, but at least in the U.S., it's still pretty much an indie thing. At least until Todd Terry remixes them.

the best example imo of how the band are completely control of their music is "Night Time." everything is precisely placed and paced. it doesn't sound like they're playing slowly because they're being cautious, it sounds like they're completely in control (as lex said) and deploying every sound at the exact moment the song calls for it.

That's subjective, though.

You're going to have to define "pop" here.

This should be amusing.

sure, totally! i agree.

but i'd be more inclined to agree with you w/r/t to their music being amateur if you were talking about their playing live, esp. as evidenced here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYcxX-SOtY4

they sound significantly more tentative there imo

that sounds pretty sleek and confident to me.

Yeah, not feeling hesitancy there; no more than on record.

i feel it ~2:38 on the second guitar, and the whole thing just doesn't feel as tight as the record to me but, as you said, it's subjective

I think if u read through this thread you will see that a lot of ppl start off being "ugh this is really like a pretty blatant remake of something i already like" and end up going "xx r taking over my brane from inside", nobody is really praising them for novelty or invention, more for how they are a minimal rock band that sound sleek rather than austere and they have a subtlety that creeps up on you and means that the album sounds really lush despite its relative bareness

Individual instruments are pretty lushly mixed, if a little antiseptic sometimes. Not so much an issue with the guitars, but I'm getting really tired of drum machines / maxed-out compressed drums. Not so much of an issue here, though, given the size and warmth of the kick drum.

Gave this 2 listens today; once off iPhone through headphones while updating our virus FAQs (niiice) and then again through the big B&Ws while making paella. Also nice. Lex, still don't get why you're not into hi-fi when you're so into style and sense; fewer things more sensually indulgent than playing a lot of the stuff you and I crossover tastes on through a big, well-balanced system while sitting on a big sofa with a glass of wine.

nobody is really praising them for novelty or invention, more for how they are a minimal rock band that sound sleek rather than austere and they have a subtlety that creeps up on you and means that the album sounds really lush despite its relative bareness

― plaxico (I know, right?), Tuesday, January 26, 2010 12:48 PM (1 hour ago)

but dont u see, only music that is novel or inventive is worthwhile

only music without crap vocals is worthwhile

liked this record for about two listens when it first came out, think it is shit the more I hear it. this is dinner party music...you hear it everywhere you go because it combines being fashionable with being incredibly bland and easy to listen to. doesn't stand up to the amount of play it's getting. not their fault but doesn't stand up to much play at all...it's more tedious and mopey and wet each time.

the thought of listening to this record in a social setting feels like a slow death to me, it'd turn a friday night into a sunday

feeling almost the exact opposite myself!

it's no christina aguilera

i am kinda depressed but don't feel like this is depressing music (i know no-one necessarily said it was)

you hear it everywhere you go because it combines being fashionable with being incredibly bland

I literally don't know what this means (and where are you hearing this? You mean like as muzak in restaurants or something?)

er, you don't have to listen to it in a social setting or on a friday night? pretty perfect sunday night music tbh.

it "combines being fashionable with being incredibly bland" in a way that reminds me of norah jones.. the new norah jones album is pretty good, incidentally (no challops)

norah jones is just feist for the hipster crowd iirc

planningtorock is feist for the hipster crowd

planningrorock can blow me iirc

ur just lj for the hipster crowd

mind blown

- don't think i've listened to this in a "social setting" other than actual xx gigs
- dinner parties are great and dinner party music is great - calling something that is such a compliment, <3 nice food and nice company
- nick - i guess the same reason i don't drink or buy vintage wine? i'm not anti-audiophilia, i just don't like it being made the benchmark, i guess

when i say "i don't drink or buy vintage wine" that's not, like, a principle or anything, it's just a reflection of how it is~~

the ability of a piece of music to effectively sink into the background has nothing to do with it's quality.

bah "its quality"

http://www.audiosparx.com/sa/zdbpath/composerpix/2748.jpg

i saw some british tv actor on current tv refer to this band as "The Double Kiss". is that for real??

xp, i'm not saying it's a bad thing.. i am saying that "kind of blue" and "buddha bar XXVIII" are both effective at sinking into the background but that fact says nothing about their merits otherwise

unless we're talking about AMBIENT music

yeah people said this about Endtroducing... and Dummy, someone's on a thread right now saying this about five years of minimal, "dinner party music" as a pejorative has to be taken out and shot

Playing music during dinner parties is classic, as you'd know if you had any friends or knew how to use a knife and fork.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, December 5, 2003 2:00 AM (5 years ago) Bookmark

so uh, how are you supposed to say their name? The ecks ecks? The double ecks?

"the ex ex"

now you can talk to your friends about them at dinner parties