I'm not denying the button-pushing, getting-under-people's-skin aspect; I just think there's a lot more variety to their music (in terms of instrumentation, sonic texture, song structure, affect, ...) than they are typically given credit for
― bernard snowy, Thursday, 14 April 2016 05:28 (eight years ago) link
Yeah, that's part of the thing, he's pretty inventive with his instrumentation and production. It's not really "this guy's a fucked up weirdo! let's laugh at him!" Dude gets into some pretty intense emotional territory, though, which I personally appreciate because I've seen shit
― larry appleton, Thursday, 14 April 2016 05:31 (eight years ago) link
Ol snowy, if I could touch your forehead to transfer the things that I've seen and lived through, you'd have a seizure and poo your pants. So I like that there's an artist who goes out there to express really intense feelings. That's why Jamie Stewart has a place in my heart.
― larry appleton, Thursday, 14 April 2016 05:39 (eight years ago) link
"bunny gamer" is a ten in the swear jar song?
― Keks + Nuss (contenderizer), Thursday, 14 April 2016 12:43 (eight years ago) link
i love the valley was, apparently
― akm, Thursday, 14 April 2016 13:24 (eight years ago) link
Your true self has become weak and alone and annoyingAnd a true ridiculous dumb-assClowne towne revealing nothingClowne towne a flock of cootsClowne towne a single beautyClowne towne a big dumb kid
― Treeship, Thursday, 14 April 2016 17:30 (eight years ago) link
i love that biting and sardonic but still weirdly empathetic song, sung in a trembling voice that sounds like its on the precipice of madness
― Treeship, Thursday, 14 April 2016 17:31 (eight years ago) link
Dude gets into some pretty intense emotional territory, though, which I personally appreciate because I've seen shit― larry appleton, Thursday, April 14, 2016 5:31 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― bernard snowy, Friday, 15 April 2016 05:46 (eight years ago) link
+ reading this essay http://thephilosophicalsalon.com/in-praise-of-suicide/
― bernard snowy, Friday, 15 April 2016 05:48 (eight years ago) link
I like the way he sings "No one can touch you" it is one of my very favorite Xiu Xiu moments (*not listening to the Jennifer Lopez song anymore)
― bernard snowy, Friday, 15 April 2016 05:49 (eight years ago) link
lol u listen to xiu xiu
― salthigh, Friday, 15 April 2016 06:25 (eight years ago) link
i had a really strong/positive response to a promise when it was released. more breathable than knife play, and some truly awesome (Ian Curtis Wishlist) and beautiful (Blacks, Sad Redux-O-Grapher) moments throughout the record.. really brief, too. oddly, an album tailored to my tastes. February of 2003, gorgeous music. difficult to share w/others. the chapel of the chimes ep is similarly skeletal, though not as tenuous or home-y sounding
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Friday, 15 April 2016 07:21 (eight years ago) link
kinda lost interest around the air force, which has its share of great/striking moments. after seeing them live a few times (a couple very rigid performances), it just seemed like JS solidified a formulaic approach, cranking out several same-y albums over the last decade. listening back to la forêt right now, still affecting
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Friday, 15 April 2016 07:34 (eight years ago) link
Always might be my favorite "pop" album of his
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Friday, 15 April 2016 07:40 (eight years ago) link
I would agree that there was something special about A Promise - IIRC he/they were robbed while touring Knife Play and lost access to all of their instruments (in particular their collection of percussion) which is why they necessarily shifted to a more electronic sound.
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Friday, 15 April 2016 07:43 (eight years ago) link
I lost track of them a long time ago (around La Foret), but my favorite XX song might the xylophone pop/female-vocal "Hello From Eau Claire," which I wish they did more of. Granted it sounds more like a XX cover than an original.
― Michael F Gill, Saturday, 16 April 2016 16:35 (eight years ago) link
"dear god i hate myself" gets stuck in my head all the time. i still like it.
― Treeship, Sunday, 17 April 2016 05:18 (eight years ago) link
idk why but THE AIR FORCE is just perfect start from finish in a way that none of their other albums are for me. absolute sweet spot.
― flappy bird, Sunday, 17 April 2016 05:29 (eight years ago) link
I've still never heard The Air Force in its entirety, but will remedy that soon -- y'all are gonna make me blow my entire tax refund on Xiu Xiu albums, I swear!
Idk why but I find La Foret to be their *least* listenable (start-to-finish) album. Plenty of moments I love ("Muppet Face", "Baby Captain", "Ale", "Bog People", ...) but there's just not enough forward momentum to carry me through the dirgey bits... IIRC, starting from "Baby Captain" and letting it loop back to the beginning after "Yellow Raspberry" was somewhat of an improvement
― bernard snowy, Sunday, 17 April 2016 18:35 (eight years ago) link
the Twin Peaks album is amazing, if vocals are the thing that is off putting for people it's mostly instrumental.
― akm, Friday, 22 April 2016 23:08 (eight years ago) link
This is my first Xiu Xiu love after totally failing to get into anything else of theirs and I can't imagine wanting less of his vocals, honestly! The material is just such a perfect fit...
― You guys are caterpillar (Telephone thing), Saturday, 23 April 2016 00:23 (eight years ago) link
ohhhhh this twin peaks record hits the spot
― flappy bird, Saturday, 13 August 2016 20:57 (seven years ago) link
and they've got more on the way... looks like jamie deleted the recent tweet about a new record being mastered...
― flappy bird, Saturday, 13 August 2016 21:00 (seven years ago) link
New one "FORGET" has leaked
― Everything Moves Towards The Sun (Ross), Thursday, 12 January 2017 01:55 (seven years ago) link
is it good?
― flappy bird, Thursday, 12 January 2017 03:58 (seven years ago) link
Just listened to the first two singles off this. Very exciting! Much poppier than recent offerings and imo the best thing they've put out in ages (though I liked the Twin Peaks thing a lot too).
― tangenttangent, Sunday, 22 January 2017 18:15 (seven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b28_P8hImzE
― devvvine, Friday, 10 February 2017 17:18 (seven years ago) link
Record sounds great, not sure if it's as immediately striking as Angel Guts but what is
― devvvine, Friday, 10 February 2017 17:21 (seven years ago) link
dude is so prolific, interest waned hard after The Air Force... this is pretty nice, tho
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Friday, 10 February 2017 17:50 (seven years ago) link
New one is definitely harking back to that era imo
― devvvine, Friday, 10 February 2017 17:54 (seven years ago) link
Oh wow... This is so great again.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Friday, 10 February 2017 20:30 (seven years ago) link
new record rules so hardi love "at last, at last," "jenny gogo," and "get up" the most. the opener ("the call"?) is great too
― flappy bird, Sunday, 19 February 2017 22:00 (seven years ago) link
Yes It's such a beautiful record and 'the call' is just a great opening for a xiu xiu record. 'Petite' is probably my favourite atm. Amazing that he still knocks it out of the park so often after this many years.
― devvvine, Sunday, 19 February 2017 22:05 (seven years ago) link
continues to be an amazing & inspiring producer and sonic craftsman- I remember watching a video of him demonstrating how he put a bunch of kick drums through filters and pitch shifters to layer them a create a chord out of their tones. so sick. always tempted to buy some of his gear when he periodically puts it up on eBay.
i like the closer, too- all in all this is my favorite Xiu Xiu record since The Air Force. i have a feeling this could be BNM'd by p4k, and i hope they get the bump in attention and ticket sales they deserve...
― flappy bird, Sunday, 19 February 2017 22:09 (seven years ago) link
I hope so, definitely up there with Air Force and A Promise for me. Feel like some of more recent poppier ones (always/women as lovers) sounded way too cluttered where as this one has a real breadth to it.
― devvvine, Sunday, 19 February 2017 22:16 (seven years ago) link
and good hooks- jenny gogo and at last, at last especially
― flappy bird, Sunday, 19 February 2017 22:23 (seven years ago) link
i have a feeling this could be BNM'd by p4k
nah they don't rep career bands that way really ever
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 20 February 2017 00:43 (seven years ago) link
totally happens every now and then... i will back up this claim later
― flappy bird, Monday, 20 February 2017 01:46 (seven years ago) link
Mount Eerie's Clear Moon comes to mind but yeah not too often.
― devvvine, Monday, 20 February 2017 01:48 (seven years ago) link
it tends to be foreshadowed by an uptick in coverage (like when they did their about-face on Deftones), haven't noticed anything like that
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 20 February 2017 02:39 (seven years ago) link
this rules
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SG6yDSbtxU
― devvvine, Friday, 4 August 2017 15:03 (six years ago) link
Xiu Xiu really deserves to play the Roadhouse
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 4 August 2017 15:19 (six years ago) link
holy fuck that ZZ Top cover is amazing
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Friday, 4 August 2017 15:36 (six years ago) link
Dig this. Xiu Xiu's always killed it with covers.
― circa1916, Friday, 4 August 2017 15:47 (six years ago) link
yup
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Thursday, 24 August 2017 19:15 (six years ago) link
yes... what?
― flappy bird, Thursday, 24 August 2017 19:22 (six years ago) link
Lots of news in their latest email. They really buried the lede by belatedly announcing that the ZZ Top/Bottom cover 7" is "out now" (been out for over a month), but some much more pertinent news, both good and bad, in there:
-new Xiu Xiu album & world tour in early 2019-new Jamie solo album (his first) out on Record Store Day & North American tour + handful of EU and Russia dates in April-vinyl reissue of A Promise with bonus tracks. digital version includes drunk commentary from Jamie-Shayna Dunkelman, who played with Jamie at the two shows I saw last year, has been fired. From the email: "Sadly, we had to let Shayna Dunkelman go from Xiu Xiu. Despite the bantying about of numerous bizarre and vile speculations (oh wretched internet) the true reasons, while frustrating and extremely infuriating to us, are neither salacious nor titillating."
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 16 January 2018 18:50 (six years ago) link
wtf is a "Jamie solo album" lol
is SD the one that was in the "Sharp Dressed Man" AV Club video?
― Simon H., Tuesday, 16 January 2018 19:03 (six years ago) link
I have been revisiting this band over the past week and they're even better than I thought they were the first time around (and I already thought they were the best band)
― flamboyant goon tie included, Tuesday, 16 January 2018 19:09 (six years ago) link
Too bad about Shayna :(