The XX

They're on Jools Holland tonight for anyone with BBC.

Thanks!

"their TV debut"

She looks like Fat Bob, no?

I really like that "You've Got The Love" cover/remix they've done for Fat Machine.

It helps that she doesn't really appear on it.

Way late to the party, but this just came out in the States. Really, really fucking good.

This was out in Boston at the beginning of September!

Hmmmm, I don't know. It still is a $30 import on Amazon and most of the stores I asked at told me an October 20th date, but it happened to pop up in Best Buy of all places last week.

Nevermind, scratch that part about Amazon, I can't read this morning.

Anyway, I'm really really loving this.

you are right, it came out just this week in America or on October 6.

I certainly didn't pay import price for it! huh

i like the mention of similarity to stars "nightsongs"--hadn't thought of that.

I tried listening to this over the weekend, but failed to make it more than three songs deep. It is not understated and spacious. It is empty and more empty. Why do people want to be so rong about thigns?

I don't know, why don't you tell us? Kidding aside, I still think this is a beautiful album, I'm not sure why it is so confounding that people might love this.

Wasn't being all that serious. I'm used to people digging stuff I don't get. Would have to give a closer listen to provide a useful critique, and I'm not drawn to do that anytime soon. And who knows?, maybe I'll like it next time around.

They make emptiness a virtue.

^^^ This really is key. And I know this was discussed upthread, but I think the Young Marble Giants comparison is very apt. Not that the bands sound similar, but they both make fantastic use of the open space in their songs.

they're prob a v good example of what rtc hinted at in the dizzee thread - an act you have to go 75% of the way to meet, and you have to already value very specific traits. like emptiness and stillness. i like this: they weed out the people who demand to be whacked over the head w/hooks from the first listen.

I don't demand to be whacked over the head with hooks. I just demand to be whacked over the head by something other than a denatured, style-conscious aping of far more interesting things (my first impression, admittedly incomplete). Say this as a YMG & Burial fan.

you have to already value very specific traits. like emptiness and stillness

Yes, and yes indeed.

oh yeah style-consciousness is another of those traits u have to be down w/ to appreciate the xx

But now I'm curious. Will try again...

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.