Xiu Xiu - What The Christ?

New one "FORGET" has leaked

is it good?

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).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b28_P8hImzE

Record sounds great, not sure if it's as immediately striking as Angel Guts but what is

dude is so prolific, interest waned hard after The Air Force... this is pretty nice, tho

New one is definitely harking back to that era imo

Oh wow... This is so great again.

new record rules so hard
i love "at last, at last," "jenny gogo," and "get up" the most. the opener ("the call"?) is great too

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.

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...

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.

and good hooks- jenny gogo and at last, at last especially

i have a feeling this could be BNM'd by p4k

nah they don't rep career bands that way really ever

totally happens every now and then... i will back up this claim later

Mount Eerie's Clear Moon comes to mind but yeah not too often.

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

this rules

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SG6yDSbtxU

Xiu Xiu really deserves to play the Roadhouse

holy fuck that ZZ Top cover is amazing

Dig this. Xiu Xiu's always killed it with covers.

yup

yes... what?

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."

wtf is a "Jamie solo album" lol

is SD the one that was in the "Sharp Dressed Man" AV Club video?

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)

Too bad about Shayna :(

Yeah too bad, she's great. Really enjoyed her Trap Set interview.

is SD the one that was in the "Sharp Dressed Man" AV Club video?

yes

What about that album that was literally Jamie on solo guitar and vocals playing "I'll Fly Away" etc, was that called Xiu Xiu?

thanks jordan, didn't feel like doing xiu xiu related google image searches at work

ha Simon I had the same thought. obviously a technicality, as all Xiu Xiu albums have featured other players. Very excited for his solo tour, really hope he comes back here, first time I saw Xiu Xiu was in 2012 and it was just Jamie. One of the most powerful & immense sets I've ever seen. Both shows I saw last year w/ Jamie & Shayna were great, despite a really weak turnout the second time. circa1916 was there and said Jamie was completely despondent after the show, just sitting on a crate in the back with his head in his hands. but J & S had great chemistry, and apparently Shayna was fired the day after the Chicago Twin Peaks show, which was just a week or two ago. Did some digging but have no idea why she was let go.

"digital version includes drunk commentary from Jami"

:D

Good news about the new albums, but Shayna leaving is sad :(

he's been doing the drunk commentaries for a while now, has anyone actually listened to any of them?

I haven't, it's new to me. Is it on reissues or something? I've got all the original stuff so am not inclined to buy any reissue tbh

just on the digital versions on their bandcamp. that would be a pretty bizarre and... impractical thing to press on vinyl ha! although that would be a trip

Honestly your summary of the newsletter was the first I heard of it! Ash did it on 1977, barfing and drunk talk on vinyl to end the album.

It doesn't sound very appealing, drunk commentary, tbh.

yeah I agree, I can only imagine it compounding the crushing abyssal sadness & depression of most Xiu Xiu music. although I would listen to drunk commentary for The Air Force, that's the only record they've made I consider a stone cold classic top to bottom.

A Promise, Fabulous Muscles, Knife Play all stone cold classic to me. Still wouldn't go near a drunk commentary by mister Stewart on any one of those tbf

what wtf happened with shayna? that was stunningly weird and unprofessional and then I forgot all about it. Just say she isn't there anymore, don't say you fired her and then say "oh it's not that salacious". drama queens.

I've only seen xiu xiu twice, once was many years ago, and the last time was the twin peaks show, which she was at, and she seemed pretty integral to that. too bad.

yeah they were great together both times i saw them in 2017. it was just jamie & shayna. now that i remember it, jamie mentioned at one of those shows that they last time they played here 'it was with the worst ever xiu xiu lineup, sorry' (circa 2011, jamie & two dudes i don't remember). i mean i remember right after i became obsessed with the air force, caralee mcelroy left the band under similar vaguely acrimonious circumstances, her quiting/firing entirely unexplained.

jamie doesn't seem like someone who's a joy to work with frankly

ha ha ha to say the least

Jamie Stewart -
An Aggressive, Chain Smoking Alcoholic
Record Store Day 2018
Pinyon Records
First solo record and
horror show https://t.co/HZvqkCHyzh pic.twitter.com/tj4kZQ4ub0

— Xiu Xiu (@XiuXiuforLife) March 6, 2018

that's a link to a new interview btw

Good title.

I assumed that his solo modular synth record would be either noise or just forgettable, but this is really engaging: https://www.tinymixtapes.com/chocolate-grinder/premiere-jamie-stewart-xiu-xiu-inconsistent-and-peculiar-volume

I like the song with Mitski a lot. I could go for an album of that.

his recent noise album An Aggressive, Chain Smoking Alcoholic released under Jamie Stewart is v. good

has anyone been keeping up with the "Drugs" series Jamie is doing? he's up to volume 6 now. he keeps saying that Angela hates it but I can't tell if that's a bit or not

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkK6GT4pkbU

new album girl with basket of fruit out in feb