Posts Tagged ‘the xx’
Warpaint: The Real Deal
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
With a similar sound to The XX it is only fair to compare Warpaint with The XX. The female quartet originates from Los Angeles and is set to release their debut album The Fool on October 25th. Having a little of a darker side may be the biggest difference between the two groups. You can listen to their full album on Hype Machine as they are streaming it before the release, listen here.
After a few listens of The Fool it is clear that they are a band that should be on everyone’s radar. With tracks like Warpaint, Undertow, Baby and Composure it’s clear that these ladies have spent a lot of time working on their music. With The XX becoming a successful band with their sound, Warpaint should follow in their footsteps and will see their time in the spotlight as well.
Along with listening to their debut album, check out the music video for the track Undertow here.
LINKS:
Official Site: Warpaint
MySpace: Warpaint
Facebook: Warpaint
Tags: the xx, Warpaint
Posted in Earworm, The New Music | No Comments »
The xx @ Massey Hall
Monday, October 4th, 2010
Fresh off of their 2010 Mercury Prize win, The xx popped by Massey Hall on September 29 to play a short, but very sweet set. For months prior to the show people were questioning their ability to jump from a venue like the Phoenix to an almost 3,000 person venue. But like achieving global fame, playing a fairly massive venue like Massey only came naturally to the trio.
Draped in their usual black, the indie pop trio made their way to centre stage and opened with their hit “Crystalized”. In response to its wondrous beauty, the audience instantly acknowledged that no, this wasn’t going to be one of those ‘get up and dance’ shows, but rather one that will leave you dumbfounded by just how pleasant the music is to listen to.
Singer and guitarist, Jamie Smith, offered a whispered ‘thank you’ after every couple of songs while Oliver Sim, also on vocals and bass, interacted and joked with the crowd, at one point sharing his delight of the fact that this was their very first North American tour where they were all 21 (legal drinking age). “I’d like to say cheers to that,” joked Sim.
The band worked their way through their full self-titled record, including fan favourites “VCR”, “Basic Space” and “Islands”.
One thing that The xx does noticeably well is keep the audience on their toes. With the melancholy-pop that they play it’s only natural that they may lose people’s attention. With this band, though, that didn’t seem to be the case in the slightest. In fact, in contrast to their musical style, a solid number of people were on their feet dancing, clapping, jumping and singing.
The xx, though not absolutely matured to what they have the potential to be, are a delight to listen to. Think they sound good on vinyl or digitally? They’re a band that you must see live. Again, don’t arrive expecting to get out of your seat and dance… or for the band’s members to be overly skittish. Arrive knowing that when you leave, you’ll have a smile on your face. A smile that reflects a take on music that hasn’t really been attempted before. Music that gets you in that comfortably numb sort of feeling, yet derives an insane amount of emotion from you. Hard to explain and easy to feel. The xx puts on a very natural, very wondrous show.
Setlist (from what I recall … it was a captivating show):
Intro
Crystalised
Heart Skipped a Beat
Basic Space
Fantasy
Shelter
VCR
Islands
Night Time
Infinity
Stars
*Teardrops (Womack & Womack Cover)
Rating: 4/5
Tags: the xx
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4/19/10 News briefs: PJ Harvey, Blur, Gay Indie Rock, Jose Gonzalez and Jay-Z + The xx
Monday, April 19th, 2010
PJ Harvey has told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that half of her new album was made with an autoharp. “I’ve written about half of my new record on one of these,” Harvey said before she performed a new song called “Let England Shake.” “I’ve got three autoharps and I’ve had them tuned in slightly different chords, uh, fixtures here, so that they’re slightly out of the normal line of what an autoharp would sound like. There’s a lot more minor keys, a lot of darker keys.”
Didn’t get one of the 1000 copies of the brand new Blur 7″ released this past Saturday for Record Store Day? Well, the band feel so bad about it that they’re now giving away the track digitally over at their website.
In case you’ve always thought indie rock was a little too straight, Queerty has compiled a list of ten influential gay indie rockers, profiling their work and how their sexuality has played a part in their music. Click here and see who they outed.
Jose Gonzalez’s old band Junip have reunited and will be playing some North American dates. There aren’t any Canadian shows, but the band will be releasing both an EP and an album on Mute later this year.
And because it’s a slow news day, I thought I’d point out that Jay-Z and Beyonce are fans of The xx. Cool or who cares? Diplo outed the couple peeping the band’s performance at Coachella this past weekend.
Tags: Beyonce, blur, Diplo, Jay-Z, Jose Gonzalez, Junip, PJ Harvey, Queerty, the xx
Posted in News, The New Music | No Comments »
4/1/10 News briefs: Superchunk, F**ked Up, Lightspeed Champion, Foals and The xx vs Notorious B.I.G.
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
Note: None of the following stories are April Fool’s pranks. I just don’t have the energy folks.
Indie rock heroes Superchunk have announced they’ll release their first album in nine years. Frontman Mac McCaughan told The Canadian Press that the band are “not too far from being done” and that “it’s more guitar-oriented than [2001's] Here’s to Shutting Up. And maybe a little louder in general.”
Fucked Up are being sued by Thriller Energy Inc., an energy drink manufacturer that sponsored one of the band’s SXSW shows. The lawsuit is accusing guitarist Mike Haliechuk for making defamatory comments after he blogged that the company sells “some of the most vile stuff you can put in your body” and stated that “we can say with force that Thriller Energy Drinks is a bullshit company and we won’t be working with them ever again.”
Lightspeed Champion (aka Dev Hynes) had to have emergency surgery this week on his throat after his face and throat began swelling up. In a blog post, Hynes wrote that the problem was pre-existing, dating back a few years to an infection in his gums and teeth.
Sub Pop has announced that it will release the sophomore album by UK math rockers Foals. Titled Total Life Forever , a press release from the label describes the album as “the sound of a band settling into and surveying the decay of old protocols. With this new album, Foals strip their sound back and turn themselves inside out searching for that invisible human thing.” Total Life Forever will be available in digitally on May 11, 2010, and on CD and double-LP June 15, 2010.
Have you ever wondered what a collaboration between The xx and Notorious B.I.G. would sound like? There’s a good chance you haven’t since it’s a pretty random pairing, but if you are interested a blog called Wait What has posted an 11-track free download of “The xx’s debut album chopped, sliced, and mashed up with Biggie’s vocals.” You can download the album here.
juicy-r [the notorious b.i.g.'s juicy vs. the xx's vcr] - wait what (mashup) from wait what on Vimeo.
Tags: Foals, Fucked Up, Lightspeed Champion, Notorious B.I.G., Superchunk, the xx
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12/18/09 News briefs: Final Fantasy, The xx, Xmas indie rock, VOGUE and The Flaming Lips
Friday, December 18th, 2009
Owen Pallett has changed his musical moniker from Final Fantasy to… wait for it… Owen Pallett. Yes, the Toronto-based Polaris Prize winner decided to finally give the video its name back. In a statement he wrote, “the laws of trademark infringement exist for good reason, and so I am voluntarily retiring my band name… I feel it is in my own best interests to definitively distinguish my music from Square/Enix’s games.” The name-change comes just in time for the new Final Fantasy Owen Pallett album, Heartland, which is out January 12th.
The xx are set to bring “a 3D physical interpretation” of their music to The Vinyl Factory in London. According to FACT, “The sculpture utilises film, light and sound via three specially created audio-visual units (each unit representing one member of the band with a mix of exclusively filmed footage and mixed sound), and every visitor will enjoy a totally unique experience of xx.” The show will happen for six days from January 8 to 12, 2010.
Stereogum has been nice enough to collect an assortment of indie rock-flavoured Christmas songs for its readers. Some of the tracks they’ve included are Lightning Dust’s “Ho Ho Ho, “Can’s “Silent Night,” an edit of Lindstrøm’s epic “Little Drummer Boy” and Julian Casablancas’ SNL cover, “I Wish It Was Christmas Today.” You can download them all free of charge here.
The Horrors, Vampire Weekend, MGMT, Beirut, Mika and Adam Green, among others, have posed for a special music spread in the upcoming issue of VOGUE. You can see it over at OhNoTheyDidn’t.
The Flaming Lips along with Stardeath and the White Dwarfs will release their cover of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon on iTunes this Tuesday (December 22nd). The album will feature guest appearances by Peaches and Henry Rollins. It’s more than likely going to be rad.
Tags: Dark Side Of The Moon, final fantasy, Heartland, Owen Pallett, Pink Floyd, Stereogum, The FLaming Lips, The Vinyl Factory, the xx, VOGUE, Xmas indie rock
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12/9/09 News briefs: Neko Case, Delorean, Jason Lytle, Massive Attack and the Gummy Awards
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
In case you missed it (like I did), Neko Case took over as programmer for the Turner Classic Movies network last night. The alt-country crooner sat and chatted with Robert Osborne and then presented four films: Woody Allen’s Radio Days, Orson Welles’ The Third Man, Albert Lewin’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and Elia Kazan’s A Face in the Crowd. Apparently, this was an idea Neko had to promote her recent album, Middle Cyclone. I wonder what else she could get away with…
Spanish blog darlings Delorean will take their Balearic pop on the road this spring opening up for Miike Snow on a North American tour, which stops in Montreal on April 2, Toronto on April 3 and Vancouver on April 12. They’re also said to be working on their debut full-length.
Grandaddy were great, so we can only assume the new Xmas album by former frontman Jason Lytle is worth downloading. I mean, it’s free, but remember how rad Sophtware Slump was? You can grab it over at his official website.
15 years is a pretty long time to hold a grudge, so Massive Attack and Tricky have finally buried the hatchet. In an interview with BBC 6 Music, Daddy G said that it’s all water under the bridge and he and 3D are working on a collaboration with Tricky. Let’s hope they can recreate the magic of “Karmacoma.”
Finally, Stereogum has announced the winners of The 2009 Gummy Awards. Animal Collective (album), Grizzly Bear (video) and The xx (new act) were all victorious. Best of all though, the site asked tasteful celebs and musicians like Aziz Ansari (Parks and Recreation, Human Giant), Andy Samberg (SNL, Lonely Island), Gregg Gillis (Girl Talk), Patton Oswalt (Big Fan, Ratatouille) and Andrew W.K. for their picks.
Tags: 3D, animal collective, Daddy G, Delorean, Granddaddy, grizzly bear, Jason Lytle, Massive Attack, Miike Snow, Neko Case, Stereogum, The Gummys, the xx, Tricky, Turner Classic Movies
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11/23/09 News briefs: Lykke Li, Sonic Youth, Rough Trade, Joanna Newsom and Dirty Projectors
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Lykke Li is giving away a free MP3 of her covering the Shirelles’ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” It’s pretty spectacular.
Magnet has contemplated what they feel are the most overrated (“Kool Thing”) and underrated (“Swimsuit Issue”) Sonic Youth songs. It’s pretty subjective, y’know, not at all like what you’d read on this blog.
Speaking of subjective, Rough Trade Records (the shop, not the label) have chosen their favourite albums of the year. #1? The xx. Can’t argue that. They do a top 60 and link to them all so you can buy them. Smart.
Harp-stroking folk goddess Joanna Newsom, who is dating Andy Samberg of all people, has “recently finished work on a new album.” The news was confirmed by W Magazine, of all sources, who were shooting her dressed in Armani for a recent fashion spread. Hopefully the album will be sans any Lonely Island dick jokes.
Last night the Dirty Projectors were joined on stage at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC by not only David Byrne but also three members of The Roots. Sadly no YouTube footage has surfaced yet, but someone please post ?uestlove keeping time to “Stillness Is the Move”!
Tags: ?uestlove, Andy Samberg, David Byrne, Dirty Projectors, Joanna Newsom, Lonely Island, Lykke Li, Magnet, Rough Trade, Shirelles, Sonic Youth, The Roots, the xx, W Magazine
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11/20/09 News briefs: The Big Pink, Sonic Unyon Xmas, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The xx and Daft Punk
Friday, November 20th, 2009
Strapping dream pop duo The Big Pink have covered Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams.” Stereogum has an MP3 of the song and it sounds exactly how it should: a very haunting, stripped down take that sounds as much The Big Pink’s as it does Beyonce’s.
Sonic Unyon will throw its annual Christmas Bash at This Ain’t Hollywood in Donut Rock City, Ontario on December 19th. But the real news is that former flagship band Tristan Psionic (made up of the label’s co-owners) will reunite for the festive show. SIANspheric and Spirits will also perform. No word on whether TP will bring back those nifty three-quarter sleeved “Pslop” shirts for the occasion.
The Brian Jonestown Masscare have previewed their forthcoming new album, Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?, in a unique way: through YouTube videos. It’s rather genius, come to think of it. This way if anyone wants to rip the music and leak it as an album the quality will be so horrendous no one will accept it. We all know how horrendous YouTube’s audio is… The album will be out to buy on January 1, 2010.
The xx will play a free gig in Vancouver before their sold-out show later that night with Friendly Fires on November 26th. The band’s free in-store performance at Zulu Records will begin at around 5:00 p.m. Better get there early.
Finally, there is word circulating that Daft Punk are set to tour in 2010. The only North American date would be at Yankee Stadium on August 15th, but it looks like there’s plenty of space to squeeze in some more shows. I wouldn’t get your hopes up though - Daft Punk are known to be an easy target for such rumour mongering.
Tags: Beyonce, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Daft Punk, Friendly Fires, Sonic Unyon, Sweet Dreams, the big pink, the xx, Tristan Psionic, YouTube, Zulu Records
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11/12/09 News briefs: Sonic Youth, The xx, Public Image Limited, Solange + Dirty Projectors and Serge Gainsbourg
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Sonic Youth have selected their 12 favourite films from the esteemed Criterion Collection vault. No surprise, their taste in cinema is as arty as their music. How many of them have you seen? I’ve seen only two.
It’s official: The xx are now a trio. The hot UK band announced that guitarist/keyboardist Baria Qureshi has left the band over “personal differences.” The remaining members will hopefully keep it together to make it to Canada for their three shows: Vancouver on November 26th, Toronto on December 2nd and Montreal on December 3rd.
John Lydon says the advertising campaign he starred in for Country Life butter is what will fund the Public Image Limited reunion tour. He tells the Camden New Journal, “I’m promoting a British product which I’m very proud of. Anything I can do to help British industry is fine by me and in return you’ve got PiL.”
Beyonce’s little sister Solange has covered Dirty Projectors’ “Stillness Is The Move.” It may seem weird, but her version really exposes the Brooklynites’ as a true R&B act by emphasizing their deep guitar grooves and soaring falsettos. Apparently, so influential has Solange been on Jay-Z’s taste in music (he’s all about indie rock now, didn’t you know?), that he’s gone and hired the Projectors and Grizzly Bear to help record his next album.
A trailer for the highly anticipated Serge Gainsbourg biopic, Serge Gainsbourg: Vie Héroïque, is now available to watch. And as you can guess, it only takes seconds for an adolescent Serge to see his first breast. That sounds pretty accurate.
Tags: Basia Qureshi, Criterion Collection, Dirty Projectors, Jay-Z, Public Image Limited, Serge Gainsbourg, Solange, Sonic Youth, the xx
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10/29/09 News briefs: The xx, No Age, Chuck Biscuits, The Hidden Cameras and Nirvana
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
The xx have been forced to cancel some shows due to exhaustion. If we’re going by Pitchfork the band just need to take a break after a gruelling schedule at CMJ in New York last week. But if we’re going by The Quietus, The xx could soon be searching for a new guitarist, as Baria Quereshi has taken a leave of absence.
The new video for No Age’s “Losing Feeling” is shot from the perspective of two cute little mice. There’s a nice surprise twist to it and notice the cameo of their new pair of Emerica vegan hi-top sneakers.
UPDATE: Chuck Biscuits is alive and well.
Former Danzig drummer Chuck Biscuits passed away on October 24th after a long battle with throat cancer. Born Charles Montgomery, the Canadian first got his break drumming for D.O.A., before working with Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Fear and even Run-DMC. Biscuits was 44.
The Hidden Cameras’ Joel Gibb has unveiled an anti-seal hunting billboard in downtown Ottawa. He plans to also perform a protest in the nation’s capital in order to bring attention to the one million seals being slaughtered every three years.
And just because we are all dying to see it, here is the trailer to Nirvana Live At Reading, which comes out this Tuesday, November 3rd.
Tags: Chuck Biscuits, Danzig, Joel Gibb, Nirvana, Nirvana Live At Reading, No Age, The Hidden Cameras, the xx
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