Capsule Review: The XX

The XX
XX
[2009, Young Turks/XL]
4/5 (Heavy Rotation)

The four members of The XX met at London’s Elliot School, the same university that counts Burial, Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) and members of Hot Chip as alumni. The unique vocal dynamic of Oliver Sim and Romy Madley-Croft combines the disaffected quality of brooding 80s guitar pop bands with the sensuality of American pop R&B divas. It’s an unusual formula, but a surprisingly effective one. XX, their debut for Young Turks/XL Recordings is sparse yet incredibly immersive and spacious. A dark, atmospheric, and oddly sexy album of pop songs, XX is a very well crafted debut from these four promising twenty year-olds. I initially avoided this due to the massive amount of hype surrounding it (and the awful album cover), but I'm glad I finally checked it out after a friend recommended it.

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Record Review: Jónsi & Alex

Jónsi & Alex
Riceboy Sleeps
[2009, XL]
2.5/5

Read the whole thing at Tiny Mixtapes.
I recently came across a few “iTunes essentials” playlists that are unfortunately indicative of how “ambient” music has come to be perceived. The Indie Chillout playlist features Mogwai, Tortoise, and Sigur Rós. To many listeners, this dynamic (though arguably formulaic) music is “ambient” and “chill,” serving mainly as background to doing homework or falling asleep. While I think that labeling the music of Sigur Rós "ambient" indicates a gross misunderstanding of what ambient music is, the label is perfectly suited to Jónsi and Alex’s debut album/art project.

In short - this album is rather boring. It is, however, stunningly pretty, and very evocative. I really wish that the duo had structured more songs like "Boy 1904". As it is, I wouldn't recommend the record for active listening, but it's wonderful background music (it soundtracked nearly every study session before finals week a month ago).

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