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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Capsule review: Why?

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Why?
Eskimo Snow
[2009, Anticon.]
3.5/5 (Heavy Rotation)

Alopecia was one of my favorite albums from 2008, but Eskimo Snow is musically superior. A marked change from past efforts, the album finds the band playing straightforward indie-pop, having completely eschewed their hip-hop inclinations they once featured so prominently. While the musical quality on Alopecia ranged from adequate to interesting, Eskimo Snow is lush, layered, and often flat-out gorgeous. Lambchop's Mark Nevers' spacious production accentuates the nuances in the vibraphone/piano/guitar arrangement of "Berkeley By Hearseback" and the sweeping piano string strums of "Even the Good Wood Gone." While I don't think frontman Yoni Wolf's lyricism is quite as clever or focused on this effort, his ruminations on sex, spirituality and mortality are far more acute than most singer/songwriters in the "indie" world (whatever that is). If you haven't listened to Why? before, I think this would be a good starting point. Well, maybe a good follow-up to Alopecia, anyway.

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Capsule review: David Bazan

As previously noted, I began writing brief reviews to accompany in-rotation-music at V89. I'll post these comparatively colloquial reviews as "capsule reviews" in (hopefully) consistent posts:

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David Bazan
Curse Your Branches
[2009, Barsuk]
3.5/5 (Medium Rotation)

Curse Your Branches is David Bazan's first solo LP since the dissolution of Pedro the Lion. Lyrically, he covers familiar territory (invectives against God and Christianity, struggles with alcohol and family), but he admits that this is his first truly autobiographical record, and he seems more vulnerable than ever before. His relationship with God has always been tumultuous, but rarely has he challenged Him so directly or boldly. The struggles he details are heartbreaking, and unsettlingly juxtaposed by the often uptempo, cheery arrangements. And the arrangements are what kept me from giving this a higher score; Bazan has never been stronger or more assured as a writer, but too often the musical accompaniment here seems like generic, expendable indie-folk. There are certainly some exceptions (the album's bookending tracks, "Lost My Shape", the title track), though. Overall, a very solid release from a great songwriter, full of honest search and struggle.

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