Hi, I’m David West; I’m 19 years old, I’m a student and I’ve spent the last year of my life pissing away my Gran’s inheritance on alcohol and pizza. Above are The xx, they’re 19 years old and have spent the last year making one of the most important debut albums of the last couple of years. Considering they’re not a lo-fi punk band with not a single chequered shirt to be seen, I’m a bit surprised I like them. I can’t say I’m a big fan of the whole knobbly knee-ed Shoreditch goth look. Luckily their music is like nothing I’ve heard before.
W. Overstreet once said that it was important to "acknowledge the beauty of sparseness". He was talking about autumn but could easily have been talking about The xx. The space within their music is one of their defining features and one of the things that just makes them so special. Bringing a bit of Young Marble Giants into the 21st century was definitely a decision well made. Fuck it.
You would not believe how many times I have written, cursed, rewritten, deleted then came back 3 days later and tried to carry on writing this post. I wasn’t blessed with great use of language and this is my excuse for the shortcomings in this post. I haven’t managed to write anything that comes close to conveying how The xx make me feel. I will not even try. See through the insufferable hype and listen for yourself. This is an instruction, not a piece of advice.
MP3: The xx - VCR
BUY: The xx - The xx CD or 12" vinyl
HANDY if you're looking to catch Britain's coolest young band; The XX mark that spot, and they're heading for Studio 24 next week.
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The US legend gets London band The XX on board
We have been sitting with this for a while now! And it's time to share!
The XX's debut album is so good - and meant to be listened to as a whole - that it was really toug...
The first confirmations for the 13th edition of the Ferropolis festival include Massive Attack and The XX
"You only get to appreciate what you do when you're not doing it," says bassist Rob Canning, slurping on a tea. "and now we're back, we're buzzing to go."
PART ONE: WELCOME TO 2008
ARTROCKER:...
Legendary rock photographer Steve Gullick has a retrospective at Manchester’s KRAAK Gallery running from March 12th til March 27th, featuring shots taken for NME and Melody Maker as well as his...
To accompany the review of Tune-yards’ Monday gig at Cargo, a few tasty shots of Think about Life, Trash Kit and New England native Merrill Garbus aka tUnE-yArDs.
Read the review of the night...
We have collected some truly heinous examples of recent album covers, from Empire Of The Sun’s Star Wars travesty to the banal evil that is Razorlight’s Slipway Fire. Discretionary...
Album art in this gallery was selected based on several simple traits: strong concept, fine graphics including creative typography and general lushness. The first three of ‘The Best Record...
Placebo pictures: just in - some photos of Placebo and Brian Molko from last week’s gig at the Glasgow SECC.
Also check out the review here
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