To kick off the music reviews I thought I would go with an album that was released about a year ago but is still making noise. The band the xx released their eponymous debut last summer and it was picked up for wider distribution in October 2009, named pitchfork media's third best album of 2009, and in early September 2010 picked up the prestigious Mercury Prize as the best British album of the year. The album comes in at a tight, very listenable 38 minutes. There is no filler on this record, and almost every song is a standout. The group's vocalists, Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim have incredible chemistry: their hushed vocals playing off of each other just beautifully, while Jamie Smith delivers some of the most nuanced and apt production/drum programming I've heard in a long time.
The album begins with the simple but eerie guitar riff of 'Intro' followed by the uptempo sound of 'VCR', the steady build-up that is 'Crystalised', then the chilling guitar-based 'Islands', before starting the descent into the soft and beautiful sounds of 'Shelter', 'Basic Space' and 'Night Time'. The tension that the album begins with is expertly balanced with the softer, gentler songs on the second half of the record.
Every now and again there comes along an album that just works perfectly. This is one of those albums.
Enjoy a few samples after the jump.
Intro
Basic Space - Official Video
Maybe the most haunting line on the album "I think I'm losing where you end and I begin"
Crystalised
Interview with Jeff Woods of exploremusic.ca on winning the Mercury Prize, sudden fame, and the creative process.
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