New Xiu Xiu

I'll be honest. I don't care much for well thought out, level-headed, rational music criticism. I like reviews where the writer either loves¹ or hates a record/band/genre and uses their bully pulpit to rally people to their cause. That said, I love reading Xiu Xiu reviews. There is pretty much no middle ground with people about Jamie Stewart. While I obviously fall into the "love" camp, I totally get people who think this is pretty much the worst music ever made. People who would likely put the word music in quotation marks as they wrote that last sentence. I mean really, there's not really any reason you should enjoy Xiu Xiu. It's pretty messed up. But somehow at the same time, if you try hard enough, it's really beautiful.

Anyway, there's a new Xiu Xiu record coming out all the way in September, but luckily a few (and by a few I mean all) of the songs from The Air Force have found their way onto the internet. It seems pretty good at first listen, and Caralee McElroy gets to sing a song, and she does a good job. There are more synthesizers than in the past, and less "I'm scared for my life" moments, for what that's worth.

MP3 Xiu Xiu - Boy Soprano

1 The following sentence from Brent DiCrescenzo's review of Kid A never fails to crack me up: "The experience and emotions tied to listening to Kid A are like witnessing the stillborn birth of a child while simultaneously having the opportunity to see her play in the afterlife on Imax."

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Posted by Mark Allen on Thursday, June 1, 2006