XENAKIS, IANNIS Chamber Music 1955-1990 (Montaigne) cd 27.00
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XENAKIS, IANNIS Electronic Music (EMF) cd 14.98
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XENAKIS, IANNIS Electronic Music 1: La Legende d'Eer (Mode) cd 16.98

XENAKIS, IANNIS Electronic Music 1: La Legende d'Eer (Mode) dvd 26.00

XENAKIS, IANNIS Electronic Works 2 (Mode) cd 16.98

XENAKIS, IANNIS Kraanerg (Asphodel) cd 12.98
Asphodel, always adventurous, branches out further with two new releases, one "world music" (Min Xiao-Fen, below) and this 20th century classical item, a Xenakis piece performed by Xenakis-experts the ST-X Ensemble, with none other than Aphodel mascot DJ Spooky running the A-DAT machine. The music? Orchestra plus tapes = music that even the Wall St. Journal considers "terrifying masses of sound."

XENAKIS, IANNIS La Legende d'Eer (Montaigne) 2cd 19.98
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Greek avant garde composer's 1977/78 46-minute work for 8-channel electronic tape. Challenging, to say the least. You dig Merzbow? Well try your mettle on this -- piercing tones from a true master.

XENAKIS, IANNIS La Légende D'eer (Montaigne) cd 14.98
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Repressed, now at a more attractive price! Greek avant garde composer's 1977/78 46-minutework for 8-channel electronic tape. Challenging, to say the least. You dig Merzbow? Well try your mettle on this -- piercing tones from a true master.

XENAKIS, IANNIS Metastasis / Pithoprakta / Eonta (Le Chant Du Monde) cd 14.98
These three pieces date back to the early orchestral work of Xenakis in the mid '50s and early '60s when the Greek composer / mathematician was shifting away from Serialism towards what he called "Formalised Music." "Metastatis" divided the orchestra into its individual elements, with 61 instrumentalists playing 61 different parts. This strategy of aesthetic decision through mathematics was the basis for his awesome electronic work including those found within Xenakis' "Electronic Music" anthology. "Pithoprakta" was one of Xenakis' early scores that employed a Stochastic model of exploring the theories of probability within music, as a means of creating a dense granular sound from a 50 piece orchestra (46 strings, 2 trombones, 1 xylophone, and 1 woodblock, if you must know). "Eonta" was almost an impossible score to perform, as certain parts for the piano and brass solos were calculated on an early IBM mainframe computer. Either you're impressed by such conceptual overdrive or you're not.
RealAudio clip: "Eonta (deuxieme partie)"
RealAudio clip: "Metastasis"

XENAKIS, IANNIS Musique Electro-Acoustic (Fractal) cd 16.98
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This disc premieres two compositions of electro-acoustic work from legendary composer Iannis Xenakis, both utilizing his UPIC system, a method of composition also documented on the recent "CCMIX: New Electroacoustic Music from Paris" double cd compilation. The UPIC system was invented by Xenakis as a means of computer-translating a kinetic motion into music. Thus, scribbles from Xenakis' lightpen become, to the ear, zany modulations of granular synthesis. In the first piece, "Pour La Paix," Xenakis' spiked blurts of electronic noise punctuate an ongoing spoken French narrative written by Xenakis' wife Francoise, denouncing the evils of warfare. The use of vocals are a rarity in Xenakis' electronic works, and so this piece seems closer to the theatrical concrete work of Michel Chion than Xenakis' usual stuff. The second piece, "Voyage Absolu Des Unari Vers Andromede," is a trippy piece of electronics, much more in line with the loose cosmic-tinged Krautrock of Cluster or Tangerine Dream. Not surprisingly, Xenakis intended this to be "a space voyage far in the future, toward the galaxy of Andromeda, with episodes while crossing the spaces between the stars." While these high falutin' sci-fi references were meant with a great deal of earnestness, "Voyage Absolu..." really works much better simply as fodder for being stoned, than for serious 'academic' listening!
RealAudio clip: "Pour La Paix"
RealAudio clip: "Voyage Absolu Des Unari Vers Andromede"

XENAKIS, IANNIS Oresteia (Montaigne) cd 17.98
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From the liner notes for this orchestral and choral piece: "Xenakis' 'Oresteia' -- written in 1966 and complete in 1987 with the addition of the scene entitled 'Kassandra' -- is neither Aeschylus' tragedy in its entirety, nor a work written independently of the classical text. In Xenakis' version the history of the kings is recounted by the people: the tragic chorus becomes the central character in the 'Oresteia.' It interprets its own role, but also, collectively, that of the legendary heroes and gods, sung to Aeschylus' lines which were a powerful inspiration to the music."

XENAKIS, IANNIS Persepolis (Fractal) cd 15.98
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Attention all you avantgarde electronic music fans! Important reissue alert! Iannis Xenakis' "Persepolis" was originally commisioned in 1971 as large-scale sound installation for the Shiraz-Persepolis Festival of the Arts in Iran. "Persepolis" -- Xenakis' longest electro-acoustic composition -- originally involved 8 channels of dense electro-acoustic material broadcast through the vast complex of the ruined Palaces of Persepolis along with a massive display of arclights, fireworks, and bonfires. Even without the visual explosiveness of the original performance (which we are amusingly told is somehow made up for by the presence of 16 page booklet in this release), "Persepolis" is a challenging and evocative piece of electro-acoustic music. Xenakis arranges slow tectonic rumbles and rough granular trebliness with extended passages of what could have been the bowed metal of Organum if Jackman et. al. were tumbling down a flight of stairs. In the liner notes, Xenakis explains that these complex noises correspond to the history of Iran as transcribed through a system of hermetic hieroglyphics. This history, as turbulent micromirror of the world's history, is elliptically described in a series of violent clashes and explosions. For this metaphor, Xenakis the Greek found himself in a bit of predicament as Alexander the Greek was responsible for the obliteration of the Palace of Persepolis where this performance was taking place. Regardless, "Persepolis" engages the visceral and the physical in a way that no other academic / musique concrete / electro-acoustic / minimalist piece has ever done before. It's frightening how powerful this piece of music is, even to one familiar with more recent massive electronic displays by MB, Merzbow, and Organum.

XENAKIS, IANNIS Persepolis + Remixes Edition 1 (Asphodel) 2cd 14.98
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One of legendary 20th century new music composer Iannis Xenakis' most heralded works, "Persepolis" is here remixed by some of today's most adventurous musicians. Though the liner notes clumsily attempt some high brow hoo-ha internationalist theory about why the chosen remixers are appropriate for this project -- "Creative modernism is left with choosing between authoritarianism and religion. Hence, the inclusion of a second disc of remixes..." (hence? huh?) -- the obvious reason why these remixers appear is because, like Xenakis, they manipulate noise, musique concrete, and take experimental music to conceptual and sonic extremes. It makes aural sense; don't give me political wish-wash. Anyway, here's what we've written about Persepolis, which is on the first disc here:
Attention all you avantgarde electronic music fans! Important reissue alert! Iannis Xenakis' "Persepolis" was originally commissioned in 1971 as large-scale sound installation for the Shiraz-Persepolis Festival of the Arts in Iran. "Persepolis" -- Xenakis' longest electro-acoustic composition -- originally involved 8 channels of dense electro-acoustic material broadcast through the vast complex of the ruined Palaces of Persepolis along with a massive display of arclights, fireworks, and bonfires. Xenakis arranges slow tectonic rumbles and rough granular trebliness with extended passages of what could have been the bowed metal of Organum if Jackman et. al. were tumbling down a flight of stairs... "Persepolis" engages the visceral and the physical in a way that no other academic / musique concrete / electro-acoustic / minimalist piece has ever done before. It's frightening how powerful this piece of music is, even to one familiar with more recent massive electronic displays by MB, Merzbow, and Organum.
The remixers include: Ryoji Ikeda, Zbigniew Karkowski, Otomo Yoshihide, Francisco Lopez, Antimatter, Merzbow, Laminar, Ulf Lanheinrich, and more. A veritable noise fest. Construction site rumblings. Very difficult listening. If nothing else, this is a perfect introductory sampler of not only Xenakis but also some of AQ's favorite experimentalists. Nice price -- two discs for the price of one.
RealAudio clip: "Persepolis (Ryoji Ikeda remix)"
RealAudio clip: "Persepolis (Merzbow remix)"

XENAKIS, IANNIS s/t (Edition RZ) 2cd 25.00
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XENO VOLCANO Black Book (Hardpresse) cd-r 4.98
It's a shame that this is merely a cd-r, as Black Book is the best Xeno Volcano album that has come through these doors, although his website indicates that a proper pressing might be in the works. While his origins lie in the San Francisco Bay Area, Xeno Volcano currently lives in Zurich, Switzerland where he has worked with Black Sun Productions (who in turn offer their sexual magick for Coil's stage show) and makes soundtracks for automobile accident prevention videos. Needless to say, Xeno Volcano's tastes find comfort in the transgressive behavior of post-industrial culture. Black Book is buried in dark overtones, as eerie drones flicker across the barren expanses of Xeno Volcano's electronic landscape, sounding not all that far off from Lustmord's classic dark ambient recording The Place Where The Black Stars Hang.
MPEG Stream: "Lowering Dunes"
MPEG Stream: "Moonlight Doctor"

XENO VOLCANO To In Out And Open (Hardpresse) cd 11.98
Here's a solo work by one half of the Swiss duo responsible for the Die Organik disc that we listed recently - brought to us by the man himself on his way back home to Switzerland. It reveals a subtly different, broader side of Xeno Volcano. As opposed to his rather stern and clipped collaborative work with Elektra Sturmschnell, in which he provides the backdrop to her spoken word, here he allows things to stretch out, shift and linger a bit more. Track length varies from a scant few seconds to over fourteen minutes. The sounds are also less coldly foreboding and more organic with a bit more warmth and light. Drones drift in like looming clouds, skittery clicks and sputtery hiss collects and dissolves, aloof voices (including that of Sturmschnell) and assorted field recordings surface briefly. In all, it is quite a darkly atmospheric 80 minutes, but it's not without a hint of levity (namely in track titles such as "Whoopee Ball Traffic Mall" and "The Bilge Elvis"). Definitely for fans of dark post-industrial experimental soundscapes (Current 93, Christoph Heemann and select Nurse With Wound).
RealAudio clip: "Wisky Rose"
RealAudio clip: "The Bilge Elvis"

XENO VOLCANO & ELEKTRA STURMSCHNELL Die Organik (Hardpresse) cd 11.98
Xeno Volcano and Elektra Sturmschnell are a Swiss dark ambient duo deadset on landing a record on World Serpent (the distribution center for Current 93, Sol Invictus, Coil, Moon Lay Hidden Beneath The Clouds, Chris & Cosey, and other post-industrial art projects). In all likelihood, they have a pretty good shot at it, with a cold, detached aesthetic that merges barren electronics with equally emotionless spoken word poetics. "Die Organik" does come across like the more electronic Current 93 pieces (especially "In A Foreign Land, In A Foreign Town") but with a dominatrix reciting her Nietzchian poetry in German rather than David Tibet and his pantheistic mythologies.
RealAudio clip: "Fibertraum"
RealAudio clip: "Organik Spritch"

XENO VOLCANO & ELEKTRA STURMSCHNELL Wasserleichertraume (Hardpresse) cd 5.98
Into the dark and experimental? Take note! Here's an early work by the Swiss duo responsible for the Die Organik disc that we listed recently - brought to us by Xeno Volcano himself on his way back to Switzerland. Thirty two (!) solemn sonic glimpses of German spoken word amid a spartan landscape of electronic hiss, and soft melodies that drift and whir. Most are under three minutes long. Sturmschnell recites her short prose that shifts between sharp, icy orders to sedated ramblings. Tense, ominous and unsettling latenight listening.
RealAudio clip: "Dia De Los Muertos"
RealAudio clip: "Insomnia"

XEROPHONICS Copying Machine Music (Seeland) cd 14.98
Another high-concept item here, with a quite self-explanatory title. Yep indeedy, it's music made from the sampled sounds of copiers. Kinda not that much different from the dot matrix printer symphonies of The User reviewed here not long ago (though the copiers can't perform live via network and ascii "instructions" like the printers can). The fellow behind Xerophonics, one Dr. Stefan Helmrich PhD., made field recordings of copier machines in action, then sampled and re-assembled 'em via computer into these 13 tracks of manipulated, looping, layered machine rhythms. Clacking parts and melodic electronic blips too. Sometimes it's like a room full of shuddering copiers approximating current cutting-edge electronic dance music -- a copier rave if you will. You can imagine that they provide their own light show as their copying plates flash. There's plenty of weird noises and "notes" that are exceedingly hard to believe came from a copier, but they must have somehow. I mean, some of this gets really scary -- maybe it should have been the soundtrack to that new Terminator movie, "Rise of the Machines" I think it's called. Terminator office machinery!
Pretty cool. Deep thinkers might find more going on here, as part of the motivation for this project involves artistic commentary based on the additional meaning inherent in the sampling of sounds of COPIERS. Geddit, copiers. After all, it's on Negativland's Seeland label. Furthermore, Helmrich's "xerophonic" manipulations are based on aural analogs to the work of xerographic artists: mirroring, resizing, motion-distorting, multiple copy degeneration. Hmm. Regardless, definitely one for fans of the aforementioned The User!
MPEG Stream: "Xerox 5818"
MPEG Stream: "Toshiba 2060"

XEXYZ Primeval Mountain (Suffering Jesus) cd 13.98
One of our favorite fucked up weirdo black metal records, originally released as a cd-r, and out of print for a while now, gets reissued as an actual cd. With new artwork and extra tracks!!! You know you need to buy it again. And if you missed out on it the first time, do NOT blow it again. And if you saw the XLR8RTV episode featuring techno legend Carl Craig shopping at aQ, you saw him gushing about this record too! The masters of NES-BM (get it? NES like Nintendo!, XEXYZ!!! Read on to share in the utter and complete joy we get from the insane genius that is Xexyz:
Realistically, if you all are anything like us, a one line review is all it will take for you to know in your heart of hearts, that not only do you HAVE to own this, but that it will rapidly and immediately become your favorite record. OF ALL TIME!!
So here we go: Xexyz are a black metal band who use a Nintendo Entertainment System as their "keyboard" and who essentially have composed black metal songs around the 8-bit themes to Nintendo classics like Metroid and Rygar's Quest. Yes!! We were right, weren't we?
Anyway, Xexyz are a grim buzzing lo-fi horde of black warriors who just so happen to be video game nerds and who have decided that there is nothing more grim or more cult than the instantly recognizable buzz and beep of their favorite Nintendo themes. And you know what, it's sort of true. And it definitely works. Some folks here thought this sounded like the Muppets and Stereolab playing black metal, but it's so much more grim than that. A haunting 8-bit refrain bleeps maniacally under moaning black guitar buzz, while hateful hellish vocals rasp and growl over the top. The theme from Metroid rings out, one of the coolest, and weirdest video game themes ever (second only to Rastan maybe), the weird electronic pulse underpins a thick slab of distorted guitar, when the song finally kicks in, it almost sounds like a lo-fi version of THAT Burzum track, the black fuzz with the haunting keyboard figure in the background. But you know... with Metroid instead. And "Nightmare On Elm Street", is so awesome, the Nintendo theme is super fuzzy and haunting, and perfectly lends itself to some Burzumic buzz, creepy crawly and pretty damn black.
So totally amazing and weird and thus of course absolutely fucking recommended...
MPEG Stream: "What Lies Atop Gran Mountain"
MPEG Stream: "Metroid"

XEXYZ Primeval Mountain (Dipsomaniac) cd-r 5.98
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Realistically, if you all are anything like us, a one line review is all it will take for you to know in your heart of hearts, that not only do you HAVE to own this, but that it will rapidly and immediately become your favorite record. OF ALL TIME!!
So here we go: Xexyz are a black metal band who use a Nintendo Entertainment System as their "keyboard" and who essentially have composed black metal songs around the 8-bit themes to Nintendo classics like Metroid and Rygar's Quest. Yes!! We were right, weren't we?
Anyway, Xexyz are a grim buzzing lo-fi horde of black warriors who just so happen to be video game nerds and who have decided that there is nothing more grim or more cult than the instantly recognizable buzz and beep of their favorite Nintendo themes. And you know what, it's sort of true. And it definitely works. Some folks here thought this sounded like the Muppets and Stereolab playing black metal, but it's so much more grim than that. A haunting 8-bit refrain bleeps maniacally under moaning black guitar buzz, while hateful hellish vocals rasp and growl over the top. The theme from Metroid rings out, one of the coolest, and weirdest video game themes ever (second only to Rastan maybe), the weird electronic pulse underpins a thick slab of distorted guitar, when the song finally kicks in, it almost sounds like a lo-fi version of THAT Burzum track, the black fuzz with the haunting keyboard figure in the background. But you know... with Metroid instead. And "Nightmare On Elm Street", is so awesome, the Nintendo theme is super fuzzy and haunting, and perfectly lends itself to some Burzumic buzz, creepy crawly and pretty damn black.
So totally amazing and weird and thus of course absolutely fucking recommended...
MPEG Stream: "What Lies Atop Gran Mountain"
MPEG Stream: "Metroid"

XHOL Hau-RUK (Garden Of Delights) cd 21.00

XHOL CARAVAN Mother Fuckers GMBH cd 14.98
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XHOL CARAVAN Motherfuckers Live (United Dairies) 3cd 24.00
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Achtung Krautrock heads! Previously unreleased live recordings by this way-out-there, pioneering German band. Xhol Caravan, who started life playing R&B as Soul Caravan in the late sixties and then mutated into Xhol Caravan (and finally, just Xhol) as their sound developed to encompass hippified jazz fusion and post-"Revolution No. 9" psychedelic sound collage, on albums like "Electrip" and the wonderfully titled "Motherfuckers GMBH & Co KG" (that one a classic krautrock freakfest document indeed, hence this new live collection's title.) You get two live shows on two discs (crazed, spacey stuff from 1968 and '69, including a lengthy version of Donovan's "Season Of The Witch" interpolated into Xhol's freeform "Freedom Opera"), and in addition, a third 20-minute bonus disc, called "Hot Buttered Xhol", that features Current 93, Nurse With Wound, and Christoph Heemann covering Xhol material! (A la the Current 93 bonus disc that came with the same label's previous reissue of recordings by cult krautrockers Sand.) The archival recordings are great (one was for a radio broadcast), plus the booklet is stuffed with colorful art and photos, and liner notes by super-Xhol fans Heeman, David Tibet and Stephen Stapleton.

XI G Funk-3000 / Lucky (Lo Dubs) 12" 4.98

XINLISUPREME Murder License (Fat Cat) cd 11.98
Gosh, somebody must have convinced wall-of-sound Japanese "noise-pop" duo Xinlisupreme that their last album "Tomorrow Never Comes" wasn't noisy enough. 'Cause though we'd not have thought it possible, it seems they've upped the mayhem quotient here, on this 7-track followup! Heavily distorted, uh, distortion, with pretty little melodies and beats buried beneath. An extreme electronic blend of My Bloody Valentine, Digital Hardcore, DJ Scud, Merzbow, and stuff like by these feedback-lovin' popsters. We think this is quite nice, though for some that word might seem strange in context of Xinlisupreme's up-front loudness and chaos. Recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Murder License"
RealAudio clip: "Front Of You"

XINLISUPREME Tomorrow Never Comes (Fat Cat) cd 15.98
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Japanese duo Xinlisupreme have been touted by their label Fat Cat as a mix of My Bloody Valentine, Jesus & Mary Chain, and Merzbow! Fat Cat has done well to preload our expectations with three advanced references to avant-rock history, but it has to be said that Xinlisupreme can't so easily be triangulated. True, their debut album "Tomorrow Never Comes" does live up to such claims with their topical application of chainsaw fury feedback worthy of any number of Merzbotic apocalyptic noise metaphors; yet, Xinlisupreme simultaneously demonstrates how such guitar squall can be applied with grace, tenderness, and fragility. As a result, this combination has much more in common with the psychedelic use of noise by fellow Japanese bands like Shizuka or Nagisa Ni Te. Of course, both My Bloody Valentine and Jesus & Mary Chain have their own breathtakingly sublime moments, yet the analogy between the My Bloody Valentine / Jesus & Mary Chain camp and Xinlisupreme dissolves in how each define noise-pop, with the former adding the explosive noise flourishes to well-developed pop songs, and the latter offering pop structures as ghostly, vacuous signposts within emotionally charged noise washes. Or perhaps, it could be stated MBV / JAMC are pop with noise and Xinlisupreme are noise with pop. Regardless of the pithy semantic argument, Xinlisupreme has made a pretty amazing shoegazing record, that has reaminated the genre with a vigor not heard in a very long time.
RealAudio clip: "All You Need Is Love Was Not True"
RealAudio clip: "Fatal Sisters Opened Umbrella"

XIU XIU A Promise (5RC) cd 14.98
Xiu Xiu, one of the Bay Area's most original bands, is like a synth pop group that doesn't let the shiny happy face of the genre take over. They know the genre is merely a vehicle for expressing the fully intense and anguished emotions they've got bursting out of them. So instead of punchy casios and happy go lucky tunes, the foremost element is this hushed, trembling voice straining towards the epic wail. Yes, it's dramatic but the sincerity of emotion prevents it from becoming melodramatic. Out of the shards of anguish come experimentally structured songs that dart amongst jittery drum machines, wintry minor key piano, fuzzed out noise, clanging percussion. Building new, fresh songs out of raw emotion that might by a lesser band be inarticulate and messy, Xiu Xiu transcend the genre and any of their many influences, which clearly include Joy Division (Ian Curtis is namechecked on a songtitle here) and Talk Talk. Includes a stark, desperately sad cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car."
If you're new to Xiu Xiu, check out their first two releases before this one, not that they're better, but they are simply a teensy bit more upbeat amongst the beautiful despair, and that makes 'em that much more accessible. This one is a downer, albeit in a gorgeous, shimmering beautiful way, like Talk Talk's "Laughingstock."
RealAudio clip: "Apistat Commander"
RealAudio clip: "Sad Pony Guerrilla Girl"

XIU XIU A Promise (Jyrk) lp 14.98
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Limited LP version with silkscreened cover. Only 200 in existance!
Xiu Xiu, one of the Bay Area's most original bands, is like a synth pop group that doesn't let the shiny happy face of the genre take over. They know the genre is merely a vehicle for expressing the fully intense and anguished emotions they've got bursting out of them. So instead of punchy casios and happy go lucky tunes, the foremost element is this hushed, trembling voice straining towards the epic wail. Yes, it's dramatic but the sincerity of emotion prevents it from becoming melodramatic. Out of the shards of anguish come experimentally structured songs that dart amongst jittery drum machines, wintry minor key piano, fuzzed out noise, clanging percussion. Building new, fresh songs out of raw emotion that might by a lesser band be inarticulate and messy, Xiu Xiu transcend the genre and any of their many influences, which clearly include Joy Division (Ian Curtis is namechecked on a songtitle here) and Talk Talk. Includes a stark, desperately sad cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car."
If you're new to Xiu Xiu, check out their first two releases before this one, not that they're better, but they are simply a teensy bit more upbeat amongst the beautiful despair, and that makes 'em that much more accessible. This one is a downer, albeit in a gorgeous, shimmering beautiful way, like Talk Talk's "Laughingstock."

XIU XIU Chapel Of The Chimes (Absolutely Kosher) cd 11.98
A brief but sweet 5 song ep from this often misunderstood, experimental, heartbreakingly sad, depressing, eclectic indierock band. As we previously opined: The lead singer's voice is this super intense, desperate, achingly sad, warbly moan (a la The Cure / Talk Talk / Ultravox), and we're used to hearing that kind of voice accompanied with Brit-style synthpop stuff (i.e. "Melt With You"). Yet with Xiu Xiu the backup to that incredible voice is trumpets and saxophones and clattery percussion (bells, gongs, perhaps even pots 'n pans), with a solid yet obviously lo-fi Casio beat keeping time, and a far away echoey tone placed sporadically throughout. Totally accessable pop with an arty creative craziness to it. Xiu Xiu also plays with song structure and tense silences. What a breath of fresh air to find an "indie rock" band who pretty much throw all the predictable stuff out the window, leaving only originality. If you can get past the singer's voice (I can, easily, but Allan and Byram are making fun of it), then you oughta give this a try. Sadie and Windy give this the thumbs up.
RealAudio clip: "Ceremony"

XIU XIU Chapel Of The Chimes (Nail In The Coffin) lp 11.98
Now on vinyl!
A brief but sweet 5 song ep from this often misunderstood, experimental, heartbreakingly sad, depressing, eclectic indie rock band. As we previously opined: The lead singer's voice is this super intense, desperate, achingly sad, warbly moan (a la The Cure / Talk Talk / Ultravox), and we're used to hearing that kind of voice accompanied with Brit-style synthpop stuff (i.e. Talk Talk's "It's My Life"). Yet with Xiu Xiu the backup to that incredible voice is trumpets and saxophones and clattery percussion (bells, gongs, perhaps even pots 'n pans), with a solid yet obviously lo-fi Casio beat keeping time, and a far away echoey tone placed sporadically throughout. Totally accessible pop with an arty creative craziness to it. Xiu Xiu also plays with song structure and tense silences. What a breath of fresh air to find an "indie rock" band who pretty much throw all the predictable stuff out the window, leaving only originality. If you can get past the singer's voice, then you oughta give this a try. Former aQers Sadie and Windy gave this the thumbs up.

XIU XIU Fabulous Muscles (5RC) cd 14.98
Fabulous Muscles is the third full length from this Bay Area group whose music has proven to draw rather extreme hot/cold, love/hate responses. Well, for those who may have found Xiu Xiu's past releases to be a bit too overwrought and overflowing with abrasive dissonance, you just might want to check out Fabulous Muscles. Fans of the group will be reassured to find that although they've slightly tempered the wild vocal histrionics and jutting homemade instrument angles, they've not lost any of their inventiveness, impact and edge. Very deeply moving and considerably more accessible and appealing than both Knife Play and A Promise. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Crank Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Little Panda McElroy (b)"

XIU XIU Fag Patrol (Free Porcupine Society) cd 14.98

XIU XIU Knife Play (5rc) cd 14.98
This band is great! Bravo to Xiu Xiu for being original in an indie rock world where originality just doesn't seem very important anymore -- groups like Adult and the Faint are reworking '80s electro / new wave, every other band has got a member who made a (boring) "experimental" solo record with his laptop and wants to sound like Fennesz, and just how many Get Up Kids copycats do there need to be?
And then there's the local group Xiu Xiu who've put out a record on Kill Rock Stars' sister imprint 5RC. The two girls and two guys in Xiu Xiu are so familiar with indie rock's cliches that they anticipate them... and then mess with the formula, thereby coming up with a far artier and more interesting sound (kinda like how Bjork and Radiohead do). Example: the lead singer's voice is this super intense, desperate, achingly sad, warbly moan (a la The Cure / Talk Talk / Ultravox), and we're used to hearing that kind of voice accompanied with Brit-style synthpop stuff (i.e. "Melt With You"). Yet with Xiu Xiu the backup to that incredible voice is trumpets and saxophones and clattery percussion (bells, gongs, perhaps even pots 'n pans), with a solid yet obviously lo-fi Casio beat keeping time, and velvety basslines which are where the melody often resides. The band are also admirably unpredictable in leaving guitar pretty much in the background (if it's present at all) and instead letting this crazy synth action function *just like a guitar solo* -- distorted, climactic, wailing. So cool!
Xiu Xiu is arty and chaotic, but with new wave '80s poppiness. This is a very weird record that is also accessible and really good.
RealAudio clip: "Hives Hives"
RealAudio clip: "Poe Poe"
RealAudio clip: "Over Over"
RealAudio clip: "I Broke Up "
RealAudio clip: "Don Diasco"
RealAudio clip: "Tonight and Today"

XIU XIU Knife Play (Absolutely Kosher) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Absolutely Kosher has just released a vinyl version of this new AQ-favorite, with the LP packaged in a plastic bag with a folded poster. We said this about the 5rc cd version so very recently:
This band is great! Bravo to Xiu Xiu for being original in an indie rock world where originality just doesn't seem very important anymore -- groups like Adult and the Faint are reworking '80s electro / new wave, every other band has got a member who made a (boring) "experimental" solo record with his laptop and wants to sound like Fennesz, and just how many Get Up Kids copycats do there need to be?
And then there's the local group Xiu Xiu who've put out a record on Kill Rock Stars' sister imprint 5RC. The two girls and two guys in Xiu Xiu are so familiar with indie rock's cliches that they anticipate them... and then mess with the formula, thereby coming up with a far artier and more interesting sound (kinda like how Bjork and Radiohead do). Example: the lead singer's voice is this super intense, desperate, achingly sad, warbly moan (a la The Cure / Talk Talk / Ultravox), and we're used to hearing that kind of voice accompanied with Brit-style synthpop stuff (i.e. "Melt With You"). Yet with Xiu Xiu the backup to that incredible voice is trumpets and saxophones and clattery percussion (bells, gongs, perhaps even pots 'n pans), with a solid yet obviously lo-fi Casio beat keeping time, and velvety basslines which are where the melody often resides. The band are also admirably unpredictable in leaving guitar pretty much in the background (if it's present at all) and instead letting this crazy synth action function *just like a guitar solo* -- distorted, climactic, wailing. So cool!
Xiu Xiu is arty and chaotic, but with new wave '80s poppiness. This is a very weird record that is also accessible and really good.
RealAudio clip: "Hives Hives"
RealAudio clip: "Poe Poe"
RealAudio clip: "Over Over"
RealAudio clip: "I Broke Up "
RealAudio clip: "Don Diasco"
RealAudio clip: "Tonight and Today"

XIU XIU La Foret (5RC) cd 14.98
On the new full-length from the Bay Area's Xiu Xiu, Jamie Stewart's warbly, throaty vocals inch-worm into your brain and ferment into soundscapes that are at turns grotesque and beautiful. Utilizes a variety of instruments -- including xylophones, glockenspiels, vibraphones, and acoustic guitars -- to create backdrops ranging from synth-pop to bad dream drone. La Foret makes us think of a child whispering a dirty secret and then stabbing his teddy bear. Self-consciously theatrical and unrelentingly unique. Music that makes you hold your head in your hands and question whether your pretty little world is really so pretty after all.
MPEG Stream: "Muppet Face"
MPEG Stream: "Mousey Toy"
MPEG Stream: "Bog People"

XIU XIU Life And Live (Xeng) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Swiftly following up their terrific collaborative release Ciautistico! with Larsen, Xiu Xiu offer their own Life And Live... yes, it's a live album which was recorded on their tour with Devendra Banhart. Mainman Jamie Stewart's vocal delivery once again swings madly from anguished banshee-like shrieking to unsettlingly hushed almost spoken word. Their distinctly dishevelled instrumentation of electric guitar, clatterous percussion and mysterious handmade instruments keeps pace with his tormented vocal meanderings and explosive outbursts. We do question their decision though to include the false start at the beginning of the fourth song in which Stewart starts singing only to stop and a spoken voice (his or someone else's) interrupts and totally breaks the band's character and spell. Odd, but then again when does this band ever follow the rules? The fifteen tracks includes two renditions each of "20,000 Deaths For Eidelyn Gonzales, 20,000 Deaths For Jamie Peterson" and "I Broke Up" as well as a cover of The Smiths' "Asleep".
MPEG Stream: "20,000 Deaths For Eidelyn Gonzales, 20,000 Deaths For Jamie Peterson "
MPEG Stream: "I Broke Up"

XIU XIU Live 7-26-04 (Nail In The Coffin) cd 10.98
This live Xiu Xiu recording opens quite strangely, with vocalist Jamie Stewart talking to the crowd about a comic that the band had been sent which commented on how chattery the audience was at their last show at that very same venue. A chorus of silly loud shhhh's ensue, then the band begins their first song. As the song's final notes fade out a dull cloud of audience chatter takes over. Yeesh. C'mon people, keep it down! What's it gonna take? Another comic book scolding? Nevertheless this is a terrific live document of the Bay Area group's unflinching craft of beauty in torment, dissonance and abrasion. Comparatively delicate melodic elements blossom up sporadically amid the metallic scrapes and homemade instrument clatter. Deeply moving and drenched in personal angst, much like Bright Eyes, but far spookier and unhinged.
MPEG Stream: "Crank Heart (Live)"
MPEG Stream: "Fabulous Muscles (Live)"

XIU XIU Remixed & Covered (5 Rue Christine) cd 14.98
Whoa, when Xiu Xiu's music gets all remixed and covered, it becomes something altogether new, lovely and unrecognizably 'Xiu Xiu'. This new double cd presents nine varied covers (Larsen, Oxbow, Sunset Rubdown, Marissa Nadler, Good For Cows, Kid 606, Why?, Her Space Holiday and Devendra Banhart) and nine remixes (Gold Chains, Warbucks, Cherry Point, Son, This Song Is A Mess But So Am I, Kid 606, Grouper and To Live And Shave In LA).
Shining standouts on the covers disc are Nadler's version of "Clowne Towne" and Banhart's take on "Support Our Troops". Meanwhile on the remix disc, Gold Chains busts out a rump-thumpin', female sung "Hello From Eau Claire", and Xiu Xiu traumatize, errrr, remix their own anguished, tortured version of New Order's "Ceremony".
MPEG Stream: LARSEN / XIU XIU "Mousey Toy"
MPEG Stream: NADLER, MARISSA / XIU XIU "Clowne Towne"
MPEG Stream: GOLD CHAINS / XIU XIU "Hello From Eau Claire (Remix)"
MPEG Stream: XIU XIU "Ceremony (Remix)"

XIU XIU The Air Force (5RC) cd 14.98
Over the years we've perceived (and for a few of us been party to) something of a love/hate relationship with this band's music, and it has primarily been centered around the vocal department. Most folks find the music sans vocals to be quite enigmatically pleasing with its uniquely unconventional assembly of homemade instruments and such, but wince once Jamie Stewart opens his mouth to croon in his unmistakable, immensely distraught oft-cryptic delivery. No, it's not for everybody, but we should also add that those who do dig it, dig it lots... to pretty much the same degree that it causes other folks distress! That said, their latest album The Air Force is probably not going to cause many converts either way. So you'll just have to let your own ears be the judge.
MPEG Stream: "Boy Soprano"
MPEG Stream: "The Pineapple Vs The Watermelon"

XIU XIU The Air Force (5RC) lp 13.98
Over the years we've perceived (and for a few of us been party to) something of a love/hate relationship with this band's music, and it has primarily been centered around the vocal department. Most folks find the music sans vocals to be quite enigmatically pleasing with its uniquely unconventional assembly of homemade instruments and such, but wince once Jamie Stewart opens his mouth to croon in his unmistakable, immensely distraught oft-cryptic delivery. No, it's not for everybody, but we should also add that those who do dig it, dig it lots... to pretty much the same degree that it causes other folks distress! That said, their latest album The Air Force is probably not going to cause many converts either way. So you'll just have to let your own ears be the judge.
MPEG Stream: "Boy Soprano"
MPEG Stream: "The Pineapple Vs The Watermelon"

XIU XIU Women As Lovers (Kill Rock Stars) cd 14.98
Is this album cover supposed to make us think of a Cocteau Twins record? And maybe the title too? Even the Kill Rock Stars label logo on the back looks suspiciously like 4AD's from a distance. Well, the record definitely doesn't sound like the Cocteau Twins... at least not entirely.
As always is the case with Xiu Xiu, there are many references to other musics in Women As Lovers. They are both subtle and overt, and ever ingeniously assimilated into the band's unique ethos. 20th century avant-garde composer Lou Harrison (or maybe just his namesake?) makes a cameo in the lyrics of 'No Friend Oh!' As well, sharing vocals with Xiu Xiu's Caralee McElroy and Jamie Stewart on a cover of Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure" is Michael Gira -- the presence of whom seems more iconic than musically awesome. Regardless, it is good to hear him and to be reminded of Swans records needing to be listened to again! With Xiu Xiu, the musical tips of the hat consistently seem genuine and inspired, never gratuitous nor shamefully derivative.
The palette of sounds on Women As Lovers is similar to most Xiu Xiu records -- electronics, guitar, strings, acoustic and electric percussion, vibraphone, organ, bass, kalimba, whip, wind, 'drones'. Oh, and what may be a new addition to the arsenal... saxophone! If you're a fan of the free jazz skronk, then this is the Xiu Xiu album for you!
One can't help but think that even the parts of songs that break down into stumbling noises, jerks, shards, scrapes, blasts and off-kilter thrusts couldn't possibly be improvised. Each sound and its place in the song is so deliberate. The overall music has a spirit of great intention behind it, the duration of each song part so seemingly calculated for optimal effect, that Xiu Xiu's genius seems to lie much in the composition of these songs.
Theirs is a music so excessive and yet strangely so economical. After listening, you ask, only 14 tracks? There are as many songs within each song as there are tracks on the album. It's a genius spirit that unites so many disparate musical tropes into a seamless and jaggedly ecstatic music - music that has great pop hooks at its core (or maybe, more exactly, along its edges?). It's the sort of music that goes into the 'acquired taste' category -- the kind of music that younger bands might eventually be taking their cues from. If you're willing to listen and undergo the embarrassment, the dark laughter, self-deprecation, 'hurt buttholes', Freudian complexes and all-out heartbreak in the stories within the songs, you might end up beholding your favorite pop/noise/ambient/industrial/electronica/free jazz/chamber music album of the year.
*Listening to Xiu Xiu is like looking at photos of Leigh Bowery, deeply personal, outlandish and strangely embarrassing, that is, Embarrassment as an art form. http://www.leighbowery.com.br/.
MPEG Stream: "I Do What I Want, When I Want"
MPEG Stream: "Under Pressure (feat. Michael Gira)"

XIU XIU Women As Lovers (Absolutely Kosher) 2lp 14.98
Is this album cover supposed to make us think of a Cocteau Twins record? And maybe the title too? Even the Kill Rock Stars label logo on the back looks suspiciously like 4AD's from a distance. Well, the record definitely doesn't sound like the Cocteau Twins... at least not entirely.
As always is the case with Xiu Xiu, there are many references to other musics in Women As Lovers. They are both subtle and overt, and ever ingeniously assimilated into the band's unique ethos. 20th century avant-garde composer Lou Harrison (or maybe just his namesake?) makes a cameo in the lyrics of 'No Friend Oh!' As well, sharing vocals with Xiu Xiu's Caralee McElroy and Jamie Stewart on a cover of Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure" is Michael Gira -- the presence of whom seems more iconic than musically awesome. Regardless, it is good to hear him and to be reminded of Swans records needing to be listened to again! With Xiu Xiu, the musical tips of the hat consistently seem genuine and inspired, never gratuitous nor shamefully derivative.
The palette of sounds on Women As Lovers is similar to most Xiu Xiu records -- electronics, guitar, strings, acoustic and electric percussion, vibraphone, organ, bass, kalimba, whip, wind, 'drones'. Oh, and what may be a new addition to the arsenal... saxophone! If you're a fan of the free jazz skronk, then this is the Xiu Xiu album for you!
One can't help but think that even the parts of songs that break down into stumbling noises, jerks, shards, scrapes, blasts and off-kilter thrusts couldn't possibly be improvised. Each sound and its place in the song is so deliberate. The overall music has a spirit of great intention behind it, the duration of each song part so seemingly calculated for optimal effect, that Xiu Xiu's genius seems to lie much in the composition of these songs.
Theirs is a music so excessive and yet strangely so economical. After listening, you ask, only 14 tracks? There are as many songs within each song as there are tracks on the album. It's a genius spirit that unites so many disparate musical tropes into a seamless and jaggedly ecstatic music - music that has great pop hooks at its core (or maybe, more exactly, along its edges?). It's the sort of music that goes into the 'acquired taste' category -- the kind of music that younger bands might eventually be taking their cues from. If you're willing to listen and undergo the embarrassment, the dark laughter, self-deprecation, 'hurt buttholes', Freudian complexes and all-out heartbreak in the stories within the songs, you might end up beholding your favorite pop/noise/ambient/industrial/electronica/free jazz/chamber music album of the year.
*Listening to Xiu Xiu is like looking at photos of Leigh Bowery, deeply personal, outlandish and strangely embarrassing, that is, Embarrassment as an art form. http://www.leighbowery.com.br/.
MPEG Stream: "I Do What I Want, When I Want"
MPEG Stream: "Under Pressure (feat. Michael Gira)"

XIU XIU + DAVID HORVITZ Boy Soprano (Doggpony) 7" 8.98
Something for Xiu Xiu diehard fans and completists... A sturdy 7" picture disc featuring two very fleeting collaborative glimpses of Xiu Xiu and photographer/Xiu Xiu merch guy David Horvitz (one vocal number "Boy Soprano" which is filled with the group's characteristic angsty drama and the other a low-key loosely structured instrumental "Saint Pedro Glue Stick" -- both from their most recent full length The Air Force), and two very different Horvitz-shot photos (one of a grey cloudy sky and the other of a blue mud-masked, fully clothed, shell-shocked looking guy lying in a motel bed next to a bored looking gal. Limited to 600.

XIU XIU VS. GROUPER Creepshow (Slender Means Society States Rights Records) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The beautifully damaged worlds of Xiu Xiu and Grouper are magically melded together on this limited edition ep. The trademark drugged out dreamy drones of Liz Harris aka Grouper perfectly compliment the mopey dark instrumentation of Xiu Xiu. Like their collaboration with Larsen last year, Xiu Xiu prove that besides their intense lyrics and over-the-top vocal delivery, they have a knack for creating a truly creepy and unsettling ambiance. Vocals and voices are just another element of the haunting mood these two effortlessly conjure up. Like the ghost sounds of a carnival that rode off into the sunset hundreds of years ago but whose imprint has never been totally erased. Together Xiu Xiu and Grouper weave sounds that occupy some perfect space between dreams and nightmares. Highly recommended! And we only got a handful direct from the bands, so you know what that means...
MPEG Stream: "Sea"
MPEG Stream: "In Dreams"

XIU XIU VS. GROUPER Creepshow (Release The Bats) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl!!
Limited to 525 copies, seemingly already out of print...
The beautifully damaged worlds of Xiu Xiu and Grouper are magically melded together on this limited edition ep. The trademark drugged out dreamy drones of Liz Harris aka Grouper perfectly compliment the mopey dark instrumentation of Xiu Xiu. Like their collaboration with Larsen last year, Xiu Xiu prove that besides their intense lyrics and over-the-top vocal delivery, they have a knack for creating a truly creepy and unsettling ambiance. Vocals and voices are just another element of the haunting mood these two effortlessly conjure up. Like the ghost sounds of a carnival that rode off into the sunset hundreds of years ago but whose imprint has never been totally erased. Together Xiu Xiu and Grouper weave sounds that occupy some perfect space between dreams and nightmares. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Sea"
MPEG Stream: "In Dreams"

XLR8R #124 January / February 2009 magazine 4.99
We've been stocking this popular magazine regularly for a little while now and thought we ought to put it on our website so mailorderers looking for more readin' material could get in on the XLR8R action. Focusing primarily on electronica type stuff, XLR8R also dabbles with the rock... This issue features Mr. Oizo on the cover, plus Zomby, the Vivian Girls, Telepathe, Senor Coconut... and much more, including ex-AQ'er Antaeus' band Lazer Sword. It's pretty packed, with reviews, columns, all sorts of stuff. And if that wasn't enough, the plastic bag it's wrapped in also contains an even bigger, BONUS magazine, the very first issue of XLR8R's Vis-Ed publication, devoted to visual arts! Featuring hip artists Rinzen, Kustaa Saksi, Catalina Estrada, Brent Rollins, Brian Roettinger, Laurent Fetis, Seripop, JK5, Freegums, Superdeux...

XRATEDX / ZENI GEVA (Pandemonium) 7" 3.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
ZG: Japanese guttural proto metal sludge.
XrX: Noisey arythmic industrial tinged french noise rock.

XTATIKA Tongue Bath (Tzadik) cd 16.98
From the obi strip: "New Tzadik Oracles series is proud to begin with the unique visions of singer/songwriter Haena Kim. Featuring hypnotic, trippy vocals, nasty electric bass and two driving Korean percussionists, this is a band that opens up an exciting new world of sound. You've never heard anything like Xtatika‹a magical blend of alternative rock with Korean traditional music. Pansori via Nine Inch Nails."

XTC A Coat of Many Cupboards Boxset (Caroline) cd 58.00
AQ-pal and our computer-life-saver Eric Rose wrote the following review for us:
Brand-new 4-disc set of live tracks, album demos, alternate versions, and outtakes from those crafty popsters from Swindon: XTC. Few bands inspire and facilitate such rabid collector-frenzy and completism among their fan-base, and in a magnanimous gesture, the "lads" have thrown open the vaults, bringing almost 20 years worth of buried treasure to the surface. (Also rumored for release later this year: "Fuzzy Warbles" - a collection of non-album demos). Hardcore XTC fans already know that they need this like they need air to breathe, and thus will buy it track-list unseen. The trick, then, is creating a solid overview/sampling of the band's career that'll appeal to the casual fan, while offering the diehards something that they haven't yet gotten their collector-paws on. In this regard, the set is a success, covering the ground between their Devo-meets-New York Dolls beginnings in '75 to their stately, elegant pop of the 90's, via recordings that are -- for the most part -- recently-unearthed and un-bootlegged. A sprinkling of "representative" album tracks throughout provides a nice counterpoint to the largely unpolished nature of the collection. As an added bonus, the set includes a 60-page book, featuring track commentary by the ever-witty Andy Partridge and the ever-humble Colin Moulding.
RealAudio clip: "Things Fall to Bits"
RealAudio clip: "Yacht Dance"
RealAudio clip: "Find the Fox"