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44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Passionate, More Accessible-Xiu Xiu and Jamie Stewart Take Challenging Pop to Another Level, July 12, 2005
Since I feel that La Forêt (French for "the forest") is the best introduction thus far to this important band, and their definitive album thus far, an introduction to the world of Xiu Xiu is in order.
The Onion, "America's Finest News Source" once wrote the headline "Experimental band theoretically good." Xiu Xiu has proven time and again their musical genius, and La Forêt continues their almost unbelievable creative streak. Xiu Xiu has released four LPs in just over 40 months, along with 2 EPs, split 7"s and CDs with Jim Yoshii Pileup, This Song is a Mess and the deceased Bunkbed, and their own single, Fleshettes, and most of that content has been of consistent and increasing quality.
Xiu Xiu's sound is, of course, like no other band. Are they indie? Noise? Experimental? Dance? Emo? They're all, of course (except for the emo, I hope). Their instrumentation consists of clanging percussion, drowning synths, and everything from woodwind to brass to guitars.
Xiu Xiu create musical moments of such emotional resonance that one's entire life can be read into a few notes or a few seconds of a song, and La Forêt, like much of the rest of Xiu Xiu's output, contains many such moments. Of course, being what many label as an "experimental" band, they may win the award for band most likely to induce typical outbursts like "you people just don't get it" from musical elitists, adolescent and otherwise. Of course, this band operates in an entirely different musical paradigm that will be unfamiliar and disorienting for most non-indie music listeners. Many artists, above and below ground, making great pop music, but only a select few are advancing the state of pop music, pushing the envelope of and redefining the art form as we know it, and Xiu Xiu is one of those few. But once you've become accustomed to their sonic world, the taste you've acquired will be a lifelong gift to yourself.
Xiu Xiu is known for its rapturous dirges, and the histrionics of frontman Jamie Stewart, who is the musical and emotional heart of the band. Stewart's incredible voice is what holds the enormous lyrical and musical range of the band together. His status as a great and highly competent singer is truly on display on La Forêt, ranging from pained whispers to full-blown tortured odes. Xiu Xiu's music is overwhelmingly sad and pained, and the lyrics are sometimes unbearably intimate, personal, and confessional, to the point where on previous records their sound veered into the grounds of self-parody. This happens very infrequently on La Forêt. In the same way that Fabulous Muscles was just a tighter, more professional album than A Promise, La Forêt continues that trend, and there are less instances for confused listeners to ask "is this a joke?" While some hardcore fans may criticize this seeming bow to convention, Xiu Xiu seems focused now on making true masterpieces, "perfect" albums (perfect in their imperfections, of course). To say that "Knife Play" and "A Promise" contained no wasted space would be a difficult claim to defend. Sure, fans may love hearing Stewart scream "JS, I'm just kidding-I'm JUST KIDDING!" but most people will find A Promise's "Ian Curtis Wishlist" to be indulgent, and that type of meandering is almost nowhere to be found on this new album.
In this short time the band has grown immensely. At this rate, they are on track to become one of the great bands of our time, and still never be noticed.
La Forêt never descends into the screeching dissonance found on previous records (See Fag Patrol's "Jennifer Lopez" or the breakdown in A Promise' "Sad Pony Guerrilla Girl"). These jarring musical sequences have appeared less and less with each album, another sign of marked progression. For those who have followed Xiu Xiu's output, this album is exactly what you would expect, which is not to say that it is at all unoriginal or unworthy of praise. It is more accessible while retaining the heart of what Xiu Xiu is trying to do, and is still highly experimental and musically adventurous. This is not "more accessible" in the vein of Modest Mouse's "Good News For People Who Love Bad News" and if anything from this album is ever broadcast from a Clear Channel mass indoctrination station, I will run out into the streets screaming "Ian curtis I can't believe I said it WISH LIST!"
Xiu Xiu's lyrics focus on pain and sadness, which often leads him to write songs whose speakers are female, homosexual, or both. Themes of molestation, codependency, suicide, and damaged love continue on this album, wrought to much effect by Xiu Xiu's theatrical, all-encompassing musical environment's and Stewart's go-for-broke, lay-it-all-out performances.
The unparalleled excitement of unpredictability is what you will find throughout this record, and it will keep you on the edge of your seat because you have no idea what the band will do next. I listened to this record in constant fear that the next track would fall flat, or fly off on some unlistenable tangent, but virtually this entire album is wonderful. Stewart's previous bands, like Ten in the Swear Jar and IBOPA (Indestructible Beat of Palo Alto) were great, but they were really just building blocks for Xiu Xiu, perhaps the ultimate incarnation and realization of Stewart's artistic vision. This is challenging music, but it is also pop music in the greatest sense of the word, speaking naturally and often melodically to common elements of our human experience. La Forêt is without a doubt one of the essential albums of the year, and you should pick it up immediately.
(Below are quick overviews to give you a sense of what each track is like)
The opener "Clover," is quiet, apring, slow, even plodding. Xylophones trip occasionally amid the Acoustic guitar gives way to xylophones and evocative strings. The guitar and vocals are reminiscent of Helsabot (carryover from previous Stewart band Ten in the Swear Jar, on Xiu Xiu's Fag Patrol EP).
The second song, "Muppet Face" builds to a breathtakingly beautiful crescendo, rising, as most of Xiu Xiu's beauty does, from sonic and emotional chaos. The song marks what may be the band's finest moment so far, as many believed the second song from Fabulous Muscles did, "I Luv the Valley OH!" Stewart's vocals, at first controlled and detached and then impassioned and soaring, are mixed low within the music. His voice rises from the sea of melodic noise that the band lays down, at once sounding immediate and coming from a million miles away.
"Mousey Toy," like many Xiu Xiu songs, begins with delicate, comforting music, as it relates a story of lost innocence, unspeakable events seen through a child's eyes. This is lightyears beyond the juvenile "daddy was mean or didn't pay enough attention to me when I was a kid so I started a band to wine about in a really deep way" trend that dominates so much popular music today. The subject matter is dealt with obliquely and opaquely, in hard-to-decipher metaphors, often the only way real people in these situations deal with such trauma. The song ends with a powerful musical sequence with martial drums and Xiu Xiu's trademark crashing percussion, one of the album's most memorable moments. As usual Xiu Xiu says ambivalently with music what cannot be said with words, leaving the listener to interpret and fil in meaning.
Pox is more uptempo, with electric guitar for rhythm, and Stewart sings with conviction, channeling various emotions to create a complex mixed tone, another Stewart hallmark. Questions of commitment in relationships are discussed with dense and remarkable lyrics.
"Baby Captain" begins stilted and hushed, like "Clover." Stewart drops some obvious lyrics like "I hope those teary eyes are only from X" weaved in between poetry that is far more inscrutable. With the line "When you see what a stunner you are" the instrumentation opens up with rich synths, and Stewart's voice rises in volume and emotion, as if billowed up by the music. A beautiful song.
Xiu Xiu does go heavily atonal with "Saturn," the most frightening thing that I've heard in a long time. Atonal pianos crash amid Xiu Xiu's trademark siren synthesizers, and they use a staccato effect of repeatedly cutting out the sound on the track for split-seconds. It is an off-putting effect that leaves the listener ill-at-ease, and many will think something has gone wrong with their music player. All these elements, however, make up an extremely intense song.
"Rose of Sharon" first appeared on Xiu Xiu's split 7" with This Song is a Mess, and this new version may be another highlight for some. Cinematic strings open the piece with classic Xiu Xiu atmoshperics under Stewart's whisper, transitioning with an interlude of noise effects and glitchy synths that seem unsure of themselves before Stewart's voice returns, impassioned. Stewart's overwhelmingly emotional performances and over-the-top delivery sometimes distract from the fact that he is an astonishingly capable singer, and that fact shines through on this song.
"Ale" uses almost exclusively woodwinds, to a characteristically unexpected effect. Stewart lends a kind of nobility to the opening lyrics "shut up, shut up."
Mix between "Clowne Towne" and "Brian the Vampire" from Fabulous Muscles. The music is exuberant and upbeat, but of course with a manic undercurrent that leaves the listener uneasy.
"Dangerous You Shouldn't Be Here" uses mixed, experimental instrumentation in this quiet, moody, and experimental piece. It ends in a pained and painfully honest outburst in the end a la "Sad Redux-O-Grapher" from A Promise. This track, however, is much more complex.
"Yellow Raspberry" opens with dark, tribal drums, and closes the album with Stewart switching between a whisper and a speak-sing that is thunderous, distorted, and majestic.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Most intimate effort, December 16, 2005
Just as the reviewer stated above, this is Xiu Xiu's most intimate album to date. For those who are not fans, a comment as such is not easy to justify because of the stark imagery and intense magntitude (via electrifying and sometimes shocking sounds and painfully explicit lyrics) most of their songs carry. Like emotional baggage sprawled all over an entangled web of human deception, so is Stewart's delivery of issues most of us would intensely fear or choose not to confront; and if we did, it would be with a therapist. I doubt any of us would be successful in painting misunderstood masterpieces that would echo the excessive and lucid hegira's Stewart's various personae take in his songs, because whether it's "Suha" or "Bog People," the characters comes alive not only through the entrancing lyrics, but through the brutal and honest delivery of Stewart's vocals.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a mature artist, July 21, 2005
Xiu Xiu came about as an unusual group a few years ago that often opened for
Deerhoof. After a few albums the esthetic of Xiu Xiu seemed very plain. Jamie
Stewart makes music that is very intimate. He writes about emotions without
being sentimental or cheesy. After a few albums the songwriting skills have
developed. The songs seem less weird. He is becoming more like Smog and Cat Power
and others. Some songs like "Clover" and "Baby Captain" are just mostly
voice and guitar, while others like "Saturn" are almost industrial songs. Some of
the co-conspirators are back: Devon Hoff, Ches Smith, Caralee McElroy, and
Cory McCulloch. "Baby Captain" has a surprise middle section that sounds
incredible. "Muppet Face" is a song about photographer Angel Ceballos and her cat.
Xiu Xiu has always employed the dynamics of loud and quiet in their music. It
seems less obvious this time. "Ale" is almost like a Tom Waits tune, without
all that unnecessary stuff. Xiu Xiu gets better with every record. La Foret
has the most range of all their records. This might be the best one.
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