xx

Between August 2009 when this album was released and November 2010 when I bought it, it seemed like all anyone was talking about was The xx. Rolling Stone absolutely raved about the band as well as the album, and the reviews of the record were practically off the charts. So, during Amazon Music's holidays sale in 2010, when the album was super-duper cheap, I went ahead and bought it figuring there was no better time to check this band out. Sadly, that money was utterly and completely wasted.

The only song worth listening to on this album us "Intro." The rest of the album is boring minimalist garbage borrowed heavy-handedly from bands like Joy Division and New Order as well as contemporary R&B. The basslines alone sound as if Peter Hook was flown in to record them personally, and there is a strong level of R&B production across the whole record. However, what slapped me in the face the most about this album is just how utterly and completely BORING it is. The singing is barely audible, and they sound as if they can barely lift a finger to play their instruments. And I won't go into the drivel that gets passed off as lyrics....

How this album garned--and won--so many awards is completely beyond me. How so many music critics not only didn't flame this record back to the Stone Age but actually stated they LIKED it is flabbergasting. I've listened to this album over a dozen times, and I'm not lying when I tell you I can barely stand it. Every time I put it on, I'm bored out of my gourd by the fourth track, but I keep hoping every time I play it again that I'll find something else besides the opening track that I'll actually like. So far, though, I've failed at this fool's errand every single time. And this last time I've played the album will be my last; this album will be the first I delete from my Music Library.

I fell for this album at first listen.

I didn't even have to listen all the way through; I was hooked by the first spare atmospheric guitar pluckings on the unfortunately-titled "Intro." (I only complain because it seems like a dismissive title; the song is so much more than a mere lead-in to other things.) Granted, I was predisposed to like it; I'd been seduced from afar by the rave reviews, the sexy group name and album title--is anything sexier than an X? Yes, four Xs--and the cool mystique. But there's a lot of well-reviewed stuff that sounds good in the dim light of a first encounter but doesn't hold up to the morning's harsh judgment, and the harsher judgment of succeeding days.

This, on the other hand, turned out to be one of those albums that gets better and better as I get to know it; I listen to such albums and end up almost amazed that they didn't already exist somehow; there is something primal and right about them, something sonically equivalent to a tetris piece that materialized from nowhere and fell exactly into a deep hole inside me that I somehow hadn't noticed before.

Granted, this album works partly by evoking other great albums that have come before, all the masterpieces of shoegaze and dubstep and trip-hop; in some ways it succeeds more as culmination and synthesis than as departure. Still, it succeeds at both; it differentiates itself because it manages to be warm and cool at the same time, without being lukewarm.Read more ›

What else needs to be said about The XX's eponymous debut? Moody, minimalistic, a smooth mix of 90s R&B, 00s post-dub, and 80s new wave, this 2009 album quickly became one of my all-time favorites, and catapulted the trio of mallgoth-looking 20-somethings into the stratosphere.

This review is specifically for the vinyl version. The packaging is as seemingly minimalistic as the music itself; blank white inner sleeve, an all-black album cover with the ubiquitous "X" cut out on both sides, enveloped by a heavy plastic sleeve. Inside lies the disc (it's got a bit of weight to it, I suspect 180g vinyl), and a poster of the album cover with liner notes and lyrics on the other side, as well as a download code for an MP3 copy. The bonus track, Hot Like Fire, can be found at the end of Side A.

I have no issues with any of this. It's all in good shape and aesthetically pleasing. The disc sounds fantastic and is free of scratches. If you've never heard anything on vinyl, music sounds deliciously warm and inviting, and this record is no exception. It's unfortunate reading of these other recent reviews complaining about scratches, but I guess I lucked out. In any case, I expect that this will see plenty of play on the ol' turntable.

Although I liked this album the first few times I played it, over time I do not find it appealing anymore. I think the band is talented and the music is minimalist. I am not impressed with the vocals, however. I will give them props for use of spacing and timing, and for creating pretty cool atmospherics, and I do hope their sound evolves. But given all the great music to choose from in the world, I would go elsewhere.