xbxrx sixth in sixes ( Polyvinyl Records ) 2005 " keep it up. we quit! " Rounding out the bottom end of the alphabet spectrum (see: Zzzz earlier this year), Polyvinyl unleash xbxrx.. ."and now for something completely different". Taking a look at the PV roster for 2005, you will see heartfelt favorites like Of Montreal, Owen and Decibully. Now lets say those 3 band represent your subscription to a magazine - Good Housekeeping. Add to that this month, in place of your normal periodical, you open your mailbox to an issue of Hustler - here represented by the secular spaz-crass of Oakland's xbxrx. At first you are shocked - appalled - but after removing the thick, black blocked plastic from the guilty magazine, you realize the "Beaver Hunt" section alone is well worth the error. Total conversion is only a set of oiled breasts away. Foaming at the mouths with 1 - 1.5 minute melody-forgotten surges, xbxrx are the shadowy step-sister to anything else you've heard on Polyvinyl's lineup - 31Knots included. Armed with past releases on - more likely siblings - 5RC and GSL, the shock will be felt far past sixth in sixes artwork. Attempting to keep up where one track ends and another picks up is a feat in itself - so its best to just press play, down a few Red Bulls and get naked in the front lawn chanting "stay delusional, become numb, endless compromise". Repeat. [ is "Breathing" (track 13) supposed to do that? ] xkxaxlxexbx 09.09.05

 

Xiu Xiu La Foret ( 5RC ) 2005 Jamie Stewart would have a far more negative review on his hands here if his voice wasn't so goddamned good. Stewart (better known as Xiu Xiu), has released 5 albums of atmospheric heartbreak, working both alone and with a slew of collaborators. Tackling subjects such as military brutality, homosexuality, and earnest heartache, Stewart's work is both deeply engaging and rather gut-wrenching. And on La Foret, Stewart and Co. have unleashed another bedroom album of symphonic melancholy that is tied together by its lo-fi aesthetic, off-kilter songwriting, and Stewart's gorgeous singing. Teetering back and forth between quiet acoustic songs (opener "Clover") and Stephen Merritt-esque lo-fi electronica, like poppier numbers ("Bog People"), Xiu Xiu manage both styles with equal ease. Although often a disorienting listen, La Foret manages to be consistently engaging, even with noisy interludes such as the screaming "Saturn." But I will say it again - the album would not be nearly as good as it is if it weren't anchored down by Stewart's confessional singing. Especially on "Muppet Face," his graceful lyrics and melody turn an average song into a great song, managing to almost sound like a lo-fi Kevin Shields (is that an oxymoron?). Stewart's voice makes the album's atmospherics into musical movements of real emotional weight, giving focus to instrumental passages that might sound meandering otherwise. The opening track "Clover" is the perfect example of this - cellos, sparse guitar and xylophone swirl around, almost without direction, but when Stewart's voice returns with the line "we closed our lips and we called it our love," every sound you just heard crystallizes into the quiet moments of a shattered relationship. Every song seems to have that moment, where the disparate parts come together as a single image, like a daydream you forgot you had. I hate the word ineffable, but really, I have a hard time finding another adjective for La Foret - it's delicate, yet muscular, alien, yet familiar. The album moves with a graceful flow that is not unlike sleeping on a train, images and colors floating by without any alarm or shock, only a murmur and a flash of color. A moving and unique collage of off-kilter storytelling, soundscapes and songwriting, La Foret is an easy album to put on and get sucked into. And I recommend that you do. Tyler McCauley 08.01.05