The xx is a bunch of 19-year-old South Londoners who make stark, synthy and woefully simplistic indie music. The four members of the band originally met at Elliott School, a school famous for alumni including Hot Chip and Four Tet. Their debut album, xx, was released on Young Turks Records on 17 August 2009 to much critical acclaim (download it on iTunes). It was produced by the band themselves and recorded in a small garage that was part of the XL studios. This setting and the fact that the recording sessions often took place at night contributed to the sleek, whispery nature of the album.
The first single “Crystalised” is here given the remix treatment by Popular Damage, a dance-electro outfit which has been described as “a poppier version of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs crossed with Daftpunk!”
The XX – Crystalised (Popular Damage Assimilation)
The band have toured with The Big Pink and Micachu. They also supported Florence and the Machine on her tour during September 2009, before embarking on a tour of their own in October 2009.
Florence and The Machine – You’ve Got The Love (The XX Rework)
On 11 November 2009, it was confirmed that keyboardist Baria Qureshi left the band after missing several scheduled shows, citing exhaustion. She will not be replaced, and the band will continue as a three-piece. More info + tour dates on MySpace…
9 pings
FLORENCE + THE MACHINE – YOU’VE GOT THE LOVE (Indie/2-step/Garage – UK) « umstrum || music says:
November 22, 2009 at 8:14 pm (UTC 1 )
[...] track ‘You’ve Got the Love’ just below. This version is a rework by British band The xx and it really turns the song on its head. The result is quite amazing in its simplicity and when you [...]
FOUR TET – THERE IS LOVE IN YOU (Electronica/Downtempo – UK) « umstrum || music says:
February 28, 2010 at 3:32 pm (UTC 1 )
[...] Adem Ilhan and Sam Jeffers at Elliott School (a school famous for alumni including Hot Chip and The XX). In 1999 he started working as a solo producer, releasing work under the name Four Tet. His debut [...]
ADELE – ROLLING IN THE DEEP (Soul/Pop – UK) says:
January 11, 2011 at 6:49 pm (UTC 1 )
[...] getting a lot of blog love. To buid on the hype factor, the track has been remixed by Jamie from The XX and Belgian electro-disco trio [...]
JJ – Nº3 (DreamPop/HipHop – Sweden) says:
January 17, 2011 at 7:51 pm (UTC 1 )
[...] by critics across-the-board, jj had a pretty great 2010. They scored a support slot for The xx‘s first headlining North American tour and released their highly-anticipated second album jj [...]
HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR – BLUE SONGS (Electro/Disco/Funk – US) says:
April 3, 2011 at 6:36 pm (UTC 1 )
[...] on Moshi Moshi. To celebrate this release, they have covered “Shelter” (originally by The Xx), painting a distinctly different picture with the same brush. Kim Ann Foxman’s vocals lift [...]
YACHT – DYSTOPIA (SynthPop/Electronica – US) says:
April 15, 2011 at 7:30 am (UTC 1 )
[...] you can listen to a couple of cool tracks from umstrum’s vaults. The first remix is by The Xx and the second is by Joe Goddard from Hot Chip. [...]
FLORENCE + THE MACHINE – YOU’VE GOT THE LOVE (Indie/2-step/Garage – UK) says:
July 3, 2011 at 3:28 pm (UTC 1 )
[...] track ‘You’ve Got the Love’ just below. This version is a rework by British band The xx and it really turns the song on its head. The result is quite amazing in its simplicity and when [...]
WARPAINT – THE FOOL (Folk/Indie – US) says:
September 6, 2011 at 7:42 pm (UTC 1 )
[...] Bonnaroo, as well as the Reading and Laneway festivals. They have also shared the stage with The xx, Band of Horses, Yeasayer, Akron/Family, Javelin, and The [...]
TRACEY THORN – NIGHT TIME EP (Pop/Electronica – UK) says:
October 28, 2011 at 7:15 pm (UTC 1 )
[...] the summer of 2010, The xx asked Tracey Thorn to record a track from the The xx’s debut album for a special compilation of [...]