Jump to content

The xx: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Line 40: Line 40:
In December 2011, Smith revealed that he wants to release their second LP ahead of their festival appearances next year and that it is inspired by "[[Electronic dance music|club music]]". "The majority of stuff I'm working on now is The xx stuff. We're just about to start recording. Hopefully we'll get it done in time for most festivals next year, because that's the most fun." Discussing the sound of the album, he said: "We've all come back off tour and been partying a bit more. We left when we were 17 and we missed out on that chunk of our lives when everyone else was partying. Club music has definitely had an influence on the next record."<ref>{{cite web|author=Published Thursday, Dec 8 2011, 14:35 GMT |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a355038/jamie-xx-new-xx-album-in-time-for-2012-festivals.html |title=Jamie xx: 'New xx album in time for 2012 festivals' - Music News |publisher=Digital Spy |date=2011-12-08 |accessdate=2012-04-09}}</ref>
In December 2011, Smith revealed that he wants to release their second LP ahead of their festival appearances next year and that it is inspired by "[[Electronic dance music|club music]]". "The majority of stuff I'm working on now is The xx stuff. We're just about to start recording. Hopefully we'll get it done in time for most festivals next year, because that's the most fun." Discussing the sound of the album, he said: "We've all come back off tour and been partying a bit more. We left when we were 17 and we missed out on that chunk of our lives when everyone else was partying. Club music has definitely had an influence on the next record."<ref>{{cite web|author=Published Thursday, Dec 8 2011, 14:35 GMT |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a355038/jamie-xx-new-xx-album-in-time-for-2012-festivals.html |title=Jamie xx: 'New xx album in time for 2012 festivals' - Music News |publisher=Digital Spy |date=2011-12-08 |accessdate=2012-04-09}}</ref>


On 1 June 2012, it was announced that the second album ''[[Coexist (album)|Coexist]]'' will be released on 11 September.<ref name="The xx announce new album Coexist">{{cite web|url=http://rekwired.com/news/the-xx-announce-new-album-coexist/ |title=The xx announce new album Coexist |publisher=Rekwired |date=2012-06-02 |accessdate=2012-06-02}}</ref> On 16 July 2012, they announced and released "Angels" as the lead single from ''Coexist''.<ref>{{cite web|title=The xx debut new single 'Angels', unveil new album 'Coexist' cover art| url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a393603/the-xx-debut-new-single-angels-unveil-new-album-coexist-cover-art.html|accessdate=16 July 2012}}</ref>
On 1 June 2012, it was announced that the second album ''[[Coexist (album)|Coexist]]'' will be released on 11 September.<ref name="The xx announce new album Coexist">{{cite web|url=http://rekwired.com/news/the-xx-announce-new-album-coexist/ |title=The xx announce new album Coexist |publisher=Rekwired |date=2012-06-02 |accessdate=2012-06-02}}</ref> On 16 July 2012, they announced and released "Angels" as the lead single from ''Coexist''.<ref>{{cite web|title=The xx debut new single 'Angels', unveil new album 'Coexist' cover art| url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a393603/the-xx-debut-new-single-angels-unveil-new-album-coexist-cover-art.html|accessdate=16 July 2012}}</ref>In August 2012, The XX unveiled a second track 'Chained' from their forthcoming new album Coexist.<ref>{{cite web|title=The xx Reveal New Track ' Chained'| url=http://www.northerntransmissions.com/news/the-xx-reveal-new-track-chained|accessdate=8 August 2012}}</ref>


==Discography==
==Discography==

Revision as of 16:39, 8 August 2012

The xx
Playing in Milan, Italy on 18 October 2009.
Playing in Milan, Italy on 18 October 2009.
Background information
OriginLondon, United Kingdom
GenresIndie pop
Years active2008–present
LabelsYoung Turks
XL Recordings
MembersRomy Madley-Croft
Oliver Sim
Jamie Smith
Past membersBaria Qureshi
Websitethexx.info

The xx are an English indie pop band, formed in London in 2008.[1] The group released their debut album, xx in August 2009. The album ranked highly on many best of 2009 lists, placing number one on the list compiled by The Guardian and second for NME.[2][3] In 2010, the band won the Mercury Music Prize for their debut album.

Their second album, Coexist, is to be released on 11 September 2012.[4]

History

Romy Madley Croft in a concert in Barcelona in 2009
Oliver Sim in a concert in Barcelona in 2009

The band met while studying at Elliott School, the same school that produced Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet.[5] The group, however, have downplayed the influence of the school on their career: "A teacher from Elliott who had never even taught us said how great we were. It's a bit annoying. We were left alone, more than anything - although I'm sure that helped us in its own way."[6] Oliver Sim and Romy Madley-Croft started the band as a duo when they were 15. Guitarist Baria Qureshi joined once they began performing in 2005, with Jamie Smith joining a year after.

xx

The group's debut album, xx, was met with sweeping critical praise, achieving a rating of "universal acclaim" on Metacritic.[7] The album also ranked well on "best of the year" lists, placing ninth on the Rolling Stone list and second for NME.[3][8] In the 2009 NME The Future 50 list, The xx were positioned at number six, and in October 2009, they were named one of MTV Iggy's "Top 10 Bands with Buzz" (at the CMJ Music Marathon 2009).[9][10]

Their self-titled debut was released with the British independent record label Young Turks on 17 August 2009.[11] Though the band had previously worked with producers including Diplo and Kwes,[5] they produced xx themselves,[12] while Jamie Smith and Rodaidh McDonald mixed it.[13] The xx recorded their album in a small garage that was part of the XL Recordings studio, often at night, which contributed to the low, whispery nature of the album.[14] In August 2009, the band headlined their own concert tour. The xx have toured with artists including The Big Pink and Micachu. In a first taste of success, their single "Crystalised" was featured on iTunes (UK) as Single of the Week, starting from 18 August 2009.

The music of the album was used extensively on television and in media such as 24/7, Person of Interest, NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games;[15] during the series Cold Case, Suits, Mercy, the Greek version of Next Top Model, "Bedlam", Hung, 90210, as well as being the feature song for the March 2010 E4 advert for 90210, Misfits, the Karl Lagerfeld Fall/Winter 2011 fashion show, Waterloo Road, and the film I Am Number Four.

In late 2009, second guitarist and keyboardist Baria Qureshi left the group. Initial reports stated that this was due to exhaustion, but the band later said they made this decision due to "personal differences."[16][17] Later, Madley-Croft described the split as feeling "like a divorce."

Oliver Sim performs at Coachella Festival in 2010

In January 2010, Matt Groening chose the band to headline two nights of his All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Minehead, England. In addition, the band played in five of North America's most popular music festivals, Coachella, Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits.[18] In May 2010, the track "Intro" was used by the BBC in their coverage of the 2010 general election. This led to the band playing the track on an episode of Newsnight.[19] The song was also sampled in Rihanna's "Drunk on Love" from her album Talk That Talk,[20] and played during the ending of the 2012 movie Project X and before the UEFA Euro 2012 matches at stadiums in Poland and Ukraine.

In September 2010, the band's debut album won the Barclaycard Mercury Prize, acquiring best British and Irish album of the year.[21][22][23] After the live ceremony screening, the album jumped from 16 to 3 on the 12 September U.K. albums chart, accompanying an 269% sales increase.[22] XL's marketing campaign drastically expanded after this substantial win, with day-time TV advertisements and billboard campaigns on some of UK's highest-profile digital billboards.[21][22][23] Thanks to the highlighted publicity, XL Recordings says it has shipped more than 40,000 CDs in the days following the Mercury Prize.[23] XL Managing director Ben Beardsworth explained,"Thanks to the Mercury win...things are accelerating dramatically and the band will be reaching a bigger and bigger audience with their music."[21] In another promotional initiative, the label sent out Saam Farahmand's audio/visual sculpture of the album when the band toured at Bestival 2010, a sculpture also appearing in an event at Seoul.[21]

The band was nominated for 'Best British Album', 'Best British Breakthrough' and 'Best British Band' at the 2011 BRIT Awards held on 15 February 2011 at the O2 Arena in London; however, they did not win in any of the categories.[24]

Coexist

In December 2011, Smith revealed that he wants to release their second LP ahead of their festival appearances next year and that it is inspired by "club music". "The majority of stuff I'm working on now is The xx stuff. We're just about to start recording. Hopefully we'll get it done in time for most festivals next year, because that's the most fun." Discussing the sound of the album, he said: "We've all come back off tour and been partying a bit more. We left when we were 17 and we missed out on that chunk of our lives when everyone else was partying. Club music has definitely had an influence on the next record."[25]

On 1 June 2012, it was announced that the second album Coexist will be released on 11 September.[26] On 16 July 2012, they announced and released "Angels" as the lead single from Coexist.[27]In August 2012, The XX unveiled a second track 'Chained' from their forthcoming new album Coexist.[28]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
UK
[29] 		US
[30] 		AUS
[31] 		BEL (Vl)
[32] 		BEL (Wa)
[33] 		FRA
[34] 		GER
[35] 		IRE
[36] 		NZ
[37] 		SWE
[38]
xx 3 92 40 9 41 35 54 14 13 44
Coexist To be released

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK
[29] 		UK Indie
[40] 		AUS
[31] 		BEL (Vl)
[32] 		FRA
[34] 		US
Alt
[41]
2009 "Crystalised" (and reissue) 175 14 — — 37 xx
"Basic Space" — — — — — —
"Islands" (and reissue) 34 3 — 16 90 —
2010 "VCR" 132 15 — — — —
2012 "Angels" — — 46 38 113 — Coexist
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

Music videos

Year Video Director
2009 "Crystalised" Alex Flick and Masato Riesser
"Basic Space" Anthony Dickenson
"Islands" Saam Farahmand
2010 "VCR" Marcus Söderlund

Releases

Year Title Release date Label
2009 Crystalised Apr 27, 2009 Young Turks
Basic Space Aug 3, 2009
Basic Space (Remixes) Sep 6, 2009
Islands Oct 26, 2009
2010 VCR Jan 24, 2010
Islands (Remixes) Feb 8, 2010
Tour Only Aug, 2010
Crystalised - Remixed Oct 11, 2010
2011 Shelter / Night Time Mar 7, 2011
2012 Angels Jul 17, 2012
Chained Aug 7, 2012

Remixes

Year Artist Song Title
2009 Florence and the Machine "You've Got the Love" Jamie xx Re-work feat. The xx
Jack Penate "Pull My Heart Away" Jamie xx Remix
Magic Wands "Warrior" The xx Remix
The xx "Basic Space" Jamie xx Space Bass Mix
The xx "Blood Red Moon" Jamie xx Bootleg
The xx "Hot Like Fire" Jamie xx Edit
The xx "Islands" Jamie xx Remix
2010 Glasser "Tremel" Jamie xx Remix
Nosaj Thing "Fog" Jamie xx Remix
Yacht "The Afterlife" The xx Remix
2011 Adele "Rolling in the Deep" Jamie xx Shuffle
FaltyDL "Hip Love" Jamie xx Rework
Holly Miranda "Slow Burn Treason" Jamie xx Remix
Radiohead "Bloom" Jamie xx Rework &
Jamie xx Rework Pt. 3

Other appearances

Demos

  • "Blood Red Moon" (2009)
  • "Open Eyes" (2011)

Covers

The xx covers

The xx covered

Songs sampled

References

  1. ^ Cochrane, Greg (12 May 2009). "Introducing…The XX". Newsbeat. BBC News. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  2. ^ "The XX - XX". The Guardian. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  3. ^ a b "50 Best Albums of 2009". NME. 9 December 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  4. ^ http://thexx.info/coexist/
  5. ^ a b Saxelby, Ruth (14 July 2009). "The xx" "It started as a joke"". Dummy. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  6. ^ "The sound of shyness". New Statesman. 29 December 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  7. ^ "xx reviews at". Metacritic.com. 6 October 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  8. ^ "The 25 Best Albums of 2009". Rolling Stone. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  9. ^ "Pictures of The Future 50: The bands, the artists, the innovators". NME. 5 August 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  10. ^ Iggy CMJ 2009: Top 10 Bands with Buzz MTV, 20 October 2009
  11. ^ O'Neill, Katie (14 August 2009). "Young Turks". Young Turks. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  12. ^ "The XX announce debut album details". NME. 17 June 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  13. ^ Pawson, Caius (23 February 2009). "Young Turks". Young Turks. Retrieved 12 March 2010. [dead link]
  14. ^ "The Nocturnal Emissions of the XX". Exclaim!. November 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  15. ^ "What's That Song From the AT&T Commercial With Olympic Speed Skater Apolo Anton Ohno?". Spinner. 17 February 2010.
  16. ^ "Young and modern: Introducing the xx". CNN. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  17. ^ "Guitarist Departs The xx". Clash Music. 13 November 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  18. ^ "Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival". Bonnaroo. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  19. ^ Rising stars The xx play out Newsnight election special BBC News, 10 May 2010
  20. ^ Rihanna's "Talk that Talk"
  21. ^ a b c d Cardew, Ben. "CHARTS: Mercury Win Expedites the Xx's Chart Fortunes." Music Week (2010): 3. Print.
  22. ^ a b c Paine, Andre. "The XX Factor." Billboard - The International Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment 122.38 (2010): 42. Print.
  23. ^ a b c "The Xx at a Crossroads After Mercurys Win." Music Week (2010): 1. Print.
  24. ^ "The xx up for 2011 Brit Award".
  25. ^ Published Thursday, Dec 8 2011, 14:35 GMT (8 December 2011). "Jamie xx: 'New xx album in time for 2012 festivals' - Music News". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 April 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ "The xx announce new album Coexist". Rekwired. 2 June 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  27. ^ "The xx debut new single 'Angels', unveil new album 'Coexist' cover art". Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  28. ^ "The xx Reveal New Track ' Chained'". Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  29. ^ a b Peak positions in the United Kingdom:
  30. ^ The xx Album & Song Chart History Billboard
  31. ^ a b "The XX - Australian Charts". australian-charts.com/ Hung Medien.
  32. ^ a b "The XX - Belgium (Flanders) Charts". ultratop.be/nl/ Hung Medien.
  33. ^ "The XX - Belgium (Wallonia) Charts". ultratop.be/fr/ Hung Medien.
  34. ^ a b "The XX - French Charts". lescharts.com/ Hung Medien.
  35. ^ "The XX - German Charts". charts.de/ Hung Medien.
  36. ^ "The XX - Irish Charts". irish-charts.com/ Hung Medien.
  37. ^ "The XX - New Zealand Charts". charts.org.nz/ Hung Medien.
  38. ^ "The XX - Swedish Charts". swedishcharts.com/ Hung Medien.
  39. ^ a b Certified Awards Search British Recorded Music Industry
  40. ^ Peak positions for singles on the UK Indie Chart:
  41. ^ Alterntaive Songs. The xx Album & Song Chart History | Billboard.com
  42. ^ "Kwesaachu & Romy of The xx", YouTube, Micachu & Kwes, 20 October 2009, retrieved 16 April 2010
  43. ^ Dickins, Kieren (10 September 2009). "KWESACHU MIXTAPE VOL. 1". A Tribe Called Next. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The xx.


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_xx&oldid=506415365"